Guest Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Ok..I know you guys will come through for me..so here goes. I have a Thai lady friend in Thailand who is currently married to a US citizen. The problem is at the time they were married, 2 years ago, her husband was still legally married to a lady in the US. He went back to the US after he married her and did not contact her for 6 months. She found out he was married and thought he duped her so she filed papers in Thailand to have the marriage annulled and bring charges against him. Well....6 months after that he called her and said he is finally divorced and sent her papaer to prove it. He apoligized for not telling her and want her to come live with him in the US. He's not very educated and wordly like most of u guys here....So I am asking for help/suggestions. How can she get a finance VISA or should she since she is still legally married to him. They registered everything..so the marriage is legal. If they try to get spousal VISA could the embassy somehow find out he was not leggaly divorced but he knowingly signed an affidavit saying he single? What is the best/easiest way to get her to the US. Does the US recognize marriages in Thailand if it was registered through the embassy? Well....she says she loves him so I want to help her out. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 How can she get a finance VISA or should she since she is still legally married to him. They registered everything..so the marriage is legal. Just my take, with limited legal knowledge......but..... According to everything I know, they were never legally married. As he had no ability to enter into a legal marriage, as he already was. The repercussions could be pretty bad. Not only is he abigamist, he lied to his own embassy, signed and swore false documents, could face serious felony charges etc. etc. Solution. He better get a GOOD (expensive) lawyer. Probably 2, one in US and one in Thailand. I can only think that if she is willing to abide the situation she can get the marriage annuled in LOS and start over again. But personally I doubt she (or any other woman, Thai or other) will be look forward to a situation with this fellow after being so purposely deceived. He can only hope she doesn't go to embassy to complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 Yup...I was thinking along the same line about the repurcusion. But she really wants to stay married to him and move to the US. They would love to go to a lawyer but they r not rich like most of u guys Well......maybe they can just be friends.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2003 Report Share Posted February 14, 2003 but they r not rich like most of u guys don't we wish sure hope she hasn't made any complaints yet, or the kaka trail may have already started. as far as getting her into the US..... would most likely open that big can of worms with all the heightened security checks. if he is willing to live in Thailand for a length of time say at least a year or 2 then he nay have a shot at getting her a visa. other than that I can only suggest they keep a very low profile. very low hope it works out OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovineye Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 The marriage is not registered or recognized by USA. They wouldn't even find out about it. This is done all the time, in both directions BTW. Lady marries in US but doesn't tell Thailand to avoid legal complications like when buying land etc (not as big a deal these days tho). Many men marry lady in Thialand and then if they want ot come to US, file for K1 fiancee visa. There is a process where the existing marriage can get recognized, but more complicated. Then they get a k-3 visa I think. Used to take years, but I hear it isn't that bad anymore. When she files for fiancee visa, she does not need any statement from tamboon etc saying she is unmarried. Only her own statement that she is eligible to marry and plans on doing so within 90 days of entering US. This VISA application process takes about 10 months these days I believe, but that is if he is filing thru California. Other areas take MUCH longer. Now I am not telling them they should lie. Up to them. I also have never been thru this process. They can get fantastic advice and specific answers in newsgroup alt.visa.us.marriagebased, or something like that, Try a google search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 "The marriage is not registered or recognized by USA. They wouldn't even find out about it." I think Ajarnski is saying that it is. The guy swore an affadavit at his Embassy that he was single for the purposes of getting married in Thailand. Likely he had to at least register intent to marry. And then he's gone back to the Embassy and registered the marriage actually took place which I think Ajarnski is inferring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovineye Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 Says themayorofpattaya: "The marriage is not registered or recognized by USA. They wouldn't even find out about it." I think Ajarnski is saying that it is. The guy swore an affadavit at his Embassy that he was single for the purposes of getting married in Thailand. Likely he had to at least register intent to marry. And then he's gone back to the Embassy and registered the marriage actually took place which I think Ajarnski is inferring. Believe me, I could be way off on this, but I don't think he/she signed the afidavit for the US Emabssy, but for the Thai registration process. :dunno:That would be invisible to the US Embassy even when they apply for K1 VISA AFAIK. But that is why I recommend the newsgroup. There he will get answers that are definative in just a few hours. Mostly by immigration lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 Thanks guys...I will get clearification about wether the marriage was formally registered with the US embassy. But from what I can tell, it was. It's confusing to me because sometimes she's not quite sure what he/she did at the embassy. I have not spoken to the husband. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 The guy swore an affadavit at his Embassy that he was single for the purposes of getting married in Thailand. Likely he had to at least register intent to marry. The issue is that foreigners who want to marry in Thailand must supply an affadavit that includes certain info -- i.e., that you are you, and that you are single, etc. The only place to get such an affadavit is at one's embassy. After the marriage is registered in Thailand, there's no such thing as "registering it with the US embassy" (I understand this differs from the UK situation, where embassy abroad assist in filing papers with some home office repository or something. This may be the source for the frequent mistaken references I see to "registering a marriage with the US embassy.") So it's not specifically a matter of "registering intent to marry" or whatever with the US embassy, though as the affadavit in question is used only for that purpose, one may legitimately wonder whether they keep a record, which could be cross-referenced later. In other words, in the absence of specific knowledge regarding standard practices behind the scenes at the American Citizens Section of the US embassy, I think it would be difficult to draw definitive conclusions about whether this guy could get into trouble. Having said all of that, my feeling is that this guy is actually a criminal under both US and Thai law (as in: fraud, bigamy, etc). The fact that he's "unsophisticated" is no excuse. I feel sorry for the Thai lady. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovineye Posted February 15, 2003 Report Share Posted February 15, 2003 Says KhMarried: Having said all of that, my feeling is that this guy is actually a criminal under both US and Thai law (as in: fraud, bigamy, etc). The fact that he's "unsophisticated" is no excuse. I feel sorry for the Thai lady. Yes, it all boils down to that! He wasn't even contacting her after they were married. What is he really up to? No good is my bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.