nottoolong

I didn't go back to visit over the year, though I wanted to several times. The photos I provided were of her on-line, and there were many, but maybe a trip over there now is they key? Though like I said earlier, I want to regardless. Maybe I should include more pictures of when I was there in November of 2010? I included some in the 129F of course, but maybe more is needed now? I took over 900 when I was there... I just e-mailed the embassy addressing their comments on the 221g. We'll see what they say. Hopefully the English can be overcome, as well as the evidence. I can send more and just thought of many other things I can take pictures of. Like cards and gifts she sent me and my family, and a notebook that has what I've learned in Thai since we met (they don't think I know any). I also didn't include all the e-mails and pictures of her because I didn't want to send too much... It's not a lot more, but it is some. That is frustrating when people are approved with minimal evidence. May did say there were a few that weren't that day. Doing what you did with the pictures was a very good idea.

Maybe our case was one of the one's they wanted to mess with that day. Nice of them...

Thank you for the feedback.

I hope it is something easy to over come.

Thank you Karee for calling her too.

Yes, me too Andy. Ning and Douglas called her last night (our time) and had her scan and send the 221g to me. That was very nice of them. May did do a cut and paste of the same info after her interview, but now I have a hard copy myself. As far as more info, I can get phone records now if anything can help us. Though I have to get a subpoena now. I can gather more e-mails that I didn't include, though I don't have a lot more. I took photos of us throughout the timeframe but didn't include all of those either. I thought that spreading them out over time would be sufficient... The stack of paperwork was a decent one, so I don't know why they said a significantly more. The English will be a tough one, though one of the their comments was to state the role of her cousin here who has helped us. May does know a little English and myself a little Thai, so hopefully including something that (like you suggested) says that will help too. When the embassy gets back to me, hopefully they'll elaborate some.

Just responded to your PM.

Nottoolong, sorry to hear about that. Hopefully all they want is for her to be able to speak a little more english. Hopefully that is all they are asking for. You will have to see what they are asking for and then move on from there. I hope Ning was able to find out more information from talking to May. If you need anything let me know. Good luck.

Thanks Andy. I saw May a little while ago and said Ning would be calling her when she has time. I explained she's woman whose helped me a lot and wanted to help us with this. May said that would be nice.

I'll also be contacting the embassy asking myself on what they want. If it's only for her to learn more English or anything more. They did also say they wanted more evidence, but I sent so much already. Crazy. I'll keep you posted.

Me too Ning. I was kind of numb when her friend e-mailed me. I'm sure she was honest too and trying to say the right things. I'll be talking with her tonight and I'll ask her about the 221g. Will she only receive it and could I request it to be sent to my e-mail too?

That's a good point about the ESL classes. She's going to take some when she comes, and I also should've included that in a letter as well. I will send you a PM with her number. I'll be explaining everything to her cousin too, but everything can help.

Thank you.

Thank you Karee. I'll be seeing May tonight and will ask her about the 221g. This is a form isn't it, and would they have given it to her? I'll see tonight.

Yes, I'll be using the appropriate subject line when I contact them. I'll have to see what they really want. After reading the reply's, it has to be something other than but along with the English. I'll find out for sure if it was something she said. I will tell them she can read English but has difficultly when spoken to. Maybe we'll go on a crash English course together over the next couple months. I'm sure she'll be much better in a short timeframe as they probably made her nervous too.

Hello Ning,

I thought I read there would be someone available to help in Thai if needed. Maybe she did say too much about something then, because her cousin's parents were given travel visas and they could only basically say yes, no, and hello in English. May did e-mail me and said the woman was very serious and kept talking in English and said for May to learn more for the next time. From what May said, we didn't have enough evidence as well. I thought we had plenty. So maybe a combination of a couple things added up. They also want to know the role of her cousin, who helped a lot with the translating. This is what May attached in her e-mail last night -

Please submit significantly more evidence that this is a legitimate relationship.Please address the role of (May's cousin) in the relationship and how you communicate, since you appear unable to speak English and we have no reason to believe that the petitioner can speak Thai. Thank you

Maybe I should've wrote an additional letter (as suggested by Andy) to state some of these things. Though I did state in the 129F that I've started learning a little Thai (and May started with some English classes but ultimately didn't practice enough). We understand each other much better when we see each other on-line, and I speak a little Thai or type in English when she doesn't understand what I say. She read a card back to me at one time, so I know she can read English. It's just when spoken to that it's difficult for her. I spoke with her briefly after I read her e-mail last night by phone, and we're seeing each other tonight to talk more. I'll ask if she was given a 221g form too. I'll also be contacting the embassy on what kind of significantly more evidence they require. I have more e-mails I can use, as I didn't include everything as I thought what was given was enough. But it's not significantly more. I know I couldn't go into the interview, but I thought that just being outside might help. This is kind of mixed in the responses though. Maybe another visit over to her is something they want to see too. Again, once the embassy gets back to me I'll have a better idea. I want to see her regardless of what they want now, as I haven't touched her since November 14 of 2010.

