marriage

[normanski]

I have been legally married to a Thai lady for 12 years.when I first applied my retirement visa I was told I must have 800000 bht in the bank

I have since been advise if married then 400000 only is needed

is this the case

normski

[Lungstib]

Yes, but be prepared for all the extra paperwork needed. I'm just going the other way because of it and my wife's dislike at being challenged every time we visit. 

[stupidfarang]

Yes that is correct

[ubonjoe]

26 minutes ago, normanski said:

I have since been advise if married then 400000 only is needed

is this the case

You can apply for an extension of stay based upon marriage instead of retirement. The financial requirements are 400k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months or proof of 40k baht income.

You are certainly going to have a lot of people tell you it is difficult to apply for the extension based upon marriage but a lot of it will be hearsay and/or 2nd hand information. I am on my 11th extension based upon marriage and have found it not to be all that difficult.

[WorriedNoodle]

Agree with UbobJoe, I did marriage extensions for several years, no issues. Only hassle is you need to drag wife (and sometime kids if they are under your care at the time during the day) so its a nuisance for them. Then you are kind of tied up waiting for the approval some 4 weeks later, maybe impossible if you need to travel overseas at that time when approval is due? I switched to retirement because of these hassles, but the reduced money in bank could appeal to some if they can get by the rest. The paper work is easy.

[JackThompson]

40 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

Yes, but be prepared for all the extra paperwork needed. I'm just going the other way because of it and my wife's dislike at being challenged every time we visit. 

How difficult it is varies a lot by office.  Some offices seem to be happy to help, while others will insult your wife and/or make up non-written requirements to block you or force you to an agent for 10x the official cost.  My wife begged me not to put here through that again (Jomtien).

 

@normanski

An alternative is to go to the Thai consulate in Savannakhet Laos, where you can obtain a Multi-Entry Non-O Visa based on marriage.  You don't need financials there, which may apply to your situation.  The downside is that you only get 90-days permitted-stay upon entry, so must either do border-bounces every 90-days, or apply for a 60-day extension to the 90 at your local imm-office (no financials for this), and then do a border-bounce.  If you do a border-bounce just before the "enter before" date of the visa (1 year from issuance), you still get 90-days upon entry, which can then be extended by 60 days more - meaning you can get almost 17 months use out of this visa.

 

If you are within the jurisdiction of an honest and reasonable office for marriage-based extensions, this is the less-expensive / less-hassle option.  Even then, be prepared for a home-visit, bringing a witnesses every year, and generally more paperwork.  If that fails you can always fall back to a Non-O ME-Visa to keep your family together until finances improve sufficiently to allow a retirement-based extension.

Edited September 15, 2018 by JackThompson

[Lungstib]

24 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

Agree with UbobJoe, I did marriage extensions for several years, no issues. Only hassle is you need to drag wife (and sometime kids if they are under your care at the time during the day) so its a nuisance for them. Then you are kind of tied up waiting for the approval some 4 weeks later, maybe impossible if you need to travel overseas at that time when approval is due?

That "only hassle' was part of the problem, I was in the travel business, the other was that every year they added another requirement that we didn't have with us and home was 200kms away. Plus I should have mentioned its Chiang Mai, probably the most difficult immigration in the country. You have to experience it to believe it some days.  And thats no disrespect to the other posters, just a personal opinion.

Edited September 15, 2018 by Lungstib

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

That "only hassle' was part of the problem, I was in the travel business, the other was that every year they added another requirement that we didn't have with us and home was 200kms away.

People are always saying they were asked for something new every year. Can you describe what some of those were?

I really think there is point where there could not be anything more that can be asked for. I often suspect that people forget something that was added for the previous years.

 

[Lungstib]

12 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

People are always saying they were asked for something new every year. Can you describe what some of those were?

I really think there is point where there could not be anything more that can be asked for. I often suspect that people forget something that was added for the previous years.

