Options if renwal of extension based on marriage is refused

[geoffbezoz]

I have scoured the Thai visa forum but can not find anything that specifically addresses my question, apologies if I have missed it though.

 

Prompted by another thread, the issue is the current changes to the requirements for an extension based on marriage.  Previous annual renewals have been base on the embassy letter. Given that the UK embassy letter is no longer available as a proof of income (400,000 baht per year ) what would happen in the scenario that either the exchange rate as calculated by the IO gives a monthly income marginally lower than the required 40,000 baht per month ( 480,000 baht per year)  or else even it was above the 40000 requirement, yet only a few transfers into Thailand showed it as an international transfer, and as a consequence of either of these two scenarios the IO refused to approve a further 1 year extension of stay.

 

What are the options open without having to return to your home country for gaining a further approval of stay for 1 year if you are married to a Thai ?  I thought I read some where that you could get a visa from Savannakhet without proof of income. Is that correct and/or could it also be obtained in Vietiane ? if so how long would that last for, 1 year, and what are the conditions attached should you receive it ? If this was possible to get for a further year, could you get it for subsequent years (assuming of course the current rules remain unchanged) ?

[lopburi3]

If using income the requirement is 40k deposit into Thai bank account every month.  If using bank deposit it is 400k in account.

 

You could obtain 60 day extension at end of current stay to visit wife without financials.

 

You can obtain multi entry non immigrant O visa from Savannakhet or HCMC city without financials.  This is valid for one year of travel but stay is limited to 90 days each entry (if you do not use the above 60 day extension).

[geoffbezoz]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

If using income the requirement is 40k deposit into Thai bank account every month.  If using bank deposit it is 400k in account.

 

You could obtain 60 day extension at end of current stay to visit wife without financials.

 

You can obtain multi entry non immigrant O visa from Savannakhet or HCMC city without financials.  This is valid for one year of travel but stay is limited to 90 days each entry (if you do not use the above 60 day extension).

Is it possible to also get from Vientiane ? So every 90 days you have to do the border run correct ?

[lopburi3]

No.

Yes but you could extend 60 days to make it 150 before exit/entry required.

[Denim]

12 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

I thought I read some where that you could get a visa from Savannakhet without proof of income. Is that correct ? if so how long would that last for, 1 year, and what are the conditions attached should you receive it ?

 

You heard correctly. If when your current visa or extension expires and it cannot be renewed for reasons that you have states then you have two options.

 

Go to Suvannakhet and apply for a multiple entry Non immigrant visa based on marriage. ( cost 5000 baht without need to prove financial status ).This will give you a maximum of 17 months stay in Thailand although you will have to physically leave Thailand every 90 days and do a border hop. This means leaving the country and immediately crossing back into Thailand to start your next 90 days.

 

You can also do this at the embassy in Ho Chi Minh city but obviously it will cost more as it is further away.

 

These are the only two places now left offering this type of visa and things may change in the future.

 

 

 

[geoffbezoz]

2 minutes ago, Denim said:

 

You heard correctly. If when your current visa or extension expires and it cannot be renewed for reasons that you have states then you have two options.

 

Go to Suvannakhet and apply for a multiple entry Non immigrant visa based on marriage. ( cost 5000 baht without need to prove financial status ).This will give you a maximum of 17 months stay in Thailand although you will have to physically leave Thailand every 90 days and do a border hop. This means leaving the country and immediatlly crossing back into Thailand to start your next 90 days.

 

You can also do this at the embassy in Ho Chi Minh city but obviously it will cost more as it is further away.

Many thanks. And I guess doing a border hop every 3 months negates having to report to the local IO every 90 days

[Denim]

Just now, geoffbezoz said:

Many thanks. And I guess doing a border hop every 3 months negates having to report to the local IO every 90 days

 

Yes, because you are seen at immigration on re entry.

Actually, you can stay away a day or two before re entering and make a holiday of it. My wife always comes with me and we make a pleasant mini break out of it. Note that some borders are better for crossing than other and it might be that the border post nearest you might not necessarily be the best option.

[ubonjoe]

If you applied and your application and it was not accepted you might have time to sort things out or apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife and then apply again.

The exchange rate would not be a factor since the transfers would be in baht. You do not need to prove the foreign currency amount  that was transfered.

If they did not show the transfers came from abroad due the method used to do the transfers it should be possible to get a credit advise for the transfer to prove it originated from abroad.

After the application was accepted the chances of  it not being approved by the division headquarters  are very small and in most cases they will contact you to try resolve the problem before it was disapproved.

If you could not get the foreign transfers issue resolved you could go out for a single entry non-o visa from a nearby embassy or consulate and apply again for the extension. Since it would be a new 90 day entry from a non-o visa the rules state you only need 1 or 2 transfers to apply for the extension.

 

[elcaro]

How long do you still have left? It might be worth just going down to HCMC while it is still easy going. Get 15 months of peace and then see where you stand.

 

HCMC is nice, take the wife with you and have a lovely little holiday. I cant wait to go back.

[geoffbezoz]

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

If you applied and your application and it was not accepted you might have time to sort things out or apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife and then apply again.

