When an American citizen wants to take their Thai fiancee to the United States for marriage purposes, they need to file a petition with USCIS. If this is approved, it will be forwarded to the US Embassy in Bangkok.
The first step is to collect and prepare all the required documents that will be needed for your fiancee’s K-1 visa application. This can be done on your own but if you are new to immigration laws and don’t have a lot of time or knowledge about them, it may be better to hire an attorney who can help you with this process.
Once the US Citizen has completed all of the required paperwork, he/she will need to appear in person for a visa interview at the US Embassy in Thailand. The interview will be conducted by a US Embassy staff member.
After the interview, the US Embassy will issue a visa to the Thai fiancee. This visa is a type of non-immigrant visa which allows the Thai fiancee to enter the United States for up to 90 days. Once this period of stay is up, the fiancee must depart the country.
The US Embassy will usually issue a visa within 5 business days after all the documentation is received. The turnaround time depends on how busy the embassy is at the time and how many visas are processed each day.
Before your appointment, you will need to register a delivery address for your passport with the embassy’s online service. Once registered, you can schedule your interview and medical exam in Bangkok.
At the interview, your fiancee will need to bring all of her completed and signed paperwork. The US Embassy will also require that she have a police clearance certificate and complete a medical exam.
During this medical exam, your fiancee will have to undergo several tests including an X-Ray and check her vaccination history. This will ensure that she is healthy enough to be married in the United States.
If the results of the medical exam show that she is in good health, the US Embassy will issue her a visa. This will allow her to come to the United States for the wedding and then return to Thailand once she has finished her marriage.
Once your fiancee arrives in the United States, she must begin to meet with a lawyer who will help her file for an adjustment of status and eventually become a United States permanent resident. This will be a long process and one that requires a considerable amount of patience on the part of both parties involved.
A professional law firm can assist with this process and take care of it for you, while helping to save time and money on the application process. The legal fees are usually reasonable and it is a good investment to have this done for you.
It is not always easy to obtain a fiancee visa in Thailand as it can be complicated and time consuming. However, if you hire an immigration lawyer who can guide you through the entire process from start to finish, it is more likely that your application will be successful.
