@Tin ***

Honestly I have no idea no with covid. If you go to the state department website and look for instructions on how to do it they outline the process.

@Tin ***

here’s the problem with that. The embassy in Thailand says right on their website the things the don’t do. One is they do not certify marriage certificates. They say they will do an affidavit. The affidavit simply is certifying that you say the marriage certificate is real. We could not confirm if the district office that has to make our “Thai marriage certificate” would accept that. So, if they don’t then you are in Thailand and cannot extend your visa without going back to the states to get your certificate “Authenticated”.

The comments already sum it all up very well but I’ll add this:

When they (immigration) came to our house in the village my mother in law and the neighbors got just about every possible answer wrong. It still wasn’t an issue.

They confirmed I do in fact live there, have for a while and that they knew we had been together for a while. So that was all good.

But anything else: where did we get married… wrong. Where did we meet…wrong etc etc.

So should they do that type of interview don’t get too wrapped up in the small stuff.

I am American. My wife is Thai. We were married in Hawaii and had no issues. As stated you need it translated to Thai. You should also get it stamped by the state department and the Thai embassy in America. Life will be much easier when you are here trying to do a extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai.

@Ter***

correct. I was a contractor for the Air Force living in Saudi so we were eligible for 3 years. I believe the standard is 5.

Not trying to be a sarcastic asshole but…is this your first time in Thailand?

@Ter***

the fiancé visa application was really thorough as you would expect. But it will be no different than a marriage visa application. Lots of questions about her family, when did you meet, how, where, etc etc. You have to show photos of you together. Call logs, chat logs. Basically you are proving you truly know each other. I showed multiple itineraries from trips to Thailand.

Once approved we went to Hawaii where I was living and got married literally the next day. Then we could apply for her green card. That also only took 4 months.

According to the lawyer I used it was considerably easier to do it as a fiancé than if we got married in Thailand and applied that way. So I would recommend a fiancé visa based on that.

As far as her traveling with you it certainly makes it easier for her to obtain visas as the souse of an American than as a single Thai lady. But she’ll still fall under the rules of a Thai until she gets that blue passport.

One good thing is when entering the states from abroad they don’t separate you. They literally said “we don’t separate families. So even if your wife is not a citizen you go to the American citizens line.”

@Ric****

I did the K1 fiancé visa. Several times my lawyer said “do NOT marry her. It’s faster/easier this way than if you are already married.”

Once she arrives in the states you have 90 days to get married or send her packing. Kind of a test drive 😂

@Kool ******

this was 2015. We applied in May and she had the visa in hand in September. Not like that anymore.