BritTim

Thai Visa Service will no longer take people to Savannakhet to apply for tourist visas. The reason is frequent denials. They have long stopped taking people to Vientiane for any kinds of visa, as there were too few people with appointments (that need to be applied for well in advance) for the runs to be feasible. The OP will need to travel on his own to an embassy/consulate, and I recommend Vientiane.

Switching to an extension based on marriage is possible (and would allow working). That may be best if absolutely sure the marriage is solid, and divorce highly unlikely. If you can meet the requirements, an LTR WP (Long Term Resident Wealthy Pensioner) visa allows you to have a work permit. The initial application is complex, but it is a 10-year visa with almost zero ongoing administration.

You cannot change passports when crossing a land border from Thailand to a neighbouring country. If the situation is explained to Immigration at the bridge prior to leaving Thailand, maybe they will agree both to stamp her out of Thailand as a US citizen and allow her to leave on the Thai passport. Odds against, I think.

Lots of people seem to have trouble with the Thai e-visa system. You should have no difficulty applying for a 15-day visa on arrival at the airport on arrival. Applying for a tourist visa at the Thai embassy in Vientiane should be possible, but you will need an appointment (see https://thaivisavientiane.com/) to apply there.

The OP asked a question. Why he wants an agent is his business.

For another visa exempt entry, you would be well advised to do a border bounce by land. Where are you located? Border bounces at Mae Sai (extreme North), Mae Sot (West) and Ranong (to the Andaman casino and resort) are easy and cheap if you can conveniently get to one of them. From Bangkok, there are (usually expensive) flights to Mae Sot airport walking distance to the border. Next best are border bounces to Laos.

The 60-day extension is always optional. You can only have at most one of them between the time you enter Thailand either with a visa or visa exempt (entering with a re-entry permit does not entitle you to an extra one).

If you have previously done extensions based on marriage, the rules have not changed much. The only difference when making this change is that the officials are not going to like it. Processing a marriage extension involves them in a lot of work they are not faced with for a retirement extension. If you cannot meet the financial requirements for a retirement extension renewal, they will have no alternative but to acquiesce. Otherwise, they will probably try hard to make you continue with the retirement extension.

They will likely accommodate you, but expect a long wait. Take a good book. Given that Wednesday is a holiday, they will be busy. If you are unlucky, it might happen that they will tell you that you must come another day. When does your current permission to stay end?

Write a short letter right now stating that, based on their verbal statement that the termination will be handled by their lawyer, you are awaiting contact from their lawyer before considering the termination as effective. Make them sign to acknowledge receipt of this letter,.

I do not have first hand experience. However, the Labour Department, contrary to what many assume, have historically been very good at helping employees (both Thai and foreign) when their treatment by employers was not in accordance with the law. I do not think you would lose anything by going to their office (having prepared carefully for the visit ahead of times) to discuss your situation. EDIT: If you have a good case, the Labour Department will support you in court. You only need your own legal representation if your case is weak.

That is a very good question and, quite honestly, I am not certain of the answer. Usually, if this was an entry on the Non B visa issued by a consulate outside Thailand, the 90-day entry on the visa remains valid. However, since the visa and associated permission to stay were given directly by Immigration on the basis of your employment, it is possible the rules are different, and your permission to stay terminates immediately.

How were you informed that your contract is being terminated? Is the termination really with effect from today? Were you still on a probation period at the job? If you have written notification of your termination, do they state that their lawyer will contact you within the same letter? For dealing with immigration, the help of the lawyer (assuming the employer is paying) will be helpful. However, you might be eligible for compensation which the lawyer may well attempt to steer you away from. If possible, go with the lawyer to the Labour office when the lawyer takes the work permit there for cancellation, and talk to the officials there yourself. If you are entitled to anything, the Labour Department officials tend to be very good at helping employees get what they are entitled to. I will look for your following posts before commenting further.

That sounds like an official trying to get out of doing his job. Which office did you experience this at?

This is where it is very important to be accurate in the terminology used. When you have entered Thailand using a visa, this entitles you to a 60-day extension. It does not matter if you previously had entered using the same (multiple entry) visa and received a 60-day extension then. However, if your permission to stay from the entry with a visa is extended, and you leave and return with a re-entry permit, this does not entitle you to an extra 60-day extension. You only get one 60-day extension per entry into Thailand with a brand new permission to stay.

Assuming your permission to stay based on retirement has been cancelled, a multiple entry Non O visa based on marriage to a Thai is available in Savannakhet with minimal financial requirements. They may ask to see proof of 20,000 baht (or equivalent) in any bank account. That is not specific to the ME Non O, but can be asked for when applying for any visa there.

Most agents will not handle marriage extensions, or will only help you a little with the process. I have heard of a couple of agents who do handle marriage extensions in a similar way to most of them with retirement extensions. The agent fee is much higher. Since the application goes to Division headquarters for approval, achieving any discretional changes to requirements is more complicated than when it just involves a senior official at the local immigration office. That, in addition to other factors, explains the increased fee.

Yes, they are very sceptical of applications for medical extensions, and usually deny applications if you are not in hospital. Immigration must be convinced that it is impossible for you to travel (by either air or land). If you have a pre-planned program of treatment at a major hospital/clinic, it is possible to apply for a medical tourism visa or (sometimes) a Non Immigrant O visa at a consulate outside Thailand. This is fairly easy to get with the right documentation.

I will let @Sherylgive you the authoritative answer. However, when already in Thailand, your only option is a medical extension for up to 90 days at a time, and it is very difficult to get when you are not actually hospitalised.

A couple of embassies (including the UK) have made clear that to make an e-visa application through them you must be a citizen of, or have a right of abode, in the country where you are making the application; and you must be physically present within the country at the time of the application. At the time the e-visa system was first introduced a few people did successfully use it without being in home country. However, that is open to obvious abuses, and official statements now state that it is forbidden. If you make an application, there is a chance it might slip through, but you are not supposed to do that. Outside of countries close to Thailand, I do not think there are any embassies/consulates left that will accept visa applications for anyone other than that country's citizens (or those with right of abode).

It is a good point that his sentence might have included a suspended jail sentence as well as the probation. It often does. However, I am not aware of any country where probation always accompanies a jail sentence (suspended or otherwise). It is just court ordered supervision that may, or may not, be combined with other penalties. The OP has not mentioned other penalties for his offences. I am not sure if the Thai authorities regard a suspended jail sentence in the same manner as actual incarceration

It does not seem as though you were using a very well informed agent. As I wrote before, you cannot change passports at a land crossings. Also, at most land crossings, your time in Thailand on a marriage extension will have zero impact on your ability to return with a visa exemption (which is what you qualify for, not a visa on arrival).

There would be no issue with you both getting tourist visas (or Non O visas) in Savannakhet on your US passports. However, this would not solve your wife's problem of switching to her US passport.

In other contexts in Thailand the wording is clearer. For instance, under Section 12 of the Immigration Act, one of the subsections outlines causes for which you should be denied entry into Thailand: The Thailand Elite requirements similarly do not imply that offences not leading to imprisonment should be included, though I agree that a legalistic reading seems to imply that.

Assuming a country wanted to enforce such a rule, how easy do you think that would be? When you arrive at Thai immigration, and one of the questions is "how do I know you are not Thai" what proof will you be able to provide?