With all the complaints about the  IO problems with a marriage visa extension wouldn't it  be simpler to get a multi entry Non-O marriage visa from Savannakhet?  that way you can go for a weekend holiday every 90 days and not have to put up with the IO arrogance..

 

One question about the non-O multi entry marriage  visa....can you get a work permit with it?  I may consider going that route.

24 minutes ago, candoman89 said:

One question about the non-O multi entry marriage  visa....can you get a work permit with it? 

Yes you can since you are married to a Thai.

Thank you Ubonjoe...again...as always

On 2/4/2019 at 7:16 PM, GinBoy2 said:

After that, when they are in the US, same rights, freedoms, no restrictions, no requirements as for any other American.

Yes, that is the good part !   However she would have to live there alone as I can't stand the place. 

 

one other thing is the cost of living FOR ME is about one tenth of what the same lifestyle would be in the states.     So I choose the slight hassles here over the political correctness and taxes and cost of medical care over there.   JMC  ( just my choice, others might decide differently)

If ones wife dies it means of course no wife so ones marriage visa is void same as getting divorced. Then what? One must change visa type and probably one must have enough funds available to go from 400,000 in bank to 800,000 in bank. Do you have enough to do that?

Part of getting married in Thailand is submitting affidavits (from your embassy) stating you are not married and free to marry etc. Also a little difficult if wife is presenting passport, ID etc using married name.

Not all change their names due to marriage.


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8 minutes ago, cnxgary said:

If ones wife dies it means of course no wife so ones marriage visa is void same as getting divorced. Then what? One must change visa type and probably one must have enough funds available to go from 400,000 in bank to 800,000 in bank. Do you have enough to do that?

Your extension does not end if you your wife dies. You can stay until your extension ends.

 

 

I have almost completed the process for getting my marriage visa. Four more days and I am done. 

 

It is a lot more paperwork etc than a retirement visa. A lot. I have had to visit immigrations several times. Several times I have had to go to the banks and get updated statements. Several times immigration officers have visited my house and one required 1000B for gas money. Then I have had to wait a month while the paperwork was sent to Bangkok and approved...after several more request for more information. Plenty of fees being paid. 

 

It is much more effort than the retirement visa. I am sure you know what I am talking about here. 

 

For me it was worth it but I do worry because I have been told I will have to go thru this every year. Crap! 

 

We all know that coming soon is the requirement for health insurance. The requirements for staying here slowly continue to become a bigger burden. Clearly the government sees expats as an unending source of revenue. So far they are correct. Thai banks and insurance company must be happy and the politicians xxxx must be happy. Expats just continue to pay more. 

 

However, I know some who have already chose to leave. An expat has to wonder where the breaking point is, the final straw, when they ask too much from too many. The day will come. Killing the golden goose is what governments do best. I just hope it comes slowly many years from now as I enjoy living here and have a wife I sincerely care for.

Thought this might help. check out num 14.

also needed one witness and copies of their ID and housebook. and 2 copies of all docs.

1 hour ago, brianthainess said:

Thought this might help. check out num 14.

also needed one witness and copies of their ID and housebook. and 2 copies of all docs.

I went to Khampaeng Phet Immigration last Thursday with my wife to ask them exactly what I need and they gave me a copy of this document (pdf version). Unfortunately my wife and the IO nattered away in Thai and didn't really ask me any questions. My wife (sort of) translated it this morning and I scrawled my notes in English on another copy.

 

Can anybody translate this into English for me?

 

My renewal date is 23rd August.

List of douments I need in Thai v01.pdf

15 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Thought this might help. check out num 14.

 also needed one witness and copies of their ID and housebook. and 2 copies of all docs.

 

What Immigration office handed you that particular set of requirements?

 

On 2/5/2019 at 2:42 AM, Mister T said:

My last 5 renewals on marriage visa in two different provinces required photos on the bed, us pointing at our clothes in the wardrobe and sitting at the dinner table with food in front of us. The photo at the front of the house had to show us + house number + roof and ground level in the same shot.

Good Lord!  After 40+ years of marriage, we have separate rooms.  I snore (and so does she), I fart and toss and turn all night. How would that work? We'd never get any sleep. And not sure if we could get a photo showing all that due to a high wall, plants and a fair sized lot. 

