khrfx4

However, the fact they didn't keep her passport is a sign they don't think they will be approving a visa shortly.

I do not agree with this statement. It seems to me they ALWAYS give the passport back when a 221(g) is issued. Please let me know if anyone knows differently from personal experience, not from what someone else told you.

ALL OF THIS BELOW WAS DERIVED FROM ANSWERS GIVEN BY THE IV UNIT TO MYSELF AND A COUPLE OTHER PEOPLE I'M IN CONTACT WITH FROM QUESTIONS OR EXPERIENCES WE HAVE HAD.

1. Be prepared to get a 221(g). First of all, it's not the end of the world. It looks like many people are getting them and it seems Consular Officer(s) are looking for any little thing they can to issue a 221(g). My own personal theory is they are testing people’s resolve on how badly they really want to marry. They are completely inconsistent on what they want from one person to another. Two people I know of did not send in the last week of chats on their WhatsApp for the "Evidence of Relationship" and in one case the IV unit gave a 221(g) for that last week and in the other person’s case they found a technical problem with his child’s birth certificate so they picked that for his 221(g) even though he DID NOT give them the last week’s chats just before the interview.

2. One person even received a second 221(g) after successfully submitting the only document asked for on the first 221(g), delaying their visa further. The IV Unit either missed the second item at the interview and only spotted it on final review or they are testing people or just trying to frustrate people.

3. If they slip up and say they want mail sent to them “Registered”, then understand that normal Thai Post EMS with tracking is perfectly acceptable.

4. If they tell you they want originals or certified documents of something they are asking for and you are in the US then, unless it’s a birth certificate or marriage license or some other court document IT IS acceptable to send them high quality color copies or scans that have been printed. I still have yet to ask them if I need to mail them through something like UPS from the US or if I can send them via eMail direct to them or if I need to email them to my fiance and have her print and mail them with her passport, which actually seems the best choice, but I will ask them later.

5. VERY IMPORTANT: Always send a copy of the DS-160 confirmation page in with whatever documents they are asking for on a 221(g) along with your fiancé’s passport. They have been asking people for this DS-160 page after-the-fact causing many unnecessary delays. They are not forewarning people at the time of the 221(g) that they will need this. They did give us our DS-160 confirmation page back at the interview along with the 221(g) so they do not keep this, which is incredibly stupid.

This IV Unit in my opinion is intentionally making things hard on people (IMO) and they are being incredibly obtuse in the answers they give; they almost never give complete detailed answers of exactly what they want or how they want it and sometimes they miss a question so it does not get answered. I have had to send three different emails to clarify everything they want from me to prove "Domicile".

Make sure you ALWAYS send any mail to the Embassy via Thai Post EMS so it can be tracked by you and so it can get there very fast. Never, I repeat, never allow mail to be sent to the Embassy via normal Thai post. It will be significantly delayed compared to EMS.

DO NOT hesitate to send emails until your questions are fully answered.

EMAIL: visasbkkiv@state.gov

No. You walk away with them. Put another way, we did not leave any originals of anything with them, but you have to bring some original stuff as you can see in the list I provided.

Yes, they need originals and copies of the passport, ID card and house-book, etc. (read list below). All copies to be signed. They do not need an original NOA2. However, bring originals and copies of everything listed and they will walk your fiance through the process.

It wouldn't hurt for the copies to be in color even though there is only a little color in the Marital Status document. If you have the cover letter from the Embassy give them a copy of that also, but it's my understanding the NOA2 is good enough. I had a copy of the instructions that said give them a COLOR copy of the petitioners passport, but this list just says photocopy. I would give it to them in color anyway and sign it. The Thai government always has you sign all copies of everything.

The resulting Police Clearance letter is in English and addressed to The United States of America so there is no need to have this document translated.

The cost is 100 baht and when we did ours last month it took exactly 3 weeks and the report was mailed back to us using Thai Post EMS tracking. It does you no good because they do not give you the tracking number, but you must be at the house to receive and sign for the letter or go pick it up at the post office the next day. Be ready exactly 3 weeks after requesting the clearance to receive the letter at your fiance's home.

Straight from the Embassy Police checklist. This list does not say anything about the "Marital Status" document, but we brought it and they took it, I believe, so bring it.

