Wasted Trip To Laos

[richiejom]

Paid an agent 7900 visa run to Laos for a non immigrant 'o' based on marriage...furious at the moment...queued up and the agent/drivers came aroudn with the photos of our docs and I thought everything should be fine (already gone through the nightmare of getting the kor ror 22) ... pretty sure the agent put a photo copy of that in there for them.   Copy of our UK marriage certificate with all the stamps and translations

 

Went back to the minibus to go to hotel and get down the road and driver gets phone call, they want the original marriage certificate which the Amphur in Bangkok insisted on keeping. However I gave the driver the colour photocopies of the marriage certificate with translation plus stamp from Amphur on... no go.  Wondering whether they wanted the original Kor Ror 22 the Amphur gave us which looks like a photocopy but has a blue stamp from the embassy so it must be the original

 

Completely clueless embassy staff and visa agents and amphur staff...  told mini bus driver in the hotel the Kor Ror 22 is the original but he said its too late to take the Kor Ror 22 back to the embassy and he doesn't know what a Kor Ror 22 is I suspect.  Stuck with another tourist visa again

[bumofdabeach]

Paid an agent 7900 visa run to Laos for a non immigrant 'o' based on marriage...furious at the moment...queued up and the agent/drivers came aroudn with the photos of our docs and I thought everything should be fine (already gone through the nightmare of getting the kor ror 22) ... pretty sure the agent put a photo copy of that in there for them.   Copy of our UK marriage certificate with all the stamps and translations
 
Went back to the minibus to go to hotel and get down the road and driver gets phone call, they want the original marriage certificate which the Amphur in Bangkok insisted on keeping. However I gave the driver the colour photocopies of the marriage certificate with translation plus stamp from Amphur on... no go.  Wondering whether they wanted the original Kor Ror 22 the Amphur gave us which looks like a photocopy but has a blue stamp from the embassy so it must be the original
 
Completely clueless embassy staff and visa agents and amphur staff...  told mini bus driver in the hotel the Kor Ror 22 is the original but he said its too late to take the Kor Ror 22 back to the embassy and he doesn't know what a Kor Ror 22 is I suspect.  Stuck with another tourist visa again

Go get married at local district office. Get the colored bordered Thai certificate. I had no issues in savanaket. Wife's book and copy of her ID. If you are going to savanaket there is a guy across the street from embassy who photocopies everything and puts in correct folder. There is a list of everything you need somewhere in this section or get hold of ubonjoe he has all the info

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[steve187]

6 minutes ago, bumofdabeach said:

Go get married at local district office. Get the colored bordered Thai certificate. I had no issues in savanaket. Wife's book and copy of her ID. If you are going to savanaket there is a guy across the street from embassy who photocopies everything and puts in correct folder. There is a list of everything you need somewhere in this section or get hold of ubonjoe he has all the info

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you can only get married once.

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by steve187

[steve187]

18 minutes ago, richiejom said:

they want the original marriage certificate which the Amphur in Bangkok insisted on keeping

the origanal marriage cert has always been required, why would anyone part with the only copy of their marraige certificate

[bumofdabeach]

We're already married in the UK and registered visa Kor Ror 22 in Bangkok but the Embassy in Laos/Our agent and every official don't seem to know what they are doing
 
We gave the agent our Kor Ror which they photocopied....we have the original.
 
The amphur in Bangkok insisted on keeping our original UK married certificate with all the MOFA stamps... I'm furious the more I think about this

Get married again it's easy inexpensive and will end this problem. As for an agent I don't know we went by ourselves with appropriate paperwork and flew thru the process

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[bumofdabeach]

Get married again it's easy inexpensive and will end this problem. As for an agent I don't know we went by ourselves with appropriate paperwork and flew thru the process

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I don't know what a kor ror is so I can't help you on that

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[steve187]

1 minute ago, bumofdabeach said:

Get married again it's easy inexpensive and will end this problem. As for an agent I don't know we went by ourselves with appropriate paperwork and flew thru the process

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you can not get married again without getting a divorce first

[bumofdabeach]

you can not get married again without getting a divorce first

As long as it's the same woman you can I'm pretty sure. But then I'm a yank and could very well be wrong. I know if see go to the states we can get remarried there should we decide to stay there

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[steve187]

3 minutes ago, richiejom said:

I put up a big fight about this but the amphur insisted they needed it to register us married here... so what else could I do... we're going to have to go back to the amphur now to ask for it back

 

We have the Kor Ror 22

 

I was pulling my hair out on the day we did it at the amphur because MOFA were fussing around and the translator managed to cck my age up and it still got stamped by MOFA

if they will not return it, then obtain a copy from the UK - https://www.ukrecordoffice.co.uk/marriage_certificates/m_replacement-marriage-certificate.asp

 

maybe you can obtain a 60 day extension if you need more time

[bumofdabeach]

Find ubonjoe in this section he will have the answer for you. He has always been spot on.

