Rinda and Chris

Hi folks!

My fiancee is just one hour away!!!! Rinda came to the USA yesterday and spent the night with my family in California. Now she is on the plane and will be landing soon. I can hardly wait! I'm working in Minnesota this winter, so she is going to be in for a shock. I left her a warm jacket and some gloves in California, so perhaps she won't be totally frozen. Eventually we will make it home to Miami, but for the next few months we will be travelling and living with the cold and rain and snow (expected next week). I guess this is a bit of a bait-and-switch from the tropical lifestyle I told her that I lived in South Florida ... haha. At least we will be together.

Good luck to all those still waiting to be with the one they love. Our life together is just starting and we wish everyone the same joy and happiness as we feel right now!!!

Chris

Hello Everyone!

We have reached the end of the process ... Rinda is on her way to the USA now! She boarded the flight about two hours ago.

She picked up her visa Monday afternoon. Unfortunately, she was the only K1 to get her visa at the Bangkok Embassy we think. The consular officer had apparently become sick again and all of the others had not been processed through the system. They were all told to come back again another day. Rinda only got hers we think because she had been first in line for the rescheduled interview. In any case, I'm thankful because we were able to use a one-way frequent flyer ticket for her and I didn't have to change the date.

We wish the best for everyone else still in the process. I'm sure we will still follow VJ as we go through the rest of the immigration process for the next ten years. Thanks for all the support and stories. This has been a long process, but now we will be together and that makes the rest bearable. My goal was to have Rinda in the USA before Thanksgiving. We accomplished this with some time to spare, but only because we had VJ to inform us about the details.

Stay positive and spread the love!

Chris and Rinda

Hi Everyone!

Rinda went for the interview as planned on Oct 14th, but the interviewer was sick. They took her documents and the Thai local embassy staff were pretty aggresive and unhelpful. The lawyer had apparently mailed the original documents and embassy staff did not bother to look in the files. He just asked Rinda for them and refused to take the copies she had with her. He also refused to take her pictures in the photo album of relationship evidence that we had prepared, told her to remove just 20 of them, then later relented and gave the pictures back to be reinserted in the album while he impatiently waited. They rescheduled everyone who lived in Bangkok for an interview the next afternoon. The people who came from out of town were apparently allowed to stay and interview with a different consular officer.

When she returned the next afternoon, the document issue had apparently been resolved. The woman asked her to swear her oath in Thai and took her biometrics, then switched to English for the interview. The questions included where did you meet your fiance, how many trips did he take to visit you. She was approved and done in only about 5 minutes. Since the new interview was on a Thursday, she was asked to come back at 3pm on Monday to pick up the visa.

In any case, we are just about done and she is sooooooooo ready to come to the USA. She will be connecting through Japan and arriving in Los Angeles as POE. I can hardly wait too!

Good luck to everyone else still in the process. It is good to see the recent approvals and interview dates.

Chris

Hello everyone-

Rinda's interview in Bangkok was rescheduled today for tomorrow afternoon because the interviewer was sick. Oh well, I guess these things happen and at least it is only a one day delay....

Chris

Hello everyone-

Things have been quiet here. I hope everyone is doing well.

We are just two days away from our interview. Everything is ready for the interview on Weds morning. My fiancee even has her bags packed and is essentially living out of a suitcase until it is time to fly. Her family has picked up everything else she is leaving behind. I already have most of her things here in the USA anyway. I'm so excited to have her here!

Chris

Well, the lawyer got the packet 3 to the embassy and I just received an email from the State Department saying that the interview is scheduled for October 14th at 8AM. Since this is a Wednesday, I am hoping that Rinda will have her visa in hand on Friday the 16th of October!

Chris

I'm so frustrated with our lawyer. His delays have now cost us at least a week in getting the packet 3 submitted to the embassy. Hopefully it went in yesterday and we just need to wait for the interview date. As soon as I know that, I can start planning again. If I knew about VJ prior to retaining him, I never would have used a lawyer. We have had to push every phase along.

