shawndoc

I wanted to do the same thing for my wife as you did in #1...but I was tooooooo cheap to lay out the $ for Rosetta

You can check the local library. A lot of libraries (at least here in SoCal) have computers set up with either Rosetta Stone or similar English learning software installed on them. I *think* the local Community College does as well, as part of their free ESL classes.

Also wouldn't be surprised if you could "buy" it in Thailand from one of those software shops for 300 baht or so.

Get her an Aprilia Mana 850. Its a great commuter bike. I use to have one and it has an 839cc along with a CVT transmission. great ride, oh wait a little too high for 4'10"

We've looked at scooters. Selection in the states sucks. Its either 49cc or 250cc, with nothing in between. At least with the Japanese brands. Might have to go with a Kymco or similar. Most of the 250's are too big for her, and they don't have the "bicycle" style scooters that are so popular in Thailand. All are the step through variety like in Taiwan. Been tempted to get her a Chinese made scooter since they're so cheap, but I don't have a garage any more and I'm sure they require constant maintenance.

She really wants a Smart Car. But right now she "works" at the store which is less than a mile away. So when I can't take her, she can walk it no problem. If the economy doesn't improve soon, we might have to close the store, and then she'll probably need transportation to get any sort of job.

My wife's pretty good with speaking English, but horrible at reading it. We've been doing the following and it really seems to have helped:

1. We use Rosetta Stone Version 3 for learning English. This helps her not only with reading English, but also with learning more vocabulary and working on her accent. (V3 is a HUGE step above the old v2) She spends 1 hour a day using Rosetta Stone.

2. We go to the library and check out children's books for her. 2 based on American History or culture, and 2 of her choosing (usually about cooking). This way she's learning how to read English, while also starting to learn US history for her citizenship test later. The stuff we are checking out is early-mid elementary school reading level. At one point I got her a book about Thailand, but after a couple pages she wasn't interested as she already everything in it.

We originally bought her the Thai stickers for the keyboard on the computer (Thai town, Los Angeles), however she already knew how to touch type, and after a little while of getting reacquainted to it, she no longer needs them. We never bothered putting them on her laptop when I purchased it for her.

The two biggest things for helping her keep her sanity are A) Webcam + MSN for chatting with her old friends and B) Skype out ($6/mo unlimited calls to Thailand).

And despite years of riding a motorbike around Thailand, she just can't seem to get the hang of driving the car. It isn't helped by the fact she's 4'10".

I think that's really nice being able to meet some Thai friends. My teerak has no Thai friends. She was told over and over not to make friends once she comes (she said even the TV had warnings?). anyway, she wants a Thai friend...had to go to a restaurant just so she could speak Thai.

My wife heard all the same. She has one Thai sorta-friend, but refuses to be more outgoing around Thai people. She's on USVisa4Thai, but never goes to any of the events. (Although I think some of that is because everyone there is from Issan and has kids, and she isn't and doesn't)

When I got my wife her driving permit, I figured that would act as a state ID. That's how it was in Oregon when I grew up. In California they just give you a piece of paper and a black and white print out of her photo that says "This is not a form of identification".

Of course in the early 1990's when I took my test to get my license, the "written" portion was done on computers that had video clips illustrating each question, spoke the question to you (as well as allowing you to read it), and touch screens for selecting the answers. In 2008, California is still using sheets of paper you that you fill in circles to select your answer. They don't even have Scantron's, but real humans who have to manually check each question against an answer key in a 3 ring binder.

PHOTOS TOGETHER

MSN VIDEO CHAT SCREEN SHOTS

CELL PHONE BILLS that SHOW THE TEXT LOGS since May

SHE WILL HAVE MY PASSPORTS ON HAND

Will this be enough?

There's no way to know. The more details the better.

I sent a handful of photos, one or two screen shots of my call logs with Vonage, and put 10-15 emails in a folder in my mail program, and send them a screen shot so they could see the time stamps and to/from, but not the actual messages. And a few ticket stubs from when we flew to Samui and Penang.

That was enough. It all comes down to the individual examiner and whether they get the feeling something funny is going on. My guess is the shorter the relationship, the more evidence you'll need. Same goes for the story on how you met. I'm guessing if you met in a chat room and have only met in person once, you'll need a lot more proof of relationship vs someone who got sent to Bangkok on assignment for 6 months and fell in love with one of the administrative staff.

Can you GC be used for as a valid photo ID?

Finally got our GC in the mail. Standard 2 year GC.

So, we original had card production ordered June 5th. June 8th they mailed the welcome letter. On August 4th we received another notice that card production had been ordered again. Today we just got email that our approval notice had been sent.

