Herk Driver

Hello-

I was hoping someone could help clear something up for me. I sent in my wife's I-485 package on 24 Nov. I had checked the filing fees a couple of days earlier and it was $930 for the I-485 and $80 for the biometrics. It seems they increased the fees on 23 Nov to $985 for the I-485 and $85 for the biometrics. Today I got home and the entire mangled package was stuffed in my mailbox. I took it inside and opened it up to find a nice rejection notice on top due to my check for $1010 being the incorrect amount. Ok I unknowingly missed it by a day, got it (although I can't believe there is not a grace period or better yet some kind of notification on the web site that the fees will be changing).

What I am really confused about now is that they stapled a rejection notice to the I-765 saying that the $380.00 fee was missing for this form. My wife entered on a K1 visa and the instructions indicate that this fee is not required when filing this form with the I-485 AOS packgage. Am I reading the instructions wrong or did the USCIS just get rejection happy? I am trying to get this thing ready to re-send and if I come home 3 weeks from now and find this thing ram jammed in my mailbox again I may have a minor meltdown. Any knowledge you can pass is much appreciated. Many thanks!

Brian

Herk, I just bought our tickets and found Teaw's one way cheaper on AA than using the other site as they added service charges and stuff. Of course I am going early Sept. and prices drop in Sept so I got

both flights a lot cheaper. The AA one way had lower taxes and of course no service charge. Not sure what airline you are using and still might be cheaper on the other site.

Tom-

Thanks for the advice. I checked out that site but unfortunately they were a little higher this time than a deal I found at another online site. I will keep that site saved to the favorites to compare for any future trips. After a lot of searching (and cursing) I was able to find a deal that only cost a finger instead of my whole arm. I am still suffering from sticker shock but I'm sure I will forget all about the fare price when she gets here. Now it's just a matter of counting the days and getting my wreck of a house cleaned up. Don't want her see the place for the first time only to discover that it's a complete sty.

Thanks again and I hope Sep. gets here quickly for you.

That's not a bad idea John but AA charges $150 to change and part of the problem was many of the flights were sold out for the dates in August I wanted to go so I could not get a decent price for the same flight I can get for Teaw through the site I will book hers, which gives cheaper one way tickets than AA does. I have looked at many different scenarios...one way for me, buying two one ways on the other site and the availability of flights and prices drop drastically after Sept 1st.

And the other problem was coverage at work since I had not put in far enough in advance. So I have to make sure someone can fill in for me in court when I am gone and the Sept. date actually works better for the powers that be!! So I can't say I am going in Sept and then change it at the last minute if I could change the ticket. Sigh!!! I'll just have to wait 6 weeks but the money I save will pay for the AOS for sure so that will work out good. And I'll be taking trials which means appeals, which means more $$$ for when she gets here and when we go back in Dec. So in a way it works out a little better money wise since I have no appeals presently and caught up with my extra work, which is also very nice to be at times. Am I justifying the change??? Hahaha....I guess I am. It also gives Teaw more time to arrange to get moved up to Buriram and back down to BKK to meet me at the airport. So I think it might work out better for her too...and besides, on Aug 7th it's bonus time at work and it might not look good if she quit a day or two after getting the bonus if I was still going to go in Aug.

Tom-

Hopefully this doesn't break any forum rules. I was wondering if you would be willing to share the website that you were planning to buy her ticket? I was just about to click "buy" for Bud's ticket when I saw your post. I would love to check it out. Airfare has gone up quite a bit even since I went there to visit this last Apr. If you can't share it, no big deal. Thanks.

Brian

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaw went to the embassy today, Monday, to see why they tried to call her Friday. So she got to the embassy about 1:30, got in by showing them on her phone that they tried to call. He sent her back out while he checked her case, then called her back in and said SHE GOT THE VISA and told her to wait out front until 3pm. So at that time they called her back in and gave her the packet and visa and she went outside and called and woke me to tell me. She said 3 AP cases got visas yesterday.

