US spouse visa for Thai nationals
What this visa is
The CR-1 and IR-1 immigrant visas allow the husband or wife of a United States citizen to move to the US permanently. It is a settlement route, not a visitor visa. The applicant enters the United States as a lawful permanent resident and receives a green card shortly after arrival.
All Thai immigrant visa applicants interview at the US Embassy in Bangkok.
If the couple has been married for less than two years on the day the applicant enters the US, the visa is a CR-1 and the green card is conditional for two years. Two years or more and it is an IR-1, which produces a ten year green card.
Thailand is not on either list under the presidential proclamation that suspended immigrant visas for a number of countries from 1 January 2026, so the spouse route is operating normally for Thai nationals. Lists of this kind are amended from time to time, so check the current position before you file.
Who can apply
You can apply if you are legally married to a United States citizen and the marriage is valid where it took place. A marriage registered at a Thai district office, the amphur, is valid and recognised. A marriage celebrated abroad is judged by the law of the place it happened.
Both spouses must have been free to marry on the wedding day. For Thai applicants this is where cases most often run into trouble, and it is covered in detail below.
Who can sponsor
The sponsor must be a United States citizen. Spouses of green card holders fall into the F2A category instead, which has annual limits and a waiting list.
The sponsor must live in the United States, or show that they intend to re establish domicile there by the time you arrive. This matters for Thailand, because a large number of American sponsors have been living in Thailand for years. A sponsor in that position needs to evidence concrete steps to resume US residence: a lease or property, a job, state records, bank accounts, school enrolment for children.
Your marriage must be registered at the amphur
A Buddhist ceremony, a village celebration, or any religious or traditional ceremony does not create a legal marriage in Thailand. Only registration before the registrar at the district office does.
Couples who held a ceremony and assumed it was a wedding sometimes discover this only when the petition is questioned. If your relationship was never registered, you are not married for immigration purposes, and the petition will fail. Register the marriage, or consider the fiancé route described below.
Where the American partner married in Thailand, they will normally have obtained an affidavit of freedom to marry through the US Embassy in Bangkok, then had it translated and legalised before the amphur would register the marriage. Keep that paperwork.
The 310 day rule, if you were previously married
Section 1453 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code prevents a woman from remarrying until 310 days have passed since her previous marriage ended, whether by divorce or by the death of her husband.
There are four exceptions: a child has been born in that period, she is remarrying the same man, a qualified doctor has certified that she is not pregnant, or a court has ordered that she may marry.
This is not a technicality. If the marriage was registered inside the 310 days without one of those exceptions, its validity can be questioned, and a marriage that is not valid cannot support an immigrant petition. If your timeline is anywhere near that window, take advice before filing rather than after.
Thailand does permit divorce, and where both parties agree it can be done administratively at the district office, which produces the Kor Ror 6 and Kor Ror 7. A contested divorce goes through the courts and produces a judgment instead.
Financial requirement
The sponsor signs Form I-864, the affidavit of support, which is a contract with the US government and is enforceable in court.
The sponsor must show household income of at least 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For a household of two in the contiguous states this is $27,050. If income falls short, the gap can be covered with assets worth three times the shortfall, or with a joint sponsor who meets the income test independently. Active duty military sponsors need only 100 percent.
A sponsor who has been living in Thailand and filing little or no US income may not meet this on their own tax returns, even with substantial Thai earnings. Plan for a joint sponsor in that situation rather than discovering the problem at the National Visa Center stage.
CR-1 or K-1
The K-1 fiancé(e) visa is heavily used on the Thailand route, so it is worth being clear about the difference.
The K-1 brings an engaged partner to the United States to marry within 90 days of arrival. It is often quicker to the point of travel, but it is not an immigrant visa: after the wedding the applicant must file for adjustment of status inside the US, pay again, and wait for work authorisation and the green card. Total cost and total time to a green card are usually higher.
The CR-1 or IR-1 takes longer before travel, but the applicant lands as a permanent resident with the right to work immediately. Couples who are already married, or who can marry at the amphur before filing, generally find it the better route.
Step one: the I-130 petition
Your spouse files Form I-130 with USCIS from the United States, with the marriage certificate, proof of US citizenship, evidence of the relationship, and proof that any previous marriages were properly ended.
Once approved, the case is transferred to the National Visa Center.
Step two: the National Visa Center
The National Visa Center collects the DS-260 application, the fees, the affidavit of support, and all civil documents. The case progresses only once it is documentarily qualified.
A practical point specific to Thailand: Thai district offices will issue civil registration documents such as birth and marriage certificates in English on request. Asking the amphur for the English version at source is usually faster and cleaner than obtaining Thai documents and then arranging translation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation. Where you do need the legalisation route, the order is translation first, then legalisation by the Legalisation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thailand joins the Hague Apostille Convention on 28 February 2027, so apostilles are not yet available.