• Passport with one photocopy
• Thai ID card with one photocopy
• House registration with one photocopy
• In case of name or surname change, name or surname change certificate is required with
one photocopy.
• Military service document (Sor Dor 8 or Sor Dor 43 or the certificate of completion of 3-year
or 5-year reserve officer training course, either of which needed for Thai male who is over the
age of 20 and Sor Dor 9 for applicant between the age of 17-19) with one photocopy.
• Marriage certificate or divorce certificate (if available) with one photocopy
• Requesting letter from the embassy of the country to which the applicant plans to travel. A
notice from the US Embassy regarding your case (i.e. a packet 3 cover letter) can be used for
this purpose. This is the NOA2 and Embassy cover letter for packet #3 if you have it.
• A photocopied passport of your American petitioner.
• In case of a minor child applicant, the legal guardian has to be present to sign consent.

WARNING: The clearance center asked my fiance for a letter from me stating I wanted to marry her or I had asked her to marry me or some such clap-trap. I had to cobble something together and we mailed it off the next day using EMS tracking. It did not delay the process. It was the standard flavor of the day by the official at the receiving desk, "I'm going to ask them for something different today just to spice my day and their day up". This is not in any instructions anywhere, including the Police Clearance website when it was still working properly about a month ago.

Link from Embassy site for Police instructions: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/thailand/591452/iv/thaipolicecert.pdf

Here is the link to the Police Clearance Center, but all the links to the requirements are broken, except for one link I found that downloads a document with requirements in Thai.

1. Link to Police Clearance Center: http://www.pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/eng/index.php

2. Link to download requirements in Thai: http://pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/filedownload/infomation.pdf

NOTE: I have no idea why "MisioandNat" above said "packet 3" in post #8 because they do not need this. They would have no idea what is supposed to be in packet 3.

I used the third one listed on the Embassy's list which can be found on this page...item #2:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service/marriage.html

The reason we used them is the first two businesses did not answer their phones. For me that is always a sign of a poorly run business. Lastly, the lady she talked with she liked. My fiance always comments on how someone talks to her and treats her.

This is where we had it translated and everything went very well.

Bangkok Translation Office
888 Unit 13 Ground Fl.
Mahatun Plaza Bldg. Bangkok 10330
Tel: 0-2251-5666
Fax: 0-2650-9706
Translation fee: 400 Baht

Obviously, adding the Ministry of Foreign Affairs certification adds to the price. Expect about 1300 per document if you get it certified by the Min. of Foreign Affairs and that includes mailing back with EMS tracking. BTW, the birth certificate is translated into a form made up to look almost like the original with boxes for each piece of information. I was pleasantly surprised to see that.

On your other question of what address to use, I can't be 100% sure of my answer, but I can give my feelings. First of all, I don't blame her for not trusting the apartment. The apartment I stayed in when I first came here lumped all the mail for all the residence in one communal box on the ground floor.

I believe as long as she is consistent in using the same address on all forms and papers throughout the entire process there should be no problem. There is no way they would practically know it is a hotel and the address does not have to match her house book.

I have not read anywhere on this forum or heard about any validity for this letter, but there certainly would be some point at which it would not be accepted by the Embassy.

SHORT ANSWER

Ours was dated June 15, 2015. The Embassy received our package and reviewed it on Aug 10, 2015. I see no reason why she cannot get it two months prior to sending it in with Packet #3. I also see no reason to get it any earlier. Remember that the Amphur may ask her to bring her village headman in, if she has one, as a witness so she will need to arrange that and probably give him a little money…good old Thailand…no one ever does anything out of the goodness of their heart it seems.

NOTE: When my fiancé went to get hers someone at the Amphur told her it had a one month validity. In fact, when she finally got the letter, it had no validity on it. We had this letter translated and I will give the translation at the bottom of this answer. Somewhere in the Embassy’s documentation they do mention a validity for the Police Report of 1 year and the Medical of 6 months, but no mention of this letter’s validity.

LOGICALLY ANSWER

How logical is it for the Embassy to think your fiancé would get this letter, say 3 months ahead of time, and then go out and marry someone before sending it in? I think it is not likely the Embassy would worry about a 3 month time frame, though I would limit it to two months. Finally this isn’t a bad question to ask the IV Unit using their email address.

