US Immigration from Thailand

I've been noticing what seems like some pretty heavy handed overreach by some of the mods on the forum. For instance, here is a recent mod comment closing a thread: "~~Thread locked to further replies. THe OP has been given all the advice members can offer. Do not restart or refer back to this thread in any shape or form~~ "

Who is the mod to say that all of the advice that members can offer has been provided? Other members who have not yet had a chance to respond may have had other thoughts to share. Plus, what is with the empty threat to not refer back to this thread in any shape or form? Is this site meant to be an authoritarian one ruled by a small group of elite mods or an open one, where all members are valued and conversations aren't shut down simply because one mod decides it should be?

While mods should be shutting down illegal or threatening comments, I don't see any value to them shutting down threads or deciding that the discussion is over. Now let's see if the mods will allow discussion of their actions to be discussed or if this thread will be shut down as well.

My fiance in Thailand is very bored with the visa process. We have been waiting since February 2020. Our case is at the embassy, but that's where the trouble starts. Before we actually met in person, we tried to get her a visit to the US on a tourist visa. A complete waste of time during the Trump Administration(circus). She was denied April 2019 after only 2 questions into her interview. I love her so much, it didn't slow me down a bit. I made it to Thailand in September of 2019, and hired an attorney($4000) to handle the case.

After an extended wait due to COVID, we received our first RFE in January 2021. Everything they asked for hasd already been included in our original petition. There was 1 hotel receipt missing out of everything they had requested.

Fast-forward to May. Our login to CEAC showed "no data available" for 2 weeks. I called NVC and after a solid hour of Muzac I was fortunate enough to speak with a human. I may as well have been talking to a wall, but a couple of days later the status changed to "ready"

Our attorney attempted to login to CEAC in order to make arrangements to pay the visa fee , but our account was security locked because of our B-1 attempt, preventing any further action.

This weekend she found her login, but now our attorney is on vacation. Can't blame him for that.

The question I pose is thus: Shall we continue ahead by logging into the CEAC on our own, or wait for our attorney? A very detailed list of actions was included with our NOA2. Since we are in "ready" status, should we try to arrange payment of the visa fee and move forward with an interview date, or should we wait for professional counsel to continue our battle?

I must admit that the current visa process is very boring, to the point I can catch a whiff of discrimination by the hands of my government. If I were a UK or European Union resident, I wouldn't be here venting about how broken our immigration policy has ALWAYS been, because the acceptance period is under 90 days. That's the case everywhere, except the USA.

No interview has been scheduled, and we've been waiting for the step.

What Is It?

JJ

Hi everybody

My now-spouse arrived on a K-1 visa about a month ago. We applied for an SSN via mail a week after he arrived, afterwards we married and filed for AOS. After 3 weeks of calling the local SS office, we finally reached a person about the status of our application. Over the course of 20 minutes it was explained to us that K-1 visa holders aren't authorized to work, don't need an SSN, etc. - all things that I know are not true. Reluctantly, they scheduled an interview for us to see if "it will work".

So, we are preparing for the fight at the office. We will bring a copy of: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0110211530

I worry that since the application was submitted a month ago, we have now married and filed AOS, and my spouse has changed their name. The SSN office asked me about these things during the phone call and I answered truthfully, but I think I know now that marriage and AOS application are irrelevant and we are still eligible for an SSN.

So what is the strategy - do we insist that we want an SSN provided in the pre-marriage name (that is, matching the I-94) of my spouse? Or should we now be asking for an SSN in the new name changed after marriage? What do we say when they bring up that we already applied for AOS and EAD? In the EAD form, we did not request an SSN as we expected to have received one by now.

Thanks...

Is anybody familiar with the current wait-times at the Bangkok Embassy for getting an interview? DQ'd on March 16th. Wife and are hoping to return to the states before November for a family reunion but I'm beginning to wonder if that's just a pipe dream.

Related, if the interview is successful how long usually until we have a visa in-hand and can get on a plane?

Any advice appreciated. We live together here in Thailand, married 3 years, 2 kids together (both US Citizens).

For those who have just recently filed I-130 for your family members, please join the thread.

I am a US citizen filing for my spouse. Priority Date is 06/22/2021, the letter came from Texas Service Center, but USCIS said the case is assigned to California Service Center.