Watch the transliteration of Thai names. Where a passport, national ID card and marriage record render the same name differently in Roman letters, expect questions, and provide a short covering explanation with the documents rather than waiting to be asked.
Step three: the interview in Bangkok
Interviews take place at the US Embassy in Bangkok on Wireless Road. Applicants from anywhere in the country attend there, so applicants from Isaan, the north and the south should budget for travel and a night’s accommodation.
Interpretation is available. Bring original documents even where copies were already uploaded, including the originals of the Kor Ror records.
Medical examination
You must be examined by an approved panel physician before the interview. In Thailand the embassy authorises Bumrungrad Hospital, 33 Sukhumvit Soi 3, Bangkok. An examination by any other physician is not accepted.
Fees are banded by age and run from around THB 3,250 for a child under two to around THB 15,750 in the 18 to 24 band, with vaccinations charged separately. Confirm current prices when booking.
The embassy is explicit that without a completed medical examination you will not be allowed to attend your interview, and the appointment will have to be rescheduled. Book the medical well ahead of the interview date, and bring your passport, photographs, DS-260 confirmation page, appointment letter and vaccination records to it.
Police certificates and civil documents
You need a police clearance certificate from the Special Branch of the Royal Thai Police, obtained through the Police Clearance Service Centre in Pathumwan, Bangkok.
You also need a police certificate from every other country where you have lived for twelve months or more since turning 16, which catches Thai applicants who have worked in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Israel or the Gulf.
Documents needed
- Valid Thai passport
- Marriage record: Kor Ror 2 and Kor Ror 3, in English from the amphur where possible
- Thai birth certificate, in English from the amphur where possible
- Thai national ID card and Tabien Baan
- Kor Ror 6 and Kor Ror 7, or a court divorce judgment, if previously married
- Medical certificate of non pregnancy or court order, where the 310 day rule was relied on
- Royal Thai Police clearance certificate
- Court and prison records if ever arrested or convicted
- Sponsor’s proof of US citizenship
- Sponsor’s federal tax returns, W-2 forms and recent pay stubs
- Completed Form I-864, with a joint sponsor’s I-864 if used
- Medical examination results from Bumrungrad
- Two US visa format photographs
- Evidence of a genuine and continuing relationship
Costs
- Form I-130: $625 online, $675 on paper
- Immigrant visa application fee, DS-260: $325
- Affidavit of support review fee: $120
- Medical examination at Bumrungrad: banded by age, roughly THB 3,250 to THB 15,750, vaccinations extra
- Royal Thai Police clearance and civil documents: modest local fees
- USCIS Immigrant Fee after the visa is issued: $235
Verify all amounts on the USCIS and Department of State websites before paying.
Processing times
The I-130 stage commonly runs from several months to well over a year. The National Visa Center stage can be finished in a few weeks if your documents are in order, and the English language versions from the amphur help here. Interview availability in Bangkok is the final variable.
Plan for a total of twelve to twenty four months, and longer if a divorce or a 310 day question has to be resolved first.
After approval: what comes next
Your passport is returned with the visa and a sealed packet you must not open. Travel before the visa expires, normally within six months, and hand the packet to the officer at the port of entry.
Pay the $235 USCIS Immigrant Fee online before you fly so that your green card is produced. You can work immediately on arrival and apply for a Social Security number.
If you hold a CR-1, you and your spouse jointly file Form I-751 to remove the conditions in the ninety days before the two year card expires.
FAQs
We had a ceremony in my home province but never registered. Are we married?
No. Only registration at the amphur creates a legal marriage in Thailand, and without it there is no marriage to petition for. Register it, or look at the K-1 fiancé route instead.
Which marriage documents do I submit?
The Kor Ror 2 and the Kor Ror 3. Ask the district office for English language versions, which saves a translation and legalisation step.
I divorced last year. Can I remarry straight away?
Not necessarily. Thai law bars a woman from remarrying within 310 days of the end of her previous marriage unless a child has been born, she is remarrying the same man, a doctor certifies she is not pregnant, or a court permits it. A marriage registered inside that window without an exception can be challenged, which puts the whole petition at risk.
Is the K-1 faster?
Faster to travel, usually slower and more expensive to a green card, because you still have to adjust status after the wedding and wait for work authorisation. If you can marry before filing, the CR-1 is normally the better route.
My American husband has lived in Thailand for years and files little US income. Can he still sponsor me?
He can still petition, but he must meet the I-864 income test or bring in a joint sponsor, and he must show he intends to re establish US domicile. Sort both out early, because they are the two things most likely to stall the case at the National Visa Center.
Do I need an apostille on my Thai documents?
Not yet. Thailand joins the Apostille Convention on 28 February 2027. Until then, use English versions from the amphur where available, or translation followed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalisation.
My name is spelled differently on my passport and my marriage certificate. Is that a problem?
It is a common one with Thai transliteration. Provide the documents together with a short explanation of the variation, and where possible have the district office issue records using the spelling that matches your passport.