Rayinbkk

23 hours ago, MikeyIdea said:

You don't need full parental power to take a child out of Thailand. You need formal permission from all legal guardians issued by the amphur. Immigration only checks that paper. 

That is perfectly true. But when you have a court paper granting you sole parental power and making you sole legal guardian you do not need permission from the other parent or any paper from the amphur. Thus the annotation under the stamp,

On 3/13/2022 at 2:49 AM, kwonitoy said:

The parental consent form for travel from the Amphure will be needed, or a court acquired custody referred to as Full Parental Power, PP for short.

I left in October with my 10 year old son who I have full parental power over.

For travel I have in my backpack a folder with the Thai court order, his birth certificate, Thai ID card, passport, my divorce papers and more. All in original Thai and a certified English copy.

At immigration the desk agent called a much higher up officer and we went to his office.

He asked to see everything I had, and copied every piece of paper he looked at. It took well over 30 minutes and made me extremely nervous. He then stamped my sons Thai passport with an exit visa, never seen that before and wrote something below it.

 

I have travelled with him before and never had that level of examination from immigration.

At that time it was very empty at the airport so he had time to do this? I don't know.

Between check in and immigration it took us over 1 hour 

 

Attached is a photo of his exit stamp and writing, If anyone can translate the writing I would be very grateful.

My son can't read it,

The Thai writing says that the family court has granted parental power to xxx

Many thanks indeed for the very quick advice. It’s much appreciated.

I have a retirement extension and am neither married to a Thai nor the parent of Thai children. So no short-term extension is possible for me. 

My partner’s one-year visa, however, is based on being the parent of Thai children. So my understanding is that my partner could request a two month extension without having to leave the country.  Please confirm that my understanding correct?

My one-year retirement extension will expire in a few months time and I do not plan to renew it. However, I will need to stay for a few weeks beyond the expiry date for reasons related to the school year. Are one month extensions of a retirement extension possible? Thank you for any advice.

Thank you for the advice. I fully agree that it is best to do the extensions on time.  But clarity in relation to the 31 July date would be helpful is case of unforeseen circumstances in these uncertain times.

The Immigration website says that visas are automatically extended to 31 July. Being unsure whether this applies to (a) retirement extensions and (b) to extensions of stay on the basis of Thai children, I called the immigration hotline this morning. I was informed that it is possible to do the new extensions in the normal way, but that, if this was not convenient, the automatic extension to 31 July would apply. Information I have seen elsewhere on this forum seems to imply that the automatic extension to 31 July does NOT apply to retirement extensions and that these must still be done before the existing expiry date. So, as often, I have ended up confused. Can anyone confirm whether the automatic 31 July extension applies to retirement extensions which expire before that date?

12 hours ago, Flugg said:

Guess he's surprised racism works two ways

He won't be at all surprised if he follows Thai Visa.

Many thanks for the quick replies. My office is Chaeng Watthana. I will check with them. In the meantime, if anyone has recent experience with how the new procedures are applied at Chaeng Watthana, it would also be good to hear.

Two questions:

1. Retirement:

Under the old procedures for retirement extensions, THB 800,000 had to be in the bank two months before the first application and three months before subsequent applications. The new procedural guideline for retirement extensions speaks of two months before the application. Has anyone been able to verify that only two months are now required for repeat applications? Or are three months in advance still required in cases other than first applications?

2. Extension based on provision of support for Thai child:

The bank deposit method requires evidence of a THB 400,000 bank deposit. Does this amount have to be in the bank two or three months prior to the application? Or do you only have to show that the amount is in the bank at the time the application is made? Does any amount have to remain in the bank after the application has been granted, as is now the case with the retirement extension?

Thank you for any advice you can provide.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The 4 Thai employee rule does not apply to migrant workers getting work permits.

Wow, that was quick! Thank you.

My understanding is that a company must employ 4 Thai nationals to qualify for a work permit for one foreign national. I have heard that this rule does not apply to nationals from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar who work in Thailand under the MOUs between Thailand and the governments of those three countries. Is that true? Can a business employ a Cambodian, Lao or Myanmar national without having to employ 4 Thai? Or are they subject to the same rule as all other foreigners?

