Integrity Legal

US Immigration and Nationality is an interesting and complex area of American jurisprudence. As a statutorily driven field of law, it can be one of the more rules driven areas of Federal regulation. Many Americans born in the United States acquire their citizenship through a combination of jus sanguinis (Latin meaning “right of blood”) and/or jus soli (Latin meaning “right of the soil” or “right of the territory”). For those born outside of the United States, or its possessions, how can United States Citizenship be proven? This is why the United States government has promulgated the US Certificate of Citizenship.

The Certificate of United States Citizenship is a legal document distributed by the government authorities of the United States of America and used in order to provide proof of the bearer’s United States Citizenship. Those who are qualified to submit an application for a United States Certificate of Citizenship include those who acquired United States of America citizenship while living in the United States or those Americans who were born outside of the United States, or any possession or territory of the USA, to United States citizens. Specifically eligible to submit an application for a US Certificate of Citizenship are:

• those born abroad who have parents with United States citizenship, or

• those with at least one naturalized parent who naturalized when the citizen was  under 18 years of age and met special criteria of United States Immigration and Nationality law.

It should be noted that the US certificate of citizenship is a substantially different document from the United States naturalization certificate. Naturalization occurs when a foreign national acquires United States Citizenship. The certificate of naturalization is conferred in order to prove acquisition of US Citizenship. The certificate of citizenship is generally granted to those who were born as United States Citizens.  Therefore, the documents, although similar, denote two different types of US Citizenship.  Generally, one must submit an application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in order to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship. USCIS is an agency under the Department of Homeland Security which is tasked with maintaining Immigration, naturalization, and Citizenship records for those persons in the USA.

United States Citizenship is important from a US Immigration perspective because only a US Citizen can petition for a K1 visa (fiance visa) or a K-3 visa (expedited marriage visa) on behalf of a foreign national. Therefore, proving one’s United States Citizenship could be critical in obtaining a USA Visa for a foreign loved one.

(This content is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute advice regarding the law. No Lawyer-Client Relationship exists between author and reader.)

Tags: K-1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, US Immigration Thailand, US Visa Thailand, USA Visa Thailand, USCIS, Visa Lawyer Thailand
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand, USCIS | No Comments »

For those seeking to submit a visa application the first thing to think about is which office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will take jurisdiction over adjudicating the petition. In instances involving an overseas filing of an Immigrant petition (sometimes known as Direct Consular Filing), this information is not useful, but for those living in the United States and filing non-immigrant spouse or fiance visa petitions, the following information may be helpful.

The K-1 visa application (the I-129f) should be filed with the office having jurisdiction over the petitioner’s home state.  There are currently two USCIS service centers adjudicating I-129f petitions (the K-3 visa application requires a supplemental I-129f petition after submission of an initial I-130 petition).

USICS Service Center: California

The California Service Center currently adjudicates petitions from the following US states and territories:

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. (As with all information concerning USCIS jurisdictional matters, the above list is subject to change.)

USICS Service Center: Vermont

The Vermont Service Center currently adjudicates petitions from the following US states and territories:

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. (As with all information concerning USCIS jurisdictional matters, the above list is subject to change.)

(Some people confuse the Vermont Service Center with the National Visa Center in New Hampshire. The National Visa Center is not an organ of USCIS, but is a visa application processing center under the administrative jurisdiction of the United States Department of State.)

For those American Citizens who are resident in the Kingdom of Thailand, it may be possible to file an Immigrant Visa application with the USCIS office in Bangkok, Thailand. However, unlike a USCIS Service Center, the Bangkok District Office does not generally adjudicate K-1 visa applications. Further, the USCIS Service Centers in California and Vermont are not the correct locations to submit Immigrant Visa (I-130) applications for spouses of United States Citizens who are resident in the United States. Therefore, one should do careful research before submitting any visa application in order to be sure that an application will not be rejected based upon lack of proper jurisdiction.

(Do not use this information as a substitute for competent legal advice. No attorney-client relationship should be inferred to have formed between author and reader.)

