Integrity Legal - Law Firm in Bangkok | Bangkok Lawyer | Legal Services Thailand Back to
Integrity Legal

Legal Services & Resources 

Up to date legal information pertaining to Thai, American, & International Law.

Contact us: +66 2-266 3698

info@integrity-legal.com

ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawUS Immigration LawK3 Visa Thailand: The Importance of Interview Preparation

K3 Visa Thailand: The Importance of Interview Preparation

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the K-3 Visa and we are specifically discussing it in the context of the interview. 

Now the interview can be quite a daunting proposition for those who are seeking admission for their Thai spouse to the United States. Many people fear it and in fact I find many of our Thai beneficiaries, our Thai clients who are not really familiar or particularly accustomed to dealing with the US Government, frankly they find it rather scary, for lack of a better term. It can be a rather foreboding experience.

The thing to take away from this video is it is definitely a good idea to have professional assistance with the American Immigration process. I think that can be said even more so now in the Trump Administration with the addition of new complexities that have not arisen in times past. It is a good idea to have someone on hand basically to troubleshoot things that are unforeseen. 

That being stated, the interview preparation should not be viewed as an exercise of being "coached" or of having some sort of "magical language" to tell the interviewing Consular Officer at the US Embassy here in Bangkok because there is no magic language. What one should be capable of doing after interview preparation is to concisely and honestly explain one's position, one's situation, one's history. The other thing I think many people tend to think with respect to the interview is that is some kind of exercise in the government officer, in this case an interviewing Consular officer with the Department of State, with that individual trying to sort of stump the applicant, or embarrass the applicant or make them feel bad or something. That is not at all what they are doing. Their function is to do their due diligence in that interview to make certain that the person being interviewed is not in some way lying, basically has no criminal history, isn't hiding a criminal history, things of this nature. Health and safety issues come up. Making sure they don’t have some communicable disease that could be transmitted to the American public upon arrival. These types of issues are what is happening. It is a due diligence exercise. It is not an exercise in making someone feel bad or acting haughty and imperious; that is not particularly my experience. They are simply doing these interviews in order to ascertain whether or not someone could be deemed inadmissible pursuant to the Immigration Nationality Act of the United States.

So while interview preparation I think is very important, especially for purposes of explaining the protocol which will be undertaken by the officers of the US Embassy, in this case here in Bangkok Thailand so dealing with how one is going to be getting in, where to go, what to deal with, where to put these documents, what lines to stand in, where to pay relevant fees etc. for the most part, when I do interview prep with my clients here, it is not a matter of coaching it is a matter of being able to concisely and honestly explain one's position, one’s situation and one’s future intentions to a Consular Officer at the United States Embassy. That is it. That is what is going on. Now that can be daunting and frustrating to someone who doesn't speak English as a first language and has never dealt with the American Immigration system in the past. Having proper preparation, more than anything what I want my clients to be going into an interview prep is comfortable. Understanding what they're going in to see and what they're going to do, what the possible ramifications are, what are the possible avenues of circumstances that will arise after the interview? If it is approved, what happens? If it is denied, what happens? If they want more evidence, what happens? How do we deal with those things? That is the purpose of interview preparation and also helping someone to coherently and concisely and honestly explain themselves to the interviewing officer so that a Visa can be issued and one can presumably move to the United States because at the end of the day that's the goal here; getting to the US.

So those who are interested in this topic it is probably a good idea to contact a legal professional to find out more and the thing to take away from this video also is never view this as an exercise in "coaching" someone what to say. It is helping someone and facilitating someone with honestly explaining their situation.