U.S. Immigration Legal Advisors Thailand FAQs

"The selling of sexual services is illegal in Thailand my fiancee was never arrested or even subject to arrest"

To: U.S. Immigration Legal Advisors

I may be a rare American man, I didn’t come to Thailand to be with women in order to gratify a sexual desire. I met my Thai fiancee on the Internet. After spending considerable time with her I learned that like many Thai ladies she had worked in the sex industry providing sexual services at a “massage parlor” in Bangkok. She stopped providing sexual services more than 10 years ago and returned to the family farm in Buri Ram Thailand. Even though the selling of sexual services is illegal in Thailand my fiancee was never arrested or even subject to arrest because the “massage parlor” had an arrangement with the Thai police. Apparently the Thai police will not make an arrest unless there is some type of direct benefit to them. Although she was aware that what she was doing was illegal, she never feared being arrested. She married and had one child with a Thai man and they lived in Buri Ram. She suffered abuse at the hands of her Thai husband for 8 years before divorcing him last year. Thankfully he did not abuse their child. Will the fact that my fiancee worked in the sex industry prevent us from being able to obtain a U.S. immigration visa from the American Embassy in Thailand for her and her child?

Frank

Dear Frank,

While it may seem like you are a rare American man, the fact is that most of the clients of our law firm also met their fiancee’s and wives on the Internet and had not come to Thailand with the sole purpose of purchasing sexual services. Many people have stated that the Thai police abuse the legal system and selectively enforce the law. In this case it has also benefited your fiancee, as an arrest of this type certainly wouldn’t reflect positively upon her and would add additional difficulty with a U.S. immigration visa. The fact that she has provided sexual services in exchange for money makes her ineligible for the visa, however the American Embassy in Thailand will find that she is eligible to apply for a waiver from the ineligibility. If the waiver is approved by USCIS the American Embassy will issue visas to your fiancee and her child. I recommend getting the visa applications started as soon as possible as it is a long process.

U.S. Immigration Legal Advisors
Bangkok, Thailand