Marriage visa expiring - what are my options?

[swissowl]

My marriage visa is going to expire in a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately I had an unexpected expense which caused me to drop below the 400k within the previous 3 months.  I have recently funded the account and I am over the 400k again.  I need to somehow get a visa for the next 3 months before I can re-apply for the marriage visa.  Looking at the options I am confused about what my best options are.  I am in the Hua Hin area so a visa run down to Ranong may be an option.  Can I apply for a 90 day visa there or do I only get a 30 day there.  Given that we are now only allowed two 30 day visas/year that is going to leave me short of the 90 days I need.  Any ideas?  Thx

[MJCM]

You could do a 60 day extension to visit wife at Immigration (costs 1900 THB) would that be enough ??

 

Edit: The money only has to be in the account for 2 months, so it should be enough time, but make sure that you ask your Immigration office as some offices make up their own rules.

 

If not, go to Savannakhet Laos and get a Single Entry NON-O basis on that your married. No funds in bank needed, just original Marriage Certificate (KR3) and the usual documents. Passport, Tabien Baan Wife, ID card wife etc.

Edited January 20, 2018 by MJCM

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, swissowl said:

I need to somehow get a visa for the next 3 months before I can re-apply for the marriage visa.  Looking at the options I am confused about what my best options are.

It is 2 months for a extension based upon marriage. It is 3 months for one based upon retirement.

It seems getting a 60 day extension to visit your wife and then doing the one extension application near when you have the money in the bank for 2 months.

[Autonuaq]

If you have income from abroad and the money in the bank that can solve the whole problem

 

Certify the income at your embassy if it is more then 40.000 per month all is solved if less then the money in the bank covers that.

[Russell17au]

15 minutes ago, Autonuaq said:

If you have income from abroad and the money in the bank that can solve the whole problem

 

Certify the income at your embassy if it is more then 40.000 per month all is solved if less then the money in the bank covers that.

Ubonjoe might correct me on this but it is either 400,000baht in the bank for 2 months or proven income of 40,000baht per month, extension on basis of marriage does not carry the combination of income and bank account, that is only extension on basis of retirement

[SpaceKadet]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It is 2 months for a extension based upon marriage. It is 3 months for one based upon retirement.

It seems getting a 60 day extension to visit your wife and then doing the one extension application near when you have the money in the bank for 2 months.

Are these some new rules? My understanding was that the requirement was 2 months for the initial extension, and 3 months for all subsequent ones. How about if one wanted to change from marriage based extension to retirement. 2 or 3 months seed prior the application?

[MJCM]

14 minutes ago, Russell17au said:

Ubonjoe might correct me on this but it is either 400,000baht in the bank for 2 months or proven income of 40,000baht per month, extension on basis of marriage does not carry the combination of income and bank account, that is only extension on basis of retirement

I believe you are correct. Afaik, combining money in the bank and income is possible only for an extension based on retirement and NOT Marriage. Marriage it's either 400k Bank or 40k per month in income.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

My understanding was that the requirement was 2 months for the initial extension, and 3 months for all subsequent ones.

For marriage it is 2 months for every extension. It is 60 days and 3 months for retirement.

12 minutes ago, SpaceKadet said:

How about if one wanted to change from marriage based extension to retirement. 2 or 3 months seed prior the application?

It would be 3 months since it would not be the first extension after entering with a non-o visa. The 60 days is to give a person with a 90 day entry enough time to open a open an account, deposit the 800k baht and have the money in the bank long enough to apply for the extension.

[elviajero]

6 hours ago, swissowl said:

My marriage visa is going to expire in a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately I had an unexpected expense which caused me to drop below the 400k within the previous 3 months.  I have recently funded the account and I am over the 400k again.  I need to somehow get a visa for the next 3 months before I can re-apply for the marriage visa.  Looking at the options I am confused about what my best options are.  I am in the Hua Hin area so a visa run down to Ranong may be an option.  Can I apply for a 90 day visa there or do I only get a 30 day there.  Given that we are now only allowed two 30 day visas/year that is going to leave me short of the 90 days I need.  Any ideas?  Thx

• You only need the funds to be in your account for 2 months when applying for an extension based on marriage.
• You could apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife (as long as you haven't had one since last entering the country). You could apply now and it would start from the end of your current permit to stay. No financials are needed. That would give you the two months needed for the 400K.
• You can't get a visa in Ranong.You will only get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

The alternative would be to leave the country before your current permit expires and get a new visa from a Thai embassy/consulate in a neighbouring country. Easily obtained from Vientiane or Savannakhet in Laos. When you re-enter you'll get 90 days and can apply for the next 1 year extension of stay towards the end of that 90 days.