Tags: American Visa Thailand, California Service Center, I-130, K-1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, US Visa Thailand, USCIS, Vermont Service Center
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | 24 Comments »

For those seeking to obtain a USA Visa from Thailand, it is almost inevitable that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will be involved in the process. That being said, depending upon the visa being sought, USCIS may play less of a direct role in the initial process.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service has had an interesting recent history. Currently, the office is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security. USCIS former acronym was INS which stood for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In the aftermath of  September 11, 2001 it was decided that the services provided by INS could be better facilitated under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security and INS was folded into that agency. For a time, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service was known simply as the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), but the acronym and name was officially changed to the current form on October 13, 2004.

For Immigrant visas that confer either conditional or unconditional lawful permanent residence (Greencard) to an alien upon entry, USCIS will play a major role in adjudicating the I-130 visa application. In certain instances where the United States Citizen has been living in the Kingdom of Thailand for a specified period of time, it may be possible to locally file an I-130 application at the USCIS office in Bangkok. This procedure is sometimes mistakenly called “Direct Consular Filing,” but, in point of fact, this appellation is misapplied. A direct consular filing can only occur at a consular section when a United States consular officer at a US Embassy or Consulate General accepts a visa application that has not first been adjudicated by USCIS either in the United States or at an office abroad. In Thailand, it is very rare for a consular officer at the US Embassy in Bangkok or the Consulate General in Chiang Mai to accept a visa application directly because there is a large local USCIS office in Bangkok.

For those making a K-1 visa application, it will be necessary to file the application at a USCIS service Center in the United States. The United States Citizen petitioner’s residence will determine what service center should be used when submitting the initial application.  For those unfamiliar with the K-1 visa, it is a fiance visa designed to allow an American’s foreign fiance to come to the USA for the purpose of marriage.

For those making a K-3 visa application, the I-129f application must be sent to a USCIS service center and not the Chicago Lockbox. The K-3 visa was designed as an expedited marriage visa for spouses of American Citizens.

F-1 visa applications and J-1 visa applications are generally submitted directly to the United States Embassy with jurisdiction over the applicant’s place of residence. US Tourist Visa applications are also submitted directly to the US Embassy.

(This is intended for educational purposes only, it is not legal advice. For Legal advice about Immigration law, contact a visa lawyer. No attorney client relationship is created between the author and any reader of this piece.)

Tags: American Visa Thailand, Green Card, K-1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, K3 Visa Thailand, US Tourist Visa, US Visa Thailand, USA Visa Thailand, USCIS
Posted in F1 Visa Thailand, Fiance Visa Thailand, J1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, US Consulate Chiang Mai, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand, USCIS | No Comments »

There are some countries whose nationals have the right to travel to the United States of America without first obtaining a visa. The US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) was designed to allow certain foreign nationals visa-free travel to the United States. The visa waiver program should not be confused with an I-601 waiver of the grounds of inadmissibility.

Since September 11, 2001 the the Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs Department, United State Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS), the Transportation Safety Authority, and other United States Federal agencies have been formulating ways to better maintain security with regard to international travel. It was determined that the Visa Waiver program might be used by possibly hostile parties as a method for entering the United States in order to conduct harmful activity. As a result of this policy decision, the US authorities have attempted to implement a precreening process for thse entering the United States via the Waiver Program. This process is known by its acronym: ESTA.

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) was made operational under Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by Section 711 of the “Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007,” Pub. L. No. 110-53. The Act compelled the Department of Homeland Security to institute a systematic method to verify the fitness of travelers to the USA and make sure such travelers pose no imminent threat to American safety.

The ESTA is a no-cost, fully computerized program used to ascertain the qualifications of those traveling to the United States of America through the use of the American Visa Waiver Program. The Electronic System for Travel Authorization gathers similar information as that required on Form I-94W. An ESTA application can be tendered at any point before traveling to the United States of America. That being said, the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security advise that travelers submit an ESTA application when they begin setting a travel itinerary.

As of January 12, 2009, those who are citizens of any country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program must obtain travel approval from ESTA before they will be allowed to enter the USA under VWP.

Some people are under the misconception that ESTA is a visa.  An ESTA approval is not a visa. Instead it is a prescreening for entry into the United States visa free.

