KnoxThai

Back when my then girlfriend applied to come to the US to visit, she was denied. She had many family members there, no family here, steady job, home, strong ties to her home country. It did not matter. They denied her without even much of an interview.
 
We were upset, as you would expect. She had no desire to stay here, and could not stay here as she had far too many responsibilities in her home country that she had to return to.
 
The sad part is that too many people lie and come here to stay on a tourist visa, which harms the honest folks coming here for legitimate reasons. Guilt by association.
 
Sorry to hear your story and I wish I could tell you that you might have a different result with another effort, but chances are you will receive the same answer.
 
If she has skills that are in demand here maybe she can come on a work visa.

Back when my then girlfriend applied to come to the US to visit, she was denied. She had many family members there, no family here, steady job, home, strong ties to her home country. It did not matter. They denied her without even much of an interview.
 
We were upset, as you would expect. She had no desire to stay here, and could not stay here as she had far too many responsibilities in her home country that she had to return to.
 
The sad part is that too many people lie and come here to stay on a tourist visa, which harms the honest folks coming here for legitimate reasons. Guilt by association.
 
Sorry to hear your story and I wish I could tell you that you might have a different result with another effort, but chances are you will receive the same answer.
 
If she has skills that are in demand here maybe she can come on a work visa.

Back when my then girlfriend applied to come to the US to visit, she was denied. She had many family members there, no family here, steady job, home, strong ties to her home country. It did not matter. They denied her without even much of an interview.
 
We were upset, as you would expect. She had no desire to stay here, and could not stay here as she had far too many responsibilities in her home country that she had to return to.
 
The sad part is that too many people lie and come here to stay on a tourist visa, which harms the honest folks coming here for legitimate reasons. Guilt by association.
 
Sorry to hear your story and I wish I could tell you that you might have a different result with another effort, but chances are you will receive the same answer.
 
If she has skills that are in demand here maybe she can come on a work visa.

We brought my birth certificate and they did ask for it at our interview. They also made copies of the birth certificate while we were there. The document for the interview we received stated that we had to provide evidence of my citizenship.
 
I am a naturalized citizen, for reference. 

We brought my birth certificate and they did ask for it at our interview. They also made copies of the birth certificate while we were there. The document for the interview we received stated that we had to provide evidence of my citizenship.
 
I am a naturalized citizen, for reference. 

The short answer is: either way you will be waiting a while (sorry). It's just a time consuming process.
 
Don't be discouraged though. It is all worth it in the end. Just look at it as one step at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't get overwhelmed with the process. Just concentrate at one thing at a time and you'll be fine. 
 
My wife's friend started her CR1 process about 2 months before my wife and I started the K1 process (in Thailand). My (now) wife was here in the states 8 months before her friend arrived here, but her friend had her green card shortly after arriving, while we are still waiting for my wife's work permit (should have it next week). Her green card may not happen until next year.
 
So from our experience I would tell you that with a K1 you will likely be together sooner, but you will have to wait longer for her to have her work permit and green card.
 
In our case, we wanted to get her here to the states quicker before COVID made things too complicated. 
 
My wife tells me that it's better to fly into Phuket if you go to Thailand, but the last I knew there was a 2 week quarantine period. 
 
Can you meet her in Hong Kong or Japan? 

Book your interview, complete your medical and follow the instructions you'll receive from the embassy. You will receive a 221(g) Request for Evidence (RFE) which will include a "denial" which is only temporary. Once your medical is complete and the embassy has received the results then they will complete your visa. They will request your passport and they then will affix your visa and send it back to you. Good luck and stay engaged. 

Small world!
 
My Fiancé met Fah and they talked for a bit at the embassy today.
 
Hope you had a good result too. 

We got approved one day after (requested Friday, approved Monday), the date you put on your request does not seem to matter much, they will just approve it and then you choose the date that is available. 

To me this is the biggest issue.  When a Democrat President nominates a SCOTUS Justice, they stay in their political lanes almost 100%.  The same cannot be said about a GOP President, they have a much better track record of nominating MORers.

Great calm and rational discussion here. I enjoyed reading the many thoughts written here. Let me interject if I may.
 