 

Yes. Out of the blue one year they wanted my sons birth certificate. next year we took that along and they asked for his I.D. card. Year after that they added his tabian baan. Somewhere in amongst that they sent my wife off to some office in C Mai where we had to get some form that they said was the new up-to-date computer record that put her I.D, house paper and marriage cert all together on record. But we did of course still have to provide copies of all 3 as well. Plus one year my letter from the bank had yesterdays date and sadly so did my updated bank book because we needed to be early at the office. I was sent to the nearest (1kms away) Bkk bank ATM to get it updated and then get a copy. Oh, and the year that a photos of us together now had to be inside and outside of the house. 

Joe, I am not making this up. My first year at this was 1992. I probably hold the record, and can show you the proof, that I once applied for the 1 year stay, went back to the C Mai office every 4 weeks for 15 times and was then told to leave the country because my application was too old, come back apply again.

[baansgr]

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

Yes. Out of the blue one year they wanted my sons birth certificate. next year we took that along and they asked for his I.D. card. Year after that they added his tabian baan. Somewhere in amongst that they sent my wife off to some office in C Mai where we had to get some form that they said was the new up-to-date computer record that put her I.D, house paper and marriage cert all together on record. But we did of course still have to provide copies of all 3 as well. Plus one year my letter from the bank had yesterdays date and sadly so did my updated bank book because we needed to be early at the office. I was sent to the nearest (1kms away) Bkk bank ATM to get it updated and then get a copy. Oh, and the year that a photos of us together now had to be inside and outside of the house. 

Joe, I am not making this up. My first year at this was 1992. I probably hold the record, and can show you the proof, that I once applied for the 1 year stay, went back to the C Mai office every 4 weeks for 15 times and was then told to leave the country because my application was too old, come back apply again.

I used to take everything in triplicate just in case they asked for extra, Chanotes,, old passport and work permits, the lot. HH. always seemed OK except one year where pictures were the main thing, different shirt one year next had to be same shirt. Not wanting to work anymore and having to base it on dependants rather than marriage I changed to retirement like a flash

[Maestro]

Normanski, by now you will probably have realised that it would be helpful if received information from people who do their marriage extensions at the same immigration office where you plan to do yours. Would you care to post what immigration office this is?

 

[ripstanley]

4 minutes ago, Maestro said:

Normanski, by now you will probably have realised that it would be helpful if received information from people who do their marriage extensions at the same immigration office where you plan to do yours. Would you care to post what immigration office this is?

 

In post #7 he says it is Chiang Mai.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, ripstanley said:

In post #7 he says it is Chiang Mai.

It was not the OP that did that post. It was Lungstib.

[overherebc]

7 hours ago, Lungstib said:

Yes, but be prepared for all the extra paperwork needed. I'm just going the other way because of it and my wife's dislike at being challenged every time we visit. 

Unfortunately that situation does happen but mostly from female IO's.

[villageme]

How long should this take to get the visa in Savannakhet to get the multi entry non-o visa based on marriage?

I know it is only for 90 days with the extensions thereafter... 

I don't have the money sitting in the bank. I have  a new contract for over 40K baht a month. 

I am trying to figure out what to do as my new job is not eager to get me a new non B before the 3 month probation is over 2+ months away. 

Is this a quick turn around visa like the non b was in Vientiane (give application in the morning with money and come back the next day in the afternoon?) or should I expect longer?

thanks

I am continuing to live in Bangkok with my wife and daughter.

[holy cow cm]

5 hours ago, overherebc said:

Unfortunately that situation does happen but mostly from female IO's.

Have to agree the IO ladies can be difficult. But also the most animated who can scare you at will, just to see you squirm. Every year except for last year was a man. He was the fastest ever. Amazing No requests for extra anything and my wife was actually quite calm on that trip. I’m due again, let’s see what happens. 

[JackThompson]

9 hours ago, villageme said:

How long should this take to get the visa in Savannakhet to get the multi entry non-o visa based on marriage?

...

