Bringing Your Thai Girlfriend to the USA: Facts About the Tourist Visa
There is a lot of information out there on the web regarding acquiring a tourist visa for a Thai girlfriend. Most of the discussions found on the web seem to convey the perception that tourist visas are relatively easy to obtain. There is always one person who will claim that it was easy for them to get a tourist visa for a wife, a girlfriend, a fiancAe or a friend. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is: tourist visas are incredibly hard to obtain and that the rejection rate is somewhere around 80%. This incredibly high rejection rate stems from the suspicion or presumption that the tourist visa would be used simply to circumvent the ordinary process of petitioning a visa for fiancA or a wife by marrying the Thai fiancA or girlfriend while in the United States and thereby getting the chance to remain in the country permanently.
One way to overcome this presumption is through a showing of astrong ties,a financial ties to be exact, with the home country that would necessitate a return to Thailand. Strong ties are usually exhibited by a well-paying career or profitable property. Merely wanting to asee the country, take in the sightsa does not inspire confidence from the consular officer. Conversely, this actually strengthens the suspicion that the tourist visa is actually going to be used as a way to permanently stay in the United States. In the event that the couple do in fact get married during her stay in the United States, this may be viewed as an attempt to defraud the United States government. In this regard, a tourist visa can do more harm than good.
It may appear that the better option is to acquire a K1 Visa Thailand, considering the high possibility of a subsequent marriage while in the US as a K1 Visa Thailand actually takes advantage of this weakness in the tourist visa, not to mention the high rejection rate for a tourist visa application.
Siam Legal International offers US Visa Thailand services to Thai Nationals.