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[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, richiejom said:

I'm actually sure if the embassy had asked for the Kor Ror 22 I have on me that would have sufficed but I think the official obviously wasn't clued up on certificates from abroad or something... driver was in a rush so I didn't think to give him the Kor Ror as well...who knows but I don't everything I humanly can do besides spoon feeding them

They want to see the original marriage certificate. Or a copy of it certified by an Amphoe with a Kor Ror 22 attached to it.

The Amphoe should of only kept a copy for your marriage certificate. Strange they wanted to keep the original.

[crazygreg44]

try another road . . . . maybe you can meet the requirements (age 50 or older & the financial) and get a Non-Imm-O in Savanakhet for being retired,  saves you all the hassles of paperwork that is connected to the Marriage extension 

Edited November 5, 2018 by crazygreg44

[JaiLai]

try another road . . . . maybe you can meet the requirements (age 50 or older & the financial) and get a Non-Imm-O in Savanakhet for being retired,  saves you all the hassles of paperwork that is connected to the Marriage extension 

A non O based on marriage at savanaket is about the easiest route imo.


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[OJAS]

2 hours ago, bumofdabeach said:

Go get married at local district office. Get the colored bordered Thai certificate. I had no issues in savanaket. Wife's book and copy of her ID. If you are going to savanaket there is a guy across the street from embassy who photocopies everything and puts in correct folder. There is a list of everything you need somewhere in this section or get hold of ubonjoe he has all the info

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Not possible. He would first need to obtain an "affirmation of freedom to marry" document from the Embassy, which would not be forthcoming in his case because he is not free to marry on account of being married already!

[ratcatcher]

Just to help clarify Kor ror 2 & 3. from a previous thread.

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, richiejom said:

I'm actually sure if the embassy had asked for the Kor Ror 22 I have on me that would have sufficed but I think the official obviously wasn't clued up on certificates from abroad or something... driver was in a rush so I didn't think to give him the Kor Ror as well...who knows but I don't everything I humanly can do besides spoon feeding them

Best not to use agents for visas in Laos.  I don't know why anyone does - it doesn't help.  If it is you at the window, you can go get something - or at least know what is going on.

 

I'd go back to the amphoe and get a copy of the certificate with their stamp on it.  Then, with that your Original KR22  +  a copy, you should be set.

[MARK74]

4 hours ago, richiejom said:

They stamped a colour photocopy ...and stamped a Kor Ror 22 ..but i don't think any certified copies are good....you always need the original

 

I felt at the time them keeping the original was dumb...I kept saying you can't keep the original but in the end I gave up

 

Now we're going to have to go trapsing back to Laksi

Try to just put it down to error/misunderstanding which can't be changed now so try not to stress about it too much. Easier said than done, i know. Just go and get your original back.

As someone mentioned before do not use an agent next time as it is so straight forward to do yourself.

It's a bummer as you don't even need the kor ror 22 until you do the extension so could have done that later.

You only needed the original marriage certificate and signed copy.

I am not 100% but i think the photocopy with the amphoe stamp and the Kor Ror 22 should have been fine but as everyone uses the original the consulate may not even know this themselves if indeed this is accepted also.

Edited November 5, 2018 by MARK74

[catman20]

Paid an agent 7900 visa run to Laos for a non immigrant 'o' based on marriage...furious at the moment...queued up and the agent/drivers came aroudn with the photos of our docs and I thought everything should be fine (already gone through the nightmare of getting the kor ror 22) ... pretty sure the agent put a photo copy of that in there for them.   Copy of our UK marriage certificate with all the stamps and translations

 

Went back to the minibus to go to hotel and get down the road and driver gets phone call, they want the original marriage certificate which the Amphur in Bangkok insisted on keeping. However I gave the driver the colour photocopies of the marriage certificate with translation plus stamp from Amphur on... no go.  Wondering whether they wanted the original Kor Ror 22 the Amphur gave us which looks like a photocopy but has a blue stamp from the embassy so it must be the original

 

Completely clueless embassy staff and visa agents and amphur staff...  told mini bus driver in the hotel the Kor Ror 22 is the original but he said its too late to take the Kor Ror 22 back to the embassy and he doesn't know what a Kor Ror 22 is I suspect.  Stuck with another tourist visa again

 

TIT ????

Edited November 5, 2018 by catman20

[ubonjoe]

6 hours ago, richiejom said:

They stamped a colour photocopy ...and stamped a Kor Ror 22 ..but i don't think any certified copies are good....you always need the original

I am aware of cases where people lost their original Thai marriage certificate but fortunately they had a copy of it. They went to an Amphoe and got it stamped by them after they attached Kor Ror 2 to it. It was accepted by embassies, consulates and immigration.

I might be a little different with a foreign marriage certificate but the embassy of should of accepted the one you had with a Kor Ror 2.

If you cannot get the original back from the Amphoe you may have to request a copy from the registrar's office in the UK. See: https://www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate

[zhangxifu]

Sorry to hear about OP's bad experience.

 

To clarify the required docs for Non-O multiple at Savannakhet, please correct me if right or wrong.

 

They will want to see the original MC (KorRor 3) and a copy of it with my signature.

Same for KorRor 2 and should it be a recent update? This part worries me of not to waste a trip there for nothing. And obviously my wife's ID and TB copies with her signature.

