Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Marriage Visas from Thailand specifically the K-3, CR-1 or IR-1 Visa. Now there is a bit of a difference between a K-3 and a CR-1 Visa and an IR-1 Visa insofar as CR-1 Visas and IR-1 Visas are Immigrant Spouse Visas; a K-3 is a Non-immigrant supplemental visa that can be used basically usually to expedite processing. We are not seeing a lot of K-3s moving right now but that could change. It sort of fluctuates but at least for now we are going to treat this for the purposes of this video, we are just talking about US Marriage Visas.

We are going to go ahead and throw this up on screen. I found this at the US Consulate in London's website and it is basically a mock visa. I am just going to go over it here, the information contained on this. So they have got the issuing post, if it was issued in Thailand they would say US Embassy, Bangkok. Traveler's surname, their given name, birthdate, birthplace, gender, nationality, marital status; so if they are married it is an Immigrant Visa. As it notes there this is an IR-1 so it is an Immigrant Spouse Visa. This presumably is for someone who has been married for more than two years at the time they are going into the United States. Then you have got the IV case number. You want to go ahead and keep a good eye on that. We have those here in Thailand they begin with a BNK; that is your case number, your reference number for purposes of correspondence with the Embassy or before entry to the United States, correspondence with for example US Customs and Border Protection. Then you have got registration number and that is like a Visa number. It just keeps track of things internally. We do things a little different here in Bangkok with respect to that. Passport number obviously, IV issuance date and then importantly IV expiration date; that is Immigrant Visa expiration date, that is when the Visa actually expires. That is important because if you don't use it prior to the expiration you won't get in the country lawfully and therefore have your legal status attached to you upon entry. So again, keeping an eye on the expiration date is definitely a good idea because you don't want to enter the United States, well you may not even be able to board a plane if it expires. The other thing is a lot of people presume it has a six-month expiration. Read your Visa. You have got to double check because sometimes depending on the documentation in the case, it may have less of a validity than 6 months so you need to be aware of that and get into the country, specifically get into the United States prior to the expiration of the Visa.