So since this isn't an outright denial, I wonder how long it will take for another interview? I think we have a year? I'll have to check on that. I know it's all depending on what they say/want of course.

Yes, I'll see what was actually said tonight, so I'll have a better idea. I wanted to be there for the interview, but it was decided against because of all the upcoming expenses with bringing her children over later. Now I wish I pushed her more. Her cousin helped so much with all the translating, but I see what you're saying about her family here. Maybe May was too honest and that put up a red flag. But in case they were going to question that, I told her the towns where they all live beforehand. So we surely weren't hiding anything. But maybe they still thought something was in question. Again, I'll have to see what happened and then I'll also e-mail the embassy.

Thank you.

Thanks for all the responses. Once I talk with her, I'll know a little better. We communicate with a mixture of each. When we see each other, it's much easier for us to understand (phone is very basic conversation). She can read when I type and then when I say things in English slowly. Then I'll also speak a little Thai as well. She actually has read a Valentine's card back to me last year. We also get help from her cousins here locally to me, as well as her friend in Chiang Mai when we need to. Maybe I should've wrote something (as suggested) along with all the paperwork that was presented to explain it better. I just thought she would've had someone interview her in Thai. Before I hear from her (tonight hopefully) and contact the embassy about average timeframes, I wonder how long this will take or what the best direction is? Some said to go there and marry her, but I remember that takes a lot longer and puts us back at square one. Might have to tell her we need to work with each other more on-line to learn. She did go to some English classes at the beginning of the year, but she didn't practice enough. I'll be seaching the forums for similar situations for sure.

Well, after all this long wait, May's visa was denied yesterday. I haven't spoken with her yet, or got through by phone. She's still in Bangkok and coming home shortly. She called her friend in Chiang Mai and her and I e-mailed back and forth last night. May called her to let her know. The reason was that May couldn't answer the questions well enough in English and she has to learn it better. I honestly thought they would have someone interview her in Thai as well as English, (so I read) so I didn't push her as much as I should've to learn it more. Once May gets home and I see her on-line I'll know. I can contact the embassy and find out how long it will take to re-schedule, but I would think that all depends on when she learns English. Has this happened to anyone and how long does a re-schedule on average take?

Thank you.

So you don't ned ds 160 for k1 right? I am having same confusion because website sayd its mandatory

I just noticed your reply. The DS 160 form isn't required for K1, at least for Thailand. This was something my fiancee confused a few months back. You should double check your countries requirements. Hope that helps.

They will send emails to let people know whne the interview will occur I am sure.

I talk to people in Thailand several days per week & as you may know the floods are subsiding. The impact seems to have been on the Thai peoples daily lives more than on the functions of things like the embassies. Travel around Thailand became more difficult & things like that but life went on.

I feel badly for you that it has been a year. I was lucky to have my husband right there most of the time during my case. I hope the time goes by quickly for you so you can be together. It seems like someone else has control of your life right now I know.

That's good. Hopefully they send an e-mail to the both of us, but as long as May gets one, that's ok too. Yes, I should've said that the waters were subsiding. That's good for sure. Hopefully the longer term affects won't be bad for the people in those areas.

It's amazing that it's been a year now. I've wanted to go and see her a couple times, but she understands I have a mortgage and am still fixing up and furnishing my new house. Plus she knows she won't be working right away too, so she's being smart...and stubborn. Still. Yes, you were lucky to have your husband with you most of the time. I wish I could've done that. Someone and somethings surely have control of our lives, but it'll all work out.

I should say that my husband & I waited in Thailand thru this time of year just as all of you are. Our case had been going on about 300 days at that time. Our case had been in BKK for a couple of months. We watched them schedual people that had not waited near as long as we had. My husband finaly wrote to the embassy asking for consideration. To our total suprise one officer decided to look into the problem & allowed us to pick our own interview date. By that time it was late January. Almost 4 months had elapsed.

We learned a lot about what happens at this time of year in discussions with the officer. Their own schedual becomes difficult as well due to the holidays. The volume of cases is about the same so the interview schedual is impacted.

Your estimate of late January is probably correct. You have done well to this point & I know you understand as best we can in these circumstances. The new year will bring a new life for you & your family I am sure. Make the best of it for now & good luck.

I'm glad things worked out as they did for you, even if it did take a while. Sounds right that the officers are impacted with the holidays. Not much you can do when that happens and the number of cases doesn't change. I'm still hopeful of a December interview, but May won't be ready until later in January because of her family and children. So I guess as long as the interview is before late January, we'll be ok. Sort of... When we started all this I thought 2011 would be our new life together, however I know 2012 (and soon) will be the new beginning. Thank you for your kind words.

