I have been trying to get a tourist visa to the United States for my Thai spouse.
I thought it would be more or less the same procedure as for a Schengen visa, which we had applied for successfully three times already.
On Wednesday my wife had her interview. The American interviewer asked her why she’d married an old guy.
Before she could say a word, he himself answered, “Because of the money”.
Then he asked her why she wanted to visit his country. She said, for a holiday with her husband and to visit her sister, who is married to an American guy and lives in Hawaii.
Then he said, “All young Thai ladies marry older men only for the money” and he denied her request for a visa.
Our experience with the embassy of the Netherlands in Bangkok could not have been more different. There they are polite, not discriminating, helpful, understanding and pleasant. And I could wait inside when my wife had the interview, instead of having to wait outside on Wireless Road in the US visa case.
I’d like to warn everybody living with a Thai spouse not to waste his time and money trying to get a tourist visa from the US embassy in Bangkok.
The American staff there look down on women. They should know that many, many Thai women lead happy lives married to foreigners.
Len Kneppers
Jomtien