[Russell17au]

How many times I see where someone has dropped below the 400,000baht in the bank for their extension on the basis of marriage. Do these people not have any income? I am on an Australia Aged Pension and that covers the 40,000baht per month so I do not need any money in the bank. How are these people living? How do they buy food? how do they rent a house or condo or flat? How do they pay electricity or water? Am I thick or something? These people must get money from somewhere.

[swissowl]

Thank you so much for your answers.  Didn't realize I could get a 60 day extension on the marriage visa.  That will give me enough time to satisfy the 60 day money in the bank requirement.  

[elviajero]

16 minutes ago, swissowl said:

Thank you so much for your answers.  Didn't realize I could get a 60 day extension on the marriage visa.  That will give me enough time to satisfy the 60 day money in the bank requirement.  

The money needs to be in your bank for 2 months, not 60 days.

[swissowl]

3 hours ago, Russell17au said:

How many times I see where someone has dropped below the 400,000baht in the bank for their extension on the basis of marriage. Do these people not have any income? I am on an Australia Aged Pension and that covers the 40,000baht per month so I do not need any money in the bank. How are these people living? How do they buy food? how do they rent a house or condo or flat? How do they pay electricity or water? Am I thick or something? These people must get money from somewhere.

To answer your question, I am not retired and don't have a pension or other regular income so the 400K is the only option for me.  I am part owner of a business here and it's truly a royal pain in the a** dealing with all the regulations.  I am not employed by my business.  Instead my partner from Australia is running the business and we have a number of Thai employees but not enough for me to also get a work permit.  Every time we get up to 8 or 9 employees one or two leave before the 3 months are up, so we start back up from scratch (for every farang you must hire 4 Thais and the employer must have paid soc sec for 4 (was 3, now is 4) months before that employee counts towards the application).  At this point we cannot justify hiring more employees to get us to a point where I can get a work permit.  It's enough of a headache just to manage the employees the business employs.  Sometimes we really ask ourselves why we are still trying to make a go of this business here in Thailand when 95+% of the products we produce are exported.  We are now exploring our options of moving our factory operations to a more business friendly country in SE Asia.  The reason I dipped below the 400K was to pay the salaries due to unforeseen expenses in the business.  So my money went to Thai employees.  Isn't that ironic?  I payed the Thai employees salaries and if I don't manage to get a visa I get kicked out of the country.  Yea, there's justice in that!!!

[swissowl]

9 minutes ago, elviajero said:

The money needs to be in your bank for 2 months, not 60 days.

Yes, got it.  Thanks for the correction, but 60 days is pretty darn close to 2 months.    If I get a 60 day extension, 2 months money in the bank will be no problem.  

[MJCM]

15 hours ago, Russell17au said:

How many times I see where someone has dropped below the 400,000baht in the bank for their extension on the basis of marriage. Do these people not have any income? I am on an Australia Aged Pension and that covers the 40,000baht per month so I do not need any money in the bank. How are these people living? How do they buy food? how do they rent a house or condo or flat? How do they pay electricity or water? Am I thick or something? These people must get money from somewhere.

I am way too young to get a Pension, and for me it's just easier to put the 400k in the Bank (I have way more then that in a Fixed Deposit account anyway) and not have to go with all the paperwork (stock dividend, Interest etc etc) to my Embassy in BKK  and pay a ridiculous fee to get a paper that I earn over 40k a month. Way Easier (for me that is) to have it in a bank account.

[MJCM]

11 hours ago, swissowl said:

Yes, got it.  Thanks for the correction, but 60 days is pretty darn close to 2 months.    If I get a 60 day extension, 2 months money in the bank will be no problem.  

But PLEASE talk to your immigration office first, why ?? Some immigration officers have difficulty understanding that after a 60 day extension (to visit your wife) you can apply and GET a Year Extension. Some will say that it's not possible and that you have to get a New NON-O before you can start the process (which is of course BS).

 

Question for @ubonjoe One thing I just thought off, if the OP applies for the 60 day extension, would the Immigration NOT think that when the OP comes to apply for his Year one, that it's A NEW application with all the hassle (presenting witnesses etc etc ??)

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, MJCM said:

Question for @ubonjoe One thing I just thought off, if the OP applies for the 60 day extension, would the Immigration NOT think that when the OP comes to apply for his Year one, that it's A NEW application with all the hassle (presenting witnesses etc etc ??)

They would not do that.

Only changing offices or a new non-o entry will cause a home visit or witnesses.

[Farangdanny]

On 1/20/2018 at 12:17 PM, MJCM said:

You could do a 60 day extension to visit wife at Immigration (costs 1900 THB) would that be enough ??

 

Edit: The money only has to be in the account for 2 months, so it should be enough time, but make sure that you ask your Immigration office as some offices make up their own rules.

