Rob Browder

Do NOT count on the "reminder" to arrive. It might - or not. I got them regularly - then I didn't get them for months - then they started, again. I was filing online continuously, and did not leave the country. I am glad I didn't rely on immigration to remind me, or I'd be out 2000 baht.

Yes - that form-change seems to be a new enforcement - happening after I was over-50 and no longer working, so had switched to retirement-extensions. I needed 2 witnesses for the home-visit in one province, and one appearing at immigration for the application in another province. In the latter case, that witness didn't even know us personally, though what they signed was true (de-jure marriage).

Yes - two more people you have to pay off to "help the falang get his immigration extension" - even if they testify to immigration 100% truthfully - and a favor for which your wife then owes them. The idea a "bad guy" could not pay witness(es) to lie, in this environment of corruption, is laughable.

Note: One can avoid all the "Work Related Docs" if they show 400K seasoned in the bank for 2 months. One only needs those if using "salary over 40K Baht / mo" to meet the financials. In the past, one only had to show Thailand tax-docs to use the salary option, but that was changed a few years back.

Many such cases reported here, as well as on FB. The timeline was: 1) They started asking to see the money (cash or traveler's checks only) or denied-entry for repeat-tourists. 2) Word got out, so we started carrying the cash. 3) Angry that we could easily comply with the cash requirement, they started the routine of not asking to see the money - waiving it away if it was shown - saying they were denying entry for "here too much / long" - then stamping "didn't have the money" in the passport, as the "official" reason for denying entry. 4) Various workaround options then appeared - "VIP entry," "send cash to so and so via Line," etc - eventually streamlined into the current "safe entry" system. Bottom line, they do not have the right to deny entry for "here too much / long," under Thai immigration law - but there is no honest oversight of the law in Thailand to stop Immigration's corruption-schemes.

No, it won't affect agent-extensions. This is just another "encouragement" to use their agent-partners, instead of being a "cheap charlie" (like me) who DIYs it, so doesn't pay their tribute.

This is what "extra requirements" are always really about. Even some "real" requirements are skipped for agent-envelopes.

A lease and landlord's ID should be all that is required. You are applying for an extension of your permitted-stay from immigration - not working as an agent of the revenue dept, or whatever. They can (and sometimes do) come to see you "really live there." And, if they think they landlord is doing something wrong, they can take it up with them - has nothing to do with the applicant living where they say they are.

Yes - and, ideally, their HR will have an agent who will find out how-thick of a brown-envelope is required to change from your Non-ED extension to a Non-B extension. This is completely legal to do, but Immigration sometimes refuse to do them without a payoff. The employer may decide sending you out on a visa-run (with the required paperwork for a specific embassy) is simpler/cheaper (for them).

Only caveat I would add - get the account moved 90+** days before you plan to apply for the extension. This will make the account-balance seasoning proof simple and straightforward. ** (I know the seasoning is officially 2 months, but out in the sticks some IOs sometimes demand 90 days - happened to me, which luckily I had).

... on a "first entry ever" from a higher-income country passport, it is never asked. Infrequent short-stay visitors would also not be asked. If he did a fly out/in to stay longer, it might be - unless using Immigration's agent-services.

Chonburi being one of those - as in, all other IOs are jealous at how much brown-envelope money they bank, so will tell you your "in the office / legit / no agent" extensions were "fraudulent" - just because you got them in Chonburi. I've experienced this. Similar is true with Non-O-ME stamps, because Immigration didn't control that system - really gets them into a lather.

On the contrary - a person with an income of multiples of the average wage in my country could easily get a tourist-visa to visit there.

Living out in the sticks? Are Indians moving up there on fake-marriages to work illegally, now? I doubt it. And they can / often do make a home-visit, which would erase all doubt. And, if one is over 50, they know one can "buy" an agent-extension based on retirement from their partners, for a fraction of the cost of paying for a fake Thai wife (plus 2 witnesses for the home-visit). They know the source of "scams" are primarily of their own organization's origin. Only a few agents will do them, and the cost was quoted at something like 50K Baht, last report I saw - a big piece of the action going to the district-level official, for their sign-off.