So now the planning starts as I have to see when I can get off work for two weeks to go over and get her, spend time in Buriram with the family and move some of her stuff back up there.

Now I can finally rest easy and quit worrying when they will get off their butts.

Tom-

Congratulations!! After all you have been through it was really good to see things finally worked out. Here's a funny story for you. Bud was picking up her visa that day around that time. I was talking to her on the phone and she was telling me about some of the ladies that she was outside talking to. She didn't get the name but was describing a lady from Buriram that was there getting her visa and had been in AP for 6 months and made multiple trips to the embassy for interviews. I think that was probably Teaw. Small world I guess.

Best of luck getting over to Thailand. I know what you mean trying to swing the time off. I wish I could go get Bud but there just isn't going to be any way I am going to be able to take leave right now. She's going to have to come over on her own unfortunately. She's travelled to Japan several times in the past so I'm not worried about her travelling alone but it really would be good to be with her when she goes through immigration.

I hope things go well fo you in the future. Take care.

Brian

No need to specify a POE.

Oh ok thanks. Whew!! I just had visions of the airfare going up even more thinking we missed the boat on requesting a specific POE. We haven't gotten the ticket yet as she is still squaring away some last minute family affairs. We should be getting one shortly though. Appreciate the info.

Matt - That is awesome news. Sounds like the same interviewer we had.

Does a specific POE need to be on the visa? Bud picks hers up today and I don't think she specified a POE.

Thanks for the replies and thoughtful wishes from everyone...

Tom - I hope things speed up now that you have some back up. The whole process is frustrating (and time consuming) enough without the excess aggravation. Despite working for the government the idea of any gov intervention in peoples private lives gives me thought flashes of a specific finger on each hand waving high in the air. The entire thing is just horribly invasive but unfortunately those of us who are trying to do things the legitimate way have to deal with it. It seems persistence is key, which sounds like you are not short of at all. Best of luck and I look forward to reading that things worked out. Please keep us posted.

Hello folks! The interview went well yesterday and my fiancée (Bud) was told to pick her visa up on Mon. I am super stoked!!! Anyway, the interview took about 10 minutes and they seemed to ask pretty basic questions:

1. Name of fiancée?

2. Where did you meet?

3. What does he do?

4. Has your fiancée ever been married or engaged?

5. Questions about her son

The entire thing seemed to be unlike anything I was expecting. Bud said the interviewer was a very young lady who was extremely friendly and took a conversational approach to the interview. She even repeated questions in Thai when Bud had any trouble tracking the questions in English. I used to live in Japan where Bud had come to see me on several tourist visas in the past and she even made a comment that they treated her much nicer than they ever did at the Japanese embassy. The lady did ask to see her hand and Bud said it was obvious she was examining the engagement ring, but this may have only been because I included the ring paperwork (which was all in Japanese) with the I-129F. One other thing she noticed was that one of the supervisors came in during the interview and had an offline chat with the interviewer and quick scan over all of the documents while looking at Bud (not sure what that was about). Afterwards Bud said the interviewer came back with a big smile, rolled her eyes and said that was her boss (or big boss as Bud described it). Odd.

I really thought the Hanoi Hilton interrogation techniques were the standard practice with these interviews but this certainly was not the case here. They seemed to be very respectful and treated her like a human being rather than just another grifter trying to "pull one over on them". Given the experience she described I would have to give two thumbs up for the embassy on this one. I don't know how much of this is due to the interviewer's personality or that Bud and I have been involved for almost 5 years with 4 tourist visas to Japan to see me, and loads of relationship evidence. Either way it was very surprising. A lot of my work has to do with International Relations and a huge part of it is creating a positive image of the U.S. Hopefully this respectful approach to these interviews is the norm rather than the exception because the interviewer that met Bud seems to be scoring some wins in this category.

