Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing US Immigration options for girlfriends and boyfriends of United States citizens. What are we talking about here? We are talking about it specifically in the context of Thailand, so we are dealing with the US Embassy here; we are dealing with the Visa process out of here. Some of this analysis may be useful for folks in another context, perhaps in another jurisdiction, but we primarily deal with Thailand based cases out of our office here so that is what I'm going to speak on. 

Many people who have a loved one, a girlfriend, boyfriend, significant other, they start looking at Immigration options. As we have discussed in many other videos, due to what is called section 214b of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Tourist Visas to the United States are not always available. In fact in a large number of cases, you are going to see a Tourist Visa denied based on section 214b because the Consular Officers have that discretion to issue those denials and they often do so because oftentimes they think that by issuing a Visa, that person may go to the United States effectively to live there. And as we have discussed in other videos yes it is not uncommon to see US Tourist Visas denied so if that is the case, what options is one looking at with regards to bringing a loved one to the US?

As we have discussed in other videos, there are Fiancé Visas available, there are also Marriage Visas available. Now that said, when making or forming if you will, formulating a strategy to take someone back to the United States, you need to take into account all the aspects of those different visas. We have discussed certain things associated with things like Adjustment of Status in the context of the K-1. We have also discussed how the process for getting a US Marriage Visa in my opinion is more cumbersome than dealing with the K-1 process, but that said you have front loaded a lot of things and therefore it doesn't require Adjustment of Status in the United States. 

The point I am trying to make with this video is those who are looking to bring a loved one back to the United States, it is a very good idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance with regard to all of your options up front before making any decisions regarding anything associated with your legal status, this includes marriage. So again it is a good idea to talk to a legal professional before doing anything with regard to travelling to the United States as you need to know your options, and you also need to know what the road ahead looks like, the timelines and the possible problems and complications that may arise as a result of engaging in the US Immigration process.