Several people have said it is not necessary to get this letter translated because the Embassy has Thai people working at the Embassy, but we did have it translated as I didn’t want to take any chances. The packet #3 instructions clearly say to have any Thai documents translated. The ONLY two documents we got translated were the birth certificate and this letter. The Police Report is in English. The birth certificate for sure I’d advise everyone to get translated as you will need that in the US. I would also advise to have it certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. That gives it the maximum strength. The translation service, if in Bangkok, will do this for you. Our two documents cost 2600 baht, so say 1300 each which included Thai Post EMS mailing back to us. My fiancé handed the documents into the translation service on a Thursday and we had the documents back at our home in Pattaya the following Wednesday.

TRANSLATED LETTER

LETTER OF CERTIFICATION OF MARITAL STATUS

No. 124/2558 Amphur office name

Address Amphur

Whereas (Amphur name and Province name) has received an application from (fiancé name, age, ID number and address), has submitted an application requesting to issue a letter of certification of marital status of herself, to be used as supporting evidence in applying for a visa for registration of marriage with a foreigner.

The Registration Office of (Amphur name) has already examined the evidence such as house registration, Thai National ID card and Family Registration Database as well as interrogated 1 personal witness, (witness name), position of Village Headman, (his address). It appears that (fiancé name) has not registered her marriage at the Registration Office of (Amphur name). Therefore, the applicant has fully qualified to register her marriage according to Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5 of Thailand, Sections 1448, 1449, 1450, 1451, 1453.

This letter of certification is therefore issued as evidence.

Given on 15^th June, 2015

- Signature-

Name and title of person

affixing the official seal.

No, the Embassy assigns it after receiving packet #3. Whoever's email address is on the DS-2001 in Packet #3 is notified of the appointment date by email.

First a run-down on how the process works.

Once you know the Embassy has your package from NVC, the next step is to assemble Packet #3 and send it to the Embassy. Actually you can and should start the assembly much sooner, because it entails quite a bit of work: Getting birth certificate(s), marital status document from the Amphur, divorce documents, filling out the DS-160, paying the fees, getting the bank receipt, filling out your profile on the https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=English&country=Thailand

Once you finish the profile and pay the fees then you get a “transaction confirmation” on the last page of this profile web application which has to go in with Packet #3. There are many other documents to get if your fiancé has a name change or children or has adopted a child or has been in the military or been in the US before or worked in another country. Read Packet #3 instructions so you are familiar with what is needed.

Get all the information packets here: http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/packets.html

Read and be familiar with all of them pertinent to your situation even if you are using a lawyer. It is far better to be informed about this process as you are waiting for things to happen.

NOTE: If your fiancé has worked in another country s/he will need a police clearance from each country. These can take quite some time. I read where one lady needed a clearance from Japan and it took almost 3 months so get started on these other country police clearances immediately. DO NOT wait for your packet to get to the Embassy. I would start it soon after sending in the petition (I-129F). The Thailand Police Clearance alone takes exactly 3 weeks. Anyway, the point is it is a bit of work and the sooner you start the better.

Now once the packet is ready to be mailed to the Embassy…here comes your warning!

Make sure your LAWYER or VISA SERVICE sends the Packet via “THAI POST EMS”.

This gets the packet to the Embassy very quickly and you have the added benefit of tracking it. I have lived here for 6 years and EMS is very impressive. It is given very high priority. Within one to two days after getting Packet #3 the Embassy should send you an email with your appointment date. DO NOT allow your lawyer or visa service to send Packet #3 any way other than Thai Post EMS. INSIST ON IT!…DEMAND IT!…it is not that expensive. My package was 42 baht. It is insane NOT to use EMS. One very well known law firm here does not use it; at least the head of their Visa service does not use it.

You can then track it here:

http://track.thailandpost.co.th/tracking/default.aspx

Make sure you pick ENG in the upper right hand corner for English, enter your number and slide that stupid arrow to the right. The next page will be your tracking details. If someone signs for it, that information will be a link in the third column on the last entry. Click it for the details.

All EMS tracking numbers start and end with two characters like so “EN486175930TH”, this was our tracking number. Put it in and try it. It was received by the security guard on a Sunday, but he did not sign for it, though it had his name printed in Thai.

