AaronLV

34 minutes ago, killbill said:

 

Insurance paperwork or the Noa1 for AOS?

 

I plan on adding my fiance to my employer provided health insurance and I'm trying to plan ahead, esp. with the SSN or no ssn issue

You will have no problem adding to the insurance, you just let them know ssn is pending.   

8 hours ago, jaysaldi said:

Ok thank you so much. I think what we are going to is get married tomorrow, in Las Vegas. Go to social security office Tuesday morning. There are several social security offices listed in Las Vegas can I go to any one? 

 

Also, what is the normal process and conversation at the SSA office (when people haven’t procrastinated and there are no verification errors)? 

 

I mean we go in, hand over her passport and I-94 form and ask for a SSN and do they just take it and say “we’ll get back to you” or is there normally some discussion or decision making or thumbs up or down right there on the spot? Is there a goal I should have in mind for some paperwork or receipt I want them to give me before leaving the office or some magic words or assurances I want them to say/agree to? 

 

And thanks so so much for the tip about not using her married name at SSA. I guess that complicates things? I’ll plan to adjust status with her married name but apply for the SS card with her maiden and update that later. Thanks 

That isn't going to work as you need to the Official marriage license for the SSN.  If you marry on Sunday, with the Monday holiday your best case is going to have the Official document ready by Wednesday, but I would guess more like Friday at the earliest.

You don't need the SSN for applying for health insurance although they will ask, just tell them it is pending.  However you need to apply right after you get married and before she goes out of status.   As then she MUST have legal status when applying.   If you don't apply before she goes out of status, then you will need to wait for the NOA1 from filing for AOS. 

Another important part of having an SSN is so you can file taxes and claim married.   If you don't have the SSN before you file you cannot use that deduction.    Found out the hard way, waited to file as I was due a refund, and then filed when she got her SSN, and 1 month later got hit with a tax bill and late fees  even though we had been married, she didn't have the SSN until after the filing date (noted on the IRS letter).   

Thank you for sharing such a helpful information. I'm wondering if the original Birth Certificate is required in packet 3? Or they will ask for it once you get to the interview?

Do not send originals, send copies and bring the originals to the interview.

I m arriving at Bangkok October 14. By this time my case would be in administrative processing for 30 business days. Do you guys think it's a good idea to go directly to the embassy and try to speak with CO? Try to see what's going on? Would that help? Or should I try to make an appointment with the embassy before that? I just don't understand the situation and why it's taking so long ?

Today is business day 12 since they signed for received documents. My CEAC got updated once 3 days ago, but it still says " administrative processing "

Let me know what you guys think about visiting the embassy.

Waste of a trip. They won't let you talk to anyone. Use email, seems to be the only way to talk to anyone, even though it takes forever for them to respond.

They do for do for IR/CR, as I know 3 people who went through it. They needed 5x the poverty level though. I can't see why they would not for K1's since they do for IR/CR.

Hello all,

Do I need an appointment at the Bangkok USCIS to drop off the I-130 and other documents? According to their website walk-ins are welcome, but I see you can request an appointment also.

Anyone have experience with this office?

Wife and I starting the paperwork, but holding off until after our 2nd anniversary next month to submit the paperwork... And also to see whether or not my Thai employer will extend my contract for another year.

You do not need an appointment for the USCIS office.

Bangkok will not let you in unless you have an appointment, you cannot go in with your fiancee/wife.

Usually takes a couple of days. It should not take that long. Provided they used your address, you should have it by now if they sent it out two months ago.

On the back of the cleared check I got, it had my case number. Of course I used my own check.

Thank you so much for answering! My lawyer get back to me and said that he sent my packet along with others so he does not know which tracking number my particular packet was. He said that the check cleared and they have transfered my file to some other department. So I should be getting my fist notice of action any day now . I really hope that's true!!!

They made the payment for you? With mine they required I send the check. 50 days and no NOA1 he is lying to you. You should have had it within a week of arrival at USCIS. I would be surprised if they sent them in bulk, I think he is just trying to save face.

I used Siam Legal, unfortunately I found this site after I had started with them. Ours took around 5 months, I had the NOA1 in 5 days after they sent it in, I insisted they overnight it, which they did. and I got a tracking number.

If you have not gotten NOA1 in 50 days and USCIS has no record, then it was either lost in the mail, or they never sent it, and you are now delayed 2 months.