For those who have trouble with the English language, the website has been translated into Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish.

(Please note: this is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney/client relationship is created between author and reader).

Tags: DHS, Electronic System for Travel Authorization, ESTA, US Immigration, USCIS, Visa Waiver, Visa Waiver Program, VWP
Posted in Visa Waiver | 3 Comments »

There are essentially three government agencies that have a hand in the US Visa process: the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), the National Visa Center (NVC), and the United States Department of State (the Department with jurisdiction over the US Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Posts abroad). Of these three agencies, USCIS has the case in its possession for the longest period of time because the petition must be initially adjudicated by their officers.

Within the USCIS administrative structure there are two service centers that handle the adjudication of the K1 visa application and K3 visa application for fiancees of United States Citizens (in both cases, the actual application form is called the I-129f). The Services Centers are located in California and Vermont, respectively. They each have their own unique jurisdiction depending upon the residence of the petitioner.

Within the past few days, the USCIS service center in California issued a revised estimate regarding how long it is taking for adjudication of K-1 visa applications and K-3 visa applications. They are now estimating that it will take 5 months for the average visa petition to be adjudicated. This is compared to the previous estimate of 6 months.

As I have explained on this blog and to people in the past. This estimate tends to be quite conservative as we tend to see these petitions adjudicated by USCIS in a much more timely manner than this. That being siad, the prospective immigrant or sponsor should be aware that the petition must also pass through the National Visa Center (which generally processes I-129f petitions faster than Immigrant Visa petitions) and the US Embassy Bangkok.

K3 visas a re also different because one needs to take into account the underlying I-130 petition that acts as the foundation for the supplemental I-129f petition that garners an expedited visa.

At the back of everyone’s mind should be the idea that all time frames for visa obtainment are estimates only as many factors can be at play when a visa application is processing. The best advice is to plan for the worst, but hope for the best. It has been our experience that the US Embassy in Thailand works in a very efficient manner in an effort to get petitions adjudicated quickly. The USCIS service centers are generally the “bottleneck” where visa applications can get delayed.

(No aspect of this piece should be construed as legal advice because this post is written for educational and informational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship should be construed to exist between the author and reader of this post.)

Tags: American Visa Thailand, Department of State, K1 visa processing time, K1 Visa Thailand, K3 Visa processing time, K3 Visa Thailand, National Visa Center, us embassy bangkok, us embassy thailand, US Visa Thailand, USCIS
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | 2 Comments »

Crossing Over utilizes multiple perspectives to tell the story of immigrants from different countries aspiring to obtain Lawful Permanent Resident Status in the USA. The movies touches upon the issues of illegal border crossing, false documentation, asylum status, green card obtainment procedures, workplace enforcement, adjustment of status, naturalization, and counter terrorism.

It was interesting to watch this film because it depicted all of the different United States agencies and offices that oversee the immigration process. The film also provided exposure about what United States Immigration officers are deputized to do. That being said, I felt it was a massively unfair portrayal of the personal character traits of most of the officers in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The portrayal at the beginning of the film made it seem as though all ICE officers were heartless authoritarian brutes. In reality, I doubt this portrayal is accurate. I understand the reason for this less than flattering depiction: it was used to contrast Harrison Ford’s relative compassion when compared against his colleagues. From this standpoint, one can give the filmmakers some leeway on this point.

In another plot line of the film Ray Liotta plays a corrupt USCIS officer who uses his position as a top level adjudicator to bequeath a Green Card upon an aspiring actress in exchange for sleeping with him. If I was a USCIS officer I would be infuriated by this depiction. Its not that corruption doesn’t occur, but that portrayals such as this make it seem as though all employees of the agency lack an ethical compass, which I am sure is not the case.

Overall, I liked the movie because it brought up some interesting human issues, but from the context of United States Immigration I think it portrayed the government as all, or nearly all, bad.

I will say that I liked Ashley Judd’s performance as a United States Immigration attorney although it seemed somewhat stilted in places. Also, there were a few instances in the movie where I felt the attorney Judd played should have been more zealously advocating on behalf of her client. Can we say, “writ of habeas corpus?”