Here is how our mailing went so you understand how quick this can happen.

1. Mailed Packet #3 from Pattaya on Saturday, Aug 8^th, 2015
2. Received at Embassy by security guard on Sunday, Aug 9^th, 2015
3. Fiancé received email from Embassy with appointment date on Monday, Aug 10^th, 2015.
4. Appointment Aug 26^th.

Make sure you stay on top of your lawyer or visa service to ensure they are assembling Packet #3 as quickly as possible. For those of you that are still at the NVC ask your lawyer or service to start the process on the following: “Marital Status” which requires your fiancé to go to the Amphur and she may need to bring her village headman with her as a witness, the Police Clearance, filling out the DS-160 and paying the fees. Especially start the Police Report NOW! The police report takes 3 weeks. DO NOT pay extra money, just start early and the cost is 100 baht.

There is absolutely no reason Packet #3 cannot be mailed to the Embassy as soon as your status turns READY on this tracking website using your case #: https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

This means the Embassy has your case and is ready to receive packet #3. DO NOT be fooled by the wording on this site when it says they are ready to schedule your interview. That is NOT how it works with the Bangkok Embassy. They need Packet #3 first before they issue an appointment.

Actually, the next step is they will send you a letter telling you about Packet #3, but there is nothing in the letter you need to get started, though you should keep the cover letter and give it to the Police for the clearance as well as a copy of NOA2, however if you are ahead of the game a copy of NOA2 should be good enough. Be warned that the Police Clearance office ask me to write a letter saying I had asked her to marry me or I wanted to marry her or some such clap-trap. This is NOT listed as a requirement in the Embassies information. It was a flavor of the day the officer decided on to make the falang jump through hoops. I cobbled something up and mailed it off the same day via Thai Post EMS and it was accepted. It did not delay the process.

More details on request. I have made myself somewhat of an expert on this whole process up through getting the Visa, even though we have the medical to do next, I feel I have enough information to give advice and anyone who disagrees with my advice can certainly post a better reply. Just ask your questions in this thread.

If you are wondering we only have the medical to do and the appointment on Aug 26 and we should have our visa. I live here in Thailand with my Fiancé so this has been a fairly easy process on both of us. Actually, I’ve done almost all the work. I just told her to date this, sign this, press this key, etc. 555

You can email the IV Unit in US Embassy in BKK , they usually respond in 2-3 business days.

555

It took them 16 days to get back to me on one email, though it was more feedback and not a question. Even so, the idiot at the embassy who responded didn't even read the email. His or her answer was completely off the mark.

Two other emails I sent took 3-5 days for them to respond. It is not ideal and now it looks like they have removed their phone number from the site. All they post now is a general citizen number, no number for the IV unit. They did have one I called once.

Couple of questions "iandunross".

1. Have you sent packet #3 to the Embassy?

2. You do know you will not get an appointment date until they receive packet #3?

3. Are you working through a lawyer or visa service?

4. If the answer to 3 above is yes, did they use Thai Post EMS tracking?

I just sent our packet #3 in on Saturday, the 8th.

It was received at the Embassy on Sunday by a security guard, the 9th.

We received our email and appointment date of Aug 26th on the very next day, Monday, the 10th.

You can't get much quicker than that. If you are working through a lawyer or visa service then they should have sent it by Thai Post EMS tracking. Did they give you the tracking number?

Sorry, can't help you there, but it should be soon. I think July's was updated within the first week.

We are sitting on packet #3 and delaying sending it in in hopes of gaining some more time before heading back to the US. We still have loose ends to tie up here and we need to somehow find a way to get our little dog to the US.

CONTENTS OF LETTER FROM EMBASSY & SOME ADVISE

Our letter from the Embassy in Bangkok also contained copies of all 6 pages of the I-129F which had stamps and other things filled in as a result of going through the USCIS and NVC processes in the US. It had a date received stamp on it so that's how I knew the day the Embassy received the package from NVC.

It also has 8 yellow pages of laws they want your Fiance to read. They are all in Thai. These contain absolutely nothing for her to do...only read and say she understands if asked.

And then there is a cover letter that basically says congratulations...blah, blah, blah. It has your case# which 99% of the people here will have already gotten from the NVC and finally...

a 1/3 slip of paper telling you where to get the instructions for packet #3 on their website. So you can all see there is no reason to wait for that letter to get started putting Packet #3 together. As a matter of fact, I see no reason not to start as soon as you know your package is at the NVC.