A couple of other things to note was that there was another lady there who did not have copies of everything they had previously submitted. Of course Murphy’s Law was in play for this lady and they could not find her DS-157, which caused complications for her. So make sure to bring copies of everything. Also, it probably goes without saying but make sure to dress like you're serious about acquiring a visa. Bud was shocked at one of the ladies that was there with ripped up skintight jeans and a "chest displayer" shirt. It doesn't take much to find some clothes that make you look somewhat professional, and you would be hard pressed to find a more frugal person than Bud but she showed up dressed like it was important to her.

I hope this re-cap helps with those that are waiting on interviews. There have been a lot of very helpful people here who have provided me with information when I was pulling my hair out trying to make sense of the forms and processes. Thanks again.

Our interview is in less than 3 hours! It's hard to stop thinking about it and I really doubt she is getting much sleep in Bangkok. I also feel like a real gomer that I couldn't be there with her, but there couldn't be a worse time for me to try to swing the time off from work. Hopefully things will go well and 5 years worth of relationship evidence, several 3 month visits to Japan while I lived there and a good attitude will go towards a smooth interview. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to the folks that helped out with advice here and good luck to those with interviews coming up! I will talk to her after it is over and be sure to post the questions that were asked. Cheers.

Hey folks. I just wanted to post our facts for those of you that mailed in packet 3 shortly before or after all of the recent turmoil. My fiancee (Bud) mailed in packet 3 on May 13th. It was recieved 15 May, which I think was the last day that mail was delivered until after the embassy re-opened. Both Bud and I got an e-mail this morining with a 12 Jul interview date. From my recent readings of this thread, I know there are a few of you out there who sent packet 3 in May. Hopefully this helps with any projections that you might be making, as my patience were wavering and I was soon to e-mail the embassy.

We are both pretty stoked by the way! I just hope it all goes smooth.

They told us the same thing. We sent our packet 3 on May 10 and our interview is scheduled for June 22nd (total of 7 weeks). Bear in mind this includes the days the Embassy was closed during the protests. You may very well be earlier than expected.

We mailed in packet 3 May 13th and it was recieved the 15th....Still waiting. I will give it a few more days and then send an ie-mail to the embassy.

Got it! Visa to be picked up on the 18th. (8 business days vs. the previous standard of 3)

Details tomorrow.

Thank you all for the well wishes.

That is AWESOME!! Congratulations! I'm glad some one is getting some where.

Herk,

Ying did her entire medical at Bumrangrad Hospital. It cost around 4000 Baht. Just my two cents.

Richard-

Thank for the reply. That doesn't seem too bad of a price with all of the immunizations. We'll probably just do that in the interest of saving her from having to go to 2 different places.

Hey Folks-

Thank you to those that have given advice to me in the past, everyone here has been very helpful. I was encouraged by Richard's post about getting an interview scheduled. My fiancee mailed in packet 3 about a week after he did and when I saw his post I quickly called and told her she should go get the medical done as quick as she can. Unfortunately it's a long trip for her from the Isaan area, especially since she prefers to take the bus. I've done it and it's a loooong ride.

The question I had was, in anyone's experience, is it cheaper to get the immunizations done by a local doctor rather than getting them done at the medical exam in Bangkok? I was king of figuring that getting your immunizations done at the medical was like buying a coke and popcorn at the movies. They are going to overcharge you for them because they can, and at that point you don't have any options. I don't know if this is logical reasoning or not?

When I asked her if she had an immunizations record, she said she didn't have one at all. I know you can't put a price on getting those that you care about over to be with you, but when she said that, I couldn't help but start thinking about how we could save a little money. That list of immunizations that are required looks pretty long and pricey! Any inputs would be great. Also, if anyone knows any place in Isaan (Beung Khong Long, Seka, Sakon Nakon) area that they recommend I would appreciate it. Many thanks!

Hey gang! Has anyone ever had to file an extension for approval of the I-129F? The NOA2 that we are working with expires in Jul. We mailed in packet 3 just before total mayhem errupted on the embassy's front door. We were banking on a Jun or early Jul interview but now that they're backed up from being closed I'm getting concerned. Right now we are just waiting to hear when the interview will be but I'm not counting on things happening very fast now.

Does anyone know if there will be automatic extensions due to the embassy closure and if not is sending an extension request a big deal?

