Dan and Pat!

Ask her to tell the good doctor to give her any forms required by the embassy to submit for the interview and are related to the fee she paid. If he wont do it tell him she will write a complaint to the embassy director and explain the doctors actions at the interview.

If she didnt have any docs to submit they wont issue the visa. In that case just send her to the other hospital. In the end she will have the docs she needs. As soon as she does she will be allowed to submit them with her passport for the issuance of the visa I would think.

She can buy a special pin number at any Thai post office that will allow her to call into the embassy X amount of times. Tell her to ask her questions in a general manner not specific to her case. For example- Can people interview if they dont have the complete medical docs?.

If you still have a communication problem with her about all this send me a P M.

She went to the hospital on Tuesday 26th, Doctor refused to give her the forms without giving Pooh the second dose of MMR which takes 2 weeks. He and the staff at BNH were very rude to my wife and didn't like her pushing.

She went to the visa with Pooh's father, and they passed the interview but must wait for the medical forms to issue the visa. I'm ecstatic and livid.

Does anyone know the best way to get the forms back to the Embassy. They said put them in the mail I don't want to do that, time is an issue. Is the consulate drop box an option for this kind of thing?

I'm not sure, part of my problem is that I'm only getting what my wife translates, and she's unsure of all of the terminology and such. I have convinced her to go and see this doctor in person. We have to have the forms, I'm not wasting any more time, we are almost there.

Why couldn't he just get the shot on the 21st? I realize that for some vaccinations there is a series, but my wife just got the first shot in the series at her medical, and that was it.

Karee, I'm wondering the same thing. I'm having no luck getting my wife to push the doctor. Looks like I am going to have to do it myself. Wish I spoke better Thai because I can't seem to get straight answers out of BNH. Of course as you know you can no longer contact the embassy either. I'm exhausted by all of this.

My stepson has a visa interview on February 27th.

Phurithat went in to get his physical done on the 18th and then followed up on 21st. Dr. Kasanee at BNH refuses to sign the paperwork because his vaccinations are incomplete. He has an appointment on March 5th to get them finished (it's the MMR) but the interview is on the 27th of February. They gave us a receipt and an appointment slip and said that this would be good enough for the visa appointment, that if there was any trouble the interviewer should call the hospital. I'm not convinced that this will work. Furthermore we have everything set up for Phurithat's father to be in BKK for the interview on the 27th. Can you give me any advice as to what to do?

30 days right? Everything I read is telling me 2-6 months, but I swear it didn't take that long the first time we applied after our interview, it was 2 weeks for fingerprint interview and 2 for the green card to arrive

That's good news.

Yeah I lived in Thailand for 3 years. I wish I would've known about DCF. The whole process took a year for us. I think they replace the green card pretty quickly. Probably 30 days max.

She came on a K-1, I was in Thailand but didn't know to do the DCF. We got Advance parole in the form a card, but that was stolen with her green card. So now I need to find the best option for replacing her ability to travel. If that means replacing the green card thats what I will do, maybe that is something that I can file right now to save time.

If we have 15 days until I-130 is finished, 50 days at NVC and then 60 days until interview, she needs to come home now, and hopefully we will be able to replace green card in time so she can travel. Worse case scenario, I go over there and get him to the interview, I keep forgetting that this is an option as well.

Just to answer your other point we have a transport letter all set up, so that is not a problem. I am in touch with the consulate over in Bangkok and they have been very friendly about getting her home.

Sorry, I should have been more specific. It's about the USC living in Thailand for more than 6 months to be eligible for direct filing at the consulate. So for the child, you'll have to go the regular route. I-130 with USCIS and then the other stuff with NVC, and then the consulate.

What visa did she have to come to the U.S.? In my wife's case she came on an IR-1 visa and they put a I-551 stamp in her passport which is the equivalent of a green card. It was good for 6 months so she could travel on that with no problem.

As for the interview date, we had about 60 days notice.

I have, and thanks. I will check in with them tomorrow before I confirm her ticket.

