Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing fee payment issues associated with K-1, K-3, CR-1 and IR-1 petitions; so we're talking about filing with Department of Homeland Security. 

Yeah, yet another instance of, I saw this a lot in the first Trump Administration. They mess with things. They just come in and start messing with policies and protocols that have been in place, and now one of the new ones that we are seeing, across the board by the way, it's not just the DHS side of the equation if you will, as we discussed in other videos, when you are dealing with a Fiancé(e) or a Marriage Visa application for bringing a loved one back to the United States from over here in Thailand, you are going to have to deal with Department of Homeland Security in order to petition for benefits and then we are going to be dealing with the Department of State through the National Visa Center and the Embassy here in Bangkok when actually processing out the cases. 

Now as I've discussed in other videos, we are already under this "Trump pause" announced I think going on six, eight weeks ago, maybe a little less than that, 4 to 6 weeks ago, that they were going to put this Visa Ban, then it turns out it was just a pause while they are re-tooling their framework for dealing with analysis of the Public Charge Rule. Which okay, I don't really know why you need to pause Visa processing, especially on your oldest Ally in Asia, but okay that's what we're doing. Thailand has also never been a high fraud post so again not sure why the issue of Public Charge, and frankly there is just not a huge number of Thais that actually immigrate to the United States if you compare it to other nationalities, it's not the lowest number in the world but it's not the highest either. I still don't know why Thailand was pulled under this; I really don't think that was right. That being said, we're dealing with it. Now as I have discussed also in other videos, it's my opinion albeit one based on reason, speculation, that I think we will see that Visa Pause end sometime around about the end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter, so sometime in April I'm expecting we see this so-called "travel ban" come to an end. That said, again that's speculation on my part. It remains to be seen and we will be keeping you updated down the line.

That said, the purpose of this video though is across the board and I'm seeing my clients get concerned, I'm seeing people that we're dealing with or they may come to us that weren't clients but may want to be clients, having problems with this, across the board fee payment from dealing with how to get the filing fee associated with the underlying petition perfected, as well as filing fees for interviews and things out here in Bangkok. Things are just changing around at a rather rapid rate than on top of it, I don't know, it just seems like the overall attitude is one of obtuseness, I'll put it that way. And look, I don't think that the process should be easy, but it's hard enough. You have got to remember, I'm from an era, I can remember when it was possible to do locally filed I-130s at USCIS here; I come from an era when I can remember when it took four to six months to process a K-1 Fiancé(e) Visa even through the main processing funnels. What value has ever been added by all of these protocols? And meanwhile, yeah, I get, and I have commented on this before, I had a problem with the illegal immigration into the United States, but again we are talking about legal immigrants who are trying to go through correctly, and now they are making it more difficult for those people to pay the fees? Why? 

That said, this is where we are at. We are coming up with solutions pretty much in real time to all of this. There are certain protocols associated with this stuff and we are learning about them. This is where the practice of law, the rubber hits the road. That being said, it doesn't exactly cause one to be really encouraged about the rule of law, or just rules sort of regulatorily driven processing of immigrant matters, I don't get it. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless the purpose is to just be obtuse and not let anyone in. And if that's the case, let's make overt policy to that effect. I’m really, this sort of administrative chicanery, it antithetical to the very notion of the laws that have been promulgated and passed and created in order to deal with legal immigration. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. 

That said, I'm making this update because I'm sure there are folks out there that are having all sorts of frustrations associated with this. If you feel overwhelmed in the US Immigration process, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.