Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing K-1 Fiancé(e) Visas versus US Tourist Visas in the context of Trump's latest Visa Pause; it's not his latest, but it's his Visa Pause. I was thinking about titling this video the K-1 Visa or something to this effect - The only option for Americans looking to bring their Thai loved ones to the US. And I was going to make that the title because as I have discussed in other videos, amidst Trump's so-called Visa Pause it pertains to Immigrant Visas - so Immigrant Spouse Visas for example - currently they are basically putting all of those cases through 221(g)s. They are basically saying, "look, it is in administrative processing or it's under 221(g) because we are currently retooling our regulatory or analytical mechanism for determining whether or not someone is going to become a Public Charge in the United States; basically whether or not somebody's going to go on welfare in the United States. 

And yeah, I've done videos on that. You can get into sort of whether that is disingenuous or not, but long story short, effectively as of now and understand, I have cases processing as Immigrant Spouse Visas that are coming through the Embassy sooner rather than later, and I may get some more insight into this, but presumably this Visa Pause still pertains to them. I have seen K-1's processed out; we have actually seen approval and issuance of K-1 Fiancé(e) Visas within the last couple of weeks. That seems to be going to continue. 

Now understand, K-1 Visas are Non-immigrant Visas so they are not Immigrant dual intent Visas insofar as you can maintain the intention to go to the United States even though it's a Non-immigrant Visa in order to get married and then adjust status in the United States, and then at that point, you deal with adjudication regarding Public Charge. You don't actually have to deal with that abroad; that's not strictly part of the scrutiny that goes into processing a K-1 case. 

But that said, the question posed by the video, okay "is a K-1 or a Tourist Visa better?" Well as I have discussed in other videos, Tourist Visas, there is a high, high denial rate among Tourist Visa applicants here in Thailand at the US Embassy Bangkok due to what is called section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act which basically requires that the Consular Officer deny the application if it is determined that the Consular Officer believes that that person does not demonstrate sufficient strong ties to their home country or some country outside of the United States, and sufficient weak ties to the United States. So 214(b) results in a lot of folks getting denied, if for no other reason than "hey you have a significant other that is an American, we think that could constitute a sufficiently "un-weak" tie if you will to the United States, and therefore we are going to deny". So the point of this video is based on everything we're seeing right now, if you have a loved one that you want to have access and residence for in the United States, if you're not yet married, then it may not be the most optimal thing to get married; again depends on circumstances.

Meanwhile, there is also the K-3 which sits around out there as a Non-immigrant option sort of supplemental to an Immigrant Spouse Visa case; I have talked about that in other videos. But again, the point being here, K-1 versus the Tourist Visa and folks getting kind of painted into a corner if you will with regard to this Visa Pause and everything. The thing to take away from this is especially if you have a loved one, you meet all the other criteria associated with the K-1 Visa, it may be your only option under current circumstances to actually get a visa to actually travel to the United States of America.