In closing, this was one of Harrison Ford’s best movies in years, which is not saying much if you have seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The movie had an all-star cast and I would argue it had no particular main character, which was interesting. The film effectively drew together multiple plot threads and culminated in some very moving sequences. I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in the Immigration process or just enjoys well made films.

Tags: Adjustment of Status, Crossing Over, Green Card, Harrison Ford, ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, USCIS
Posted in Adjustment of Status, Miscellaneous, US Visa and Immigration | No Comments »

A question on the lips of any Thai-American couple when first making the decision to immigrate to the United States is: “how long is this process going to take?” This is a question that can have many different answers depending upon the couple’s situation, visa category, and the processing center that will adjudicate the petition.

Visa Processing Times By Visa Category

The category of visa can have a crucial bearing upon how long it will take to process the visa application. This would seem to be due to the fact that more people tend to apply for certain visa categories, while others are requested less often.

A case in point, far more Immigrant visa applications are submitted than K-3 visa applications. This may be due to the fact that the immigrant visas confer a Green Card or because a K-3 visa application  requires a second petition. Some visa categories may take longer to process because there is heightened scrutiny of the visa application during its adjudication.

This author believes that Immigrant visas, also known as CR-1 or IR-1 visas, which confer permanent residence are scrutinized more carefully because of the privileges attached to the visa. An IR-1 visa beneficiary enters the USA with unconditional lawful permanent residence, the IR-1 beneficiary may remain in the USA indefinitely, provided he or she does not commit some sort of act that results in deportation.  Compare this scenario with a K-1 visa application where the visa ultimately obtained will only entitle the beneficiary to 90 days in the USA and require a further adjustment of status application and one can begin to understand why the applications for the K-1 visa seem to process faster.

The following are processing times for US Family based visas (K-1, K-2, K-3, K-4, and Immigrant Visas) submitted to the Vermont Service Center :

For more processing times garnered from the source of these estimates please click here

The following are processing times for US Family based visas (K-1, K-2, K-3, K-4, and Immigrant Visas) being processed at the California  Service Center:

For more processing times garnered from the source of this information please click here

All of the above processing estimates are an accurate, but approximate, depiction of USCIS processing times at the time of this writing. As a practical matter, USCIS seems to take more time for adjudication of some of the categories mentioned above than for others. Further it should be noted that the US Embassy in Thailand and the National Visa Center can add time to these estimates if they are processing large caseloads. For more specific information regarding visa cases filed at a USCIS service center and being processed at the American Embassy in Thailand please contact [email protected].

Expatriates living in Thailand may be able to file a visa petition at the USCIS office in Bangkok. By doing so, the processing time estimates are different in comparison to filing in the USA. Generally, when one petitions for an immigrant visa locally, they can expect to obtain that visa in much less time than those compelled to file in the USA.

(Please be advised: Nothing in this post should be construed as mean for any other purpose than providing educational information. Therefore, this post is no substitute for one-on-one legal advice from a licensed attorney. No lawyer-client fiduciary relationship is created between the author and any reader of this post.)

Tags: American Embassy Thailand, American Visa Thailand, CR-1 Visa, Green Card, IR-1 Visa, K-1 Visa Processing Time, K-1 Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Processing Time, USA Visa Thailand, USCIS, Visa Processing Time
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, K-3 Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | No Comments »

The K-1 Application: Frequently Asked Questions

A very frequently asked question with regard to the K-1 Fiance Visa is: how do we apply for a K-1 Visa? US Immigration procedure is a somewhat difficult to understand for those who have never dealt with the application process. This post will briefly provide details about the K-1 application, where it will be filed, and use of an Immigration attorney.

A common misconception held by many American Citizens is that a visa applicant can simply apply for the K1 Visa at the US Embassy directly. It is easy to understand why people believe this particularly in light of the fact that this is essentially the procedure for obtaining a US tourist visa. In the case of K1 visas this, however, is not the case. One must first file the K-1 visa application with an office called the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, or USCIS for short. The application is then routed to the National Visa Center and remitted to the American Embassy in Bangkok.

There are so many forms, which should be used?

