lovedog100

As MM said. I am one of those that did it. MM, Bushcraft, Frosty and others watched us go through the process. In fact, she got a 10 year multiple entry visa. She has been in the US for the last 5 months and 25 days. She flew back to Thailand last night, and will be in the US again in 2 weeks on that same visa.

The agency's won't touch it because there isn't any money in it for them. The application is longer, and the assume your lady is a prostitute. Not to mention, as I said, most of the agency's have little or NO experience in doing American applications. I disagree. Maybe you didn't catch the part where I said that an American man living in Thailand can get his wife or girlfriend a tourist visa. At that point, he becomes one of her ties to Thailand. I know of men that did this, and I did it myself. Using a tourist visa is not by passing the marriage or fiancee visa. A marriage fiancee visa is for permanent residence in the country, a tourist visa is not. However, the other visas will be easier for a Thai National that has been to, and returned from the US before, without an overstay. The OP stated that he was living in Thailand when he applied for the visa. I just gave it as an option. I do know Thai women that have been turned down for a visa that had Millions of Baht in the bank. They told me that I would never get one for my wife. I did. Who said that they did everything right just because they had money in the bank, and a house that is paid for? They sure didn't have the foot up of being married to an American man that was living in Thailand. The difference, a tourist visa is entirely done online, except the interview by E-filing. The marriage, and fiancee visa, the forms are downloaded online, and then sent in. However, E-filing is expanding, they keep adding to what can be E-filed. I had found a place to E-file for the marriage visa, and filled it out by mistake, before submitting the tourist visa. I don't have the time or energy to look for it now. http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/searchusa/?locale=en&affiliate=82601b2ec&vgnextoid=d6f8c08346bc2310VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD& query=visa&x=0&y=0 http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/searchusa/?locale=en&affiliate=82601b2ec&vgnextoid=d6f8c08346bc2310VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD&query=visa&x=0&y=0 http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=254a3e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=254a3e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

Lilbarry, I disagree with you on several points. The first one is doing it yourself. It's not as hard as you are told. The company's you pay, do nothing more than fill out the form, that you supply the information for. You have done the hard part yourself, collecting everything needed. Anyone smart enough to figure out the forums can fill out forms. Most of the agency's are experienced with visa's to the UK, and Germany. There are a hundred people from the UK and Germany for every American in Thailand. Some of the agency's will simi prepare the lady for her interview, by telling her what questions might be asked, and giving possible answers. You can do that yourself, and much better. The US visa is done online now. You can check and double check before clicking submit. You can even fill part of it out, and if there is some information that you need to research, you can save the app, and come back to it later. I spent Two day's filling out my wife's. You said that the fiance is the easiest to get. You are wrong there. If you are living in Thailand, a tourist visa is the easiest to get. For us, 5 weeks from the day I submitted the application til visa in hand. A tourist visa is 6 months, which is plenty of time to see if she will be able to live in the US or not, and if the marriage has any chance of working. She can, as in our case, get a multiple entry visa. Then she can go home every 6 months, and then right back. She will want to go home anyway, and you might want to go as well. After visiting the US once, and returning home without overstaying, another tourist visa, a marriage visa, or fiance visa is much easier to get. She already has a history of visiting the US and abiding by the rules by leaving on time, and not getting arrested for some crime. There are only a few things that are important when applying, that the agency's know. I can tell you those things here. 1. Be truthful on the application. (or as truthful as you possibly can.) 2. Answer every question on the application. Leave NO blank spaces. (this is important) 3. Prepare the lady for her interview. Ask her the typical questions over and over again, until she can answer them easily. She needs to know the purpose for her visit, and it's with in the rules of the visa she is applying for. She needs to know where she will be staying, America, is not a good enough answer. She needs to know about you, what you do for a living, do you own a home or rent, what state you are from, your birthday, have you been married before, do you have children, are your parents alive. She doesn't need to know what high school that you went to, but she should know as much as an American woman would know about the person she is marrying. 4. She needs to arrive to her interview with every document that they would possibly ask for. It should be in a file, or envelope, neatly arranged so she can easily find it when asked. 5. Have pictures showing the two of you together. They want to see your relationship. No bar pictures. Have pictures with her family, at restaurants, tourist attractions, in the mall, stuff like that. I printed 4 pictures per page, and labeled each one with the date, or at least month and year, and where it was. Trip to Koh Samet, at home with family, floating market, beach at Koh Larn. Then stapled then in order by date, they could easy thumb through it and see our relationship from start to that point. 6. For a tourist visa, she needs to show ties to Thailand. A job, house, property, family, children, friends, anything and everything that would show ties. You don't have to have it all, but more is better. 7. If you get married beforehand, go the whole legal rout. It's complicated. You have to go to the US Embassy and get a notarized letter that you are not married. Then go and have that letter translated into Thai, it has to be a certified translation. Then go and have it legalized. Then go to the Ampur and fill out the marriage papers. At that point you are legally married, whether you have a wedding or not. 8. Fill out the application, and make the packet of documents and pictures that she is taking to the interview with her, like you are submitting a report in college and want an A on it. 9. Have the lady read the application, or read it to her. You don't want her answering a question at the interview different than what is on the form. Make sure she knows what everything in the packet she is taking to the interview is. 10. Before you start the process, do as much research as possible. The Immigration, and Embassy website has lots of information on it. Most everything that you need to submit the application, and get married can be found there. Spend a day reading immigration websites. 11. Be patient, this is not a fast process. Don't get mad, it doesn't help. There are hoops that you have to jump through, expect it, and do it. It's not personal, it's just the bureaucratic process. 12. Read another thread found here http://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/56797-thai-visa-express/page__hl__visa Lots of people will tell you how hard it is to get a visa. They may have some experience themselves, or will tell you what they have heard. Do not listen to them. Take your advice from people that have got a visa, not from people that didn't. The people that say it's hard, is what keeps the agency's in business. Anyone that is of normal intelligence, and can work a computer online can get a visa for their lady. You will find that by doing it yourself, you will be more knowledgeable about the process, and will know where you are every step of the way. Your labor will save you about $1000 a day for your efforts. The Agency is the lazy mans way to go, but be advised, even with an agency, you still have to supply every answer on the application, every document and picture. You end up doing most of the work yourself anyway. Why pay someone else big bucks to fill out an application that you supply the answers for, and then put it in a file folder with the documents and pictures that you supplied?

