Do you need a fiancé visa for Thai girlfriend? The K1 visa from Thailand is a visa which allows an American citizen to take his Thai fiancée back to the United States to get married. The condition is that you have to get married within 90 days of arriving in the US. The K1 visa is not the same as the CR1 visa or the IR1 visa as those are marriage visas which are much like the K3 visa. Speak to a lawyer in Thailand for more information and assistance as this is a brief overview of the process.
Fiancé visa for Thai girlfriend
Background
This is a brief overview of the fiancé visa for Thai girlfriend. For the year 2014, the US immigration services had issued 717 K-1 visas for Thai nationals and a total of 77 K-2 visas for their children. This is in contrast to the total of only 4, K-3 spouse visas for the year and no K-4 visas for that year. Most Thai people tend to get married in the United States compared to getting married in Thailand and moving to the United States on the spouse visa. This one has to be taken into consideration.
K2 Visa
The fiancé visa for Thai girlfriend normally comes with another visa. If your fiancée has minor children or a minor child then you will need to apply for a K2 visa as well. From the stats it is clear that on average about 10% of Thai women moving to the US on a fiancée visa tend to have a minor child. The law states that a minor child has to be under the age of 18 and be single. For the child over the age of 16 but under the age of 18 will require a police clearance certificate. Child custody may also be an issue and you will require to submit from the Amphurs office a letter that the other parent has consented that the child to leave the country as your fiancée has full custody. You can read more of that here. Take legal advice on these issues.
Visa Process
First, you must have met your fiancée in person in the last two years. This is to avoid issues where marriages have been arranged. The second step is to start the process with the filing of form I-129F with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once received you will then get the US Notice of Action 1. Once the application has been approved you will then get the Notice of Action 2. The documents then move to the National Visa Center and you will be required form I-134, the Affidavit of Support and then to the US Embassy in Bangkok.
Note that the I-129F petition is valid for a total of four months from the approval date by the USCIS. Your Thai fiancée then has four months to apply for a K-1 visa by completing Form DS-160. You will need to ensure that you meet the US poverty line for immigration purposes which you can find on this website. Always take legal advice when starting the process as well as taking advice on the K2 visa which is also explained above. See the other issues listed on this website. Always take legal advice when it comes to the fiancé visa for Thai girlfriend.
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