GATE Exam

Ben Hart
http://www.integrity-legal.com



Thailand and US Visa Information
Visas: what are they? This question might sound as though
it can be easily answered, but up until the end of World
War 2 many nations did not readily issue passports and even
fewer actually issued visas.

The Visas discussed in this article are not the kind that
you swipe at the local mall to buy things. Instead, they
are the documents needed in order to enter most countries
around the world. A common misconception is based upon the
idea that a visa gives the visa holder the "right" to enter
a country. In most cases, a visa is not the equivalent of a
"right of entry.In reality, a travel document such as a
visa is merely an endorsement from a consul abroad which
states that the bearer should be allowed to petition for
entry into the country.

In Thailand, there are many different visa categories under
Thai Immigration law. Thailand also has a seemingly similar
Permanent Resident system to that of the United States of
America. That being said, Thai Permanent Residence is hard
to acquire and there are quotas set on the number of
applications that will be processed each year. In the late
1970's the Thai government authorities at Royal Thai
Immigration promulgated non-immigrant visa categories.
Currently the most widely issued visas are the Thai
Business Visa, the Thai O Visa, and the Thai O-A
(Retirement) Visa.

Many Thai people seek to obtain travel privileges to the
United States of America. One of the most sought after US
visas from Thailand is the US Fiance visa. The K-1 visa is
designed for foreign fiancee's (in this case Thai
fiancées) of United States Citizens who seek entry to
the USS in order to marry their loved one.

In situations where a couple has already gotten married it
might be wise to submit an I-130 application for an
Immigrant Visa. The Immigrant Visa (CR-1) entitles the
bearer to conditional permanent residence in the United
States. In many instances, the Spouse visa will take one
year to acquire. However, for those couples who are already
married and wish to expedite the process the K3 marriage
visa is an option. The K-3 is actually a non-immigrant visa
category, but it does allow the visa beneficiary to adjust
status (acquire a Green Card) in the United States. There
was a time when the K-3 was thought of as advantageous due
to the fact that Immigrant visas took much more time to
process. Now, the K3's effectiveness has waned due to more
efficient processing on the part of USCIS.

The United States and Thailand are two countries out of
many around the world which issue visas.

(This is not legal advice, but intended for educational
purposes. No Attorney/client relationship should be
inferred from reading this article.)


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This article was written by Ben Hart, a US Immigration
attorney with Integrity Legal Thailand. To contact
Integrity Legal Call Toll Free 1-877-231-7533 or in
Thailand +66 (0) 2-266-3698. Visit Integrity Legal on the
world wide web at Http://www.integrity-legal.com