I had no problem getting my Thai girlfriend American tourist visa. In spite of all the nonsensical advice from know it all “experts” contending it would be next to impossible.
And we didn’t spend one dime with those flim flam visa advice agencies claiming they could do it for a fee. We got my Thai girlfriend American tourist visa all on our own.
I am especially gratified when I recall what a Thai legal adviser told us in a Pattaya Drinking Street bar a year ago. This man used to give presentations at the Pattaya Expat Club before 100 to 150 Westerners. He told us, “Forget it. Don’t even try. It’s a waste of your time and money.”
But I don’t think he was listening to me. I told him I didn’t want a fiancee visa. I only wanted a short term travel visa. Turns out it’s called a B-2 Visa and there’s an entirely different application process for it on the American Embassy web site. Meanwhile friends of my girlfriend who only had a sixth grade education told her, “It’s easy for you and Jack because you are only applying for a short term visitors visa”. (they might not be well educated but they were listening).
We had trouble getting the Pin number one that is required to make an appointment with the American Embassy in Bangkok.
The American Embassy web site did not function when tried my credit card. But we were able to purchase it at the Thai Post office.
The next problem occurred when I tried to access the location on the web site where I could see what dates and times were available. I had already submitted my girl friend’s picture and the DS-160 application form. And got a user name and password. But this user name did not work when I tried to make an appointment online.
I sent a message to the U.S. Embassy stating this problem. And I got a message back that I had to use a new user name even though I already had one.
But from then on, it was smooth sailing all the way. One more trip to the post office, this time to pay my nonrefundable $160.00 application fee.
And we were on our way. (Incidentally the Thai post office seems extremely well run. In eight years it has never failed to deliver a single visa statement, bank statement or purchased item sent to me from the U.S. Even when the mailing address was horribly botched).
We had prepared documents galore stating our case that we have been together for over 4.5 years. That we had traveled together to Vietnam, Malaysia, Macau and Hong Kong. And that we are about to go to Japan. The embassy official who interviewed my girlfriend looked at none of that.
But he did look at a document I had scanned proving I owned a condo here.
My girlfriend entered the embassy at 10.00 for her 10.30 appointment. She left the Embassy at 10.30. The official who interviewed her kept her passport. Which indicated to us and a few of her Thai friends that she had been successful. She had to pay a small fee to have the embassy send her passport back to our condo by courier. Two days later…it was here.
Reasons why the naysayers told us we would not be able to get my Thai girlfriend American tourist visa
The rule of thumb is that if a Thai woman has insufficient reasons to come back to Thailand she will want to stay forever in America, the land of milk and honey. Keeping this in mind.
- She has no children that would make her feel compelled to come back to Thailand
- She has no career or well paying job in Thailand that will make her want to come back
- She doesn’t have property or big money in Thailand to make her feel compelled to come back (the American Embassy never even looked at her bank account statements)
Reasons why we felt the American Embassy would make an exception for us
- I have a large condo in Thailand where I’ve lived for years. So why would my girlfriend not want to come back to that?
- We were able to prove with our passports that we had been a couple for years. The passports show we visited Macau, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan together and the dates we made those trips
- We were only getting a Tourist visa that allows stays in the U.S. for just 3 months, not a fiancee visa that would make the Thai girlfriend a lifelong resident of the U.S.
What the American Embassy thinks of all these agencies that claim that only they can get the Thai girlfriend American tourist visa
The people she talked with at the embassy told her that all these agencies that help candidates get their American visas are a waste of time and money. They told her, these agencies can’t stamp your visa into your passport. Only we can.
You might want to read what we did in the U.S. later
After we got my Thai girlfriend American tourist visa we took three Thai women to American Strip Clubs