HSTEACH Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 I cannot put myself in the position of understanding what any particular consular officer was thinking when he/she made the comment about applying for a non-immigrant visa. Who the hell knows. I surely don't, but using any visa in any way other than the intended purpose of that particular visa IS fraud. Doing that and getting caught doing so will get the visa holder in deep dodo. It is not worth the risk of even trying. I need to ask a question... do you have a permanant job in Thailand? If so, get your employer to write a letter saying you are employed on a full time basis, are going back to the states for holiday, and are expected to be back in Thailand on a specific date to resume work. If this doesn't work, I think you should seek counsel from an immigration attorney in Bangkok. I wish you luck.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Hello again, HSTeach wrote: I need to ask a question... do you have a permanent job in Thailand? If so, get your employer to write a letter saying you are employed on a full time basis, are going back to the states for holiday, and are expected to be back in Thailand on a specific date to resume work. If this doesn't work, I think you should seek counsel from an immigration attorney in Bangkok. Yes, I have a full-time job, and have had the same well-paying, respected position for quite a few years now. I got the letter you mentioned, as well as one from my fiancee's employer--it's one of the few things that the embassy website spells out clearly as being evidence. I worked hard to make sure the letters were good. The idea of contacting an immigration attorney hadn't occurred to me. Thanks for the suggestion. Are there lawyers who have experience in such matters? Do you (or does anyone) know of any reputable attorneys? I also see many Visa Consultation companies advertising, but I'm a little skeptical and I wouldn't know how to find a good one, if such a thing exists. Would they be of any help? I also wonder if there are any other consultants that might be able to help. Sorry to be such a pest. JimmyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Hi, I don't know anything about US visas. Yesterday me and TGF discussed one of her friends, a beer bar owner in Pattaya. For the second period in one year she's now visiting her BF in the US. This time she got a 10 year visa. elef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 There seems to be a mindset, from previous experience no doubt, that everyone is out to fool the Consular Officer so you start with two strikes against you. Unfortunately there is a loophole in the laws that would allow someone who travels to the US to remain there if they marry and do paperwork for residence - thus shortcutting the normal immigrant visa process of fiancée or spouse visas. This assumes there were not other reasons for decision. You can ask you government representative to check into such matters if you feel wronged. If you use the immigrant visa approach they will assume their worst fears so I would not do that. Once married one of the two fears (fiancée) is gone and the marriage of convenience question will not be on the front burner so it should be easier. Even a good job is no guarantee of a tourist visa without bank accounts/family. When married you will be family so your status here should have more weight then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAYBLOOM Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 "Are there lawyers who have experience in such matters? Do you (or does anyone) know of any reputable attorneys?" I haven't used him, but some of the guys on the Thai Falang board have used him and were very impressed. He is an American attorney in Bkk and his wife,an attorney, is in St. Lous and handles the American side of things. Here is his site: http://www.usvisalaw.info/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 After. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Thanks to everyone; you've given me some good leads. This is just a quick reply as I'm at work; I'll post a more detailed response later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 IME your mistake is placing too much emphasis on yourself. Since you are applying for a tourist visa, the Embassy does not care one bit about you or your ties to Thailand. They care about your girlfriend's ties and her returning to Thailand. She needs enough paperwork/proof of that to stand on her own. That's it. Concentrate all your efforts to that end. Take yourself out of the equation. Good luck! Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabii Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 Jimmy, Being honest and providing more information than is asked for or is required are 2 different things. Asking the consulate for advice on how to apply for a visa is OK, asking them how to apply successfully is another and is usually not helpful. US immigration law is such that it's their job to keep people out of the USA, not assist them to get in. Will your impending marriage make what easier? Getting a B2 visa easier? No, it will likely make getting a B2 visa more difficult. Once in the US a married foreigner is eligible to apply to adjust status to Permanent Resident and stay, and the consular officials are quite aware of this and it is their job to prevent it. Being married is one more red flag indicating that a person who is applying for a non-immigrant visa may actually have immgrant intent. In your original post you wrote what I assumed was a typo, "twice during the tourist visa application process we were asked, "why don't you apply for a non-immigrant visa?" Our reply was "she doesn't want to immigrate" but the fact that they asked the question makes me curious." What you've said is this post makes me wonder - did they really ask you why not apply for a non-immigrant visa, or did they ask you why not apply for an immigrant visa? Grabii JimmyD said:Thanks for taking the time to reply Grabii. You wrote: Stressing your relationship with your fiancee is a double-edge sword, and likely hurt your fiancee more than it helped. Perhaps, and it was a consideration. however I believe it is best to be honest with the embassy. We will be dealing with them for years to come. In answer to your questions, we applied in Bangkok and I did provide an itinerary and purpose. As I said in my first post, I worked very hard on the application. It took us many months to investigate what was needed, gather evidence, and prepare a package to present. As in Saduam's excellent "Stoopid " thread, getting information from the embassy is not easy and the application process itself leaves a bit to be desired, as my British colleagues would phrase it. I even visited the embassy prior to applying, thinking that would be helpful (silly me). My original post has a question no one has touched yet, will our impending marriage make it easier? I will ask them when we go through the process as I will have to visit the embassy anyway for documents we will need to get married, but this post is an additional attempt to gather information. The second question is whether application for a non-immigrant visa is possible in our situation. If so, perhaps they should change the name from "non-immigrant!" Anything is possible, however; that's why I'm asking. If any of the old hands feel they might be able to give me some good information if they had more details, let me know and I'll give those details by private message. Thanks in advance, JimmyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grabii Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 HST, You've lost me here. The purpose of a non-immigrant visa is to visit (and then leave). The purpose of an immigrant visa is to stay on indefinitely. Regards, JEff HSTEACH said:Applying for a non-immigrant visa solely for the purpose of visiting the US would be considered fraud. That would not be within the context of the purpose of the non-immigrant visa. .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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