Any advice would be appreciated.

E.L.E.

Good day Herk Driver,

Answers to your questions may be found at the US Embassy in Bangkok's website.

Here is a list of post offices

...just scroll down to page 9 to see those in Isaan. Looks like most provinces in Isaan have a single post office in the capital town where one can pay. Do you know in which province she lives?

Here is Packet 3 Document

. . . in which it states

If you go here for Packet 4 Document

. . . you will see a link to the requisite medical forms. There is no need to wait for Packet 3.

Hopefully that takes care of your questions. If you have any more, feel free to post or PM me.

This is a huge help. Thank you! She is in Beung Khong Long and if memory serves me right from two different visits then Nakon Phanom would be the closest. Thank you very much.

Hello Folks-

I was hoping some one with recent experience could give me some advice on a couple of things:

1. Would anyone happen to know if there is somewhere in the Isaan area where the apllication fee for packet 3 can be paid? My fiancee is saying the post office in her area does not offer that service and she is thinking she will need to go to Bangkok (not an easy trip) just to find a post office where she can pay this thing.

2. When she mails in packet 3 should she include the evidence of relationship (photos, e-mails, etc) or is this something that is typically hand carried to the interview? The checklist is a little vague on this.

3. The checklist says she will get instructions for the medical exam when she is scheduled for an interview. I have been reading some posts here and noticed than some people have been getting this done prior to mailing in packet 3. Is this something she can do now or should she wait for the e-mail from the embassy saying she is scheduled for the interview? If she does have to go to Bangkok for the application fee it would also be nice if she could get the medical done.

Any recent experience inputs are greatly appreciated. We are both very ready to get this mailed in and unfortunately it seems to be taking longer than we would like to complete everything. Thank you for reading my post.

My fiancee just had her interview at the end of March. We followed the checklist that was on the Embassy website.

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/k_instructions_package_may09.pdf

She had her interview scheduled 3 days after sending Packet 3 to the embassy and had no issues at the interview. So if you follow the directions on the checklist that is on the Embassy website, you will have no issues. Don't know what happens if you don't.

Also, I think all the directions are consistent in that all forms must be submitted. The only question I had was whether or not original documents needed to be mailed back with Packet 3. That is what seems to be inconsistent. We sent the original forms that we filled out.

Thanks for the help. This seems a little clearer now. We'll just mail all the original forms and keep copies. Also, did you mail more evidence of the relationship with the DS-2001 or was that something that she just brought with her to the interview? I think this should be my last question and then this thing goes in the mail. Congratulations on having the interview done by the way. I look forward to getting to that point.

I was hoping some one could help me. My fiancee and I are working on packet 3 to send to the embassy in Bangkok. The link for the checklist that was sent to her in the mail provides an English only checklist (Rev. May-2009) which has conflicting information with the checklist that is posted on the embassy page in the packet 3 area. The checklist that is provided by the link they sent, says that we need to send all of the forms (I-134, DS 156, 156K, 157 and 230) along with the DS-2001. Basically everything.

The other checklist and the web page says to only send the signed checklist, DS-230, photocopy of the passport and two photos to have the interview scheduled. It goes on to say bring everything else to the interview.

I was just there visiting her and we were both scratching our heads at this. Sending all of the forms is not a problem, I just don't want to send everything when we don't have to, or worse yet, not follow the process correctly. If anyone has any ionformation they can share I would really appreciate it. Thanks for the help.

I have finally put all the I-129F package together to send in and last night I'm doing one last look over. As I'm looking over the G-325A for my fiance I notice that not only is her birthday listed where it is supposed to be, but also where it asks for the Date, City, and Country of birth(if known) for her parents. Now I have three options (1) white it out and pen in the correct info, (2) just send it in the way it is or (3) have her mail me a new one. I sure would like to get the ball rolling on this but I'm afraid if I white it out there may be issues since she has already signed it. Does anyone know if this matters or have any experience with something like this? It takes forever for mail to get here from where she's at. Thanks.