Yeah, things have changed since then. Might be easier for Canadians too, dunno.
We’re gathering documents and evidence, and we’ll be filing next week for certain. However, I’ve hit a snag on a couple of the forms.
Because I’m filing a petition for my wife, we both have to fill out a Form G-325A, Biographic Information. It’s all pretty straightforward until the very end. There’s a dark-lined box at the very bottom with the instruction Applicant: Print your name and Alien Registration Number in the box outlined by heavy border below. Now, I am the Petitioner, and I thought my wife was the Applicant. On her Form G-325A, she’ll of course fill in her name. But how about on mine? Since it’s my Biographic Information, am I counted as the Applicant for purposes of this form, and so should I fill in my name? Or even though it’s my Biographic Information, is my wife supposed to fill that in on my form since she really is the ultimate Applicant? (Neither of us has an Alien Registration Number, as I’m an American and she does not live in the US.)
A somewhat similar question for Form G-1145, e-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance. In several boxes it asks for the surname, full first name and full middle name of the Applicant/Petitioner. Like that, with the forward slash. Does that mean either one of us can fill it in? Or does it have to be me since I’m the Petitioner? Or should it be my wife?
I filled out the G-325A a number of years ago, same situation as you, and looking at my old copy of that (assuming the form has not changed much), I note that the form refers in multiple locations to “applicant” when requesting your past addresses, work history, etc. Since your form is to be filled out with your info, I think it is safe to say that here “applicant” refers to the person filling out that particular form, and not the visa applicant. That’s how we filled out our forms (her name on hers, my name on mine in the black box at the bottom), and we had no problems getting the visa.
I feel for you. Any third party reading your question would probably respond “What’s the big deal? Fill it out how you think, and if its wrong just correct it later,” but I remember poring over the forms and reading the instructions over and over, worried that some innocent mistake would derail the process.
Nope, the process is analogous for Canadians. (And you each sign your own G-325A forms.)
Thanks. That’s what I was thinking. Yeah, it’s not so easy to think in terms of “if its wrong just correct it later” when there’s a $420 filing fee on the line.
Right, but it’s not the signature I mean. It’s below the signature, where it says the “Applicant” must print name and Alien Registration Number inside the heavily bordered box. I wasn’t clear about whether I was the Applicant in this case since I’m the Petitioner on other forms.
And now that I look closely at the form again, it does call me an Applicant in the spot where it does want my signature, so I guess that’s final.
For the G-1145, I’m being told that’s my info they’re asking for, because as the Petitioner I’ll want to be the one they contact.
Well, balls. We’ve hit a speed bump. As Eva Luna mentioned above, when the wife has her interview, we’ll have to show income or assets equal to 125% of the poverty level for Hawaii. The key word there is “income.” All our assets are here in Thailand and therefore classified as “foreign assets,” and the rule on foreign assets when petitioning for a spouse is a 3:1 ratio. That means since 125% of the official poverty level for Hawaii is $22,912 a year, our assets will have to be three times that. Well, okay, still no problem. The wife owns a bit of property here in Bangkok including our home. Owns it all outright, nothing owed. But – and here’s the speed bump – it seems foreign assets are not always accepted by USCIS. Assets inside the US, never a problem. Here in Thailand? Well … maybe a problem. We do have enough cash to meet the 125% requirement, so I was thinking that would be enough. But now I see that’s not “income,” that’s an “asset” and so also falls under the 3:1 rule. While we do have enough cash to meet the 125% rule, we don’t have three times that amount on hand. 
So I’m going to have to do some research into the likelihood of our property being accepted by USCIS. If there’s a good record of them accepting property in the Bangkok office, then no problem, we’ll go ahead and file. Otherwise, it looks like we’ll really have to sell the condo. We’ve been trying to decide whether to rent it out or sell it, and maybe this will decide the matter for us. I’ve mentioned above that the wife retired last month with a small, very small, pension, and I’ll be leaving my position at the end of next month to start preparing for the move back, so there will be no “income” per se to speak of at the wife’s interview. We’ll have to depend on our assets even if it means selling some.
Ah well. Maybe it will be Plan B, and I’ll have to go on ahead to Hawaii and try to get set up there first after all. Although that would probably entail having to file from inside the US, which is more costly and time-consuming.
I believe you can put someone on there as a financial sponsor. My parents did that for my ex-husband when we were getting him here on a fiancee visa. I know spouse visa is different though but definitely something to look into if it’s a possibility.
I’m afraid not. No family left to speak of in the US save a 95-year-old uncle in California. We still have friends in the US but no one we’d feel comfortable bothering with something like this. Does the sponsor have to be an American? The wife’s brother might help out, but he’s Thai and here in Thailand.
I’d prefer getting this settled on our own anyway, and the wife agrees. Since we’ll end up selling our home eventually anyway, it may be time to do just that. Will delay the filing a bit but hopefully not long.
Gah! Every time I turn around, it seems I’m running up against a new rule. It’s being pointed out to me that the 3:1 ratio for assets is only for assets inside the US. Foreign assets are always in the 5:1 ratio even in the case of a spouse. Well, okay, no problem, our property still meets that. But then it’s pointed out we cannot count our primary residence in the assets. I guess they don’t want us to take a chance on us becoming homeless? But we’re certainly not living here once the wife gets her visa. But that’s still no problem, because the townhouse the wife owns still meets the criteria. But then it’s pointed out a) the asset must be convertible to cash within 12 months if necessary and b) there are limits to how much cash can be taken out of Thailand, so the US government may not like my having cash here.