On 2/8/2019 at 10:31 AM, ubonjoe said:

Yes you can since you are married to a Thai.

This is the route I plan on going down. 

On 5/19/2019 at 4:34 AM, cnxgary said:

If ones wife dies it means of course no wife so ones marriage visa is void same as getting divorced. Then what? One must change visa type and probably one must have enough funds available to go from 400,000 in bank to 800,000 in bank. Do you have enough to do that?

What a from thought, can honestly say I've never thought of it from that angle (i.e. permission to stay in TH).

 

God forbid my wife would die first (as she's younger than me).

 

Slightly off topic now... But if my wife did die, I would maybe marry her sister as a marriage of convenience. This part we have discussed and my wife fully supports it LOL as she thinks it's best for our boys. I would like to add that this would purely be a marriage of convenience LOL as there are zero feelings on either side.

 

Just a thought for you CNXGary. In answering your Q one solution would be to get married again! ????

 

 

23 minutes ago, stament said:

What a from thought, can honestly say I've never thought of it from that angle (i.e. permission to stay in TH).

You should go back and read the replies to the post you quoted that was done in May.

The extension does not end if your wife dies. It will remain valid until it expires. Only a divorce ends it on the date it is final.

9 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

What Immigration office handed you that particular set of requirements?

 

I went to Khampaeng Phet Immigration last Thursday with my wife to ask them exactly what I need and they gave me a copy of this document (pdf version).

7 hours ago, Damrongsak said:

Good Lord!  After 40+ years of marriage, we have separate rooms.  I snore (and so does she), I fart and toss and turn all night. How would that work? We'd never get any sleep. And not sure if we could get a photo showing all that due to a high wall, plants and a fair sized lot. 

After 19 years of (my 2nd marriage) we have separate rooms too. I am 75 with a bad back and shot out kneecaps, my wife is 54 and in much better condition than I am.

 

Both of us are bed hogs, the TV set watches her when she is sleeping and I read for a while before going to sleep. We go to bed and get up at different times, we eat at different times.

 

I do my own breakfast and lunch and my wifes cooks for me in the evening. She has a little food stall out the front along with a couple of neighbours and she is down there from around 7:30 am to perhaps 7 pm 7 days a week cooking.

 

Normally she is crabby first thing in the morning until she has a cup of coffee, a cigarette and a dump, so I generally leave her alone until after that, and then she is fine for the rest of the day.

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

I went to Khampaeng Phet Immigration last Thursday with my wife to ask them exactly what I need and they gave me a copy of this document (pdf version).

 

thanks!  I saw where your document came from. But the one that didn't have any location source was the photos posted by @brianthainess.

On 2/8/2019 at 1:06 PM, candoman89 said:

With all the complaints about the  IO problems with a marriage visa extension wouldn't it  be simpler to get a multi entry Non-O marriage visa from Savannakhet?

 

My first 1-year extension ends in December, and I'm thinking of changing it from retirement to marriage. Can anyone summarize the advantages / disadvantages of a "multi-entry Non-O marriage visa" compared to a marriage extension? And how is the process of getting "multi-entry Non-O marriage visa"?

 

I married a Thai woman two years ago (legal Thai marriage), and last year after retiring and moving here, my first effort at getting a marriage extension was a torturous Kafkaesque nightmare for me at the time (was still adapting with a bit of physical and cultural shock, and we had unlucky draw of a young lady IO who seemed clinically obsessive-compulsive; for example, she spent more than 15 minutes arranging things on her desk and cleaning the floor under her desk before meeting applicants). That experience, plus the looming insurance requirement changes for O-A and possibly also visa extensions, have me fishing for a retirement Plan B to start edging toward the front burner. For example, the World Health Organization rates Columbia's health care system 22nd most efficient in the world, compared to Thailand 47th rank (United States 37th). ["Measuring overall health system performance for 191 countries."]. Additionally, Columbia makes it easy to qualify for a 3-year retirement (provide evidence of only $750 per month social security, or similar other private pension, etc.). And the "...premium for public health insurance is only $75 per month, and co-pay for lab tests, prescription medications, and other services is only $4" [https://internationalliving.com/the-best-places-to-retire/].

 

I like it here much more than living in the United States, and don't know if my wife could tolerate being away from her Thai relatives and her comfortable house, but I am more seriously looking at alternatives now.

