TM30 & SETV Extension Problem

[directstep]

Hi All

 

My wife is Thai but has lived in the UK for 25 years. She has British Citizenship and Passport. She always uses her British Passport.

We visit Thailand 3 or 4 times a year and have always used Tourist Visas.

5 years ago we bought a small house near Jomtien and it's registered to her in her Thai/Maiden name. She also has an up-to-date ID Card.

 

Our next visit (starting in 2 weeks) is slightly different - this time we want to extend our visas for 30 days and have already booked flights.

 

The last few years, although largely staying at the house during visits, we have never registered and only found out about a Form TM30 

last year!

I've read that when applying (at Jomtien) for our visa extensions, we will need to be registered or have a completed TM30 on hand ?

 

Question is - how will we fill this form out, my wife as owner in her Thai guise and staying there with me in her British guise?

 

Thanks in advance for any information and/or advice.

 

 

[JackThompson]

You definitely should report as soon as you get there.  Not sure how they will handle your wife, since entered as an Alien, but has an ID Card.  I would suggest you go to Immigration the first day they are open after your arrival, with your wife and home-ownership paperwork proofs, and fill out a TM-30 form listing you as an alien.  

 

Your wife can explain to the TM-30 staff (not the front desk, who won't know), that she is a citizen, but entered as an alien, and see if they want her to list "herself" on the form as a resident, as well as the owner.  The form has spaces for many "residing aliens" - so other than that possible 2nd alien-resident, the rest will be the same.  In any case, maybe better if she gets a TM-30 slip for her passport, to facilitate the extensions, later.

 

Doing this upon arrival will avoid any issues with your extensions or possible fines.

Edited March 3, 2018 by JackThompson

[ubonjoe]

Your wife should use a Thai passport to enter the country. That would avoid any problems for her when staying here. Just leave the UK with her UK passport, enter and leave here on her Thai passport then enter the UK using that passport.

No problem for her to complete a TM30 form for both of you using the name shown on her house book and ID card.

[Tanoshi]

59 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Your wife should use a Thai passport to enter the country. That would avoid any problems for her when staying here. Just leave the UK with her UK passport, enter and leave here on her Thai passport then enter the UK using that passport.

No problem for her to complete a TM30 form for both of you using the name shown on her house book and ID card.

As above.

Your also paying for a TV that your wife doesn't require.

As for yourself, have you considered apply for the Non Imm O ME Visa instead of 3/4 separate TV's.

This would allow you multiple entries of up to 90 days for a year.

No extensions required if staying over 60 days, and no re-entry permits if you want to take a few day trips to Lao or adjoining Countries whilst your visiting LOS.

 

You should file a TM30 at Jomtien each time you enter LOS

[directstep]

Thanks

[directstep]

9 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Your wife should use a Thai passport to enter the country. That would avoid any problems for her when staying here. Just leave the UK with her UK passport, enter and leave here on her Thai passport then enter the UK using that passport.

No problem for her to complete a TM30 form for both of you using the name shown on her house book and ID card.

Thanks for this straightforward advice.

My wife is one of these Thai women who oblivious to what is best to do, has insisted on using her British passport but 

now I can fully see the sense in what you say.

She has a current Thai passport but it's in her Thai/Maiden name so getting that changed to her married name (same as her British passport)

would seem the first thing to get done. 

Probably 15 odd years ago she changed her original Thai passport to her married name at the Embassy in London which from memory was 

very straightforward (once you got the appointment).  This then lapsed and when we started visiting Thailand regularly a few years ago she 

got her current Thai passport in Bangkok - but in her maiden name!

 

Maybe you can confirm this but I've been told that now changing her passport to her married name in London might be preferable to avoid 

any hassles entering Thailand for the first time with no exit stamp in her new passport ?

 

TM30 - ok thanks I understand this but 2 questions please.

1.  Can you download/print this form out before going to Immigration at Jomtien ?

2.  When we apply for our extensions this coming visit is it easier at either Jomtien or Bangkok ?

 

[ubonjoe]

Fifteen years go Thai passports were done differently. Unless she does a name change if applied for in London would have her maiden name on it now.

Not sure how easy it would be to change to her married name. It may require registering your foreign marriage at an Amphoe. That would require your marriage certificate being legalized in the UK and stamped at the embassy in London. Then translated to Thai and having the translation certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA.

Some officers may make a big deal of not having a departure stamp in her Thai passport but they cannot deny entry for it.