Things are a bit complicated because our lease on the apartment in Bangkok is over on October 15th and I don't know whether to extend it or not. I start a new job in Minneapolis on Monday, so I will start travelling from Miami for 3 weeks out of each 4. I am going to use Los Angeles as a POE so that family can pick her up at the airport so that she does not have to make a domestic connection. We will split our time between MN and FL. I need to find an apartment in MN right away so that we are not in hotels. Anything would be better than being apart though.....

I guess I shouldn't complain as lots of others are still stuck in the same process. Our original goal was to have Rinda in the USA before Thanksgiving. That looks assured now, but I after this long wait I am ready for things to be over.

Good luck everyone!

Chris

Congrats! Thanks for posting the interview questions.

Chris

Hi all!

We are rooting for those of you still waiting for approvals. I totally understand how frustrating this must be....

Regarding the touches after the approval email, our file was touched about 3 days in a row after approval. I think this is normal and must be involved in the process of preparing the mail from USCIS to NVC and sending the case file to permanent storage. Our file took about 8 days from approval to show up at NVC but was out of NVC to the embassy in just two days.

We still haven't seen packet 3 yet, but Rinda did the medical at Bumrungrad Hospital yesterday. The total cost was almost 8200 baht i($248 US) including the four vaccinations she needed. She is so sore today and really suffering. I feel bad for her, but at least this is done. We were at the hospital from 10:30am until 4pm.

Now we are waiting for the police report. As soon as that comes in next week, packet 3 will go to the embassy and we should hear about the interview dates. Everything is supposed to be fast here in Bangkok for once, so hoping she will get an interview by second week of October. I have to head home on Tuesday night, so this is the last time I will see her before she comes to the USA.

Good luck to all!

Chris

Your assessment is basically accurate but not unfortunately not indicative of too much difference at least regarding the USCIS part of the process.

My understanding is that VJ represents about 5-10% of the applicants for K-1 and K-3/IR-1 family visas. That is enough to be statistcally valid for large scale assessments of process. However, the sample size for any given country is pretty small. There definitely is a downward trend in American tourism here in Thailand (probably mostly due to recession in the USA) and the recession has probably temporarily impacted the number of filings.

Unfortunately USCIS lumps all of the visas in together and worldwide I think those numbers are pretty stable at only about 22,000 K-1s per year. Additionally USCIS has very limited resources working on K-1s as most of the congressional concern is on their 2 million case backlog. We know that they are working overtime because visas get approved on weekends, but that part of the process is designed to manage a case load and not work it as fast as possible ... but to rather pace the agency. Although USCIS says it is first in-first out, that clearly is not true based on the evidence here. It all depends on which examiner and which box of files you are in. The support systems are weak and files are lost or misplaced.

For Thailand you are lucky right now if you get approved soon. My understanding from both our lawyer (retained before I found VJ) and other reports here on VJ from this month is that interviews are being scheduled in about 2 weeks from receipt of the case at the embassy. This is much better than the 8 week normal timeframe. I do know that Thailand processes about 30,000 active student visas at any given time, so when there are new batches of students I think it is much harder to get an interview for family visas. I'm hoping to get ours completed in the next few weeks.

Good luck with the process ... I know it is really frustrating. When your NOA2 comes, it is like a weight lifted off your shoulders. The rest of the process seems much faster and at least you will be able to see progress from stage to stage instead of just being in limbo.

Chris

Good luck Alan and On! Thanks for posting this info. My lawyer had indicated only two weeks or so to get interviews right now in Bangkok, so this is great news to confirm that info. Please be sure to post an interview summary. Thanks a bunch!

Chris

I just got our case number from NVC. They said it arrived on Sept 14th ... about 8 days. The lady said we are in additional processing ... uhoh ... hope they just mean normal processing. At least now we can proceed with the medical and police report. Packet 3 is ready to go as soon as the embassy receives the case.

It is really great to see Rinda again here in Bangkok. I just am anxioius to have the interview date so that I can plan again.

Chris

Hello to everyone! Congrats to the recent approvals and to those still waiting, my heart goes out to you.... Anna and Majid I am happy to see you are already out of NVC to Casablanca!

I finally locked down a new job offer, but had a few weeks before the start date so I skipped town and headed to Bangkok. It is great to be able to spend an unexpected two weeks with Rinda. I have everything ready to go for Packet 3. I want to get the interview scheduled as soon as possible. I don't think that Rinda will be able to come back with me, but I would love to get her through the remaining process by mid-October.