Overall the service was good, but the lawyer I had there was a lady from the US, which made it much easier to deal with than the Thai staff. I learned the process and was always calling asking questions, and as soon as I got anything I was on the phone with them demanding they move things along. But this is normal when dealing with any attorney, as they have lots of clients and you are rarely the priority.

I know a few other people who used them and the experience was mixed, of course that was in recent years, I did mine back in 2008 so I am sure things have changed.

One part of having hired them that was invaluable was that they could tell my wife exactly what they needed, where as I was trying to explain to her (at the time), and she was clueless on the documents.

Interesting, so I would mail the petition request to the proper address for my state of residence (New York). Can I stipulate a different response address as I'm not in New York to obtain mail sent there at the moment. For domicile purposes, I am still employed by my company in New York, receive paychecks twice a month and still pay federal and state taxes for the US/New York.

You will file wherever your residential address is, you can put down a different mailing address, but I believe it still has to be a US address. You will file for a CR1 not a K3, the CR1 you can file for once you are married. You may want to think about doing a K1 opposed to a CR1 at this point depending on your timeline. The K1 will be faster to get the visa than the CR1, but the advantage of the CR1 is you won't need to file for adjustment of status in the US.

If you do go the route of the K1 you can file immediately, and have a religious wedding in Thailand (ie no paperwork, just the party), then when you get to US, do a quick marriage at the court house and you are all done. This would be the quickest route to going back to the states.

The domicile issue comes into play when you are filing via DCF, which you don't qualify for, so it is a non-issue.

Why change it on her passport. If she gets a Farang last name from what I have heard from my Thai friends she cant ever own property in Thailand

That is false. That was an old law that was changed in the 90's.

So, if my wife gets U.S. Passport, ticket issued in that name. Flying into Thailand does she present Thai passport and then use the U.S. passport when leaving so as to match the ticket? Or just use Thai passport coming and going and use the U.S. passport at POE in U.S.? I see this only as an issue with Thailand as the U.S. passport would be used for all other international travel.

At the airline counter when leaving the US show the passport which you booked the ticket name in. (if you have different names in the passport), if it happens to be the US passport, and you are have a ticket without a return flight then show the Thai passport with the US passport to show you don't need a visa to stay in Thailand.

At TSA show the passport which matches the boarding pass name.

Thai immigration SHOW ONLY THE THAI passport. It doesn't matter if she has both, but I have heard of immigration trying to force Thais to use the US passport to enter Thailand, even though they should not, which brings up a point they should never enter on their US passport, and if the officer at the counter ever tells them to they should talk to a supervisor. No law in Thailand against Dual Citizenship.

When leaving Thailand, at the Airline ticket counter show both passports, which shows they can enter the US without a visa, this is the same process as when having a Green Card, they require to see the Green Card when leaving.

When at Thai Immigration, exit on the Thai Passport.

When enter the US enter on the US passport.

The other part is if you are travelling with your wife go through the Thai passport control line rather than waiting in the foreign line, it is much quicker.

Hmm are you saying the embassy in DC or la is more competent than the one in New York?

I have never dealt with the NY consulate, so I am not sure. I have called the LA one and they were always helpful, but that was years ago.

And yes I think that's what it is with them giving me the runaround for some tea money or something.

That seems to be the goto answer when they can't help people, and I would say 99% of the time that is not the case. Most of the time I believe it is the fact that they don't want to lose face because they are unsure of the process or they heard from so and so that is how it is done.

My primary concern is with a passport in one name and a green card/ advanced parole in another.. this could be big problems with the TSA or immigration officials at JFK/ BKK and whatever airport we have to layover at and it could have so simply been avoided if the amphur in Nong Khai would just register the marriage. We sent them the marriage registration signed, notarized but no..

No concern with TSA carry passport, green card, and marriage cert. Been through the airport at least a dozen times, with different last names and never an issue her Thai name is linked in the computer to her GC, they might ask for the marriage cert, as I have read here on VJ people have been asked, but I have never been asked.

As for registering the marriage that is different from just changing the name, although they can coincide. A US notarization means nothing to the Thai government. If you look on a recent thread you will see that registering your marriage here, they need an affidavit from the US Embassy, that has been translated and certified from the Thai MFA. Then you can take it to the Amphur and have it registered.

On the Thai embassy website there is information about legalizing documents http://www.thaiembassydc.org/?page_id=32

I assume from reading the information, legalized is the process of getting a US document stamped from MFA outside of Thailand, where as in Thailand you need the affidavit from the US embassy.