I had my congressman help with my wife's I-130 and explained the situation. The NVC receieved the initial payments but had all of the required documents they would have requested forwarded to BKK. As mentioned before and on many VJ cases, nothing seems to be set in stone with USCIS/DoS. So contact your local congressman's office.

Karee,

Thanks for the information. She will be there 6 months at the end of June, but at our interview they told us not to leave the country for more than 6 months, so I think she needs to come back.

I did have one other question though, if NVC sets the interview, how much lead time do they give? Will I have enough time to send her back, get the medical done and get to the interview? I'm going to have her try and do the Amphur letter before she comes home.

Unless you can prove 6 months residency in Thailand, bypassing NVC isn't an option.

As for the stolen green card, look here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=b3f7ab0a43b5d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Seems like she'll need to go to the embassy in Bangkok and get an entry permit for the U.S. and then apply for a replacement G.C. when she get's back.

Hello Karee,

Thank you for the information, at this point I just need more of an understanding of how the process works so I can do some planning. I appreciate this bit of information, I didn't know that NVC set the interview date, that helps me out quite a bit. If she comes home, more time is actually better, if she stays put obviously we need to speed things up if at all possible.

Unfortunately, NVC sets the dates for immigrant visa interviews. The consulate sets the dates for non-immigrant visas. It seems the non-immigrant visa interviews get priority and then the immigrant visas gets any slots that are left over. It took almost 3 months for my wife's interview from the case complete date at NVC, while K visas were getting interviews ~45 days after filing packet 3.

Pocho, I will look into bypassing NVC, there is another issue here in that my wife had her green card stolen in Thailand, we have had some really bad luck.

The issue would be then that if I brought her home I don't know that she could get a replacement green card in time to get back to Thailand to pick him up. My head is spinning with all of the things that I don't know.

Sorry about your situation.

You may want to contact your local congressman's office and seek assistance for your situation and may assist with the expedite and possibly bypass the NVC approval process and have your case directly processed by the embassy in BKK. The IR-2 case is just like the IR-1 and as many in VJ are taking 8-9 months.

As mentioned earlier, you will have to get the medical and the consent from the father. He will have to go to the Ampur and get a letter of consent allowing your step-child to immigrate to the U.S., which will be required at the embassy and if I remeber correctly, it doesn't have to be translated into English.

Good luck with your case.

Hello again Ning!

It has been awhile but you had some great advice for me when I got my wife's visa, thanks for taking the time to read my post.

The child is seven. I don't know what visa I'm trying to get him, but I think it is an IR-2 as my wife is an LPR and we have been married over 2 years. We are trying to have him move permanently to live with us.

So just to be clear, I am wondering exactly what happens after I receive NOA 2 for the I-130. Could you please tell me if this is correct? the visa will go to NVC which looks like it is running at about a 55 day processing time, and then to the consulate in Bangkok which is at least a 14 day wait.

Part of me would like my wife to stay in Thailand, because I feel we could be very close, but another part of me needs her here with me, I am having a very difficult time after the robbery.

Do you have a copy of the embassy letter that the father is required to sign? Is there a flowchart or timeline that I could look at somewhere?

I really apologize, this whole process is making my head spin. Thank you again for reading.

It seems you are asking about the path to get the childs visa. It is exactly the same as any other person with some exceptions. Such as police report. It would help to know the childs age.

The 130 is approved by USCIS & sent to NVC just as any other petition would be. You dont say what visa you are trying to get which makes this difficult to further advise.

The first thing to do is understand what is required by the embassy to grant a visa to child.

Hello VJers,

I can't seem to find a flowchart or guide for I-130 filers, specifically USCs that want to bring over a stepchild.

I filed on November 9th and my wife flew over to Thailand to help with paperwork in December. However my house was recently robbed and I need her back here, we have to move immediately.

Does anyone know what happens after the I-130 is approved? Does it go to NVC? Do I necessarily have to have an interview if it is a minor child? I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me what happens next.

Thanks for reading.

Dan

I'm in the same boat, I filed November 9th. I'm not sure what to tell you, it seems like the processing times are really jumping around. What service center did you file with?

