Travel abroad with a VN spouse to a third-country.

for expat holding u.s visa, and currently in VN. do you need a visa to travel to Thailand or any other S.E Asian countries. I am aware a VN passport holder does not need a visa to go there.

If a US citizen is married to a foreign spouse and wants to travel to a third country, will the non-American seeking a visa, have their eligibility decided without considering that she will be traveling with a US citizen who might not require a visa?

It's going to depend upon the immigration policies of the individual 3rd country that is approving the Visa, but in general, if she has not become a green card holder or a naturalized US citizen then there is probably zero consideration given to her status as the spouse of the American.

You'll probably get much more help by picking the particular country where travel is intended and ask that question in that country's forum.

Without that specific information you're just going to get a lot of guesses here in the Vietnam forum.

-A similar question would be for couples considering getting a retirement-type visa to live in a third country. -I have never traveled (abroad) with a family member. In normal circumstances when a few people travel together are the visas applied for as if they are individuals?  - @Dannyroc3

You are confusing the situation by mixing the example of applying for a retirement type visa and the example of people traveling together, essentially meaning being tourists together.

Once two people are applying for married status retirement Visa in a particular country, then of course the policies of that particular country will apply, so again you're just going to get guesses here since you aren't being specific about the country where you might want to retire.

I can tell you, regarding the retirement visa for married couples, that process is totally different from tourist visas.

In a few examples I know of, the married couple definitely had to apply together and so all of their information was considered as a married couple, which is usually not the case with a tourist visa

SPECIFICALLY IN VIETNAM, if the two people applying for a tourist visa fit the example you gave first, and if they are experiencing some difficulty getting both people approved for their tourist visa at the same time, then that's the type of situation that demands the help of a Visa agent.

Only a Visa agents can submit extenuating circumstances to immigration.

You can try to send them an email to explain the situation, but there's not a great record in the forum of those emails ever being received and replied to.

Once you get a Visa agent involved, they can directly present the case to their contact in immigration and get the best possible results.

@brianAFSER73

It depends on your nationality.  Thailand has a tourist visa exemption (60 + 30 days)  for many countries. 

https://thaiconsulatela.thaiembassy.org … o-thailand

@Dannyroc3

For tourist visa purposes....some countries have room on their applications for supporting documentation.  This gives you an opportunity to have your married circumstances looked at.