SOME ADVISE

There is only one thing that could take time and must be done in your Fiance's Amphur with respect to Packet #3. She must get the "Marital Status" letter from your Fiance's Amphur office (my Fiance had to contact her village headman and have him come along with her to the Amphur office to sign as a wittness or something) so your fiance may need to coordinate with her village headman).

While your fiance is in her village/Amphur make sure she has or gets a hold of her birth certificate...one that is as original or certified as she can get. My girl had one that was so old it was literally falling apart so the first thing I had her do was laminate it. I also had my girl do her best to track down any vaccination records she could find. They had only started putting these records into a computer 10 years previously so she had no records she could get a hold of.

And finally the Police Clearance Report that your Fiance must show up at in person in Bangkok to request (unless you have a lawyer, they may have special arrangements). That clearance letter takes 3 weeks exactly and I swear I think they have it ready in about two weeks or less, but sit on it and only mail it at the 3 week mark. Look at when it was dated when you get it. Ours was dated a week before they mailed it. It was mailed to us EMS (tracking) signature required.

My point in this post is to tell all of you waiting for the letter from the Embassy to NOT WAIT. Get started on packet #3 while it's at the NVC, but DO NOT mail it until you know the Embassy has your package or when the status at this site says "READY". I believe it is the Embassy that changes the status to "READY" after they receive and process your package from NVC.

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?

1. Only Bangkok

2. Probably can't do this at lunch. I think it took my fiance about 2 hours.

3. Unless you are really in a hurry, just pay the 100 baht. Don't give them 2000 or whatever to speed it up. It takes 3 weeks exactly and they mailed it to us EMS with signature needed.

Yes, bring a copy of the NOA2 and if you have the letter from the Embassy then bring a copy of the letter from the Embassy as double proof why you need it. They also wanted me to write a letter saying I had asked her to marry me. I'd never heard of this before and it is not in the requirements so don't be surprised if they ask this. Also, I would strongly suggest you bring the "Martial Status" letter from your Amphur saying you are single or whatever proof you have that you are not married.

Here is their website:

http://www.pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/eng/

No, not even close to that long assuming you are talking about a K1. Regarding another petitioner I'm communicating with now...it took about 2-3 weeks before they sent him an email requesting the bank receipt for the fees which his idiot lawyer left out of Packet #3. His lawyer is really very lame. Soon after they got the missing receipt he had his appointment for early August.

Now the lawyer was supposed to have mailed the packet #3 in sometime in the first week of July and he probably did. So the appointment in early August is pretty good as far as speed.

Make sure she has her original birth certificate. If it is in as bad a shape as ours was then get it laminated.

You should have your fiance get the "Marital Status" letter from her Amphur office first. It would be a good idea for her to bring a copy of this along to the Police Clearance office to prove she has never been married. You never know what people in this country will ask for. The Police Clearance office also wanted a letter from me stating I had asked her to marry me. I had never read about or heard of this before in all my research.

Get the police clearance done ASAP as that takes 3 weeks. Everything else can be put together in 1-3 days depending on how competent you are at reading and following instructions and then mail the packet in as soon as you know the Embassy has your package from the NVC.

You DO NOT need to wait for the packet #3 letter to be mailed to you from the Embassy. It does not provide very much information aside from telling you where to get the instructions on their website. The NOA2 should be good enough for the Police Clearance, but if you have the letter from the Embassy then have your fiance take that also as proof of why she needs the Clearance. Never hurts to have too much information.

The bulk of the letter from the Embassy contains 8 yellow pages about laws that protect your fiance that they want her to read...boring.

Just got ours last week. Took 3 weeks exactly, even though it was dated a week earlier, and even though they told my fiance they would not mail it with tracking, they actually did mail it with tracking and signature required. I had to sign for it. (I live here in Thailand with my Fiance).

One other thing they asked from my fiance, which I have informed the Embassy about, because it is NOT mentioned in their PDF Police Clearance instructions. These idiots wanted a letter from me, signed by me, saying I had asked her to marry me or some such stupid thing. I just copied my "Intent to Marry" letter I sent with my petition and changed the wording a little and we mailed it EMS the next day.