My husband (USC) applied to bring my son (his step-son) to the USA. USCIS received this on Sept. 19th, 2011. At what point can I contact the USCIS to see what's is happening with my son's petition? Is there a number that can be called on this situation?

Thanks

I'm in the same boat, I filed November 9th. I'm not sure what to tell you, it seems like the processing times are really jumping around. What service center did you file with?

My husband (USC) applied to bring my son (his step-son) to the USA. USCIS received this on Sept. 19th, 2011. At what point can I contact the USCIS to see what's is happening with my son's petition? Is there a number that can be called on this situation?

Thanks

The I-130 and photocopies (don't send originals) of the supporting documents are all you need to start. The NVC will ask for the I-864 and DS-230 later.

The I-824 route is closed. The K-2 route is no longer possible because it has been more than 1 year since the K-1 was issued. If you were to pursue it, it would have ended in a denial because you would be applying for a benefit that your stepson no longer qualifies for. The I-130 is your only choice at this point.

Thank you Jojo, this was exactly what I wanted to know. I found the whole I-824 thing very confusing, glad it's off the table.

Everyone I appreciate the advice, we have been talking to other about this situation and received a lot of negativity about leaving Pooh in Thailand. Thank you for the advice without judgement.

I am not sure of why you are confused about her marital status. She was unmarried or single. This is common in Thailand. We dont want to marry these men because we dont want to have to go thru the Thai courts to get divorced if it doesnt work out. It doesnt most of the time. If we marry, the man can & will go after our families assets & probably get them. Those assests are all the family has after generations of effort.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'm sending the I-130 off on Friday. Are there any other forms that I should do at the same time?

Ning, I agree 100%. What I was suggesting is that she might be able to file an I-824 and re-open the file. However I there was something about her marriage status when I looked on the USCIS website that would have held the process up. From the research I have done it seems like the I-824 would be slower than the I-130, so that suggestion is out anyway.

Hello all,

My wife and I moved to the U.S. in November 2009. We made the decision to leave her little boy Pooh (5), with family and his dad until we had enough money for him to join us. Time flew and we were very broke for awhile. Long story short I'm assuming that his K-2 visa to follow has expired. We dearly miss him and want him here with us, but I want to make sure I'm doing things the right way.

If I understand correctly I now need to file an I-130 and have him joining family as either a stepson or son of my spouse Pat (who is now conditional permanent resident).

I was reading though and I saw a description of an I-824. Since Pat already had a K-1 visa, can Pooh join us on an I-824 and would this make things any faster.

Specifically I was confused about my wife's marital status at the time she had Pooh. She never officially married his dad.

I would love it if someone who has been in this situation could shed some light on the subject.

Thanks,

Dan and Pat

Mick,

Please be sure to read the rebuttals of the opinions expressed in this thread before making any decisions.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=237125

I saw a rebuttal, but it was further rebutted. Is there a consensus on this yet?

Wait til you have to get her single certificate if she has never been married. They required two family members go with her to get it. We went to get another copy of her BC at the Amphur and they basically pulled out a book and started flipping through pages of certificates. In the end they never found hers so we didn't get an extra copy.

They have some strange bureaucratic procedures.

Hopefully the OP is thinking ahead and going to get all of these certificates from the Amphur at the same time. That's what Tea did. She didn't take an older family member, but she did have to take her household registration book. She also had to track down a village elder to get them to sign off on all the paperwork, which took a few hours.

And if I may hijack the thread back to K-1.... just got our interview email from the Bangkok embassy for Nov 12 8:00am! Yay! I was hoping for the 7-10 day time from sending packet 3 I've seen recently but after only 55 days NOA1 to NOA2, we're still way ahead I think.

Do all the letters say 8am and that is no indication of how long you will wait?

A few days earlier and she could have spend a few days in San Francisco before we went home, but instead she'll get a few days in Boston before coming to Texas. Gonna need to get her some warm clothes....

Dave,

We found Old Navy and Gap women's wool sweaters at Chatuchak near the clock tower. 59 bath apiece (that's less than $2). Anyone headed to the U.S. in the next 6 months should check it out.

