Rob Browder

Apples and Oranges. People aren't coming from Western nations to Thailand to work illegally / under-the-table, for Thai min-wage or less. But, they do come from low-wage nations to Western nations for that purpose, and in large numbers. Also, there is no welfare-help of any kind for foreigners in Thailand, where as there is in Western nations.

Rather, they are "under scrutiny" unless they pay the piper. They "crack down" on schools / students not paying the piper. Don't let the rhetoric fool you.

Yes, and it has been reported Immigration "increases scrutiny" in low season - though there is more need to let in as many foreigners as possible, so the Thais whose employment depends on foreign-spending can keep their jobs. But, Immigration clearly do not care about them.

It is all up to what the IO will accept - and, that varies by office, and by which service in each office, and possibly even by the IO working the desk you happen to get, and the "mood" of their supervisor at that moment. A lot of agent-passports w/ envelopes today = "good mood" = "let some honest applicants get their extensions, too." Would I try that letter? Yes. When dealing with Immigration, "waste of my time" doesn't come into it, because this happens so frequently - except when/if "agent service" is available, in which case all the made-up problems like this landlord-doc run-around magically vanish. Edit: Some reports of "Must be One Year Lease" at some offices - but can vary by office, so the only way to find out is to try, unless someone has a recent report of this requirement from the office you intend to use.

Definitely have your wife call that office and ask what they want there - could be completely different - and you would be going into your wife's / family's yellow-book, which maybe easier. Also, have her ask if they have an "expedited service" option or not there. Then, pick the easiest of the two options.

Unless they don't want you to have it - and make you choose one or the other. Though you are correct as to the law - not that they care. 1000 Baht is the yearly allotment for dental. Your dentist has good pricing. Only if you have a bank-account with your name in Thai Script - at my SSO office. Otherwise, you can pay at 7/11. This is one of their newer hurdles.

After you retire, the SSO system uses your Pink-ID number. Unless the number on your SSO card is the same (mine wasn't - got my Pink ID later), it will not match.

If you are over 55, you can get your contribution-money back. Whether you can get that AND keep in the SSO system for health is another question. My office would not do it. They stole my contributions, because I wanted to keep paying for the health-insurance (which is worth FAR more - especially as I get older). I tried the main-office in the Bangkok (area), and they said the same thing - sign a form to CANCEL your SSO health-insurance, and ONLY THEN, will we return your contributions. I hear in Rayong you can get both - but still need that yellow-book (now - not in older reports) - though can get a Thai-speaker to call them and ask to be sure (be sure they call THAT OFFICE - not the "main number"). I think the trick is to get the money-back first, then - within the "time permitted to apply after your job ends" - you re-sign-up for the SSO health. I could not find a lawyer or agent who would touch this. As soon as I mentioned the SS office for health, they were, "Oh, no, we won't deal with them," - seemed afraid of some sort of "payback" problems with their own business, if they advocated for a foreigner with that office. At some offices (less-so in Rayong) they seem to deeply resent us being in "their" SSO system. If anyone knows a lawyer who can get my pension-money back, w/o losing my SSO-health, please advise. Also, my local office insisted they WOULD NOT do bank-acct deductions unless my bank-book had my name in Thai script. That led to a wild goose-chase of discovering that EVERY bank refuses to do this - "Is Illegal," they all said. This wasn't about my pink-id # being connected to the account - the SSO office wanted MY NAME IN THAI SCRIPT to do it. Again, maybe Rayong won't erect this barrier. I pay every month at 7/11, for now. Miss three payments and you are forced-out.

IO may have set his stamp wrong / off by 1 day. It has been known to happen. For awhile, it was reported that once one hit 6 Visa-Exempts EVER, they were flagged for scrutiny - some sort of warning on the IO's screen. That, in combination with a low-salary country, likely triggered the questioning. I doubt they would have intentionally shaved just 1 or 2 days off, related to this.