 

If not, go to Savannakhet Laos and get a Single Entry NON-O basis on that your married. No funds in bank needed, just original Marriage Certificate (KR3) and the usual documents. Passport, Tabien Baan Wife, ID card wife etc.

Post it to reliable agent and get it back in a few days. Don't need money in bank. PM me for info.

[FritsSikkink]

13 hours ago, swissowl said:

To answer your question, I am not retired and don't have a pension or other regular income so the 400K is the only option for me.  I am part owner of a business here and it's truly a royal pain in the a** dealing with all the regulations.  I am not employed by my business.  Instead my partner from Australia is running the business and we have a number of Thai employees but not enough for me to also get a work permit.  Every time we get up to 8 or 9 employees one or two leave before the 3 months are up, so we start back up from scratch (for every farang you must hire 4 Thais and the employer must have paid soc sec for 4 (was 3, now is 4) months before that employee counts towards the application).  At this point we cannot justify hiring more employees to get us to a point where I can get a work permit.  It's enough of a headache just to manage the employees the business employs.  Sometimes we really ask ourselves why we are still trying to make a go of this business here in Thailand when 95+% of the products we produce are exported.  We are now exploring our options of moving our factory operations to a more business friendly country in SE Asia.  The reason I dipped below the 400K was to pay the salaries due to unforeseen expenses in the business.  So my money went to Thai employees.  Isn't that ironic?  I payed the Thai employees salaries and if I don't manage to get a visa I get kicked out of the country.  Yea, there's justice in that!!!

For a foreign employee who is married (you), you only need 2 Thai employees, not 4. 

[MJCM]

Post it to reliable agent and get it back in a few days. Don't need money in bank. PM me for info.

 

Do you mean Sending your passport via Thai Post to an agent to get a new Non-O in ZVK .?????

 

If so No thanks ! The process to get it yourself is easy enough, but only disadvantage is that you have to stay 1 night in ZVK. [emoji12]

[swissowl]

11 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

For a foreign employee who is married (you), you only need 2 Thai employees, not 4. 

Have been here for 7 years and have had the business for 6 years and I have never heard of that one.  Nor has our agent ever told us anything about that.  Had no idea!  Are you sure?  Is that in print somewhere?  We already ran into problems a while back because of not having enough employees due to them just quitting and my partner is also married to a Thai.  Labor dept put us through the ringer.  Really, really want to know because if this is true then those guys at the labor dept got some explaining to do.

Edited January 21, 2018 by swissowl

[FritsSikkink]

58 minutes ago, swissowl said:

Have been here for 7 years and have had the business for 6 years and I have never heard of that one.  Nor has our agent ever told us anything about that.  Had no idea!  Are you sure?  Is that in print somewhere?  We already ran into problems a while back because of not having enough employees due to them just quitting and my partner is also married to a Thai.  Labor dept put us through the ringer.  Really, really want to know because if this is true then those guys at the labor dept got some explaining to do.

https://franklegaltax.com/how-many-thai-staff-are-required-for-my-business-2/

 

But it seems that not every labor office will go with this rule:

 

 

It also is depended on the amount of registered capital.

 

Edited January 21, 2018 by FritsSikkink

[swissowl]

8 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

https://franklegaltax.com/how-many-thai-staff-are-required-for-my-business-2/

 

But it seems that not every labor office will go with this rule:

 

 

It also is depended on the amount of registered capital.

 

Wow, thank you so very much.  That really helps.  Registered and paid up capital in the 10's of millions so that should hopefully help our case.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, swissowl said:

Have been here for 7 years and have had the business for 6 years and I have never heard of that one.  Nor has our agent ever told us anything about that.  Had no idea!  Are you sure?  Is that in print somewhere?  We already ran into problems a while back because of not having enough employees due to them just quitting and my partner is also married to a Thai.  Labor dept put us through the ringer.  Really, really want to know because if this is true then those guys at the labor dept got some explaining to do.

The two Thai employee rule if married to a Thai was in the ministerial order for work permit requirements until late 2010 or early 2011 when they took out that clause. Some work permit offices will still allow only only 2 Thai employees.

[Aussieroaming]

5 hours ago, swissowl said:

Wow, thank you so very much.  That really helps.  Registered and paid up capital in the 10's of millions so that should hopefully help our case.

So why can't you apply under the investment visa, already paid up?

[swissowl]

3 hours ago, Aussieroaming said:

So why can't you apply under the investment visa, already paid up?

Investment visa only applies to 10+ million condo purchase, or having 10+ million in a Thai bank in a fixed deposit, or 10+ million in gov bonds.  It does not apply to investing in a business.  Also an investment visa does not give you the right to work in Thailand.