I'd have been angry too but I've learned, painfully, that often it doesn't matter whether you are right or not-- especially dealing with a government entity. Maybe their behavior was some combination of stupid, lazy, silly, unprofessional and maybe you could prove it to someone who would care but at what cost? You got the visa... chalk it up as a win and get on with your life together. This doesn't seem like a worthwhile battle.

Hell at this point... the Thai nationals working the embassy can call me stupid ATM farang and moon me if it'll get my fiancee here faster.... Take comfort in the fact that you and your fiancee will likely lead a measurably better life than they will. If being petty to you makes em sleep better at night, be magnanimous since they are no longer your problem!

Wow, that's a great way to look at things. I agree 100%. I probably do need to relax, but my adrenaline is still pumping from the roller coaster ride that was the last week. Love the Don Quixote reference.

ThaistyleUSA and Anya, no offense intended. I like Thai people (I'm marrying one), what I don't like is the nameless people at the Embassy.

Thong, I agree with you once again. I am pretty drained. Sounds like it's your turn next. I'm rooting for you. Also, I'm in BKK until the 8th, if you need anything.

daboyz, Last time I tried to take my fiance on a trip out of the country the yellow shirts decided to camp out in the airport. Can you give me an over/under on whether or not they are going to do the same thing on November 8th, cause I gotta get home.

I absolutely agree with you Thong, except for one thing, the American Embassy is supposed to be run by Americans, not Thais.

In the past CO's who have set up their own kingdoms have been a big source of distress to the people on this board (Think Heart of Darkness or Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now). I don't mind keeping an eye on them.

Charlie don't surf!

The Embassy IS run by Americans who employ Thai nationals to help them do it. You forget you are still in a foreign country, and our Embassy and Consulate are there through agreements with the Thai government. We have no "right" to have an Embassy there.

Yelling at the people at the gate or girls coming out is like yelling at a telemarketer. They are only doing their job. They do not set policy, just enforce it.

If you're getting this upset this early... you have a long road ahead.

I want to be very clear about two points.

A. I'm not an #######, I didn't yell at anyone. I camly asked them to explain themselves. That combined with asking for names was enough to instill panic in about 6 people. That shows me that they didn't really understand the policy they were 'following', I hope they weren't making it up as they went.

B. I'm not upset. I'm just looking for some accountability at an American Embassy owned and run by Americans and funded with tax dollars.

Frankly, I think you're out of line calling me an ####, an #######, etc. when all I'm doing is encouraging people to have some backbone and ask questions. It might help the next person along in line, which is the whole point of this website.

Thong, I've read this a couple times and I'm not sure why you're trying to contact the Embassy.

Is it just to see if they have received your file and sent a packet 3? Or do you need something from them to start the police report?

My fiance was able to get a police report started. She actually forgot the instructions included with the Packet 3, so she panicked and called me. I was at work, so I ended up faxing her a copy of my passport and a handwritten note that asked them to file the police report for her. Believe it or not the note worked without the Embassy form. You might try something similar.

I'm fairly certain that if you've already received NOA2, you should have packet 3 very soon. This summer when I got my NOA2, we received packet 3 in less than a month.

They are also scheduling interviews quite quickly now. You could theoretically have your fiance home by Thanksgiving.

At the consular level, the CO takes the role of the KING and anybody who walks in

the door is the subject and should behave accordingly. Learn to smile & wai and even

if it starts with what seems like insults, you might get a little respect as smiling and

wai-ing does not follow a farang type of behavior which may be assumed at the outset.

Thais dress up their government officials like 10-star admirals and it seems to be from

the top-down that all benefits flow. The American notion that a government official is

a civil "servant" means that if we meet Barack Obama, he shines OUR shoes and not

the other way around. Somehow it may not always work that way.

I absolutely agree with you Thong, except for one thing, the American Embassy is supposed to be run by Americans, not Thais.

In the past CO's who have set up their own kingdoms have been a big source of distress to the people on this board (Think Heart of Darkness or Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now). I don't mind keeping an eye on them.