Many people are belabor under the myth that the US Immigration process is a very straightforward process. In reality, because US Immigration law is statute driven it can be quite complex to the point of being byzantine. The rules governing how and where things must be filed and the order in which petitions ought to be filed can be fraught with difficulty for the laymen. In the case of the K1 visa, the correct application form that should be used is the I-129f. This should not be confused with the I-129 petition form. Withing this application form, there are many questions that  a couple will need to confer about. Recent statutory changes like IMBRA and the Adam Walsh Act have created new restrictions with regard to who is allowed to petition for a K-1 visa.  The I-129f is the crux of the fiance visa application, but there are more government forms that must accompany this application along with supporting documentation that must be used to prove the legitimacy of the relationship.

Where do we file the K1 visa application?

The location that one should file a K1 application depends upon where the US Citizen’s residence in the United States is located. Another misunderstanding involves a belief that aK1 application can be filed at a local USCIS office. In most cases this is not correct. There are two Service Centers for US Citizens wishing to file a K1 application, one is in Vermont and the other is in California. The location for filing the application depends heavily upon the US Citizen’s state of residence.

Should we use an attorney to file a K-1 visa application?

Retaining the services of an attorney is a decision that each couple should decide on their own. That being said, a great deal of the administrative burden can be lifted by retaining attorney assistance. An attorney or law firm with an office in the home country of the fiancee can be even more beneficial because the attorney can deal with the fiancee’s issues at the US Embassy in real time.

(Nothing Contained herein should be thought of as an appropriatealternative to personalized legal advice from a competent attorney. No attorney/client relationship should be assumed to have been created by merely reading this post.)

Tags: Fiance Visa Thailand, I-129f, I-129f Application, K-1 Visa, K-1 visa application, K1 visa application, US Visa Thailand, USCIS
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, K1 Visa Thailand, us embassy bangkok, US Embassy Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | 1 Comment »

Waivers of Inadmissibility from Thailand: Brief Synopsis

In previous posts the topic of grounds of inadmissibility has been discussed. A grounds of inadmissibility is the legal finding by a consular officer that an immigrant is ineligible for a visa to the USA. Most grounds of inadmissibility have a remedy should one decide that they still wish to immigrate to the USA. That remedy is a waiver. A waiver application is adjudicated by USCIS and upon the granting of a waiver the petition is sent back to the US Embassy where the visa is approved and granted.

However, not all grounds of inadmissibility can be waived and this post briefly discusses two major unwaivable grounds with regard to US Visas from Thailand. (Note: A Waiver of Inadmissibility is not an “appeal,” of the consular officer’s denial of a visa petition. Some publications, particularly on the internet, claim that a decision to deny a US Visa can be “appealed,” strictly speaking this is not true, a waiver is a petition seeking to have a ground of inadmissibility waived so that the visa petition may be approved.)

Although generally there are many waivers of inadmissibility allowed under the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States, there are some situations in which an alien will be deemed inadmissible to the United States in perpetuity.

Drug conviction

Currently, a prior criminal conviction involving drugs is a grounds of inadmissibility with no available waiver. That being said, if the conviction was for simple possession of marijuana of a quantity less than 30 grams, then a waiver may be sought.  In Thailand, many of those applicants with drug convictions were arrested and convicted for activities relating to “yabaa,” the Thai street term meaning methamphetamine. Unfortunately, a conviction involving methamphetamine would lead to a likely finding of inadmissibility that and a waiver could not be obtained.

False Claims of US Citizenship

Another ground of inadmissibility that cannot be waived is a finding that an applicant has falsely presented themselves as a US Citizen on a prior occasion. At one time, falsely claiming US Citizenship was not an unwaivable ground of inadmissibility, but recent amendments to the US Immigration and Nationality Act have  resulted in a policy that claiming false citizenship in nearly any way is a grounds of inadmissibility without recourse to a waiver.

These two grounds of inadmissibility are not the only two grounds that have no recourse to a waiver, but they are more common than most other unwaivable grounds which is hy they were briefly mentioned here.

(Note: Nothing in this post should be taken as a substitution for legal advice from a duly licensed attoney with experience practicing US Immigration law. No Attorney client privilege should be inferred from reading this article.)