Yes - but for a marriage-based extension, which they hate doing. This is the first I have heard regarding a retirement-based case. It would seem the agent-money coffers are coming up short, so they are pushing more legit applicants to their agent-buddies. I would try to find an agent who will factor your actually meeting the financials in, and offer a cost short of the 15K (in Bangkok), which bypasses the financial requirements.

If you have been out of Thailand for 6 months, and do not have a history of longer-stays or more than 6-mo/year in Thailand as a tourist in the last two years, and no ED or Volunteer Visa history, and no long-stay during Covid, you should be OK coming in on VE. Granted, that's just my guess based on reports. Good luck with the TR Visa.

I would just suffer the tuk-tuk mafia, until you make payment at the consulate, which should be possible the same or next day after you apply via the eVisa site, before final approval..

The comparison is: They are let into our countries - by traitors, who only want their cheap labor - and make us poorer, wrecking our lives, futures. We come to Thailand, and even when we are not "rich," we earn more than Thais, and do not compete with them for jobs, so make their country wealthier - raising their standard of living. If the issue was "helping" people from poor countries, that would be much more efficiently-accomplished by helping them in their homelands, where the costs of supporting per-each are much lower. Clearly, this is not the goal - just a line of propaganda, playing upon our inherent good-will, to import cheap labor. Those pushing this do not care about "them" or us. ... hopefully, to support them, where ever you live. I am with you on taking responsibility, but ask the question: What % of Thai wives of foreigners are "worse off" than they would be without them? Even sampling the sub-set making less than the required-minimum for an annual extension based on marriage? If you are making the argument poor(er) people should not have children anywhere, that's a long tangent - but, suffice it to say, that POV is why I never started a family back in my passport-country. Earlier generations had a very different situation; things have changed.

You seem to think people's financial-status is static, such that one should abandon their Thai wife/kids if they have to use their savings to help them. I am fortunate, in that my finances have only improved since I came to Thailand, but I know of others who had to deal with family-emergencies. "Going home to make money to send back" doesn't work any more, generally, given a higher-cost-of-living country where millions of poor were invited-in to flood our labor market, at multiple skilll-levels. That said, if one doesn't have skills they can sell via Internet access, they may be stuck in their passport-country.

This is an important, if true - please clarify: You were able to apply for the METV, successfully, via the eVisa system, without showing "residency" in the Philippines? This would make logical-sense, as the DTV can be applied-for without residency in the country of application, but would be a change from previous policy.

If you use your salary, you will need to supply all the paperwork for a Non-B (company documents, etc) PLUS all the paperwork for a Marriage-Based extension. It's not like the good old days (~5+ years ago), where you only had to show your tax-payments for the salary. If you can put 400K in the bank for 2 months prior to application, this makes the process MUCH easier, as you only have to provide the marriage-based documentation, which is a 1/2 ream of paper, by itself.

Folks' circumstances change, sometimes due to factors they do not control, and often due to money spent due to that "commitment" - even more so, when supporting children is part of the mix. Once over-50, the financials drop to 12.5K to 15K per-year via immigration's agents, which is significantly less-expensive than visa-runs. Undoubtedly, this helps keep many "committed" Thai/Foreign families together.

How it works to get a Thai Visa in Vientiane Laos: 1) Leave Thailand for Vientiane, Laos. If you do not have a "re-entry permit" when you leave, your current stay ends when you are stamped-out of Thailand. 2) Apply for the visa using the eVisa system (world-wide, now). Have all paperwork you need to qualify handy to submit with the application. 3) Go to Thai Consulate (not embassy) in Vientiane and pay for the visa. 4) Wait for the approval email - reports indicate 1-2 days for non-imm types, currently 5( Re-enter Thailand, showing your eVisa approval printout to immigration, and get stamped-in with this permitted-stay.

I have not seen any reports of folks being hassled entering on Non-O Visas only "tourist" type entries. I would carry a copy of your marriage-certificate and wife's ID + Housebook in carry-on luggage to show them, if they have an issue.

I would guess he is worried about a shake-down upon-entry for "coming to often as a tourist," on future visits. Though, if visits are several months apart, and only 30-days per-each, that is unlikely.