Charlie don't surf!

Being an American at an American Consulate gives you no more rights or privileges than you would get at a USCIS office here in the US. The Consulates hire foreign nationals because they work for less money than Americans do. Trying to intimidate them only enforces their belief that farangs think they are better than everyone else. People should try to put themselves in someone else’s shoes before being an a$$hole to them. They are simply doing their job. Just my opinion.

I had a feeling someone was going to get on here and call me an #######.

How does trying to get an explanation for why my fiance's visa was held up make me an #######?

If your fiance had made 4 trips to the Embassy, wouldn't you want to talk to someone too?

I think that the problem is that there is almost no oversight of the people at the gate, or the Thai nationals working the visa unit. They are allowed to be as rude as they want, ignore requests for assistance and look down their noses at people. Holding someone accountable should not be intimidating if they are doing their job properly.

daboyz, That's hilarious and sad that someone punched a CO in the nose. I also feel that they don't give good service for our tax dollars and I will probably follow this up.

I was on the BTS two years ago, and a peace corps volunteer got on with a friend. They stood within earshot of us. My fiance at the time was practicing using a tense that she had learned in her English class on me, and really making a mess out of it. The peace corps volunteer said to his friend quite loudly, "You see, Thai women will learn any English they can to try and pick up a foreign boyfriend". I was so shocked that I missed my opportunity to punch him in the face. However I did end up writing a letter to the Embassy.

Eventaully I got a reply from the head of the peace corps in Thailand. He has a wife from Laos, and had heard too much of that kind of talk as well. So he tracked the volunteer down and extracted an apology for us.

The point is, everyone has to be accountable for their behavior sooner or later, except I on the internet.

I took Tea down to the Embassy today just to make sure she got her visa. She did not sleep at all last night, because they guy who told her it wasn't ready also implied that there might be a problem with it. It really pisses me off to see a Thai national use his position at the Embassy to one-up my fiance and cause her to lose sleep.

At the embassy today, they did not want to let me in. When I explained that she had already passed her interview, but had not received her visa they still did not let me in.

So I started to ask the guy why he wouldn't let me in, and he couldn't answer me. So instead I asked him for his name, and he ran away. Next the head security guy came out, and again he wouldn't tell me why I couldn't go inside, but did offer to get the Immigrant visa unit on the phone. Unfortunately he couldn't figure out how to use the phone. He did tell me his name though, 'Suraiphum'.

Finally the three girls that work in the Immigrant Visa unit came out, they were leaving for the day. They also did not want to give me their names, but were a little more understanding when I explained to them, that this was my fourth trip to the Embassy, and that I didn't think Tea had been treated very well. I informed them, that I just wanted to know why she didn't get the visa yesterday, and why I couldn't come inside today. I asked them for their names, and the name of the person in charge, but they refused, citing some kind of policy (what policy? they all wear nametags). Once again they got on the phone, but by that time Tea was coming out visa in hand. I had managed to entertain myself, but I was upset again, when I found out that they had been shouting at my fiance to 'control her husband'.

I didn't need to be controlled, they needed to be accountable for not processing visas correctly, and for being rude to my fiance. If one guy can go the Embassy and throw everyone into a panic by just asking 'Who?' and 'Why?' a bunch of times, then the place is a mess.

I feel that some of the Thai nationals that work at the Embassy have taken to writing their own policy, I don't think it would stand up under scrutiny. There really needs to be an American at that gate, to handle these sorts of situations. I'd definitely appreciate more transparency and accountability at that Embassy, although I know even if I write my congressman, we're never going to see anything change.

Congrats Pii Sam!

Tea was supposed to go and pick up her visa today. The (insert expletive) Embassy didn't have the visa ready. She was told that the computer was down, the document person on Friday had taken a day off, and that the woman who did the interview was sick again.

I'm steaming mad, but I'm not sure if there is anything I can do. She had her visa interview rescheduled on Wednesday, and now she can't even pick up her visa at the appointed time. They are not being very professional over there.