Before I left we had not yet received the NOA2 as well as NVC had not yet received our case. Does anyone know if we can apply for the police report and medical here without the NVC case number? Do we need the actual letters or can I just keep calling NVC to try to get it? (I left my mailbox keys for some friends to check, but would hate to have that stuff sit just because I am here in Thailand.)

Thanks

Chris

Thanks for the info on NVC. It sounds like things are flying through the system as long as you don't get stuck with AP. Here's hoping that everyone blazes through!!!!!

Chris

Congrats to the recent approvals!

Anyone have an idea of how long it is taking Vermont to send files to NVC? I just called and ours has not arrived yet ... the call center person said to check back in two to four weeks, but it could take up to ninety days to transfer the file. I'm hoping it only takes a week or so.

Chris

Thanks all for the kind words. I hope that all the remaining April filers get their NOA2 soon. I have to say it is such a relief just to know that the process is at least moving forward.

Stay strong and positive. I was feeling really down on Friday but my fiancee has been strong throughout. Rinda has pulled me through this whole adventure and made me into a better person for the experience.

Good luck!!!!

Chris

We just got our NOA2 approval notice from CRIS at 6:45am today! Apparently it was approved last night and the email generated this morning (Labor Day)!!!! I just about fell out of my chair. I was dancing around the room and my kids were laughing at me....

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On September 6, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

There is hope for the remaining April filers. I needed a change in my luck....

Chris

I'm so frustrated with this whole process. We haven't even had a touch yet, but intellectually I know it has to be coming soon. I've been researching options if we go past five months. I have been looking at information from the ombudsman's office and the interesting USCIS responses. There is very little focus on the K-1 or K-3 processes except to denote inequities between the service centers and that K-3 visas are not functioning as legislatively intended to re-unite families faster. If you want to read the latest report, the link is:

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cisomb_...report_2009.pdf (no USCIS response yet)

In the appendix at the end is the form to create a request for a Case Problem Request Worksheet. It can be filed after your case is outside processing guidelines and other contact with USCIS is unsuccessful (e.g. online case status, contacting the call center). It must be filed in writing because of privacy concerns. They say their mail is scanned and it takes approximately 14 days to be received and then a receipt is issued within 2-4 business days. This would seem to be an alternative to going through a congressman or fling a service request.

I also found in reading the USCIS response to the 2008 annual report some interesting information about the call center, pretty much confirming what people already know.

http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/cisomb-...port-fy2008.pdf

100% of calls are recorded. Each Tier 1 CSR has at least two of their daily calls monitored by a supervisor for conformance to the scripts. All Tier 1 CSRs are contractors that are contractually penalized for non-conformance with the scripts. Tier 2 CSRs are not required to use the scripts because their calls are case specific. In 2008, about 11% of the calls were escalated to Tier 2 CSRs. Out of 1.3 million calls, only 10 formal complaints were received. All 10 were investigated. Can you believe that only 10 people bothered enough to actually write a letter?

I think people are so relieved at the end of the process that they forget about making the system work better for the next person. I haven't called yet, but I will for sure if we exceed the 5 month processing window. When I do, I will be sure to record the name of the person I speak with and the date/time of the call. I think the most effective complaints will be about the scripts just intending to provide information about the process rather than the case. Clearly only a Tier 2 CSR can provide any information, so every call must be escalated to achieve anything.

Maybe this will help some of the others on this forum....

Chris

Hi All

Congrats to all the filers getting approved! I know that Anna and Majid have dates very close to ours, so it brings me hope. I don't post much but I do read VJ daily and have been following the progress online.

We filed on April 23rd with a NOA1 on April 28th. We haven't gotten a touch yet, but I'm really hoping that it is any day now. It is really rough just not knowing what is happening. If I could plan, then I would feel like there is some control....

On the upside, our lawyer in Thailand (retained before I found VJ) says that the embassy is working quickly as they are not currently processing a lot of student visas that slow down the cycle at different times of the year. He says that interviews can be had in as short as two weeks instead of the usual 6-8 weeks. We have all of our paperwork just about ready to go except for the affidavit of support. The only reason that is waiting is that I am interviewing for new jobs. Hopefully I will be able to send that by FedEx tomorrow.

