The Tourist Visa: a Bad Option for Taking a Thai Loved One to the United States

Many websites claim that a US Tourist Visa is an easy document to obtain. They make it seem like it is the right visa for getting a Thai girl to the USA for marriage. However, as this article will point out, a tourist visa is often not the best course of action for a Thai looking to immigrate to the US.

Tourist Visas are granted at the DISCRETION of the Immigration officer

The first problem with the tourist visa is the fact that getting one is highly discretionary. Whenever I'm in the US Embassy I always hear the ubiquitous statement "I cannot give you a visa to the USA," usually this seems to be said to a person looking to obtain a tourist visa to the US. In fact, I heard the officer state, "you must show strong ties to Thailand and you have not shown strong enough ties for me to issue this visa." That officer was right. The immigration officer has to look at all applications for visas with the presumption that the applicant (for our purposes a Thai fianc? will live indefinitely in the United States should they be granted entry. This said, it is on the Thai applicant to prove this presumption incorrect. The way for a Thai fianc?to do this is to prove that she has strong ties to Thailand (i.e. the Thai is so tied to Thailand that she will come back to Thailand after staying in the USA for a short while).

The ways to prove strong ties to Thailand essentially come down to money. If the Thai fianc?has a well paying job (by US standards), a good deal of money, a home in Thailand, or investments in Thailand these factors can be used to show that a Thai fianc?has strong ties to Thailand. Another factor is the American fianc?If the US citizen has a job and strong ties to Thailand and is going to return with the Thai fianc? then Immigration will likely look more favorably upon the petition for a tourist visa. It must be noted again that this visa is completely discretionary. Even if the applicant shows all kinds of ties to Thailand the immigration officer can still reject the application based upon little more than gut instinct.

The Odds of obtaining a Tourist Visa for a Thai Fiancee are Bad

The fact is: the Tourist Visa has about a 95% rejection rate among Thai applicants. It is just not an efficient way of getting a Thai fianc?into the US. Why would you spend the time and money to go up against those odds?

It COULD BE CRIMINAL to take a Thai Fiancee to the USA on a Tourist Visa and get Married!

A tourist travel visa is precisely what its name states: a visa for touring the US. It is not designed to be used to bring a Thai fianc?to the US with the intention to marry her and have her remain. If you intend to use the tourist visa to bring your Thai fianc?to the US to marry, then it could be deemed to be an attempt to defraud the US government. The possibility of being found to have defrauded the government increases if you and your Thai fianc?immediately get married and try to adjust her status to permanent residence. If you and your Thai fianc?are found to be attempting to defraud the government it could lead to criminal penalties and possible deportation for your Thai fianc?

Use the Correct Visa to take your Thai Fiancee to America

Even though the process for getting a Thai fianc?to the US is frustrating and time consuming a lot of complications can be avoided by not being taken in by the supposed allure of the tourist visa. In the end, the benefits of the tourist visa are far outweighed by the disadvantages. If you want your Thai fianc?or spouse to come to the US to reside with you, then use either a K1 Fianc?Visa or a K-3 or Immigrant Relative Spouse visa. Although these visas seem to take more time and cost more money, in reality they take less time because you and your Thai fianc?won't be hitting any dead ends and won't throw money away on a visa that you have only a 5% chance of getting.

Thanks for reading,

Benjamin W. Hart, Esq.

The above article should not be taken as a replacement for competent legal advice from a duly licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. No Attorney-Client Relationship shall be inferred from this article.