In 2016 the senate had two choices: accept Obama's nominee and replace a strong conservative justice with a liberal justice or role the dice and hope beyond hope that Trump won the election and they could put in another conservative justice. A risky move that paid off.
 
It made no sense to have hearings for Garland in 2016. It would have been nothing more than the democrats grand standing (see Kavanaugh hearings for reference) on TV for days on end. It was better to shut that down and just stick to the script: no hearing until after the election.
 
I have seen reports that the democrats intend to fight every election result they do not like in court after the November election. Those battles will likely end up in the Supreme Court so the republicans are wise to put in a conservative now to help their chances when the time comes. Bad call on the democrats to play their hand so early. Good call by the republicans to prepare for the worst.
 
RBG should have stepped down when she first became sick and let Obama put in another liberal justice to keep that seat. She had served long enough and she could have spent her remaining years writing books, cruising the talk circuit and just being with her family. Much less stress might have actually prolonged her life. The democrats held the senate until 2014 and the writing was on the wall that they were going to lose it. I still don't believe Harry Reid "fell and got hurt" after they lost the senate. Politics is a brutal business.
 
Trump is not prone to patience or worrying about what politicians think about his decisions. Trump will nominate someone as soon as possible and the democrats can yell and scream about it but the same scenario was basically in place in 2016: voters knew that a justice was going to be selected by the winner of the election and the voters chose Trump. A 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court is worth all the battle scars the republicans might endure in November. We're talking a conservative court for generations to come. If Trump wins in November Thomas should step down and let Trump put in a young conservative justice and the conservatives will have a strong hold for many years to come.
 
And hearings for the next justice keep Harris off the campaign trail while Biden continues to spend more time in his basement. I still can't understand why the democratic party chose Biden when they had such a large and diverse pool of highly qualified candidates to choose from this time around. It's pretty obvious that they intend to push Biden aside and put in Harris quickly if Biden were to win in November. That's a risky move (as more people begin to understand their plan) considering how poorly Harris did in the primaries. She does not have mass appeal and the independents decide presidential elections and she is certainly not a favorite of theirs. Biden can try and spin himself as centrist to some degree but Harris cannot. Harris is all about California politics and that does not play well with the majority of voters outside of that state.
 
Get your popcorn and pull up a seat. We are going to see some serious drama in the months to come.
 
Be well.

Point conceded. 5-4

Great calm and rational discussion here. I enjoyed reading the many thoughts written here. Let me interject if I may.
 
In 2016 the senate had two choices: accept Obama's nominee and replace a strong conservative justice with a liberal justice or role the dice and hope beyond hope that Trump won the election and they could put in another conservative justice. A risky move that paid off.
 
It made no sense to have hearings for Garland in 2016. It would have been nothing more than the democrats grand standing (see Kavanaugh hearings for reference) on TV for days on end. It was better to shut that down and just stick to the script: no hearing until after the election.
 
I have seen reports that the democrats intend to fight every election result they do not like in court after the November election. Those battles will likely end up in the Supreme Court so the republicans are wise to put in a conservative now to help their chances when the time comes. Bad call on the democrats to play their hand so early. Good call by the republicans to prepare for the worst.
 
RBG should have stepped down when she first became sick and let Obama put in another liberal justice to keep that seat. She had served long enough and she could have spent her remaining years writing books, cruising the talk circuit and just being with her family. Much less stress might have actually prolonged her life. The democrats held the senate until 2014 and the writing was on the wall that they were going to lose it. I still don't believe Harry Reid "fell and got hurt" after they lost the senate. Politics is a brutal business.
 
Trump is not prone to patience or worrying about what politicians think about his decisions. Trump will nominate someone as soon as possible and the democrats can yell and scream about it but the same scenario was basically in place in 2016: voters knew that a justice was going to be selected by the winner of the election and the voters chose Trump. A 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court is worth all the battle scars the republicans might endure in November. We're talking a conservative court for generations to come. If Trump wins in November Thomas should step down and let Trump put in a young conservative justice and the conservatives will have a strong hold for many years to come.
 
