subject: K1 Visa Thailand: Consular Processing and Recent Political Turbulence [print this page] K1 Visa Thailand: Consular Processing and Recent Political Turbulence
American immigration can be a complicated matter, but problems are often exacerbated when the political climate of the foreign national's home country becomes intense. The following article deals with the US visa process during the recent civil strife in Thailand.This article discusses the American visa process in light of recent events that have occurred in Thailand. As always, those interested in the visa process are wise to check the credentials of anyone claiming to be an expert in the area of US Immigration law as only a licensed American attorney is entitled to practice American Immigration law pursuant to 8 CFR 292.1.For those who have been keeping up with Thai news articles, it is a well known fact that recent unrest in Bangkok caused the United States Embassy to close down for a relatively long period of time. Further, non-essential staff and their families were evacuated for safety reasons. The Thai government has restored order to the city of Bangkok and this article was not written to discuss the situation in Thailand per se. However, there are those who are interested in the situation on the ground in Bangkok as it pertains to the way in which the US Consulate at the US Embassy in Thailand is processing their caseload.Since the American Embassy was compelled to evacuate, a backlog arose as cases and applications continued to be submitted regardless of the fact that the Embassy was not operating as normal. Furthermore, those who were intending to submit a visa application during the period of time that the Embassy was closed are now attempting to do so as the Embassy has reopened. This writer can state, from personal observation, that the American Embassy in Thailand is working diligently in a concerted effort to clear the backlog of case files and the Embassy personnel are also taking extraordinary measures to ensure that the Consulate continues to adjudicate applications efficiently, equitably, and judiciously. However, at the time of this writing, Thai applicant's and their US Citizen counterparts can expect a relatively longer waiting period for visa interview appointments compared to processing times during a more tranquil period.Those processing K visa applications through any US Embassy or Consulate abroad should also be aware of the fact that as of June 4, 2010 the application fee for K visas is increasing from $131 to $350. The increased resources garnered from the higher application fees are to be go toward facilitating more effective Consular Processing of visa applications. It ought to be further noted that the application fee for K visas is not the only application fee that is set to increase as other non-immigrant visa application fees are set to go up as well. If seeking other non-immigrant visa categories and interested in the new fee structure it is advisable to check with the US Department of State for more details.