Is "approval notice sent" code word for green card, or are we going backwards now in the processing cycle?

Just go notice that they've ordered green card production for the second time (Its now 60 days since the first time it was ordered). Hopefully that means we should finally be getting our greencard.

We finally got an update on our green card. The official response is "We haven't sent it yet. Give us 60 more days."

Approved on June 5th. Card Production ordered June 5th. Welcome letter sent June 8th.

The only thing I would recommend is finishing the vaccines in Thailand, they will be cheaper. You will still need to get the DS2035 transferred to the I693, but you can do that through Dr. Arnold (Info in the AOS Forum). I had a CS here in Vegas transfer my Vaccinations for free.

No need to transcribe your vaccinations as long as your AOS interview is within 1 year of the medical exam in Thailand. The paperwork submitted in the "sealed envelope" your fiancee turns in at point of entry will satisfy this requirement. Occasionally it gets lost and they will issue an RFE to get it.

Well, the 3-4 days for a call back have long passed, and no call back. Was going to call them again today at lunch, but forgot the paperwork at home. So Monday I'll call them back and see what's going on with my wife's green card.

That doesn't make sense --they should call in 3-4 days but if they won't, you need to wait 45days before you call 'em?!?. Sounds ridiculous!!

I hope you'd hear from 'em in 3-4days. I know how frustrating it is. We'll just keep our fingers crossed.

Yup. I thought I misheard them, so asked them again to make sure.

I won't wait the 45 days though.

Just one little thing to note, if you are traveling from or to the United States, the weight allowances are greater than if you are flying anywhere else. So be sure when you are checking weight allowances, you check International flights originating or flying to the US, vs the normal International travel weight allowances.

I remember the difference was quite significant.

I also haven't had any problems being charged for overweight bags with China Air, Eva, or Cathay Pacific when the overage was just a few kilos.

Well I called today to find out what's going on with my wife's Green Card. Card Production was ordered June 5th. The USCIS website says to give them a call if its been more than 30 days and we haven't received the card.

It was a long process on the card, but they agreed we should have gotten our card already, and they've initialized a trace. Someone should call me back in 3 or 4 days with an update on where her card went. But if they don't call, I need to wait 45 days before calling back.

Anyone else have card production ordered by June 5th or earlier, but still not receive their card. I'm wondering if others are experiencing the same delay? (Will be calling them tomorrow)

Just FYI, a mortar and pestal can be purchased for under $10 at Ikea of all places. It is rather small, but it works.

We still haven't received our greencard in the mail, despite being approved on June 5th and getting our Welcome Letter the next week.

How much longer should we give it before making an info pass appointment? If we call, can they tell us if it was mailed? We live in an apartment complex, so there's always the chance it got stuck in the wrong persons mailbox, and they chose to throw it out rather than bring it to us.

The airline tickets are insanely expensive right now! I can't find anything under $1800!!! I was thinking Korean air to Dulles (I live in the Baltimore/DC area) but they're over $2100).

Try contacting the travel agent run/sponsored by Thaivisa.com They only book travel that begins in Thailand, and I found it was significantly cheaper than anything I could find online.

I also occasionally find cheap prices I can't find anywhere else at vayama.com. But that's for flights originating in the US.

We didn't submit the 693, and we didn't get an RFE. Just sent in a copy of the vaccination form from the original exam in Thailand before the interview.

As long as the medical exam is within 1 year of your AOS interview, you should be fine. At worst you'll get an RFE, but there's lots of stories of people who didn't hire a doctor to transcribe the vaccinations, and did NOT get an RFE. There's few (if any) actual stories of people who didn't and got an RFE. Most who got RFE's are people who past the 1 year mark from the original examination or are from countries where the embassy doesn't require the vaccinations in advance like Thailand does. I think it just typical group think/fear that gets people worked up. The same thing that gets people to bring in an entire milk crates of "evidence" of relationship and other silly stuff.

Why spend money on a civil surgeon unless they ask for it? At the AOS stage your fiancee is already in the country legally, and should already have an AP to allow travel in/out of the country and an EAD to work. At worst you're looking at a 1-2 months delay in getting a green card, which doesn't really give you anything the AP/EAD don't.

We got our approval letter in the mail last week, and still no greencard.

2

You make an infopass appointment and they will stamp your passport then.

It takes about 2 weeks after entering the country for you to get in the SS office computer system. So any time between two weeks after entering and before your I94 expires (90 days after entry), you can apply for a SSN.

Just on the flower front, I've always had good luck with: http://www.flowers2thailand.com/

Always delivered something as good if not better than pictured on the site, and I always found them to have really good prices.