Why did they put the fat girl front and center?

I've read that the author claimed that he would never allow the book to be translated into Thai. The author of Money Number one has made the same claim. Thai's don't like people writing or speaking of how things really are. It's probably a good thing not to have a Thai read the book. Much like the Lady Gaga post, a fake Rolex can be bought on every street corner, but Thai's don't like it said publicly.

I did a visa run and extended my visa, and never asked the government to pay my hotel bill.

People protesting music and entertainers, is nothing new in the world. It's been going on for as long as I can remember. Even my parents went through it. I can still remember the night that the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show. The next day at school there was a new rule, no beatles hair cuts. All the boys in school had to line up and be checked to make sure we didn't have a Beatles haircut. It was really weird, like they really believed that our hair had grown over night. There were a couple of boys that were sent home for a hair cut, even though they looked like they did every other day they had ever been in school.

I spent all day looking for flights from the west coast. The cheapest flights I found routed through places like Wash. DC, Atlanta, and such. It didn't make any sense to me. The extra 10 hours of travel wasn't worth the couple of hundred less. Some of them were more than 36 hours of travel. Korea air had the best price going to PDX, to SEA to Korea then BKK. I went with the airline I hate the most, Delta because they fly out of PDX now. $ two hundred more than Korean air but cut more than 10 hours off of Korean's travel time. Only one short stop in Japan. United who I usually fly with, always has a 4 hour layover in Japan, and several hours in Seattle or San Fransisco. Their price has in the past been worth the time. Now United was $500 more than Delta, and 26 hours travel time compared to 17 hours with Delta. Here is a hint, Look at Expedia, Priceline and such to see who fly's there. But book your ticket direct with the airline. I have found the booking agents to be wrong on the number of stops, and the travel time. They show one thing, then your ticket shows another. Prices are the same. Another biggie, when the yellow shirts closed the airport I was due to fly out and couldn't (and didn't want to) Getting a new ticket was next to impossible from Priceline, in fact, I never did get one. I kept calling United over and over telling them that I was stuck in Thailand and my visa was running out. They kept telling me that I booked with Priceline, that I had to deal with them. When I got down to two days from my visa expiring, United Sold me another ticket, and promised a refund. They did refund my ticket, but that changed my home ticket from the US, to Thailand. If you are living in the US, you don't want your return ticket to be to Thailand.

I just bought a ticket, it was up 50% from just 6 months ago.

Are topless ladies OK?

You take a newbie to a bar with an attendant, just to watch his reaction when he comes out. When someone tells you that they took #44 from babydolls last night, you not only know exactly who he is talking about, but ask if she did that thing with her tongue.

4 pages and not one picture?

Misc

Redneck condo

sleeping

American women learn early

My favorite. Class 2 Which Takes More Energy - Putting the Toilet Seat Down, or Bitching About It for 3 Hours? Round Table Discussion. Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

A good option is a pay as you go credit card. I got one that has no fee for international ATM usage and will work in Thailand. The only problem, if you have to have someone that can put money on it for you in the states, or I can reload the card from my bank account online while in Thailand. There is a big fee for using it for an international point of sale though, but I never use a credit card to buy anything with the exception of some hotel bills and nights in FLB. I got the card for a different usage, I got one that comes with two cards, I have one, and when Jane goes back home, she will give one to her moma, it's in her name. I can put money on the card in the US, and then she can take it out at an ATM in Thailand. It beats the hell out of the $35 western union charge.

Look at switching return dates. Sometimes moving a day or two one way or another can drop the price substantially.

They do not have in room safes. However most cheaper hotels have the cheap electronic safe that can be easily broken into. There is even instructions on how to do it on youtube. Dream's safe is available 24/7 and takes two keys to open, one in your possession, and one with whom ever is manning the desk. Personally I prefer that system. If you read these forums enough, you will find several men that have gone into shower and had their safe robbed. Others drugged and the safe robbed. If they show up to the front desk with your key, they would have to know which safe it opens, and if the person at the desk didn't recognize her as someone renting a room, would not open it.

If you really want a hotel with lots of Russians, pick a hotel in Jomtien or Wongamat beach. You can check some out here http://www.r24.org/pattayacity.com/pattaya/

I had cats using my yard for a toilet. It stunk to high hell. After I got Rocky, they all went away.