As I’ve mentioned before, the wife and I are planning to move back to the US in the next couple of years, quite probably in mid-2016. We’re starting to prepare the paperwork now and would like to submit Form I-130, in which I, a US citizen, petition for my wife, a Thai citizen, to be granted an Immigrant Visa and green card for the US. Fortunately there’s a US Citizenship and Immigration Services Office right here in Bangkok that accepts petitions.
I’m interested in people’s experiences with the process. I know the filing fee is US$420 if we file here in Bangkok. Apparently it’s higher if we file inside the US, but I’m wondering if it would be better to wait until we’re set up there. The wife has a 10-year Tourist Visa, so going there is not a problem. It’s just that staying there might be. How long is the process once it starts? Are there any advantages to filing in country as opposed to outside the country? I know there will be further forms with additional filing fees down the road. Any info or advice would be appreciated.
One other point. We don’t know our address in the US yet, just that it will be in Hawaii and almost certainly Honolulu. The plan is for me to go first and get set up, then the wife will follow. The office here told us it’s okay if we don’t have an address yet since we’re both legally residing here. Said just to put “unknown address” on the form and tell the intended city and state.
Also, she’s not interested in citizenship. I have no family left to speak of, and all her family are back here, so she’d just come back here if anything happened to me. So we’re not looking at a path towards citizenship for her.
I did a fiancee visa for my (now) wife, and it took about seven months from filing to granting of the visa. Then there another process to get a green card after we got married, then a third process to get a permanent green card after she’d been here for two years, then finally application and granting of citizenship.
$420? I remember it as being several thousands of dollars just to the point of having the first green card. The fee for the visa interview by itself was at least that, and the fee for filing the initial paperwork was about $750.
You should file in Bangkok. The $420 is just for the I-130, and then there are additional fees for the immigrant visa once the I-130 is approved. (And a medical exam, etc.)
The issue with coming on a tourist visa and then filing for a green card in the U.S. is that using a tourist visa presumes nonimmigrant intent, and then if she turns around and applies to immigrate, especially right after arriving, there is a risk that someone will determine that she committed fraud in arriving on a tourist visa. (Barring some drastic turn of events after arrival, like a major medical disaster, etc.)
The other issue is that if she applies for an immigrant visa, once she arrives in the U.S. on an immigrant visa, she is a permanent resident. If she applies for a green card in the U.S., assuming she applies concurrently for an Advance Parole (international travel permission pending adjudication of the green card application), it will be probably 2 - 3 months before she can leave the U.S. without abandoning the green card application.
Poke around a bit and talk to the folks in Bangkok to see what processing time for the I-130 and immigrant visa is, and that will give you a better idea of what your timing and strategy should be. I haven’t dealt with the immigrant visa unit there in a while, but last time I did, they were pretty good about responding to questions via e-mail within a day or two.
Thanks, guys. It definitely won’t involve a fiancee visa, because we’ve been legally married for coming up on 22 years now.
The US$420 filing fee seems to be some sort of break for filing at an Immigration Office outside the US. According to the Wikipedia page on Form I-30, it would be anywhere from $635-985 if filing inside the US. Other fees down the road will be $325 for the visa-processing fee and $165 USCIS immigrant fee. (I assume that last one is the green-card fee.) I won’t be surprised if there are further fees too.
Another issue is employment status. I’ve mentioned before on the Board that my wife is a civil servant, a rather senior one. And she is. But she will retire next week after 30 years on the job. (This is a big reason why we’re moving back now. Her career is over. And I say “moving back” because she’s lived in the US before, on a Student Visa; we met as grad students at the U of Hawaii, where her office sent her to pick up a second master’s degree in a field that would be useful to her work.) I’ve never said what I’m doing over here – many Board members are no doubt convinced I’m some sort of human trafficker, heh – but in reality I am involved in the news media. And I am leaving my position at the end of February to start preparing for the Big Move, be it next year or the following year. So I’ll be able to list my employment on the I-130 when filing next month, but I’ll technically be unemployed shortly after that. How might that affect the application?
We were thinking I’d go to Hawaii around this next May or June at the earliest and she would follow a month later. But if her application is still being processed for the Immigrant Visa, would she still be able to travel to the US on the Tourist Visa? Even if she had to come back for the outcome of the Immigrant Visa process. Or is any travel to the US not a good idea while her application is being processed?
We really want to make sure we do everything correctly.