Is this a quick turn around visa like the non b was in Vientiane (give application in the morning with money and come back the next day in the afternoon?) or should I expect longer?

Yes.  Apply in morning of day-1 and receive in the afternoon of day-2.  See this thread for the basics and latest:

 

9 hours ago, villageme said:

I know it is only for 90 days with the extensions thereafter... 

I don't have the money sitting in the bank. I have  a new contract for over 40K baht a month. 

I am trying to figure out what to do as my new job is not eager to get me a new non B before the 3 month probation is over 2+ months away. 

I know you said Non-B (immigration) - not sure what visa/extension you have now - but I hope they are not asking you to work without a work-permit, which is illegal.  Unfortunately, demands of employers that foreigners do this is often reported - especially in teaching.

 

Be prepared for the possible claim that you cannot get a work-permit with a Non-O based on marriage - which is incorrect.  You can get a work-permit with the visa you get from Savannakhet.  Your permit-of-stay will not be connected to your job - so if your job ends, your permit-to-stay is unaffected.

[faraday]

Doing a Visa based on marriage, is not difficult. The paperwork isn't difficult, just a little tedious.

 

Went in last week to do my extension again, & forgot to do a couple of things ie 2 copies, & etc. They were very patient with me & when I had to draw a map to our house (forgot) they complimented me by saying, in a very endearing way, how beautiful it was. They were joking.

 

Looked like 3 year old had drawn it. 555!

[Peterw42]

18 minutes ago, faraday said:

Doing a Visa based on marriage, is not difficult. The paperwork isn't difficult, just a little tedious.

 

Went in last week to do my extension again, & forgot to do a couple of things ie 2 copies, & etc. They were very patient with me & when I had to draw a map to our house (forgot) they complimented me by saying, in a very endearing way, how beautiful it was. They were joking.

 

Looked like 3 year old had drawn it. 555!

Yes, I did mine a week ago and printed out google maps which was rejected. Thing is the google maps was clear, to scale, all the street names in Thai and English, landmarks, Immigration and residence clearly marked and included the directions, turn left turn right etc. 

As you say, I did a hand drawn map that a 3 year old would do and it was accepted.

 

They made a huge deal about the photos being selfies (using a selfie stick), went back and took the identical photos using a tripod and self timer (coudn't see a selfie stick) and photos accepted. Immigration officer came later for home visit and took photos of us and him using a selfie stick, lol.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Peterw42

[faraday]

We did our home shots using the selfie stick - no issues at all.

I would have thought, that using Google maps & then signing it to say it accurate, should be ok. Odd innit?

Did you make a 'donation'? Although I don't see why we should, it does make everything easier.

And it's only 500bt here & there. Not much, considering how wealthy we are. Yea, right. ?

 

Never mind, all done 'til next year.

 

 

[PoorSucker]

15 hours ago, overherebc said:

Unfortunately that situation does happen but mostly from female IO's.

Here on Samui you get shit from the female IO if you don't have children. 

[Peterw42]

26 minutes ago, faraday said:

We did our home shots using the selfie stick - no issues at all.

I would have thought, that using Google maps & then signing it to say it accurate, should be ok. Odd innit?

Did you make a 'donation'? Although I don't see why we should, it does make everything easier.

And it's only 500bt here & there. Not much, considering how wealthy we are. Yea, right. ?

 

Never mind, all done 'til next year.

 

 

At my office they would hand back the donation because It wasnt signed, wrong ink color or you didnt include a copy, lol

Edited September 16, 2018 by Peterw42

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

Here on Samui you get shit from the female IO if you don't have children. 

That was a first question here in Bangkok also - you are automatically suspect (fake marriage) without children.  Only one of the reasons switched to retirement.  

[overherebc]

11 minutes ago, PoorSucker said:

Here on Samui you get shit from the female IO if you don't have children. 

My wife was told similar. The IO suggest she should stop working because the whole idea was for Thai women to marry foreigners so that it would bring more money into Thailand.