American Visa Thailand: K3 Visas In 2010

The K3 Marriage Visa was quite a sought after travel document in 2009

. The K3 was designed for bi-national married couples wishing to expedite the visa process. In 2009 the K3 visa process was very similar to the K3 visa process in 2008. However, there may be changes for the K3 visa process in 2010 and this article will briefly look at the changes that couples could encounter going forward.

For Thai applicants in 2009 the K3 visa process was taking approximately 8 months from initial petition submission until final decision at the United States Embassy in Bangkok. Currently, it is this author's opinion that this remains an accurate estimate of the processing time. At present, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is estimating that it will take roughly five months to adjudicate a K-3 petition at one of the two Service Centers with appropriate jurisdiction. Those curious about the K-3 marriage visa should keep in mind that this figure does not account for the need to file an initial I-130 application. Further, this figure does not take into account the fact that the case file will be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) for a security clearance before it will be forwarded to the United States Embassy abroad. Taking all of these considerations into account, 8 months is a relatively accurate estimate of the time it will take to ultimately obtain the K3 visa.

In the year 2010, there might be changes to the K-3 visa application and obtainment process due to increased fees for Consular Processing. Pursuant to newly proposed rule changes originating from the American Department of State the K-3 visa interview fee could be increased substantially in 2010. Under the recently proposed rule, K visa interviewees would be required to pay $350 rather than $131 in fees to US Embassies and Consulates abroad. This proposed rule has not been adopted as of the time of this writing, but a fee increase of this magnitude is substantial and should be taken into consideration by those thinking of applying for this type of visa. Particularly, in the context of marriage visas it may be wise for applicants to look at the Immigrant visas such as the IR1 and CR1 as the cost is similar, but the foreign spouse enters the USA in lawful permanent resident status rather than as a non-immigrant who must adjust their status before they will be granted permanent residence (also known as a "Green Card").

(Please note, the above article should not be viewed as a sufficient substitute for individualized legal advice from a competent licensed attorney. The aforementioned information is intended for general research purposes only and should not be viewed as individualized advice regarding a set of specific factual circumstances. For those interested in information about United States Immigration, it may be best to contact a licensed American Immigration attorney.)

by: Ben Hart

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