Agent applications skip all these "extras" - so, no. Anything that makes extensions more of a PITA increases agent-based revenue. Ubon Joe and others reported having to show the SOURCE of the income - in his case, was from Social Security - in addition to the bank-deposit documents. Many offices "interpreted" a valid source as "Only a Pension qualifies" - where Social Security is included in what they considered "a pension." I recall a recent retirement-based extension report where this was not asked for - so maybe they are lightening-up on this - in some office(s).

I would continue with retirement-extensions for 1900 Baht / year. Even if paying an agent, it is relatively cheap, and no border-runs. Less than 1/4 of USA-Citizen STEM workers can find work in their fields in the USA, as-is, thanks to USA Visa-Policy (H1B, OPT, etc). Their working remote here would not be a bad thing. As there is no "welfare" for foreigners here, I don't see the downside, since any coming here would have their own income-stream - except ... THIS. Especially for low-cost rentals ~3500 Baht /mo and less - plentiful in Bangkok, Pattaya, etc. But, if you own a condo, you are set. And, if you rent higher-end places, I don't see it affecting these much. I would also be surprised if there was a "tax exemption" for over 180-day folks with this visa. But, many speculate that tax was not primarily targeted at ex-pats - so who knows. Maybe they figure they got their piece with the visa-fee.

Deputy Director-General of the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Better than the prior sources. Still, I would not bet the farm on anything until we see it implemented, and get back reports from folks using it - including for their subsequent entries. Even then, they can always change-policy mid-stream if they don't like the results.

For some of us, it is a wonderful thing we never have to worry about dealing with "our own" vehicle EVER again. Granted, if living in a rural area, it is necessary. Otherwise, given modern taxi-apps, I don't know why anyone would bother. One can always rent a car, when/if grab/bolt/taxi isn't practical.

Your landlord will need to assist you - likely going to the amphur with you to apply. You may also need additional witnesses. Possibly a "certified copy" of your passport from your embassy. Some ask for "long form" birth-certificate copies, etc. Ask at the amphur what they want, as it varies greatly from one to the next. The key is getting your Yellow-Book before the time to register with SSO is over - assuming you already ended your employment. I waited to get my Yellow Book before giving notice at my last job (I had read about this "new requirement" trick here), and the local amphur took 5+ months to allow me to have the Yellow Book - long enough I would have lost the ability to apply for SSO if I had quit first, which is perhaps not a coincidence. If your amphur is corrupt, that's a PLUS, in this situation, as you may be able to "agent" your way into the Yellow Book, vs being "waited out."

We have fewer reports from the smaller airports, so a smaller sample-size, which makes it hard to know for sure. I recall bad reports on Phuket, so skip that one - likely have an "agent assisted entry" program (like the Bangkok airports and Aranya have) - primarily serving the prolific Russian visitor market to that area. Once that incentive is in-place, it is bad news for Thai owners and employees in the local tourist-sector, and their frequent-visitor foreign clientele.

If it is an "apartment" vs a condo, you might be able to get by with only a TM-30 + Rental-Contract, because it is a registered business. The ID of the staff-person who signed the contract might be required, however. Please report back to let us know.

This is the main thing. It used to be, you provided a tax-filing, work-permit, and salary-letter from your job for this case. THEN, a few years ago, they started asking for a ton of company-documents from other govt-agencies - making it into a "Non-B" type paperwork hassle in addition to the Marriage-based paperwork. BUT, if you have 400K in the bank seasoned for 2 months, they will do your marriage-based Non-O THAT way, w/o hassle. ... well, the normal marriage-based extension thick-binder of paperwork, but w/o all the other business-related stuff. Why? Many Non-B applications are handled by agents, hired by employers, so their employees are not put through the wringer. Immigration see you using a Non-O marriage-extension as cutting into their Non-B agent-business. It is similar to how they felt about embassy income-documents, so stopped those for most (USA, Australia, etc) expats, for their retirement and marriage-based extensions.

I would see if an agent will handle your Non-B extension, which might make the problem "just go away" - hopefully, without an overstay on your immigration record. Hopefully your employer uses an agent, given the PITA of that type of extension - but if they are too stingy to take care of their employees properly, you will need to hire one yourself.

Unlikely to work, and potentially dangerous. The "extra fee" must go through an agent, in advance, so "nothing happens" at the immigration checkpoint.

