American Tourist Visas and Thai Girlfriends or Fiancees - By: Benjamin Hart

So you have found a great girl in Thailand and you are looking at bringing her to the United States. A good deal of false information circulates about the US tourist visa. This article is designed to shed light on US Visas from Thailand.

The Tourist Visa for your Thai Fiancee

I hear many people discuss the tourist visa in various forums and blogs and mostly I hear about how easy they are to obtain for Thai girls. It's true that the United States Embassy in Bangkok is somewhat less reluctant to grant tourist visas than other diplomatic missions. That being said, they are still difficult to obtain. I usually tell people that the rejection rate is about 95% and I usually receive and incredulous response because they know someone who got one for their Thai girlfriend, fiancee, or wife. That may be the case, however, the Bangkok Embassy denies many tourist visas on a daily basis and they are not likely to alter this system. The overall rejection rate for Thais wishing to obtain a tourist visa is very high. The reason for this high rejection rate is the fact that a Thai applicant must overcome the presumption that they are merely using the tourist visa as a means for going to the US in an effort to permanently remain.

This presumption can be rebutted by showing "strong ties" to the Kingdom of Thailand, in short: money talks. Overall, "strong ties" implies financial ties, i.e. a good job or assets here in Thailand (house, condo, property, or business) that would necessitate a return to the Kingdom. Many US Citizen boyfriends, fiances, and husbands looking to assist Thais coming to America inadvertently may be hurting the Thais chances of getting a tourist visa.

Say you take your Thai girlfriend or fiance to the US Embassy in Bangkok and tell them you want to get a tourist visa to show her around America. Immediately you have given more evidence in favor of denying the tourist visa because it looks as though you may use this visa to get married which would reinforce the presumption that she is simply using the visa to go to the US to remain. Also, if by chance you two get this visa and go to the US to subsequently get married then US Immigration can (and many times does) construe this as an attempt to defraud the US government.

With such a high rejection rate and the other risks involved if marriage is even a remote possibility and the US Citizen boyfriend or fiancé lives in the US, then it is a better option to file for a K-1 Fiancé(e) Visa with USCIS in order to bring the Thai loved one back to the US.

Thanks for Reading,

Benjamin W. Hart, Esq.

About the Author

Ben Hart is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers association. He lives in Bangkok where he is Managing Director of Integrity Legal, a Law Firm located in the United States and Thailand. To find out more visit K1 Visas for a Thai Girl and US Visas from Thailand.

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