Extension of stay renewal...Retirement or Marriage

[Rambo]

For 15 years since 2004, Immigration have  confirmed my applications for extension based upon retirement. My current extension expires on 18th July 2019 and given the recent changes  I am now considering the options for future applications. I plan to seek renewal based upon the monthly income option and will submit an application based either on retirement (65k baht minimum monthly income) or for being married to a Thai (average 40k baht minimum monthly income). I have always used the retirement extension route previously  albeit I have been married since 2007 and have all the appropriate marriage documentation including an updated April 2019 Khor Ror 2. An application based upon marriage would be a new step for me albeit it may become necessary should GBP exchange rate suffer significant devaluation. Should I decide to switch and submit for extension based on marriage are there any timing issues or possible complications with IO to be aware of ? I usually submit my application for extension in late June, some 2-3 weeks before expiry of current extension and would plan to do so again this year irrespective of retirement/marriage option. Hopefully this would be sufficient to resolve any issues that may crop up. Any comments/suggestions would be welcome.

[Bluetongue]

Your questions are relevant to me so I will follow along. The 65k a month route I would find annoying as in a long time here I have only transferred money when convenient for me or when I absolutely needed it. In any case I haven't been doing it so that option is out. Leaving 800k then 400k for half a year each is also annoying. The marriage 400 is attractive to me because that does mostly fit in with my money transferring habits up til now. But the down side is the extra hoopla to go with it. 

 

I've started to contemplate taking the hit on the 800k this year, justifying it as whatever is left in that account be it 400 or 800 or somewhere in between will be the wifes money to tide her over if something happens to me. I imagine the proceeds of my estate wouldn't be available for well over 6 months.

[pagallim]

My own circumstances are similar to the OP, with having gone the Retirement route each year, though married since 2009.   This coming Friday will be my first extension attempt using the Marriage option.    Gathering the relevant documentation really hasn't been a chore, a couple of photos of M'Sahib and I both inside and outside the house, copies of her ID card, house book, marriage certificate etc and a visit to the Amphur for a up to date Koror 2, and that's about it.

 

With the option of the income letter now removed (UK), and although I've always maintained the 800,000 for the three months prior to the extension renewal, the new requirement of minimum balances throughout the year I object to being forced to do.   If legitimately married, the Retirement option just doesn't make sense any more.

[khastan]

My take on this for what it is worth. For seven years I used the marriage extension. Last year I changed from marriage 400.000 to retirement 800.000 both with income letters. The main reason I did this is because I did not want to rely on another person for my permission to stay in Thailand. This was mainly prompted after reading a post about one unfortunate person that had been given 7 days to leave Thailand after his wife had suddenly passed away. Given the new requirements I am not sure I did the right thing or not now.

Edited April 23, 2019 by khastan

[ubonjoe]

14 minutes ago, khastan said:

This was mainly prompted after reading a post about one unfortunate person that had been given 7 days to leave Thailand after his wife had suddenly passed away.

Not sure where you read that but it was not correct under the current rules. A extension of stay based upon marriage to a Thai will remain valid until it expires in the case of the wife passing away. Only in the case of divorce does it end on the date the divorce is finalized.

[lwn320]

I am in a similar mind to all the above posts.

In the past I have only transferred money to my Thai account when needed and have used the letter of income from my embassy (Australia) as this is no longer available, I will have to use the 800 or 400 K options, as I don’t like the idea of monthly deposits into my Thai bank account.

I will follow closely, I still have a couple of weeks to decide.

I am married, so either option is available.




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[The Old Drunken Man]

I think the system is flawed, I just posted on another thread, if for any reason you don’t meet the income rules because of how you receive your income. Then one possibility would be to get a 3 month O visa from Laos. Then you restart a new retirement-marrige extension after the O visa is nearly finished, you don't need to show 12 months income at 65K or 40K to qualify, only two or three months (if I have read it right) and they will not check your income again until renewal. So the way I see it just start the transfer of cash for the time frame needed.

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