And hearings for the next justice keep Harris off the campaign trail while Biden continues to spend more time in his basement. I still can't understand why the democratic party chose Biden when they had such a large and diverse pool of highly qualified candidates to choose from this time around. It's pretty obvious that they intend to push Biden aside and put in Harris quickly if Biden were to win in November. That's a risky move (as more people begin to understand their plan) considering how poorly Harris did in the primaries. She does not have mass appeal and the independents decide presidential elections and she is certainly not a favorite of theirs. Biden can try and spin himself as centrist to some degree but Harris cannot. Harris is all about California politics and that does not play well with the majority of voters outside of that state.
 
Get your popcorn and pull up a seat. We are going to see some serious drama in the months to come.
 
Be well.

Great calm and rational discussion here. I enjoyed reading the many thoughts written here. Let me interject if I may.
 
In 2016 the senate had two choices: accept Obama's nominee and replace a strong conservative justice with a liberal justice or role the dice and hope beyond hope that Trump won the election and they could put in another conservative justice. A risky move that paid off.
 
It made no sense to have hearings for Garland in 2016. It would have been nothing more than the democrats grand standing (see Kavanaugh hearings for reference) on TV for days on end. It was better to shut that down and just stick to the script: no hearing until after the election.
 
I have seen reports that the democrats intend to fight every election result they do not like in court after the November election. Those battles will likely end up in the Supreme Court so the republicans are wise to put in a conservative now to help their chances when the time comes. Bad call on the democrats to play their hand so early. Good call by the republicans to prepare for the worst.
 
RBG should have stepped down when she first became sick and let Obama put in another liberal justice to keep that seat. She had served long enough and she could have spent her remaining years writing books, cruising the talk circuit and just being with her family. Much less stress might have actually prolonged her life. The democrats held the senate until 2014 and the writing was on the wall that they were going to lose it. I still don't believe Harry Reid "fell and got hurt" after they lost the senate. Politics is a brutal business.
 
Trump is not prone to patience or worrying about what politicians think about his decisions. Trump will nominate someone as soon as possible and the democrats can yell and scream about it but the same scenario was basically in place in 2016: voters knew that a justice was going to be selected by the winner of the election and the voters chose Trump. A 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court is worth all the battle scars the republicans might endure in November. We're talking a conservative court for generations to come. If Trump wins in November Thomas should step down and let Trump put in a young conservative justice and the conservatives will have a strong hold for many years to come.
 
And hearings for the next justice keep Harris off the campaign trail while Biden continues to spend more time in his basement. I still can't understand why the democratic party chose Biden when they had such a large and diverse pool of highly qualified candidates to choose from this time around. It's pretty obvious that they intend to push Biden aside and put in Harris quickly if Biden were to win in November. That's a risky move (as more people begin to understand their plan) considering how poorly Harris did in the primaries. She does not have mass appeal and the independents decide presidential elections and she is certainly not a favorite of theirs. Biden can try and spin himself as centrist to some degree but Harris cannot. Harris is all about California politics and that does not play well with the majority of voters outside of that state.
 
Get your popcorn and pull up a seat. We are going to see some serious drama in the months to come.
 
Be well.

Great calm and rational discussion here. I enjoyed reading the many thoughts written here. Let me interject if I may.
 
In 2016 the senate had two choices: accept Obama's nominee and replace a strong conservative justice with a liberal justice or role the dice and hope beyond hope that Trump won the election and they could put in another conservative justice. A risky move that paid off.
 
It made no sense to have hearings for Garland in 2016. It would have been nothing more than the democrats grand standing (see Kavanaugh hearings for reference) on TV for days on end. It was better to shut that down and just stick to the script: no hearing until after the election.
 
I have seen reports that the democrats intend to fight every election result they do not like in court after the November election. Those battles will likely end up in the Supreme Court so the republicans are wise to put in a conservative now to help their chances when the time comes. Bad call on the democrats to play their hand so early. Good call by the republicans to prepare for the worst.
 
RBG should have stepped down when she first became sick and let Obama put in another liberal justice to keep that seat. She had served long enough and she could have spent her remaining years writing books, cruising the talk circuit and just being with her family. Much less stress might have actually prolonged her life. The democrats held the senate until 2014 and the writing was on the wall that they were going to lose it. I still don't believe Harry Reid "fell and got hurt" after they lost the senate. Politics is a brutal business.
 