Edited July 16, 20196 yr by SometimezaGreatNotion
small edit

29 minutes ago, SometimezaGreatNotion said:

My first 1-year extension ends in December, and I'm thinking of changing it from retirement to marriage. Can anyone summarize the advantages / disadvantages of a "multi-entry Non-O marriage visa" compared to a marriage extension? And how is the process of getting "multi-entry Non-O marriage visa"?

You might want to try and apply for the one year extension based upon marriage. You would need 400k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months on the date your apply or proof 40k baht income.

You could apply for a multiple entry non-o visa that allows unlimited 90 day entries for a year from the date of issue. You would have to leave the country every 90 days to get new 90 entry. No financial proof is needed if you apply for it at the consulates in Savannakhet Laos or Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. You apply the morning of one day and [pickup the next afternoon.

You would need your original marriage certificate and a copy of it, copies of your wife's house book registry and ID card signed by her. In Ho Chi Minh City you would as need a short letter from you wife requesting they issue the visa to you.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You might want to try and apply for the one year extension based upon marriage.

 

Yes I will try again for the marriage extension. The Chang Mai office seems less chaotic now that it has moved back from the various offices it had at Promenada Mall to the government building near the airport. 

 

Thanks for the information about getting a 1-year multiple entry marriage visa initiated from Savannakhet or Ho Chi Minh City. It is good to know there is a nearby backup in case some parameter goes awry in applying for the marriage extension here in Chiang Mai. My wife keeps telling me no problem, everything will be easy. But it wasn't the first time, and she should know better since she is a retired government officer!

12 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You should go back and read the replies to the post you quoted that was done in May.

The extension does not end if your wife dies. It will remain valid until it expires. Only a divorce ends it on the date it is final.

I did read it before. I wasn't questioning it just thought it was an odd Q talking about a wife dying hence my post????

 

 

I was married this year but I am remaining on my retirement extension. The marriage extension takes 30 days holding your passport and making a home visit. I prefer to keep 800,000 in the bank and can complete my year extension in a few hours same day. 

10 hours ago, Martyp said:

The marriage extension takes 30 days holding your passport and making a home visit.

They do not keep your passport during the under consideration period. They do a under consideration stamp in your passport with a report back date 30 days from the date you apply or from your current permit to stay date at some offices. 

Not all offices do a home visit.  

Some suggest doing the Non-O Multi Entry Entry Visa based on Marriage, For how long can you do this type of Visa? Thanks.

28 minutes ago, taximan1954 said:

Some suggest doing the Non-O Multi Entry Entry Visa based on Marriage, For how long can you do this type of Visa? Thanks.

There is no limit on the number of multiple entry non-o visas you can get as long as you can keep getting them from an embassy or consulate. There are people that have been getting them for many years.

Am I correct that because I'm renewing my spouse extension, then I must have the 400,000 in a thai bank for 3 months and not 2 months? Also, do I need to update my bank book and request a letter from the bank on the day I go to renew my extension?

 

The past couple of years I used the income letter from the British embassy, now I'm going to have to bite the bullet!

 

Can I also use those funds once my extension of stay has been granted?

 

Many thanks.

Edited July 17, 20196 yr by PGThompson1
Additional info

Money in the bank for 2 months.

Bank letter on the day or day before.

Depends on where you apply.

 

Yes you can use the money.

Edited July 17, 20196 yr by fishtank

1 hour ago, fishtank said:

Money in the bank for 2 months.

Bank letter on the day or day before.

Depends on where you apply.

 

Yes you can use the money.

Thank you, I'm sure I've read somewhere on this forum, but unable to find it, that Chiang Mai immigration insist on 3 months before applying for a renewal but only 2 months applying for the first time. Do you have a link to the official immigration criteria? Thanks again.

25 minutes ago, PGThompson1 said:

Thank you, I'm sure I've read somewhere on this forum, but unable to find it, that Chiang Mai immigration insist on 3 months before applying for a renewal but only 2 months applying for the first time. Do you have a link to the official immigration criteria? Thanks again.

For an extension based upon marriage or retirement it is now 2 months for every extension.

For one based upon marriage there has never been a 2 and then 3 months rule. Chiang Mai immigration only wants it to be in the bank for 2 months.

For marriage the requirements are here. https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_18