Ice isn't handling it too well, so I hope we get December too. When do they notify you if you're in Dec?

Not really sure when they'll notify us. Guess it's just a wait and see until the schedule comes out next month. Maybe I'll e-mail them, but we'll see. They'll probably just say to refer to the schedule when it comes out. But I know some have been fortunate to know by mail first.

I just read about the flooding in Bangkok and it's worse than I thought. I'm sure there is a trickle down effect that involves a lot of things. Hopefully it won't delay the scheduling too much though. There have been a few snags that have made this process take a little longer than thought. Some we didn't expect, and some that could've been prevented. This hopefully won't turn into another one. We haven't seen each other in over a year right now.

I know its frustrating & seems to take forever. This is a tough time of year; plus the floods. I dont think the floods will cause anymore delays really but it doesnt help.

They dont give you any more info because they arent sure of what to tell you right now. I hope yours comes soon & befor Xmas too.

I'm frustrated too, but was prepared for waiting until at least mid December going by their estimates. I've known May and I won't be together for Christmas for a while, and we'll more likely be together by the end of January anyways. I'm just hoping our case will be on the next schedule. Our P3 was received on October 6th.

Hope things are well with you Ning.

I sent you a PM...did you get it??

Yep, I just replied to it.

It's an average from SENDING packet 3 to the actual interview date of 75 days. That means that we have to be in December.... Right?

True, it does say average. It all depends on the embassy... I would love for it to be in December, guess we'll just have to wait more. If it's any longer, it's beyond what they claim. Surprising?

The new schedule is up and we're not on it. Thought it might've been (they received P3 on October 6), but I guess we'll be on the next. It appears we'll be on the far side of the 8-10 week timeframe, but I/we was prepared. I've been thinking mid December for a while, and that surely could be the case now.

It's normal for this to happen though, isn't it? They only received P3 a few weeks ago, and they're a lot of cases to be processed. I would think so?

They're back. And Ice is going to a doctor today. And going out to search for water. The place he lives they have resorted to boiling it, but he doesn't trust it. I never thought this would happen....whyyyyyyy

Glad he's going to a Dr. Hopefully he finds bottled water and can't blame him for not trusting boiled water. Guess it depends. Hopefully things turn positive soon.

Yes. Thanks very much for the tip. I was unaware. Thanks for informing me.

You're quite welcome. Good luck on the 2nd!

Has anyone else ever been told to bring $350 U.S. to the Visa interview in Lima, Peru before? Is this normal or are they taking advantage of me? I have never heard of this before. I knew the medical was about $225-$250 and the passport was $20 but I have never heard of paying another $350 after already paying the $350 for the Visa petition in the beginning.

Thanks....

The actual visa interview now costs $350 US dollars, which is on top of all the other costs up to this point. So that's accurate. The I 129F costs $340. Is this the amount you're referring to when you said paying $350 in the beginning?

The embassy should be back to work soon. Hoping for something good to happen...keeps getting worse everyday

Has he been checked out at a clinic or something yet? Hope he's ok. I just checked the schedule and they've posted it as of September 28th. Isn't this the same one that was posted before they re-posted the June one again? Looks like it. Hopefully they post the October schedule shortly after their holiday.

The thing is that there was a declared holiday for AREAS OF FLOODING for businesses. The embassy is in a safe place, I called earlier that day and they said they would operate as normal. And not to mention that means all the ppl who had an interview date from 27-31 have to be rescheduled.

Thanks tho. This has been really hard on us. Especially Ice.

And also they said they will not respond to emails until Nov.

This all stinks fore sure, but I agree with Andy. You've come so far, no sense of possibly prolonging things even further. Sounds like things are tough for Ice though.

It's coming up on a year since I saw May last, and it'll surely be over by the time she comes here. There's light at the end of the tunnel though. Next week is November!

If you visit the website now, it says that they will be closed from 27-31 of October. They said it's because of government holiday. WTH

By the way, is it possible to go to a neighboring country and fill their packet 4 and pay the fee again?

Yup, WTH. Have they replied to your email about the schedule yet? Maybe they'll have it updated before they're off. Not sure about the second question. I'm holding out for a December interview...

Ice is in the flooding area now, and we don't know what to do. I wish he could get here now....there are diseases spreading there!! He is very weak lately and always getting sick. I hope the food/water isn't contaminated!

Nottolong, that is a good idea for you to email them. I don't think that I should email them for a while because I emailed them already this week.

Whereabouts is Ice staying in Bangkok? I thought the water was receeding, but sounds like not everywhere. Hopefully he's ok.

Thank you for the heads up on contacting the embassy. I'll hold off then. Hopefully the schedule will be updated shortly.