Which are the easiest immigration offices that will accept the French Embassy affidavit of a 25 years old French married to a Thai Woman and requesting the 11 months extension

[alexlm]

Hello

 

You should know this first:

I'm 25.

I'm French.

I will be on a visa exemption stamp when I arrive back to Thailand during 2019 ("arrive back" because I was there from April 2014 to February 2018 nonstop except for border and visa runs) and now going back in 2019).

 

For now, I'm choosing where I will live. And the immigration offices all having different rules, it has to help me decide.

 

Which are the easiest immigration offices that will accept the French Embassy income affidavit?

 

I need the one-year extension based on being married to a Thai Woman.

 

I tried in Pattaya/Jomtien in 2017. They turned me down (I was with the Wife) They said I'm too young (24 at the time) and I can't have a 63kTHB monthly income. Now that I think about it I should have asked her how much she makes in her job, that is, turning my request down because I bothered her while she was drinking her hot Thai coffee I suppose? (I was the only person at the immigration in the private marriage extension room with the choice-maker God Woman...).

 

I do NOT have 400k in the Thai bank for 2 months.

 

I could transfer 12,000 EUR from my France bank to my Thailand bank account but won't I lose a lot of change by doing that "double transfer"? (go and back). I don't need 400kTHB. Forget about keeping it in the bank without touching/using it... I see I can send with TransferWise whom are great. They take less than a 80€EUR fee for one way. I have no idea for the opposite way. Directly from Thai bank who will take what kind of fee as well? I guess more than with TransferWise?

 

So where will they accept my affidavit?

 

Thank you

 

PS: in 2017, after trying in Pattaya, I tried in Sri Racha (I had the chance to live in Chonburi which has 2 different immigration offices). They did accept it without any issue but this time I went there with my rich condo owner talking and managing it.

[Huayrat]

Strange that jomtien would not accept you because they think you don't earn  63k per month.. That is nothing for a salary in Europe.. 

 

[alexlm]

35 minutes ago, Huayrat said:

Strange that jomtien would not accept you because they think you don't earn  63k per month.. That is nothing for a salary in Europe.. 

 

It was the decision of only one Woman.

I showed her the paper from the welcome counter with the requirement list where you could "400k or 40k per month"

But she took out of her desk a different version of the list with the 40k income letter not listed as a possibility anymore

[BritTim]

First, it will be better if you enter Thailand with a single entry Non O visa rather than entering visa exempt. If you enter visa exempt, it becomes more complicated. You cannot just get a one-year extension of stay based on your Thai spouse. First, a "conversion" must be done to augment your 30-day tourist entry with a 90-day non immigrant visa issued in Thailand. At many immigration offices, this is not easily done unless you use an agent to submit the application with significant extra expense.

 

In my opinion, one of the best immigration offices to use is the one in Bangkok. As long as you follow the rules, they will do everything by the book.

[Vacuum]

6 hours ago, alexlm said:

I see I can send with TransferWise whom are great. They take less than a 80€EUR fee for one way. I have no idea for the opposite way.

Bangkok Bank charge 400baht for transfer out of Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

Your best option is to get a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage to a Thai at the embassy in paris.

You will need a copy of your marriage certificate, copies of your wife's house book registry and ID card. And proof of 500 euro in a bank.

Info here on the embassy website. http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/visa-rdv/les-types-de-visa-et-les-documents-necessaires/visa-non-immigrant-o/

You might also be able to get the visa at one of the honorary consulates in Lyon or Marseilles. Contact info can found here. http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/propos-de-lambassade/localisation-et-contact/

 

[alexlm]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Your best option is to get a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage to a Thai at the embassy in paris.

You will need a copy of your marriage certificate, copies of your wife's house book registry and ID card. And proof of 500 euro in a bank.

Info here on the embassy website. http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/visa-rdv/les-types-de-visa-et-les-documents-necessaires/visa-non-immigrant-o/

You might also be able to get the visa at one of the honorary consulates in Lyon or Marseilles. Contact info can found here. http://www.thaiembassy.fr/fr/propos-de-lambassade/localisation-et-contact/

 

Did you mean 5,000 EUR?

Because that's what is advertised in your good link.

[JackThompson]

9 hours ago, alexlm said:

I tried in Pattaya/Jomtien in 2017. They turned me down (I was with the Wife) They said I'm too young (24 at the time) and I can't have a 63kTHB monthly income.

 

8 hours ago, alexlm said:

It was the decision of only one Woman.

I showed her the paper from the welcome counter with the requirement list where you could "400k or 40k per month"

But she took out of her desk a different version of the list with the 40k income letter not listed as a possibility anymore 

I had the Exact Same Experience - a lady handed me fake document list from her printer with no income option on it.  This was at the "Non-O Stamp"/ "change type" desk - not the "family" desk.  I was in my 40s - any excuse will do, and only agent-submitted apps for 10x the price work smoothly, it seems.

 

I also caught hell at the family-desk, because I rented my condo.  I would not recommend Jomtien for anyone wanting an extension based on marriage who does not own a condo there and/or is willing to pay them off via an agent to do it. 

 

BritTim is correct about Bangkok - they do things "by the book" - but for a "change to-Non-O" step (not needed if you enter with a Non-O Visa), you would need to prove the money came from abroad - for which transferwise might not work.

 

Agree with the posters above - better if you can get a Non-O Visa first, and enter with that.  If you cannot, this can also be done by getting this Visa in a Thai consulate in a nearby country.  There is no financial requirement at several, and this includes the 1-Year Multiple-Entry variant (at some).  The 1-year requires border-runs, though, as you only get 90-days stay per-entry with it.
 

Be aware, that for the 1-year extension-step, an IO may ask for backing-documents to in addition to your embassy income-affidavit.  Your age could come into play on that.  If you have something from your home-country money-source, this should be OK as backup.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, alexlm said:

Did you mean 5,000 EUR?

Because that's what is advertised in your good link.

It appears I left out a zero in my post.

But really 500 is closer to correct to meet the normal requirements of 20k baht financial proof for a visa application.

[OJAS]

10 hours ago, alexlm said:

I have no idea for the opposite way.

You won't be able to use TransferWise to transfer THB back into EUR.

[KhunFred]

The woman mentioned at Jomtien is rather famous for being a bitch and not wanting to work. She verbally abuses farangs and is reportedly well connected. That explains why she gets away with not doing her job. I have been yelled at by her in a most "un-Thai" fashion, for trying to convert my tourist visa to a Non-Immigrant O.  I ended up having to go to Laos (Vientiane) to get my "Non-O".  Nepotism makes for very difficult employee situations in Thailand.

[The traveler]

22 hours ago, Huayrat said:

Strange that jomtien would not accept you because they think you don't earn  63k per month.. That is nothing for a salary in Europe.. 

 

63k is nothing for a salary in Europe, first thing first, Europe is a continent, and the salaries in Europe are different all over the continent, the Swiss Or the Scandinavians earns far more then countries like Spain,Portugal Italy where wages are 1/3 or 1/4, and then you have the Eastern European countries where the wages are like 1/8... only those from wealthy countries in Europe meets the requirements...

 

So yes, it’s wrong to saying Europe...

[brianthainess]

On 11/26/2018 at 7:24 AM, Vacuum said:

Bangkok Bank charge 400baht for transfer out of Thailand.

 1. Make sure to send your money  in EU not Thai baht and 2. on message to Thai bank write "Do Not Exchange Funds" 1. you will get a better ex rate "  2. and it wont go to a Thai holding bank which has happened to me in  the past and got a crap rate