I used to share your viewpoint, but I realized it was pointless in the context of how Thai govt offices function - from the land-office, to amphoes, etc - which all operate on no-receipt "fees." It's not one officer collecting the vast-majority of the agent-fee - it is the organization, which collects and distributes that money to its members. That is why IO "discretion" with the rules grants agent-applications, but "1 baht under for 1 day, with over a million baht the next day to the present," does not result in such "discretion." The "rules" are designed to generate agent-fees - not to ensure we "really have the money" to live. They know we could not live w/o money, because there are no freebees here, and the agent-fee proves "not broke."

I find the trip out for the visa to be less hassle than getting Immigration to do the Non-O Visa step. Why? You have 90-days time when you enter with the visa, less paperwork is required to get the Visa at a Thai Consulate than is required by Immigration, and you don't need a bank-account set up to get it. This way, you get the "marriage" part done in you visa-exempt time, then come back with your 90-day visa, and get the bank-money set-up in the first 30-days of that, and you are ready for the 1-year extension. If you can get the bank money set-up during your exemption-time, that can work also - provided you are applying for the 90-Day Visa in Bangkok, or another office where the process is straightforward. You only need the 400K Baht in the account on the day you apply for the 90-Day Visa in-country per the rules (but this varies at some immigration-offices). Getting the bank-account is another matter. Having your Thai wife, a Non-O entry, and marriage-docs with you may get it done, if she has an account at the bank where you apply. If that fails, call several agents and get quotes. 10K Baht is too high, unless a recent-change. It should be under 5K, based on previous reports I have read. The 1-year EXTENSION from Immigration will allow you to stay 1 year at a time uninterrupted. But, step-one is a 90-Day Non-O Visa based on marriage - either from Immigration, or a Thai consulate. Once married, if your extension at immigration fails for some reason, you can always go get another 90-days in Vientiane or Savannakhet, which provides some peace of mind. As long as you don't enter at the Poipet/Aranyaprathet border-crossing, Thai immigration does not have a record of denying entry with a Non-O marriage-based visa.

Many Thousands, just in Pattaya - at 10K baht each going to immigration - flowing right up the hierarchy pyramid, which is why it has been going for decades. If he starts the transfers, he could keep his money in the UK, use an agent for 2 years, then apply w/o the agent in his 3rd year. In the 2nd year, his bank-balance history from them 1st year would prevent skipping the agent.

In general, it is much more difficult find an agent who will handle a marriage-based extension - vs retirement-based. Hopefully someone here can provide someone who can. If it were me - the first step is go to the immigration office in HH and ask what documents they want you to bring. They should give you a printed-list. That will definitely include having 400K in the bank for 2 months before you apply. Then, see if you have what they want. Take it from there. If any questions about list-items, ask here.

You can get a Non-O based on marriage to a Thai, w/o the age-restriction. I assume this is what they meant. First, you have to get married. The difficulty of this varies by location, where some amphurs are a PITA about it. After visiting multiple amphurs w/o luck, I ended up paying an agent, who took me to "their" amphur person, and it was done. Check with the translation-people, who can also handle translating documents you will need to get from your embassy into Thai, and getting them stamped "official" by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Next, you need the first Non-O "Visa" - IMO, it is easiest to go to a Thai consulate in Savanakhet or Vientiane to get this (not Cambodia - are slower), vs the longer process of doing it at an Immigration office in Thailand. A single-entry visa requires no money-in-the-bank proof - just your marriage documents, plus copies of your wife's Thai-ID and housebook. After that, you can get a 1-year "extension of stay" from Immigration, but that requires proof of 400K in the bank (Thai account in your name only) for 2 months before you apply - documents provided by your bank. There will be a 30 day "consideration" period after you apply, which will involve a home-visit by immigration.

Agree arguing doesn't get you anywhere, unless willing to hire a lawyer (more expensive) - and possibly not even then. That said, this was not a case of the IO asking for some additional thing - more pictures or whatever. This was violating the written rules regarding financials for that extension - provided that all 4 documents (2 for each account), as required from the bank per the rules, were provided.