US Immigration from Thailand

Bangkok has had a reputation for being rather strict with NIVs for Thais on the grounds that they may overstay any visa. I'm wondering if anyone has noticed a more reasonable attitude since the Biden administration took over along with its reversal of the restrictive stance on the southern land border?

Hello everyone.

My fianc and I will be getting married soon in my home country of South Africa. Ideally we would like to remain together for the majority of the CR1 application time. From doing my own research on the forum it looks like we can stay together while the I-130 is being processed.

What I would like to know is during the I-864 Affidavit of Support and NVC stage, when will be a good time for her to return to the USA? We are both teachers and have been living/working together in Thailand (which is where we met). Here is a more detailed explanation:

• The Thai salary is not enough for the poverty guidelines; These numbers will be reflected on her tax returns, and I am not sure whether it will be a problem or not.
• If we spend the majority of the I-130 processing time in South Africa, she will not have a US income in that time (other than online teaching), will this affect the three-years of tax returns/transcripts requirement?
• We are both teachers and she holds two masters degrees which makes it very easy for her to get a job as a teacher with a starting salary well above the poverty guidelines. Due to the need for teachers in the USA we have no doubt that she can easily be hired when the 2022 school year starts in 12 months.
• If need be her parents have agreed to sponsor us.

Would a job confirmation with a proof of salary be enough to satisfy the requirements of the I-864 or would it be better to immediately file for joint sponsorship? I would also like to ask how long in advance would it be best for her to return to the US without me to establish a domicile?

Thank you for taking the time read this, I hope I provided enough context.

Kind regards,

Dewald & Brittney.

Hi everyone,

My wife had her biometrics appointment in March. Based on others timelines, it seems like many were approved for their EAD in a few weeks (after biometrics). It's been over 3 months now.

It would be great to hear from others in this forum that are in California. Is anyone else waiting 3+ months? Is there anything we can do to try and speed this process up?

We filed AOS November 2020, so are over 7 months now, hoping to get her green card before the end of the year as well.

Thank you.

Hello! I am a U.S. citizen and my Thai wife wants to come visit my family in the United States. We don't want to settle in the States (yet) as we will spend several years in Thailand so she can get a full retirement. We were married in a traditional Thai ceremony (not registered with the Thai government yet). We have not gotten married in the U.S. yet. She tried a few years ago to get a tourist visa to visit the U.S. (when she had an American boyfriend) but was denied, likely because she was not completely forthcoming with the immigration officials (she tried four times to no avail.) She is an elementary school principal, owns a house and other property, so I suspect should be able to get a visa easily (had she not messed things up the first four times...) My question, what visa should we seek for her to visit in the U.S.? Because we're not going to settle in the U.S. yet, should we avoid a K-1 visa, for instance. Can she just apply for a tourist visa again? (Or, when she tells them she is married to me will they smell a rat if she's not seeking a K-1 visa, for instance?)

Thank you very much for any advice or hand-holding you can offer me!

Berthold

Hello everyone,

I anticipate my fianc arriving mid august. I will be moving from South Carolina to Michigan beginning of October. We will be living with my brother until We buy a house. Any advice or tips on how to do the process with that move in there? File for ssn in SC? Use brothers address on all the AOS forms?

I planned to wait until we move to MI to get married.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.