BritTim

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?

So, what is the point of the whole 'or' phrase if any criminal record disqualifies you? Or, are you suggesting that it is possible to be sentenced to prison without committing a crime?

Which immigration office are you trying to use? If your wife has a Thai id card, that should be sufficient. You do not need a Thai passport either to be considered Thai nor to be considered married. More likely, the problem is that your marriage is not registered in Thailand. Did your wife show her US passport to the official? If so, that was a big mistake. Some officials, for totally illogical reasons, are upset with Thai women who acquire other nationalities. When does your current permission to stay end? You mention a 'visa' valid until July 25th. Do you mean that this is the 'admitted until' date stamped in your passport when you arrived in Thailand? If so, I am confused as to why you currently need a 60-day extension. Your wife will not usually be able to switch from her US passport to her Thai passport with a border bounce by land. A change of passports is not permitted during a land crossing. Since she will have a brand new unused Thai passport, she would probably be able to both leave and return on the Thai passport (concealing the fact that she entered on the US passport). However, this would mean that her visit on the US passport would never be terminated. The Thai authorities might be upset if they ever become aware of the facts, and this would be a risky approach if your local immigration office are already aware that she arrived on a US passport. Normally, to switch passports, you need to leave Thailand by air (perhaps, to somewhere like Vientiane). You can then return by land if you prefer. Even then, it is occasionally problematic as immigration can start asking a lot of questions about how you can have an unused Thai passport issued in Thailand and yet be using it for entry into Thailand. It is tempting to think about trying to use the automatic machines at the airport to leave on the Thai passport while at the same time trying to get stamped out on the US passport. That, if successful, will ensure no further problems. This is not a unique problem and needs better solutions.

He has not been sentenced to imprisonment, only to probation.

The checks done on an application for a Thailand Elite membership would not pick up an offence that resulted in no jail time. You do not need to pay any money until your application is approved, and you decide to move forward. I would suggest you make the application, and decide later when, and if, you are approved.

For an application for a Non O visa at Immigration, you cannot take advantage of the monthly income option unless you can get a letter confirming your income from your embassy. That is not possible for US, UK and Australian citizens whose embassies no longer issue such letters. There is an alternative way of proving monthly income for annual retirement extensions, but no way around the 800k in a Thai bank account for the initial visa application at Immigration (unless engaging an agent to engineer a workaround).

Creative thinking! This makes sense, though there are no guarantees. Trying to return with just the Thai ID card might run into the same problem of Immigration asking how you left Thailand in the first place.

Yes. This is one of the advantages of a marriage extension over a retirement extension. You cannot get a Thai work permit when you are on a retirement extension. If doing anything that would require a Thai work permit, and you can meet the requirements, also look into the LTR WP (Long Term Resident Wealthy Pensioner) visa.

Be careful with those kinds of tricks. If the check in staff can verify the onward flight with a simple enquiry through their terminal (and, depending on the airlines, they often can) you are relying on them being too busy to care. The consequences of being caught could be serious.

Your marriage extension is no longer valid. Your best move is to leave Thailand (without a re-entry permit) to cancel the extended permission to stay that way. [The alternative is to go to Immigration (who will possibly fine you for not informing them immediately at 500 baht per day) and apply for an extension for a different reason (if you are denied, but still pay the 1,900 baht fee, you get 7 days to leave the country).] You can only change passports if you do so when you leave Thailand by air. You cannot do a change of passports during a border bounce by land. In addition, and this is important, airport immigration may detect that you have previously been in Thailand on a different passport, interrogate you about it quite vigorously, and even try to make you use the original passport for your re-entry. This may not happen, and by all means go ahead with your plan, but be prepared. If it does happen, please report back on the outcome. Good luck!

With many banks, they can be quite obstinate in what they will allow without the account owner's presence, even if you have a professionally drawn up Power of Attorney. All you can do is try.