There are still ways around this, but I feel this is going to take even more doing than originally thought. I may have to go get set up first in Hawaii after all, get a bank account and start transferring money over there a little at a time. I’ve used my ATM card in the US before, and I can pull out about $1400 worth a day. Seems like in this age of ATMs and Internet banking, getting cash abroad over a relatively short period of time should not be an issue.
Sam, you should have contacts at the US embassy or elsewhere that could be able to give an indication if your assets would be accepted. And your wife is a long term civil servant and not ahem a stereotypical Patpong girl some US citizens might fall in love with and need a visa to get into the US with ahem.
Play up your wife’s solid credentials. Retiring and ranking civil servant, Masters degree in Hawaii, length of marriage, your own professional standing as a journalist, the assets in Thailand, the cash you have, Thai capital controls, etc etc etc. You might find that when you actually apply, these potential pitfalls remain potential.
Joint sponsors do not need to be relatives; they just need to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents domiciled in the U.S. and have the requisite income and/or assets for their household size. But yes, they do need to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents; the Thai brother is not going to be able to sponsor you. (But the 95-year-old uncle could, if he’s willing - but it sounds like you don’t want to ask him.)
And I like China Guy’s idea about asking about the assets, if you have contacts - and you know, if you go through the whole process and the assets are the only thing stopping the Embassy from granting the visa, you can come back with a joint sponsor and/or alternative asset documentation (or you could go on to the U.S. ahead of her and come back with a job offer) later, and they could issue the visa once you do that. So once you decide on the plan, you can file the I-130 petition now and figure out the rest for the immigrant visa application while the I-130 is pending (or even after it’s approved).
Thanks all. So if the assets are the problem, and they say so further down the line, I still have a chance to rectify the matter without having to start the process all over again from the beginning, like with a new filing?
I’ve asked the embassy, and they only said they could not provide legal advice regarding immigration matters. They suggested I contact an immigration attorney or accredited representative. We may have to do just that. The asset situation is the sole sticking point. Even if we sell our home, there’s still the matter of cash-transfer limits out of Thailand. I think we could probably get Bank of Thailand permission to move the money but will have to do some more research to be sure about that.
No worries. We expected speed bumps along the way.
Correct. In fact, the last case I handled in Bangkok, the applicant got a request for additional documentation to show that his single DUI did not mean he was a danger to public safety or that he had an alcohol dependency problem. He presented additional documentation a few weeks later, and the immigrant visa was issued and he is now a permanent resident. (Actually, the Embassy also requested a joint sponsor, but that was much easier to resolve because his U.S. citizen wife had lots of relatives who were in a position to be joint sponsors.) Normally, if the Embassy believes your documentation is insufficient, they will issue a 221(g) letter (after the section of law regarding sufficient documentation), listing specifically what they believe is insufficient. You are normally given a year to remedy the deficiency without having to start the immigrant visa process over again, which is also stated in the letter.
So, for example, you could file the I-130 now, and while it’s pending figure out what to do about the financial issues. And if the Embassy thinks your assets are insufficient and you don’t have a job or joint sponsor by then, that would give you time to figure out the Thai capital controls, sell the condo, etc. But in the meantime, your I-130 petition is waiting for you and you aren’t totally starting from scratch.
Sorry, I don’t know squat about Thai capital controls - good luck with that one!
Thanks, Eva! That is good to know. I would certainly hope we could get this resolved inside a year. We had not heard that and so thought maybe they would just reject us outright and then we’d have to start all over again.
We had hoped to file this Friday but are still postponing it until next week or the week after, this month for sure if what you say is the case.
And … we’ve filed! Yesterday morning (Wednesday morning). The US government got $520 out of us, and I hope they put it to good use. That was $420 for the filing fee and $50 each for two sworn affidavits I had made at the embassy from people who have known us our entire marriage testifying we really do have a valid relationship. Now we wait 60 days for the next step, which I believe is the wife actually applying for the Immigrant Visa. This one was me requesting the wife be allowed to apply for a visa, if I have that right.
Congrats! In essence, sort of - the I-130 is for the purpose of establishing that the two of you have a bona fide marriage, and the immigrant visa is for establishing that nothing else about her would disqualify her for an immigrant visa. (Criminal history, likelihood of becoming a public charge, prior immigration violations, that sort of thing.)
We tend to save stuff from travels. Boarding passes, itineraries, that sort of thing. So we included those. And many photos over the decades showing us aging together, from places all over East, South and Southeast Asia.
Yeah, just from what you’ve described on the boards, I wasn’t thinking you’d have a problem. If you had a fake green card marriage, that would be some mighty deep cover. 
We had some documents translated at an agency near the embassy. They also act as an agent for applicants, but we did not use that service, just translations. But the lady there told us one couple they did act as an agent for obviously had a sham marriage. Didn’t act married, photos provided were obviously Photoshopped etc. Said that during the interview, the interviewer stopped and asked point blank: “This is a fake marriage, isn’t it?” Seems the lady had an aunt in the US who wanted her niece to come work for her and got some American shlub to pose as her husband.
They didn’t say if they’d warned the couple ahead of time or just took their money knowing it wouldn’t work out. I can only hope they did try to warn them.