My wife's green card is now in the Dept. of State hands

[AZLD4Candidate]

Step one: USCIS - done Sent 04/13/21
Step two: USCIS approval - done 06/09/21
Step three: Sent to the NVC - done 06/13/21
Step four: DS260 form - done 06/15/21
Step five: Pay for Visa
Step six: Assign a visa number
Step seven: Get the physical in Shanghai
Step eight: Go to the interview in Guangzhou
Step nine: Issued visa and visa packet
Step ten: Go to Phuket, spend a week together for the first time since August of 2020, then come back together to make sure the CBP doesn't deny her entry at second time.

It's almost done. I still say our immigration system is broken.

[honest.abe]

1. I feel your pain.

I did all this about 10 years ago for my wife originally from the Philippines. There are so many points of delay and complicated issues but we finally got through it. It was a great sense of accomplishment once everything was approved and received final documents.

[a kennedy]

2. Wow, and congrats to you and your wife. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸

[a kennedy]

3. Hang in there.....I never knew so many hoops to jump through.....

Happy for you, and good luck.

[Northwinds]

4. Impressive

Your visa petition was approved by USCIS in less than two months.......who did you bribe ❓🤷?♂️💰

[AZLD4Candidate]

7. I don't know. I don't care. I am happy it is.

I already told my wife if the US Government drags its feet, I'll be back with her next year.

I will give up everything here for my wife. I'm glad it took a short amount of time.

[Silent3]

5. I don't think I'd be fond of any process where step #10 is Phuket. n/t

[AZLD4Candidate]

6. Phuket for two reasons

1: I will not go back to China until they lift their mandatory quarantine. Phuket opens next month to fully vaccinated foreigners.
2: I will not let my wife come into the country alone after what happened to here in February.

What is your problem with Phuket? I've been there eight times.

[Silent3]

8. You're taking my comment way too seriously...

...I was making a joke about how "Phuket" looks like "Fuck It" (yeah, I know it's not pronounced that way).

[AZLD4Candidate]

9. Sorry, I misunderstood. My apologies.

Phuket is amazing! And will be where I retire.

[honest.abe]

10. Does Thailand have a good retirement program for foreigners?

Also what about the cost of living? Especially the cost of housing. Can foreigners own land/house there? International schools?

I am probably going to "retire" in the Philippines which is where my wife is from but the cost of living has skyrocketed there in the past few years, especially in the cities. We need to be near a city since we have a young kid and want to send to a good international school. We also intend to keep working our jobs online so we need good internet access.

We are considering other options like Thailand. Thanks for any advice!

[AZLD4Candidate]

11. Go to PI. Research their retirement visa. Look at moving to Palawan

Huge ex-pat community there. With your wife, you might have more options.

As for Thailand. Yes, they have a retirement visa. Most retirees I know live on tourist visa issued for a year, then renew at the tourist police or do visa runs.

Cost of living. . .I know a lot of ex-pats that pay monthly at hotels and live there so the hotel foots the utilities. One hotel hear Bangla Road in the center of Patong advertises monthly "rent" at 9000 Baht for a two bedroom (about $290).

Most people eat on the numerous outside eat streets. It is the same food and is MUCH cheaper (and better). I would recommend getting (for both places) and international driver's license, since they are recognized there. AAA has a program.

Foreigners can purchase the rights to land. . .but like most of Asia, land is public and owned by The State. In Thailand, it is impossible to buy land that has sand touching water (beaches are public property for public use, so no private beaches. Beachfront is fine).

International schools mostly follow the CIE and IB curriculum (but of which I have taught). One is British, the other is Swiss. Internet is lightning fast.

As for a car. . .if Thailand, you're better off with a motorbike. They are everywhere and can be bought relatively cheaply.

Patong in Phuket is the center so it's where everything his (CBD or downtown). If you want Phuket but quieter, look one beach north of Patong, or go south all the way to the Phromthep Cape. Surin, Karon, Kata, and Kamala Beaches. Most hotel if you want to do that route are in Patong. Try living AWAY from Bangla Road.

I normally stay in the Penthouse at Club Bamboo. It's a quiet place about 1 mile from Patong Beach (the actual beach). The penthouse is amazing, has sunset views of Patong, and a in room jacuzzi bathtub that is big enough for four people. I knew a 75 year old retiree that lived there for a while, put his Thailand things in storage, hoped over to Radang in Malaysia, lived there, would go to Bali, live there. . .hotel hopping as his lifestyle as a retiree. He loved it.

You might consider that too when you fully retire. As a American, you don't need visas for most places. As a Filipina, your wife might not need visas for all ASEAN nations.

Any more questions, please ask.

[honest.abe]

14. Thanks for all this. Great information!

We are a few years away from retiring but just trying to get as informed as possible. PI has good retirement options especially for someone married to a citizen. My wife is dual as is my kid.

Thanks again!

[Sympthsical]

12. It's a process

My brother's wife immigrated. Eventually they hired an attorney to manage everything for them. Money, but easier for them. She's a citizen now.

My in-laws are a gigantic Asian family. It feels like there's always someone in there going through the process.

Our immigration system is hurdle city. I do not envy anyone going through it. Best of luck.

[AZLD4Candidate]

13. In China, the phrase is "you marry the daughter and the are the wedding present."

I have a feeling I know where her parents will live when they retire. . .That decision has already been made and I wasn't part of the discussion.

I'm already looking for a four bedroom house being proactive.

[Sympthsical]

15. I hear you

My partner's parents want to go back to their home country soon. They delayed retirement for seven years because my brother-in-law died of brain cancer while his four children were still young. We've all been kind of communally raising them since. But now the last two are about to graduate high school, and the grandparents are reinitiating their planned move back to Asia.

They went back in Feb. 2020 to start scouting places, but then the pandemic killed that who plan in the crib.

Now we're scoping places again, arranging for what will happen to their house (we're currently paying the mortgage on it), etc. But they are eager to go - they both have a lot of siblings and family there.

It's all a total project.