1. Download of:  TM30 Form Notification of aliens staying at a residence

2. Bangkok would be easier if you had a address for there to put on the application form. No TM30 form would be needed.

 

[directstep]

24 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Fifteen years go Thai passports were done differently. Unless she does a name change if applied for in London would have her maiden name on it now.

Not sure how easy it would be to change to her married name. It may require registering your foreign marriage at an Amphoe. That would require your marriage certificate being legalized in the UK and stamped at the embassy in London. Then translated to Thai and having the translation certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA.

Some officers may make a big deal of not having a departure stamp in her Thai passport but they cannot deny entry for it.

1. Download of:  TM30 Form Notification of aliens staying at a residence

2. Bangkok would be easier if you had a address for there to put on the application form. No TM30 form would be needed.

 

Thanks joe for the clarification of all this.

Forgot to say - we were married in Bangkok (all those years ago) and have all the original documents etc. so I presume getting her ID Card and House Book 

changed to her married name in Thailand will be fairly straightforward .... and then her passport at CW. ?

 

1. Appreciate the Link

2. If applying for TV extensions at CW,  would our Jomtien address be ok or maybe best stay at a Bangkok hotel for a couple of days & use that

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, directstep said:

Forgot to say - we were married in Bangkok (all those years ago) and have all the original documents etc. so I presume getting her ID Card and House Book 

changed to her married name in Thailand will be fairly straightforward .... and then her passport at CW. ?

It doesn't really matter changing her name as it's your Marriage certificate that proves marriage, not her Tabien Baan, ID card or Passport.

Many Thai women keep their maiden names after marriage.

 

1 hour ago, directstep said:

2. If applying for TV extensions at CW,  would our Jomtien address be ok or maybe best stay at a Bangkok hotel for a couple of days & use that

Hotels are responsible for filing TM30's for foreigner visitors anyway.

If your address is in Jomtien, then you'll have to file the extension and TM30 there.

The address you put on your TM6 arrival card will be your Jomtien address?

 

Even If you stayed in a hotel when arriving in Thailand, your still required to file a TM30 when you arrive at your private residence.

 

Section 38 : The house – master , the owner or the possessor of the residence , or the hotel manager
where the alien , receiving permission to stay temporary in the Kingdom has stayed , must notify the
competent official of the Immigration Office located in the same area with that hours , dwelling place or
hotel, within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the alien concerned. If there is no Immigration Office
located in that area , the local police official for that area must be notified.

 

Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) en - immigration.pdf

[directstep]

1 hour ago, Tanoshi said:

It doesn't really matter changing her name as it's your Marriage certificate that proves marriage, not her Tabien Baan, ID card or Passport.

Many Thai women keep their maiden names after marriage.

 

As I understand it (What CW told her when she got her passport), for them to issue her passport in her married name she must first have her ID Card amended.

Having her passport in her maiden name is pretty much useless at this stage?

I got the impression it's all one name or the other, which I can understand......

[Tanoshi]

2 hours ago, directstep said:

As I understand it (What CW told her when she got her passport), for them to issue her passport in her married name she must first have her ID Card amended.

You mean the Passport office, not CW Immigration.

That's correct.

 

2 hours ago, directstep said:

Having her passport in her maiden name is pretty much useless at this stage?

Why?

[directstep]

35 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

You mean the Passport office, not CW Immigration.

That's correct.

Is it not the same place?

35 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

 

Why?

Can't use British married name passport & Thai maiden name passport UK > Thailand > UK ?

[ubonjoe]

12 hours ago, directstep said:

Thanks joe for the clarification of all this.

Forgot to say - we were married in Bangkok (all those years ago) and have all the original documents etc. so I presume getting her ID Card and House Book 

changed to her married name in Thailand will be fairly straightforward .... and then her passport at CW. ?

 

1. Appreciate the Link

2. If applying for TV extensions at CW,  would our Jomtien address be ok or maybe best stay at a Bangkok hotel for a couple of days & use that

It should be easy to change her name at an Amphoe since you were married here. I am surprised it was not done when you registered your marriage. Prior to 2002 a woman had to change their name to her husbands family name.

There are several offices where she can get her passport including one in Pattaya. List in Thai is here: http://www.consular.go.th/main/th/organize/21037-หน่วยบริการหนังสือเดินทาง.html

You will have to have a Bangkok address on the TM7 application form to apply for the extension at Chaeng Wattana immigration.

[Tanoshi]

7 hours ago, directstep said:

Is it not the same place?

No.

 

7 hours ago, directstep said:

Can't use British married name passport & Thai maiden name passport UK > Thailand > UK ?