You are most likely missing the MFA stamp which is why they will not register the marriage and change the name, and is most likely lost in translation from your wife to you on what you need.

As Ning stated contact the embassy in LA or Washington DC. They will be able to sort it out.

You will learn in Thailand most of the government offices especially in the Rural areas have no idea what the actual rules are and go by what they "Think" is correct, and not what is actually correct. (side note: Thai Banks are the same way).

I also believe for the name change she will need to register the marriage here in Thailand. I wouldn't bother changing her name here. We have been married 6 years we use my last name for all things US, and her last name in Thailand for all things Thai. Never had an issue travelling back and forth with the different names, and never once have we had to show the marriage certificate (passport in one name, and GC in a different name). I assume it is all linked up in the computer. I usually booked the tickets in her passport name, but I did make a mistake twice and used my last name on airline tickets and there was no issue when we got to the airline counter, we showed her GC and passport, and non-issue.

A check of requirements for a retirement visa to Thailand versus requirements for a non-immigrant renewable one year visa married to a Thai national should answer your question. Since we have a house there and I spend 3 months a year there and will retire in 5 years we found it to be a valid question....thx for your input.

I did this several years ago after being married for 3 years with a marriage cert from the states. I had to get the free to marry cert from the consulate in Chiang Mai, have it translated and stamped for the MFA. When we went to the Amphur office they took all our information from our US cert and used it on the Thai one so it has all the same information. Took us 2 days to complete the process, the service I used charged us a nice sum of money to get 1 day turn around on the MFA stamp. We needed if for getting our Son's birth certificate at the time.

You can get a Non-O visa without having the marriage registered in Thailand, which you get at an embassy or consulate outside of Thailand. You need the marriage registered here when you apply for an extension of stay based on Marriage.

If you are of retirement age and aren't planning on working while you are living in Thailand, I would recommend doing the extension based on retirement instead of marriage, less hoops to jump through, much more straight forward, less paperwork, and headache. As long as you have thee 800K in the bank or 65K per month income it is much easier to do then the marriage extension.

Hello, my fiance needs a police clearance form from Thailand because she worked there for over 6 months. Anyone know any good legal services that can help us procure a police clearance in a short time?

Thank you!

Do it yourself. It is fairly simple.

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

Takes about 3 weeks to complete. Not sure any firm is going to speed that up.

As others have said getting the Thai passport and Birth Cert at the Thai embassy is straight forward. Most likely won't take long to do either as long as you have the correct documents.

However, I would immediately hide the US passport and not give it to the Wife. Since the US does not have exit controls it is impossible to know if your wife will be asked if she has permission to take the child out of the country. The airlines might ask for such a letter to escape liability, but not always. Once the child is in Thailand, you will not be able to leave the country without the mothers consent, and THEY DO check for that letter at Thai immigration upon exit. I know several people that have been caught up in this (all worked out with a call to the mother), but they were also on speaking terms.

Once the child is in Thailand all bets are off, and you will have very few rights, even though the child is a US citizen, the embassy will do very little to help since the child is also a Thai national. Another person I know comes to Thailand to see his kids, and the mother won't let him see them until she gets XXXXXX baht when he arrives, two times he has been here and went home without seeing the kids because she decided she didn't want him to see the kids.

Ning is also correct about the English, they aren't taught, and they don't practice it, so it will only get tougher to communicate especially if the kid is not around english speakers daily. I have a 3 year old, and it can be tough to understand him as he is saying Thai words I don't know, and I see him every day. On the plus side my Thai vocabulary is building.

She might be suffering Postpartum Depression, and could be the cause of all the issues. Maybe have her see a therapist.

To reiterate, Don't leave the country with the child.

I am definitely NOT self employed although I can see how you might assume that. Rather, I work temporary assignments on a contractual basis so the jobs have defined compensation, start and end dates. They also require significant travel away from home. The per diem is technically just to cover expenses.

I'm not sure how the embassy views this since they are probably receiving the same sort of per diems themselves.

The contracting agencies use the tax free portion of my compensation as an incentive.

This money is never reported to the IRS as part of my income and I receive no W2 entries nor a 1099 for it. The agencies write it off so I cannot.

There is no option for a "full" transcript. It appears others have used the "return transcripts". I'd just like to be sure.

Thanks all for your feedback.

Hopefully, someone can post who has been in a similar predicament.

