Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing K-1 Fiancé Visas. For those who are unaware, it is possible for an American citizen to petition the United States Government to go ahead and bring a foreign fiancé, we are going to specifically tailor this for Thai fiancés but it could be could be kind of a general video just for general information but yes to bring a Thai fiancée to the United States. 

So what are we talking about when we are discussing the USCIS-Embassy gap? USCIS which operates under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for adjudicating petitions for a fiancé to travel to the USA. Upon the approval of a petition for a K-1 Visa, USCIS is basically finished with that case, they have approved the petition, but that is not the end of the process. The case then has to be moved over through what is called the National Visa Center to the US Embassy here in Bangkok, again this is a Thailand specific video, to the US Embassy here in Bangkok in order for the US Embassy here in Bangkok to undertake further processing and to go ahead and undertake an interview before they can make a final decision regarding whether or not that Visa should be issued. 

Now when we talk about a gap, what we are talking about here is these are two different departments of the United States Government. One is Department of Homeland Security Department, the other is the Department of State. So when the Department of Homeland Security is done adjudicating the petition, they have to move that case over to the Department of State's National Visa Center and there's a bit of a lull in the overall process while that is occurring and I know based on correspondence I have had with many a client over the years, this can be a bit frustrating because they are sitting there going: 'what is going on?' 'how long does this take?' It is hard to say; it depends on prevailing circumstances how long this gap, how long of a time frame you are going to be stuck in this gap. Generally speaking it is a matter of weeks but again during COVID it was interminable. We have also seen at various times depending on the Administration, and depending on the case load too of the local Embassy and things, you can see something of a prolonged period of time wherein that case is kind of in a sort of limbo; it hasn't gotten over from the Department of Homeland Security side over to the Department of State side.

That said, at the end of the day we rarely have any problems with getting those cases over the gap and for the most part, things move along at something of a brisk pace. Now that said, again coming off the COVID situation we have still got a substantial backlog associated with US Immigration that we are hoping will thaw more and more as time goes by. That being said, we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the situation evolves.