I'm chalking this up to the old saying "This is Thailand" and whatever official she talked to that day decided he would throw in a curve ball just to have fun.

The GSS is the receipt from your payment for the visa made to Bank Ayudhaya. You get this on-line as follows:

1. log in to your profile atustraveldocs.com/th
2. click "new application/schedule appointment", continue
3. choose "immigrant visa", continue
4. click "K Visa Address Registration "
5. select Visa Class
6. complete the passport details
7. specify documentation delivery
8. type your virtual account number in the receipt number box.
9. print out the address registration confirmation page or the GSS Address registration.

I know in Bangkok and in many other places I believe step #8 is incorrect. You do not type your virtual account number in, although that is indeed the correct number. It will fill in automatically within 24 hours after making payment in-person at the bank and generally 48 hours if you paid via EFT. So depending on how you paid, go back in after that time-frame and you should see this number already filled in automatically. That is exactly how it worked for me. And BTW, I did try to type that number in soon after making payment and it just gave me an error, but 24 hours later it was there.

Then and only then can you proceed to the next page by clicking continue at the bottom-right of the page. The next page is the GSS confirmation page. Grab the "Printable Version" which contains barcodes. WARNING: There is nothing on that page or anywhere on this website that says GSS (Global Support Strategy). Why they use this terminology I have no idea because it is guaranteed to confuse people.

I call that last page the "Transaction Complete" confirmation page.

NOA1 received on April 20th, fiance checked online yesterday and our case was approved on June 3, but I never received a text message or email, But I did receive a text when the packet arrived at CSC. Did anyone else have the same thing happen? I'll just be checking my mail every day for the NOA2. Also, have to prepare for the next step!

Since I received the mailed copy of the NOA2 and the email prior to that saying the package was received and routed to CSC I never received anymore notices or emails. If I had not called the NVC I would have never known anything more until we received "Packet #3" from the Bangkok US Embassy.

When I called the NVC on 6/8/2015 I found out the package had been mailed to the embassy on 6/2/2015. We just received "Packet #3" yesterday (6/15/2015) and inside it said the package was received at the Embassy on 6/9/2015 or one week after leaving NVC.

We are now in the "Packet #3" process.

Good luck to everyone. This has gone pretty smooth for us up until now. No RFE's.

To "baron555"

The 797 Notice form is used for many purposes. In the K-1 world, that is meaningless. Once NVC and then the Embassy has your case, it is automatically extended. Nothing for you to do or be worried about.

I mostly agree with you on this after I found that quote on the US Embassy website which I posted above, but I think if you were to take way, way too much time in gathering the documents for Packet #3 for the Embassy you might run afoul of this expiration, though I agree there does seem to be virtually no chance of this for the vast majority of applicants who are not sitting on their hands twiddling their thumbs gathering the information. The embassy will, as a matter of course, extend the expiration if you have problems gathering information. I actually hope to push this validity a little bit to gain more time. We have a few loose ends to tie up here in Thailand.

Many Embassies tie the visa start date to the medical date. So if you have the medical way earlier than the interview, you may not really have 6 months within which to use it. Most countries the medical is good for a year, but again, don't do it too early.

I agree and think this is exactly what the BKK Embassy does…tie the visa validity to the medical date, which according to them is only good for 6 months. This would necessarily shorten the normal 6 months validity of the visa to about 5 months and 3 weeks assuming you get your medical 1 week before the visa is granted.

Usually the Embassy is the most up to date. Email them and ask.

Though it appeared each site was mentioning two different banks, they are indeed the same bank as I state in my answer above. However, once again you do give good advice. If I had not cleared this up I was going to most certainly go with the Embassy information since this is basically a local issue. I did email the Embassy, but it was my girl who clued me in that they were the same bank before they got back to me.

Thanks “baron555” for some good information.

For your first question, assuming you guys do your interview soon, you must marry within 90 days of them telling you whether or not you're approved (right after the interview). I also think you must schedule the interview date before the expiration date on the NOA2. So you guys cannot wait until early 2016 to arrive in the USA, that will be way past your NOA2 expiration date AND way past the 90 days to get married. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure I'm right.

"tysonrocky" You are mixing thngs up here. You could not be more wrong in what you say.