 

I read in another threat that HCMC will make same? Are the requirements any different? 

 

Thanks!

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, zhangxifu said:

Same for KorRor 2 and should it be a recent update?

Savannakhet does not ask for a Kor Ror 2. The will only want to see your original marriage certificate and copy attached to your application.

The only difference in HCMC is that they want a short letter from your wife requesting they issue you a visa.

[gunghang]

Marrying in Thailand to a woman you married in the UK might be fun, but can you marry in Thailand if you're already married?  Would it matter if you were marrying the same woman?  Getting an annulment in the UK and then marrying in Thailand might be a little convoluted but it would keep the bureaucrats happy.

 

Of course, by the time you did this, you might have saved the 400K needed to extend a garden variety non-im O single entry.

 

Worst case scenario: instead of paying 5,000 and making four border bounces, you pay 2,000 and make four visa runs at 2,000 plus a hotel.  That's annoying but not infuriating.

[AlQaholic]

I'm a bit confused, I haven't done extensions based on marriage or retirement, but I will probably need to in the not so far future. What I don't understand is, why do you need to go get a visa in Laos in the first place? I thought it was just a matter of going to your local immigration office and asking for a 1 year extension of stay based on marriage, regardless of what visa you are holding? Or do you have to have non-O to be able to extend? I mean my wife, when she was here on her foreign passport (she is Thai), got consecutive 1 year extensions on her tourist visa for several years.

[bumofdabeach]

Marrying in Thailand to a woman you married in the UK might be fun, but can you marry in Thailand if you're already married?  Would it matter if you were marrying the same woman?  Getting an annulment in the UK and then marrying in Thailand might be a little convoluted but it would keep the bureaucrats happy.
 
Of course, by the time you did this, you might have saved the 400K needed to extend a garden variety non-im O single entry.
 
Worst case scenario: instead of paying 5,000 and making four border bounces, you pay 2,000 and make four visa runs at 2,000 plus a hotel.  That's annoying but not infuriating.

Only problem with this is you are only allowed 3 borders runs per calender year

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[gunghang]

28 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Savannakhet does not ask for a Kor Ror 2. The will only want to see your original marriage certificate and copy attached to your application.

The only difference in HCMC is that they want a short letter from your wife requesting they issue you a visa.

That is valuable intel. Air Asia fare to Saigon is comparable to the fare to Mukdahan, and would require one or two nights in a hotel instead of three.

 

What about the letter?  Does she write it in Thai and notarize it in Bangkok, write it in English in Saigon, etc.?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

I'm a bit confused, I haven't done extensions based on marriage or retirement, but I will probably need to in the not so far future. What I don't understand is, why do you need to go get a visa in Laos in the first place? I thought it was just a matter of going to your local immigration office and asking for a 1 year extension of stay based on marriage, regardless of what visa you are holding? Or do you have to have non-O to be able to extend? I mean my wife, when she was here on her foreign passport (she is Thai), got consecutive 1 year extensions on her tourist visa for several years.

A non immigrant visa entry is required for many categories of extensions of stay. Working, marriage, retirement are some examples that need one.

An extension based upon being a Thai national is one that does not require any visa to apply for it. They can be done for a visa exempt entry.

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, gunghang said:

What about the letter?  Does she write it in Thai and notarize it in Bangkok, write it in English in Saigon, etc.?

It can be in Thai and does not need to be notarized. Just her signature on it is enough.

[gunghang]

2 hours ago, catman20 said:

Completely clueless embassy staff

Straying off topic, but my ultimate horror story isn't from Thailand; it's from Egypt.

 

I applied for an E2 visa at the Korean embassy in Cairo. I woman met me at the gate and was rather rude. I gave her the paperwork from the school which she was supposed to send to Seoul for approval prior to issuing a visa allowing employment.

 

Ajuma Kimchi snarled and took my passport and application and tried to process a tourist visa.  Seoul rejected this. The school thought I'd gone to the North Korean embassy.  They had to use the diplomatic pouch, but they resolved the problem with the South Korean embassy.

 

I got my visa.  Dum-Dum acknowledged that I had been right, rather sheepishly.

 

I've had a few hiccups. A Thai immigration officer had to ask if I could extend an O visa with a work permit. Another had never seen a boarding pass printed at home.  But Thai staff have usually been okay in my (lucky?) experience.

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I might be a little different with a foreign marriage certificate but the embassy of should of accepted the one you had with a Kor Ror 2.

Kor Ror 22 in the case of a foreign marriage registered in Thailand.

 

If the OP had presented a certified copy of his UK marriage certificate from the Amphoe and an original Kor Ror 22, then this should have been sufficient for the Embassy.

 

Amphoe's do want to keep the original legalised UK marriage certificates.

[JackThompson]

36 minutes ago, bumofdabeach said:

Only problem with this is you are only allowed 3 borders runs per calender year

Two max on visa-exempt - but no limit if you have a visa (any type) for entry.

I think the "2000 plus a hotel" in that post, refers to the 2000 Baht for a single-entry Non-O Visa, vs the 5000 Baht for the 1-Year ME variety.