For more about Family Visas from Thailand please see

K1 visa

K3 visa

Tags: I-601, Inadmissibility, us embassy bangkok, US Visa Thailand, USCIS, Waiver
Posted in Fiance Visa Thailand, us embassy bangkok, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | No Comments »

One of the more confusing aspects of US Immigration from the perspective of laypeople is deciphering all of the legalese that US Immigration attorneys use when writing about US visas. To clear up some of the confusion, this post defines some of the most used jargon so that the average reader researching American Immigration can better understand the subject matter.

USCIS: The Acronym for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service. The government entity formerly known as the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service). USCIS is the office that adjudicates petitions for immigration benefits.

K1 Visa: The K1 Visa is a Fiance Visa in that it allows the unmarried fiance of a US Citizen entry into the United States for 90 days for the sole purpose of marrying the US Citizen (who filed the petition for the visa) and adjusting status in the United States.

I-129f: The K1 visa application filed and adjudicated at a USCIS service center.

Immigrant Visas: Visas that confer permanent residence upon entry (in the context of this blog this term is used interchangeably with the terms IR-1 and CR-1)

IR-1 Visa: a visa that confers permanent residence upon entry to the USA of an immediate relative of a US Citizen (for the purpose of this blog the IR-1 is generally used to refer to a visa for Thai-American married couples who have been married for more than 2 years.)

CR-1 Visa: Conditional Resident Visa, a visa that confers conditional permanent residence to the visa holder (for the purposes of this blog this term is generally used for marriage visas in which the underlying marriage has lasted less than 2 years in duration).

I-130 petition: the application form for obtaining an Immigrant Visa. It is filed and adjudicated at USCIS.

K-3 Visa: a K-3 Visa is a non-immigrant marriage visa originally designed as an expedited marriage visa when the I-130 petition was taking as long as 3 years to process. It requires a dual filing, and underlying I-130 petition as well as a subsequent I-129f petition in order to obtain the expedited visa.

Direct Consular Filing: refers to the method of directly filing a visa petition with a consulate or Embassy in a foreign country. Sometimes the term “Direct Consular Filing” is used interchangeably with the term “local filing.”

Local Filing: Generally, for the purposes of this blog this term is used when describing the method of filing an immigration petition at the USCIS district office overseas (Specifically the USCIS Bangkok District Office).

Adjustment of Status: Adjustment of status or AOS is the procedure of converting a non-immigrant visa holder into Lawful permanent residence (Green Card holder).

Advance Parole: An immigration travel document that allows an alien, with an adjustment of status application pending, to leave the USA and still keep their status from being canceled upon departure from the USA. Advance parole is necessary where a fiance has entered the United States on a K1 Visa and subsequently leaves before an adjustment of status is complete.

Green Card: A colloquial term for the document proving lawful permanent residence.

United States: According to the Immigration and Nationality Act of the United States, the definition of United States, “when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.“

Reentry Permit: A permit needed for a Lawful Permanent Resident who wishes to remain outside of the USA for a prolonged period of time. The reentry permit is necessary in order to mitigate against the presumption of abandonment of adjustment of status when a permanent resident leaves the United States.

I-134 affidavit of support: the affidavit of support necessary for the K1 Fiance visa, this affidavit shows that the US Citizen will be able to support the fiancee at the statutorily prescribed level.

I-864 affidavit of support: the affidavit of support used in conjunction with the Immigrant Visas for showing that a US Citizen can support his wife at the statutorily prescribed level.

Joint Sponsor: A person who jointly sponsors a visa beneficiary should the US Citizen petitioner not meet the statutory requirements to sponsor a beneficiary on his own.

For more information on US Visas Generally please see USA Visa Thailand

Note: None of the above should be used in lieu of legal advice from a competent licensed attorney in the readers jurisdiction

Tags: Adjustment of Status, advance parole, CR-1 Visa, Green Card, I129f, I130, IR-1 Visa, K1 Visa, K3 Visa, US Visa Thailand, USCIS
Posted in US Embassy Thailand, US Visa and Immigration, US Visa Thailand | 2 Comments »