Trump is not prone to patience or worrying about what politicians think about his decisions. Trump will nominate someone as soon as possible and the democrats can yell and scream about it but the same scenario was basically in place in 2016: voters knew that a justice was going to be selected by the winner of the election and the voters chose Trump. A 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court is worth all the battle scars the republicans might endure in November. We're talking a conservative court for generations to come. If Trump wins in November Thomas should step down and let Trump put in a young conservative justice and the conservatives will have a strong hold for many years to come.
 
And hearings for the next justice keep Harris off the campaign trail while Biden continues to spend more time in his basement. I still can't understand why the democratic party chose Biden when they had such a large and diverse pool of highly qualified candidates to choose from this time around. It's pretty obvious that they intend to push Biden aside and put in Harris quickly if Biden were to win in November. That's a risky move (as more people begin to understand their plan) considering how poorly Harris did in the primaries. She does not have mass appeal and the independents decide presidential elections and she is certainly not a favorite of theirs. Biden can try and spin himself as centrist to some degree but Harris cannot. Harris is all about California politics and that does not play well with the majority of voters outside of that state.
 
Get your popcorn and pull up a seat. We are going to see some serious drama in the months to come.
 
Be well.

I don't think AOC has informed Biden who he will choose to be on his list yet......

If the dems were smart instead of greedy, RGB could have stepped down anytime between 2008-2011 and allowed to seat to go to another lefty.

I mostly just lurk here as I am quite the introvert in real life but I certainly enjoy reading many thoughts and ideas from the many folks that participate here.
 
I wanted to encourage everyone to keep up their strength and hope that we will be with our loved ones soon and we should never give up or doubt that.
 
There are days when I feel discouraged and down and my beautiful Fiance cheers me up with her laughs and smiles and there are days when she is down and I do the same for her. Constant communication and encouragement has been our gift to each other. We video chat everyday and we talk about our daily activities and stay involved in each other's lives.
 
Please don't believe everything you read unless it is an official statement and even then make sure you fully understand it before you let anything get you down.
 
Positive thoughts and wishful prayers to all who are facing this difficult time apart.
 
Be Well.
KnoxThai

I hope this doesn't sound too cynical but after all is said and done I believe many lawyers care about the money being lost.
 
Immigration is a huge money maker for my attorneys (and many other industries) and they need this revenue. They may not necessarily care about our plights to reunite with our loved-ones but they miss the cash flow I can assure you.
 
So be it. Let them rattle some cages and maybe get some progress for all of us. In an election year news like this can sway politicians much more so.

I mostly just lurk here as I am quite the introvert in real life but I certainly enjoy reading many thoughts and ideas from the many folks that participate here.
 
I wanted to encourage everyone to keep up their strength and hope that we will be with our loved ones soon and we should never give up or doubt that.
 
There are days when I feel discouraged and down and my beautiful Fiance cheers me up with her laughs and smiles and there are days when she is down and I do the same for her. Constant communication and encouragement has been our gift to each other. We video chat everyday and we talk about our daily activities and stay involved in each other's lives.
 
Please don't believe everything you read unless it is an official statement and even then make sure you fully understand it before you let anything get you down.
 
Positive thoughts and wishful prayers to all who are facing this difficult time apart.
 
Be Well.
KnoxThai

Great post  This is exactly the kind of messages on here that are needed to help keep the spirits up and remind everyone to be kind and respectful. Thank you!

Just think how far we all have come...There is now a light at the end of the tunnel.  Some Visas are being processed and even some K-1 visas.  I think we have been through the storm, and now we just have to wait a little while longer for the clouds to part and the sun to shine on us again.   Someone once said in a post that now we have all been through this difficult and changeling time,  there is nothing that you and your partner can't conquer now.  Hang in there folks...we are all in this together...

That's a lovely message, and full of wisdom. I hope things work out soon for everyone! In the meantime, we're all doing the best we can.

Thank you so much. I needed that.  I wish you all good luck. 

Thanks for posting an encouraging message.  😊It's easy to fall into the negative thoughts spiral when communication has been so poor.