One of the issues here is that national immigration authorities shift part of the burden of responsibility for checking documents to airlines. Airlines are not only required to transport back any passenger without proper documentation, they (the airlines) also face steep fines.

It is not only 'village Thai' who often do not register their marriages. Many middle class urban Thai do not either. It is not because they have no assets but, in some cases at least, because they have very significant assets coming their way and want to maintain individual control over them.

May well be a scam. But, even in Thailand, young girls do get pregnant by men who then take no responsibility. It may even happen more frequently than men get scammed... So, maybe ask your son if he had unprotected sex with the girl. If he did, decide what level of responsibility you are prepared to take if he is shown to be the father by a DNA test. Tell that to the family in the presence of a well connected Thai friend. If the girl is under age, the family may go to the police, irrespective of pregnancy, and you may need to bargain for some kind of settlement. If, on the other hand, you and your son are convinced the whole thing is a scam, hold out and refuse to pay, once again offering a DNA test. Do it at a government approved hospital (eg. Chulalongkorn) to ensure that it is acceptable to a Thai court.

I have an related question rather than a reply. When you report on line, does the slip come back to you by post, or does it come by email?

I would advise using the services of a lawyer to avoid any unforeseen problems. Normally, a parent cannot simply give up parental rights, as they are tied up with the legal responsibilities a person has as a parent. 

The normal procedure, as I understand it, would require one parent to sue the other. This can be amicably agreed between them, but still has to go through process. It can presumably be done as part of the divorce. The court may require a report from social services who would, if relevant, include any agreed statement by one of the spouses that they agree for x, y and z reasons to give up parental rights. Otherwise, the Family Court decides. The process sounds complicated but as long as the spouse agrees, it is in fact fairly straight forward. It is obviously something very important to you and which you would not want to see go off the rails. Thus my advice to work with a lawyer. 

Another illustration of the woeful inadequacy of the law in Thailand. But I tend to look at things also the other way round. Given the state of the police and judicial system, I think it is a tribute to the Thai people that you can move around Bangkok and most of the rest of the country relatively safely, as I have been doing for the last 40 years. Go try that in some other places...

A couple of related questions, in case anyone knows.

1. A Thai child owning property has to have a guardian until the age of 20. Can the guardian be a foreigner?

2. What happens if the guardian dies before the child reaches the age of majority? Would the guardianship automatically pass to the Thai mother, who could then get a court order to liquidate the property on the grounds that the resources are needed to support the child? Or can the foreign guardian appoint a different guardian in his will?

Thank you for this very helpful advice. Yes, I have sole custody of the children on the basis of a ruling by the Thai family court, and they live with me.

I have sole parental rights over two children who are Thai nationals. At present, I stay in Thailand on the basis of a retirement extension. I understand that an alternative extension of stay is available on the basis of my parental rights and that this requires a bank deposit of THB 400,000. I have two questions:

1. If I make the change to an extension based on the children, will I need to exit the country to obtain a new Non-O visa, or can my current retirement extension be converted into an extension based on the children at the time of renewal?

2. Does an extension of stay based on care for one's Thai children include the right to work, or is that excluded in the same way as with a retirement extension?

Thank you for any insights.

Many thanks for your help.

Thank you, Joe. I thought you had to get the bank letter at your own branch. Can you get one at the branch at the Chaeng Wattana Centre irrespective of the actual branch that you bank at?

My retirement extension expires on 27 June and I have two small questions. Is the last day to apply for a further one year extension at Chaeng Wattana Immigration 27 June or 26 June? Secondly, does the bank letter certifying that funds have been deposited for three months need to be issued and dated the same day as the application is made? Or can it be dated several days prior to the application?  Many thanks for any clarification of these two matters. 

I obtained one at Chaeng Wattana Immigation for vehicle registration a couple of years ago. They refused to issue one for my pension fund, saying that they only provided them for vehicles and licences. There was a small charge, the justification being that it was to cover the cost of mailing the certificate to me. The charge was publicIy displayed. I received the certificate within 10 days. There was no charge for a similar cerificate I obtained for registration of a vehicle at a provincial immigration office a year ago, when I picked up the certificate in person.