For those wanting to open a bank account themselves without the use of an agent, here are some pointers. Appearances are very important in many kinds of situations in Thailand. Look like the kind of individual the bank would want as a client. Be polite, confident and soft spoken, especially when the initial reactions of the bank staff are negative. If your own Thai is not fluent, try to take along a Thai as a translator who similarly has the right appearance and behaviour. A Certificate of Residence makes life a lot easier. Sometime, a long term rental agreement is accepted instead, especially if it is backed up with a TM30 notification receipt. Offer to avail yourself of other bank services (commonly, accident insurance) if they will agree to let you open an account. Make clear (assuming this is true) that you would within days be making a large foreign transfer into the account. It is more difficult for some nationalities than others. US citizens are not popular clients because of additional paperwork. I would also make the point that, in almost all cases, the branch where you open an account is not very important. For reasons I will not go into, an agent may require you to have an account in their preferred bank branch. If you lose ATM cards, credit cards etc. issued by the bank, you need to visit the home branch to get replacements. It is rare that you cannot do anything else at any branch of that bank.

I should probably not be contributing to this useful, but off topic, digression. You can get a rough idea of the experience and amount actually received in your Thai account by using comparison services like monito. For instance, this is what you can expect if transferring 1,000 UK pounds to Thailand at the point in time to enter this page: https://www.monito.com/en/compare/transfer/gb/th/gbp/thb/1000 Notes: These rates fluctuate constantly. In most cases, transfers using the ancient SWIFT transfer network mostly used by the UK banks are opaque, and these comparison sites cannot provide reliable data. However, HSBC does provide exchange rate and fee information, and is fairly typical of what you will receive if using most UK banks. Wise and Xe fairly consistently come out at or near the top in all comparisons like this. My experience in recent years is exclusively with transfers of roughly between US$500 and US$5,000 from the UK and US. I have almost always been very satisfied with Wise since it attracted high profile investors and partners (such as Google) started using them to facilitate transfers. This is provided for information only. I am not a financial advisor.

Your understanding is correct. The Immigration rule (unlike for almost every other country) is that your passport only needs to be valid for the duration of your intended visit to Thailand. You can probably only take advantage of that fact if your flight to Thailand is direct from your home country (no transfers). Also, while the IATA guidelines do make this rule clear, some airlines might still insist of a 6-month validity (or the signing of an indemnity form). They worry about issues like the aircraft being forced to make an unscheduled stop in another country. To summarise, it is prudent never to travel without a passport that has at least a six-month remaining validity. If you fail to follow this advice, and you have a direct flight booked to Thailand, the airline supervisor will usually allow to check in for your flight. However, there would be a risk of a denied check in, notwithstanding Thailand's immigration rules.

At the current time, an extension of stay based on retirement (unless you entered Thailand with a Non O-A visa) has no health insurance requirement.

Let's be clear. The requirements to apply for a visa at a consulate and the requirements to board a flight are not the same. If you have any type of visa or have a re-entry permit, no onward flight booking is required to check in for a flight and board the aircraft. If you are planning a visa exempt entry or to apply for a visa on arrival, whether Thai Immigration will grant these is at their discretion. Under those circumstances, the IATA guidelines (used by almost all international carriers) recommend an onward flight ticket. The closer your departure point to Thailand, the more likely it is that the airline will insist on this onward flight ticket (mainly so they have something to grab if faced with the cost of removing you from Thailand if you are denied entry). Airlines Servicing local routes (especially, low cost airlines) more often face the problem of INADs (Inadmissible persons, and are more liable to insist on an existing booking they can grab as necessary. However, all airlines might enforce this requirement, though they may agree to let you board if you sign an indemnity form instead.

Although logical, most airlines will not accept a bus/rail ticket. When you are trying to enter visa exempt, they are aware that Thai Immigration can deny you entry. They want to be sure they can recover the cost to remove you from Thailand if you are denied entry. For that reason, in most cases, an airline will be perfectly happy if you have a return flight booked on the same airline (even if it is not within 30 days). If necessary, they can easily grab that return ticket to defray the cost.

Why respond to a 5-line post before you have read the full post. If you take an extra two seconds to read the explanation why, you can avoid an argumentative post of no value to anyone.

The main reason is that the officials want to verify that you have been legally in Thailand up until the point you apply for the retirement extension. If you are divorced, your permission to stay is supposed to be cancelled on the date of the divorce. Having your wife present allows the officials to verify that everything is in order.

This is mostly correct, with one exception. The 90-day entries on a Non Immigrant visa are not eligible for a 30-day extension. The 30-day extension is only for people who enter with a tourist visa or visa exempt.