Don’t look at Wikipedia. Look at the USCIS website. The different in fees is because if you are filing in the U.S., you are paying $420 for the I-130 petition and $1,070 for the I-485, Application to Adjust Status, a fee which also includes the fees for employment authorization and Advance Parole (both renewable in one-year increments while the I-485 is pending). These days it’s unlikely that a green card application for a spouse of a U.S. citizen will be pending more than a few months.
They may ask her at the interview whether anything on the application has changed since it was filed. You will also need to be able to document sufficient income and/or assets that your wife will not become a public charge in the U.S., but at a level of 125% of the Federal poverty level for your household size, so for most professional middle-class folks it’s not a huge issue. Do you have a job in the States?
If you can avoid having her go to the U.S. while her immigrant visa is pending that would be easiest, but with proper planning you might be able to swing it. If I were you I’d call up the Embassy and talk turkey with them. You’re not a 22-year-old dude petitioning for some flavor of the month that you met in a bar, and you may find them surprisingly helpful. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice, Eva Luna. No, I do not have a job lined up in the States yet. That’s one of the things I was going to look around for in Hawaii. We do have a pretty good amount of savings to live on for a while – although Hawaii would eat it up more quickly than Thailand, that’s for sure – plus property here in Bangkok. As is usual in Thailand due to restrictive property ownership laws against foreigners such as myself, our property is in her name. Plus she’ll have a small pension too. So we definitely can show we’re quite a bit above poverty level, even more than 125% above.
Do you know what the usual turnaround time is for this sort of thing? Greg Charles mentioned seven months for him. That would be okay, although certainly we want this taken care of as quickly as possible. We’re certainly not trying to pull a fast one on anyone and want to be sure we dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s.
The website I linked is for all family based visas, including spouse It’s great because everyone on the board either is going through the same process as you or has already completed it. It was a fantastic source for me for all my random questions plus the resources available are amazing. People were fairly quick to respond and always happy to help.
It varies quite a lot from place to place (and over time - in recent memory it was taking over a year for spouses of U.S. citizens). The fact that you can show you are residing legally in Thailand will make it much faster because you can file the I-130 locally rather than having to do it in the States (where it’s taking ~ 5 months these days). But if you’re thinking of relocating in the spring, you should start now in case there are any hiccups. Once the immigrant visa is issued, it will be valid for 6 months and then you can decide when she will relocate.
Thanks again, all. We’re in the process of gathering necessary documents and expect to file in mid-January. Right now the wife is hectically trying to wind down matters in her office. Next Wednesday will be her last day there (as New Year’s Eve is an official public holiday over here in addition to New Year’s Day), and she expects to devote herself full-time to this right after New Year’s.
Thanks. No, no children of any type. Childless by choice. I’m just not parenting material, and the thought of childbirth terrified the wife.
Not quite that old yet, still in our 50s, mid- to late. We figure if we’re going to do this, it needs to be before we reach 60. And we’re not getting any younger. Insurance will have to be something we work out, possibly through employment I can find in Hawaii. She has lifetime healthcare privileges here in Thailand due to her soon-to-be-former position, but I’m not sure that would extend abroad and certainly not at US healthcare prices.
The reason I asked is although the ACA has eliminated many health insurance hassles, it Is not a good option in later years. Healthcare in the US really assumes that you have Medicare after age 65.
For you and your wife to qualify without high premiums, one of you needs to have paid into Social Security for at least 40 quarters.
Had a thought. In the (hopefully unlikely) event the wife is refused an Immigrant Visa, would that affect her 10-year Tourist Visa? They wouldn’t take that away, would they?
For what it’s worth, just for historical perspective. I went through this in the 1970s. Five years after I married my Canadian wife in Canada, we decided to return to the USA. We just stopped at the US Consulate in Halifax as we were driving toward the border, without an appointment nor any prior paperwork, and everything was done in a couple of hours. I can’t recall if they handed her the green card on the spot, or if that came later in the mail.
– but in reality I am involved in the news media. And I am leaving my position at the end of February to start preparing for the Big Move, be it next year or the following year. So I’ll be able to list my employment on the I-130 when filing next month, but I’ll technically be unemployed shortly after that. How might that affect the application?
It’s great because everyone on the board either is going through the same process as you or has already completed it. It was a fantastic source for me for all my random questions plus the resources available are amazing. People were fairly quick to respond and always happy to help.