Apologies, I missed that fact in your earlier posts.

[jcates29]

My wife is Thai, left Thailand 50 years ago and obtained U.S. citizenship.  The only document she had was her very dated Thai ID card in her maiden name.  When we decided to come live here permanently (Thailand), she went to her Amphoe and got a new ID card and then applied for and received a Thai passport.  Both the ID card and passport are in her maiden name.  She has purchased property and obtained a Thai drivers license, all in her Thai name.

 

Now when we travel internationally, I book the ticket in her U.S. passport name (because her airline miles are in that name).  She leaves Thailand on her Thai passport, enters and leaves the U.S. on her U.S. passport, and enters Thailand on her Thai passport.  If there is any question (such as regarding the fact her Thai passport and her boarding pass have two different names), we immediately show her U.S. passport, and all is understood. 

 

My point is, there does not seem to be an overwhelming reason that the OP would need to pursue getting his wife's Thai names changed to her UK married name.  My wife does have to think, at times, and try to remember what name she is using at a particular moment.  When I'm preparing medical claim forms, she has to sign them in her U.S. name, and has to mentally prepare to sign that name instead of her Thai name.  Her US persona, to include everything you can think of, is in her U.S. name.  Her Thai persona, to include everything you can think of, is in her Thai name.  But it has not been a showstopper in any way . 

Edited March 5, 2018 by jcates29

[directstep]

11 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It should be easy to change her name at an Amphoe since you were married here. I am surprised it was not done when you registered your marriage. Prior to 2002 a woman had to change their name to her husbands family name.

Strange..... we were married in 1988 in Bangkok and wife got her passport the same day in her maiden/Thai name. 

 

[directstep]

1 hour ago, jcates29 said:

My wife is Thai, left Thailand 50 years ago and obtained U.S. citizenship.  The only document she had was her very dated Thai ID card in her maiden name.  When we decided to come live here permanently (Thailand), she went to her Amphoe and got a new ID card and then applied for and received a Thai passport.  Both the ID card and passport are in her maiden name.  She has purchased property and obtained a Thai drivers license, all in her Thai name.

 

Now when we travel internationally, I book the ticket in her U.S. passport name (because her airline miles are in that name).  She leaves Thailand on her Thai passport, enters and leaves the U.S. on her U.S. passport, and enters Thailand on her Thai passport.  If there is any question (such as regarding the fact her Thai passport and her boarding pass have two different names), we immediately show her U.S. passport, and all is understood. 

 

My point is, there does not seem to be an overwhelming reason that the OP would need to pursue getting his wife's Thai names changed to her UK married name.  My wife does have to think, at times, and try to remember what name she is using at a particular moment.  When I'm preparing medical claim forms, she has to sign them in her U.S. name, and has to mentally prepare to sign that name instead of her Thai name.  Her US persona, to include everything you can think of, is in her U.S. name.  Her Thai persona, to include everything you can think of, is in her Thai name.  But it has not been a showstopper in any way . 

Thanks, that's interesting to know. I always (perhaps wrongly) that both UK & Thai passports had to be in the same name. 

 

So from what you say, my wife can leave/enter the UK on her British passport (Married name) and enter/leave Thailand on her Thai passport (Maiden name) 

without any problem?  This would certainly make life a lot easier.

[Tanoshi]

29 minutes ago, directstep said:

Strange..... we were married in 1988 in Bangkok and wife got her passport the same day in her maiden/Thai name. 

 

Your marriage certificate shows her (Thai) family name.

It's very probable you got married at the nearest Amphur registry office, rather than the Amphur where she is registered.

 

After marriage, if she had taken the MC to her Amphur where she is registered as living, she could have changed her ID card and Tabien Baan to reflect Ms to Mrs, and taken you family name. 

They will only issue a Passport in the name registered on her ID card.

 

Appears she skipped part two of the process.

 

[Tanoshi]

Deleted

Edited March 5, 2018 by Tanoshi

[Tanoshi]

2 hours ago, jcates29 said:

Now when we travel internationally, I book the ticket in her U.S. passport name (because her airline miles are in that name).  She leaves Thailand on her Thai passport, enters and leaves the U.S. on her U.S. passport, and enters Thailand on her Thai passport.  If there is any question (such as regarding the fact her Thai passport and her boarding pass have two different names), we immediately show her U.S. passport, and all is understood. 

She would have to show her US passport at check in, in order to get a boarding pass.

Similarly, she would have to show her Thai passport at check in, in the US to get a boarding pass.