Immigration and Visas (K1 Fiance/Fiancee Visa)

New - a guide to the (K1) fiance visa interview. Contains an extensive list of actual questions from the visa interview.
Check it out HERE

Update: Fiance visas ARE being granted. Contrary to some rumors, there has been no undue increase in the denials of visa applications. There have been fee increases and increased scrutiny for tourist visa applications. But fiance/fiancee visas are being routinely granted. Read on.

A immigration visa is needed for that special Thai lady you want to bring back to your home country. You will find that the visa process is complex and time consuming. While it is possible to successfully obtain a visa for your Thai lady on your own, it is a tricky and frustrating process. Most of the steps must be handled in Bangkok. And the embassy personnel are none too helpful. Often they are outright difficult, providing incomplete or misleading information, and creating unnecessary obstacles to obtaining the visa.

The K1 fiance/fiancee visa is the usual approach taken when immigrating to the U.S. It is usually much faster than a K3 spouse visa. But under certain (rather complicated) immigration conditions the K3 visa might be your choice. Consult an immigration lawyer or visa service if your situation is unusual, or if you already have a registered marriage in Thailand, in which case you only choice is a K3 visa. The usual case is that the couple gets engaged and has a wedding ceremony in Thailand, but does not register the marriage at the local amphur so they are not legally married. Therefore, they can legally apply for a fiancee (K1) visa. The initial application is filed by the man at the immigration center serving the region where he lives in America. After some time (a month or two) a package shows up at the lady's home in Thailand. After she completes that package she gets an interview appointment. Finally, after 3 to 6 months from the initial filing, the visa interview takes place and the visa is (hopefully) granted. That is the general overview of the fiance visa process. Success lies in the details.

Following are some pointers that may make the immigration process go a little smoother for you. Note that this information applies mainly to immigrating to the U.S. and the UK. Note also that this is not legal advice and furthermore the embassies frequently make changes to the process so we assume no liability for any results you obtain as a result of using this information.

• Use a visa service company: While this isn't cheap it is certainly better than making one or more wasted trips to Thailand trying to find your way through the maze of immigration red tape on your own, or worse, having your visa application denied for no apparent reason. Contact us and we will recommend a good service. They are experts and work with the embassies regularly so they are up on the latest immigration regulations as well as the latest tricks being used by the embassy to trip up the unwary.
• Keep records: You need to have evidence that a relationship exists so keep records of all of your contact. This includes phone bills, emails, letters, travel and hotel receipts, and plenty of photos of time you spend together in Thailand. This is especially true for UK citizens because the British embassy wants to see evidence of a long standing relationship. You will need all of this when you submit your application for her visa.
• Prepare well: Once you have completed and submitted all of the documentation you will be notified of an interview date. The lady must attend this interview alone; the man cannot accompany her to the visa interview. So prepare her well. She should know all of the content of the visa application documents that were submitted. And there may be surprise questions asked of her. If you use a visa service they will know what trick questions are currently being asked since the service does a debriefing of all their clients when they finish their interview. The visa service uses the information they collect to prepare their clients so they have the best chance for success.

One caution we should mention. There are plenty of good immigration lawyers in the U.S. and UK. But they are expensive and the value they provide in obtaining a Thai fiance visa is really quite poor, especially if they don't have an office in Bangkok that can assist the lady. The hard part of the visa application process is getting all of the required information from the lady, then translated properly and into the required visa application forms properly, and then preparing the lady for the interview. Those steps have to be done in Thailand. So if you pay an immigration attorney in your home country chances are you will have to do most of the hard part yourself by making a trip to Thailand, and then pay additional for translation of the forms. For the UK you must submit the entire package to the embassy in Bangkok so someone has to put together the package and submit it in Bangkok. For the U.S. the initial petition is submitted to the INS service center nearest where you live in the U.S. But that is just a matter of mailing it in when you receive the completed package from Thailand. The second, more extensive package, must be submitted to the embassy in Bangkok.

In short, the best approach is to use a visa service in Bangkok. Contact us for a recommendation.

Notice: We do not give legal advice of any kind. We only connect you with experts in the process. All visa application assistance is provided by Thai citizens residing in Thailand.