If you are working for an agency then you are considered employed you get a W2 for the wages they pay you. If you are considered and employee of the company during the time you are contracted to do so (ie the company pays you and they withhold taxes), then they are correct not to add in the per diem in your W2 because they are reporting it as income to the IRS for the company and writing off the per diem as expenses, so it cannot be reported to you, nor can you use it for income to get you over the poverty level, it is not income it covers expenses.

If you are contracted and they give you a 1099 then the per diem should be added into your income which you can then deduct actual on a schedule C and that per diem can then be used as income to you. If you do get a 1099 from them excluding the per diem, then you should be submitting actual receipts and get reimbursed by the company and any amount above the expense you should not get paid for. These rules changed about 4 years ago by the IRS.

I used to give per diem but now I require actual expenses from my contractors, and they are told a not to exceed value when travelling, anything about the FTR (Federal Travel Regs per diem amount), is un-allowable and I do not pay for it. I don't add it in to their 1099's as I now compensate actual expenses.

You don't need a steady job per se, however they may want you to be much higher above the income level without a steady job. You can use income + assets which in BKK on a K1 they require 5X not 3X. If you can have the agency you go through write a letter that you got X number of jobs the previous year through them along with the total income they paid you (excluding per diem), and currently this year you have done X jobs with compensation and in all likely hood you will have the same number of jobs by the end of 2015.

Also remember if you have an interview date after Tax day you will need to have your 2014 transcripts also for packet 3.

I don't have an account to get the tax transcripts, if you can list the options they give you here I can tell you which one. I had called in to get mine many moons ago.

Unfortunately the imputed income route won't work since this is travel pay and I am not self employed. I already investigated that option.

We've been waiting an extra long time due to a 4 month holdup thanks to CSC archiving my petition by mistake. I don't want to start over with a CR1. We have other reasons for wanting to marry in the USA.

A joint sponsor is not an option for me.

I have enough without the subsidies to meet 100% poverty for the I134 but fall a few bucks short of the I864 requirements.

I guess i'll have to submit what I have now and get together with my bank for asset documentation to fill the void if they won't accept my per diem pay as income.

BTW - anyone know which tax transcript the embassy wants? They have 4 options for download with the IRS' s new online system.

I am not sure how you are not considered Self Employed being on a contract. There is a space on the 1040 that says income that is not reported elsewhere. If the companies are not withholding taxes you need to be paying quarterly, if you are getting a per diem as an employee it is not treated as income, however if you are getting a per diem as a contractor, that is counted as income and you need to write them off on a schedule C, I got hit with this when I switched over from employee to a contractor.

Bangkok on a K1 normally requires you to meet the guidelines for AOS, at least they did when I was going through. I have helped quite a few people in the last couple years but they were all for CR/IR-1, no K1's so I am not sure what they will require, but you should be able to offset any short comings in income with assets.

You need the FULL tax transcripts if you are using those.

They cant do anything until they have the case file. You can tell them your opinion of their actions in an email or by phone.

The medical can be done the day of the interview or even after it is over. They just wont issue the visa until its complete. I never heard of them refusing to do the medical. People have had it done so far in advance that they had to do it over for example.

The expedite will cause them to move the case to the front of the 700 cases they see each month. Consider yourself lucky to have been approved for expedite. My husbands brother died while we waited.

I know 3 people who tried to get medical done early (recently last 3 months), and the hospital would not do it without the letter from the embassy. I believe this is a recent change.

if anyone is considering trip to Thailand we booked 2 round trips Aug20/sept18, Cathay pacific,$2013.00 total....I paid $2117.00 just for myself Aug2013!!! Also, we have a early morning departure Sept18(11:50am),and since we cannot get to BKK from Korat by bus that early we were able to book 2 nights at the Landmark BKK, a five star hotel for $60.00 per night! Don't know if there low prices are due to the past and present "situation in Thailand? We were worrying about receiving Songsang`s EAD/I-131 combo card in time but we today received e-mail that combo card went to card production!

Pretty good price, how many stops? We just came from Chiang Mai to Vegas on Korean for 3400 (2 adults, 1 child) RT with only one stop in Seoul, less stops the better, used to pay the extra money when Thai flew non-stop from LA to BKK, well worth the extra money. My friend in BKK that does B2B travel packages told me that the groups are currently not filling up the planes and they are releasing seats back into inventory which has driven the price down.

