Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Third Country Nationals. What are we talking about when we say that? Okay, a third country national for example would be like a Laos citizen in Thailand, or a French citizen in Thailand, or a Dutch citizen in Thailand; someone who is not from the country where the Embassy you are seeking the Visa is located. 

There has been a lot of big news with regard to this from the Trump Administration most notably basically Third Country Nationals especially in a Tourist Visa context - which I get into in another video I made contemporaneously with this one. In a Tourist Visa context, third country processing is just I think probably going to be a no-go. Thailand has never been a great post by the way for Third Country Nationals. They have always kind of taken this really rigid view regarding Consular jurisdiction here in Thailand. I remember when the old USCIS Office was still here and they took the position that you had to be in Thailand for at least one year in Non-immigrant Visa status in order to qualify for local jurisdiction to file things like the I-130 in order to seek a US Marriage Visa. They basically said you had to live here for a year and you had to prove you had been living here for a year; you had to be in this proper status, non-immigrant specifically. They actually would look at people and say, "well you have been here for over a year on a Tourist Visa" - I've actually I stood at the window when they would say this - "but that doesn't attach Consular jurisdiction here. We are not going to take that case locally."

The point I'm trying to make with regard to this is we are talking about not-Department of Homeland Security, we're talking about Department of State, so okay different Departments. They never were really conducive to processing Third Country National cases with the exception of stuff coming out of Cambodia and Laos - that in the past could process fairly smooth through Bangkok - in the rather distant past, although I've discussed it with colleagues who did process these kind of cases. Cases involving Vietnamese Nationals at one time, the best place to process was through Bangkok. And then also, in some limited cases and I dealt with this over the years too, nationals of Myanmar, Myanmar passport holders might find it to be a little bit, I hesitate to say easier, but more efficient, more straightforward and safer, like literally, physically safer under certain circumstances that I've dealt with over the years, to process through Bangkok. With the exception of Southeast Asian countries though, I wouldn't say the Embassy in Bangkok is real conducive to Third Country Nationals. 

Now the policy has gone forth from the Trump Administration that effectively has all but quashed Third Country National Processing. Now I am taking a wait and see approach to see if maybe Embassies, because Embassies themselves, Consular jurisdictions, Consulates if you will, have a pretty wide latitude in terms of discretion with what goes on on their post. So if they see something that they feel like there's an exigent need to maybe not follow the presumptive policy, they may go ahead and allow it. In Immigrant Visa cases, I could see maybe there are going to be circumstances under some circumstances where a third country national could process through this post. I would not view it as a foregone conclusion, but I could see a fact pattern or a few, where I think it would be reasonable where the Embassy would say, "yeah, notwithstanding the fact this is a third country national, we're going to process this here." Again, not something to be presumed but possible. That’s very different than Tourist Visas. Again, I get into that in a video I am making contemporaneously with this one. 

That said, for those who find the US Immigration process a bit daunting, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.