So hopefully in the next few weeks I will have a new life! I know that next year will bring wonderful things for us all.

Cheers and stay positive!!!

Chris

Congrats to all! I've been following the progress here on the thread for a while and it is good to see people go from NOA2 through interviews. I have learned a lot so far. It will be fun to see what happens as these new immigrants adjust to life in America.

The process is a bit daunting and the wait is long, but the worst is knowing that a simple mistake could cost weeks or months. I find it extremely frustrating that I cannot plan because the process is not predictable to even know if my fiance will arrive this year or next. I know that 99% of K-1 visas are granted (eventually), so why does the process have to be so difficult and lengthy for family visas?

This is from the Dept. of State website. Keep in mind USCIS and DOS are two totally different agencies.

The issuance of birth certificates in Thailand began in Bangkok in 1917. Records of birth are often lacking for people born in Bangkok before World War II and for those born in other areas of the country up until the 1970s. Birth Certificates are issued by "Amphur," (geographic subdivision roughly equivalent to a county in the U.S.) district authorities having jurisdiction over the place of birth. There may be a fee for this service.

A Thai citizen older than 15 and born in Thailand, whose birth was not registered, must present in its stead a household registration, together with a Thai national identity card ("bat prachachon"), and may also be required to submit additional proof of the claimed relationship.

Thanks for the info. We have both the household registration and her id card along with a passport, so we should be fine.

Hi All-

We are new to the forum. I've been reviewing the information here and found it very useful so far. Here are a couple of questions on issues we have encountered with document preparation....

I've been effectively living in Thailand this year and met a fantastic woman. We met online but while I was travelling around Thailand, so we were able to meet in person right away. We hit it off and have been inseparable since. She is everything I was looking for and more. Rinda and I were engaged on April 19th and filed for the K-1 a week later. I'm returning to the USA this week to spend the summer with my children and look for a new job (been working in Australia). I know it is going to be difficult to be apart from her for these coming months but I miss my kids and need to prepare for our life together.

For the most part, the visa application process has been straight-forward so far. We've been dealing with two primary issues: no birth certificate for my fiancee and the single certificate.

Rinda did not have a birth certificate and since both of her parents are deceased, no one even remembers exactly where she was born. She does have a passport already. We were able to go to the district office with the village leader, family members, and other friends with their documents (id and house) and get an official letter saying no birth certificate exists. We haven't had it translated yet, but everything appears to be in order for this now. That letter is gold and I know we will need it for future AOS filings. It took about 3 hours for the entire process.

One curious item to note is that her passport lists her place of birth as Udon Thani. I wondered about the discrepancy between her birth certificate document saying Nong Bua Lam Phu and the passport as being Udon Thani. However it was explained to me that Udon Thani used to be the name of the whole province that included Nong Bua Lam Phu until it was split and became associated with just the city. So as far as I can tell, the passport reflects the province name not the city name at the time of her birth. Should I be concerned with this?

The single certification should be easy since she has never been married and has no children. We were given a form by our lawyer with exact wording specified by the embassy. They did the document but would certify only not married in "this district" not "all of Thailand" as apparently is expected by the embassy. When we reviewed the documents, the lawyer's staff picked this up immediately and said that might cause a problem. It seems every amphur uses different forms but the embassy wants the information standardized. We have since been trying to get the document re-issued with correct wording. The district amphur only wants to certify its own jurisdiction, but the computer system apparently holds national records. This document can only be produced at the district office in the home town, so there is no alternative location to get one. We've been working with Rinda's sister to get this re-done (trying to avoid a trip back to Nong Bua Lam Phu), but each time they produce the document they mess up some other part. Has anyone else had a problem with similar wording issues? If we don't have luck with this, then we will just use the document we have and hope for the best.

Thanks.

Another option is listed on the skype support pages at http://forum.skype.com/index.php?showtopic=87531 . This worked with version 4.0 and produced better output. Note that you must have the skype window open and click on the authorization prompt that appears at the top to allow the external program to access skype data.