If you plan on eating at the Landmark at all get the Membership (5900 baht for 1 year), gets you discounts at all the restaurants. The restaurants are a bit expensive, but really good food. I eat on the terrace whenever I am in Bangkok and it is good food. I get bored with Thai food pretty quickly. On soi 11 there are some good restaurants also (lots have opened up in the past year), one of our favorite places is a Pizza place behind the Old German House, and Zaks Wine Bar has some good wine for happy hour (at least good wine at reasonable prices for Thailand). We have spent a lot of time in the area since my Mother in law owns several condos on Soi 13. I have a few other places I enjoy eating, but all are western

If you have a chance head over to the Baiyoke tower, they have a bar at the top with awesome views. Don't eat up there as it is very expensive and my friend said it was horrible (after 40K baht for dinner), but surprisingly the drinks are quite reasonable, cheaper than Lebua and I think the view is much much better.

I would suggest renting a car rather than taking a bus to Korat, more expensive but well worth the extra expense. I did the bus to Burirram on a few trips, and having to rely on Cousins and other people to take me places, sucked. Of course my wife was from a village quite a way out of town. I think in the end with gas, food, and extra baht I had to give people for driving us, it would have always been cheaper to rent a car. Now I won't go unless we are driving. Don't be afraid to drive, Korat is a simple drive from BKK, and driving in Thailand is quite easy, took me a bit to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, but just remember, the center line is always outside the drivers window. The worst part is driving in Bangkok, I missed my exit for Sukumvhit one time and it took me 2 hours to get to the condo. I have been driving for about 4 years in Thailand, and the only thing I have hit is poles (don't ask).

This is what I was hoping would come up here. The O P is only interested in these most recent situations but didnt seem to be aware that what happened to others relative to the shots may not have anything to do with his fiances circumstances. The laundry list of shots he posted are not always needed and in fact most of us only needed a few. I had just three but that was not in the isolated time frame he thinks is important.

Money may not be a factor here but if the timing of the medical isnt understood then as Aaron points out there will be another very expensive medical required.

Additionally his lady will or should be given follow up shots once in the USA and prior to the AOS meeting even though in my case for example they didnt even ask nor were interested in the medical form they had requested.

For the benefit of those that do care about the costs of such things I suggest they check with a local county health clinic to obtain the follow ups. A doctor wanted 300 for mine and over 900 for my daughters. At the clinic I paid 23 for mine while my daughters 9 shots were 100% free.

When I did the research on the I-693 for AOS, there were people that never did it and got through, and there were other people that got RFE or asked to go get them done and come back. When we went in to do the interview that was the first thing the officer asked for. He opened it reviewed it, and then put it in the stack. We had filed AOS so fast our file from BKK had not even made it to the US, they were still waiting for it. That might have been the reason he looked it over.

I have been doing my sons shots at the hospital in Thailand, and they have been as expensive as they are in the US. I don't trust some of the clinics and prefer to pay the money and make sure we get the real vaccination.

On a funnier note when my wife was pregnant while we were in the US, they took 9 viles of blood, then when she went to Thailand to have the baby the doctor looked over the blood work, and said "wow" we don't test for any of those. She was quite happy last month when she had to only take a single vile at the Thai hospital when she got the positive results.

My wife ended up having 4 shots when she went to the medical. She was under 25 and had to do the HPV, since that is no longer a requirement, she would have ended up with 3. So it will really depend on what anti-bodies your fiancee already has.

One more reason I thought of to delay your medical is having to redo them in the US for AOS, you can use the K1 medical for the AOS, provided it was done less than a year before you file for AOS. So depending on dates etc, you can be pushing it if something happens and you get put in AP.

We had the shot records transferred to the AOS form for free at the local Civil Surgeon. Also we never finished the series of shots on the vaccinations either.

Not sure what kind of wavier she would need for the medical, I am not even sure there is a wavier for medical. I think if it is a disease that is not treatable she is just non-admissible. If she has one of the diseases that would prevent her from getting a visa, I think you have bigger problems.

As Karee said why risk having the medical start to early, do it when you get the BNK number, you never know if you get put in AP, or have some other event that happens. They can test her blood for antibodies and they will know what shots she needs and doesn't need, if it is a series she just needs to start them. They don't require that they are done. Most of the vaccines my wife didn't have to get because she had the antibodies already.

The only changes I am aware of is they no longer require HPV vaccination for woman. Other than that I don't think there were any changes since we went through in 2009.

If money is no object and you just want to make sure she has the records, just goto the hospital and pay for the vaccinations now, and have them do a shot record and then bring it when they do the official medical. Your not saving any time, the medical takes 1/2 a day, and when you get NOA2 you are going to have at least a 4 week wait for the interview.