Once the package is in the hands of the embassy, then all you have to do is not take a really long time to gather the documents in packet #3...say one month. Once this package has been mailed to the embassy then you no longer have to worry about the expiration on the NOA2. The conular's office will and usually does extend this validity period. This is clearly stated on the US Embassy website. You can see the quote I gave from the website in my answer above.

My question is how long we have to use the visa or enter the US. This is called the visa validity. The visa validity has nothing to do with the 90 day period to get married. That 90-day clock only starts once you enter the US. So if we get our visa towards the end of August 2015 we CAN delay going to the US until January 2016 as long as the visa is still good. I MUST emphasize the visa validity has absolutely nothing at all to do with the 90-day clock to get married which only starts the day you enter the US.

However, the 6 month visa validity is NOT a given if you get your medical too soon, then your visa validity could be shorten by the date your medical expires and the medical, according to the answer I received directly from the embassy, is only 6 months. Theoritically you can't have a visa validity longer than about 5 months and 3 weeks and a couple of days, because you have to get your medical at least a few days before the interview and then subsequent granting of the visa about a week after the medical.

But as I said in my answer above, we will have to see how this all plays out after the medical, interview and granting of the visa. I hope to get back to this thread with all the timing.

Thanks for the story. My foreign fiance is coming to visit next month and we will have him bring work emails, his return tickets and then upcoming flights out of England to prove he is going back. Will the NOA2 be mailed to the beneficiary AND the petitioner?

NOA1 and NOA2 are only mailed to the petitioner.

Thank you member "gavw72". That was a fantastic tip on using the MagicJack App to call the US for free. It really worked and the connection was solid. It made repeated dialings to the NVC far more practical and endurable.

Got past the busy stuff after about 10 dials and was then on hold for about 45 minutes. I found out our package had already been shipped to Bangkok on June 2. I was able to get my case number and she gave me two other numbers we would need. They were:

Case #

Invoice #

Beneficiary ID:

NOTE: I've read several times that when you get through to the NVC to dial #1 for English and then #5 for an operator. This is no longer true. It's still #1 for English, but then I think it was #3 for a K1 filer and then #1 to hold for operator. The point is wait until you are sure which number to push or you could disconnect yourself.

Good luck to everyone else.

I use an app on my phone called magic jack. Gives free calls to the usa. I only downloaded the standard app package to my phone. To just call the NVC I didn't need to buy any add ons.

Not sure if it'll work from Thailand but don't see why it shouldn't?

Thanks. I'll give it a shot.

Yep, found that link also and submitted a query that way.

We’ll see how long that takes to get an answer. I bet my package will be at the embassy before I get an answer.

Thanks for the encouragement, but I have called on both ends of the their open timeframe (early and late). It's eating up my Skype credit at a prodigious rate. Remember, I'm calling from Thailand.

I have read many times on here where people have finally received notification their package was received at the NVC. Heck, I could care less if it's email or by snail mail just as long as we hear something soon.

We are at 1 month and 2 days from the NOA2 notice date, but I do see this is not uncommon so I'm not in a panic, just fidgety.

According to packet #3 instructions from the Bangkok Embassy and other things I've read...the GSS system is for creating a "Profile" for the fiance. It would seem the most important aspect of this "Profile" is your fiance's address the embassy needs to mail him/her anything they need to mail. The confirmation page would be something you probably see at the end of the process of creating the "Profile".

I haven't done this part yet. We are close, but this is my best guest.

GSS = Global Support Strategy (not a very informative title, at least to the normal user)

K1 Packet #3 from Bangkok Embassy.

CONFIRMATION PRINTOUT OF GLOBAL SUPPORT STRATEGY (GSS) REGISTRATION: Each applicant must create his/her own profile and register his/her mailing address with the GSS system at www.ustraveldocs.com/th. Be sure to print out the CGI Pay Instruction Sheet and Bay Bank Deposit Slip from your profile as you will need both documents to make fee payment.

Other than a K1 Packet #3 from Bangkok Embassy.

CONFIRMATION PRINTOUT OF GLOBAL SUPPORT STRATEGY (GSS) REGISTRATION: Each applicant must create his/her own profile and register his/her mailing address with the GSS system at www.ustraveldocs.com/th.