The exchange rate would not be a factor since the transfers would be in baht. You do not need to prove the foreign currency amount  that was transfered.

If they did not show the transfers came from abroad due the method used to do the transfers it should be possible to get a credit advise for the transfer to prove it originated from abroad.

After the application was accepted the chances of  it not being approved by the division headquarters  are very small and in most cases they will contact you to try resolve the problem before it was disapproved.

If you could not get the foreign transfers issue resolved you could go out for a single entry non-o visa from a nearby embassy or consulate and apply again for the extension. Since it would be a new 90 day entry from a non-o visa the rules state you only need 1 or 2 transfers to apply for the extension.

 

Many thanks

[JaiLai]

41 minutes ago, Denim said:

 

You heard correctly. If when your current visa or extension expires and it cannot be renewed for reasons that you have states then you have two options.

 

Go to Suvannakhet and apply for a multiple entry Non immigrant visa based on marriage. ( cost 5000 baht without need to prove financial status ).This will give you a maximum of 17 months stay in Thailand although you will have to physically leave Thailand every 90 days and do a border hop. This means leaving the country and immediately crossing back into Thailand to start your next 90 days.

 

You can also do this at the embassy in Ho Chi Minh city but obviously it will cost more as it is further away.

 

These are the only two places now left offering this type of visa and things may change in the future.

 

 

 

I thought you could get 1 year non 'O' ME at Hannoi?

[Denim]

1 minute ago, JaiLai said:

I thought you could get 1 year non 'O' ME at Hannoi?

I heard that too but it has not been mentioned recently so not sure.

[elviajero]

52 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

I thought I read some where that you could get a visa from Savannakhet without proof of income. Is that correct and/or could it also be obtained in Vietiane ?

Yes, but I've seen a couple of reports recently claiming Savannakhet wanted to see a bank statement. I would take a bank statement of bank book showing at least 20K to show IF it's asked for.

 

You can only get a Single Entry visa from Vientiane.

 

52 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

if so how long would that last for, 1 year, and what are the conditions attached should you receive it ?

A Multiple Entry Visa lasts for 1 year from the date it's issued. You get permission to stay for 90 days every time to enter. At the end of any 90 day stay you must leave, or extend your stay. You can extend any 90 day stay by 60 days or 1 year.

 

Most land borders allow you to exit and immediately return for a new 90 day stay.

 

52 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

If this was possible to get for a further year, could you get it for subsequent years (assuming of course the current rules remain unchanged) ?

You can make a 1 year ME Non O last up to 17 months. If you make your final entry using the visa just before it expires you'll get 90 days; and you can extend that 90 days by 60 days. At the end of the 90 or 150 days you can apply for a 1 year extension from immigration, or go out for a new ME Non O assuming they are still available.

[Isaanbiker]

52 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

Many thanks. And I guess doing a border hop every 3 months negates having to report to the local IO every 90 days

But please always carry at least 20,000 baht with.

 

There were strange situations in the past and you should find out before any visa run how they treat people like us. 

 

   Declining an extension can easily be done by just typing " foreigner had not enough money to support himself", or similar rubbish.

 

  It's always better to be one step ahead. 

 

  

[Isaanbiker]

27 minutes ago, Denim said:

I heard that too but it has not been mentioned recently so not sure.

There were too many problems at almost all embassies and consulates in neighboring countries in the last few months. 

 

Plus some people  who had to sit in detention cells for nothing. 

 

<removed>

[geoffbezoz]

10 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Yes, but I've seen a couple of reports recently claiming Savannakhet wanted to see a bank statement. I would take a bank statement of bank book showing at least 20K to show IF it's asked for.

 

You can only get a Single Entry visa from Vientiane.

 

A Multiple Entry Visa lasts for 1 year from the date it's issued. You get permission to stay for 90 days every time to enter. At the end of any 90 day stay you must leave, or extend your stay. You can extend any 90 day stay by 60 days or 1 year.

 

Most land borders allow you to exit and immediately return for a new 90 day stay.

 

You can make a 1 year ME Non O last up to 17 months. If you make your final entry using the visa just before it expires you'll get 90 days; and you can extend that 90 days by 60 days. At the end of the 90 or 150 days you can apply for a 1 year extension from immigration, or go out for a new ME Non O assuming they are still available.

Thanks for the feedback but it raises a question as Vientiane is closest for me by far. Can you therefore get a 1 year Single entry visa from Vientiane without proof of financials ? That being the case then prior to the first 90 day exit and return could I get a multi entry permit from my local immigration office ?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

Thanks for the feedback but it raises a question as Vientiane is closest for me by far. Can you therefore get a 1 year Single entry visa from Vientiane without proof of financials ? That being the case then prior to the first 90 day exit and return could I get a multi entry permit from my local immigration office ?

You can get a single entry non-o visa in Vientiane with no financial proof that will only allow one 90 day entry.

A re-entry permit would only be valid until your 90 day entry from the visa ended.

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, geoffbezoz said:

Many thanks. And I guess doing a border hop every 3 months negates having to report to the local IO every 90 days

And possibly even submitting a fresh TM30 following each 90-day border run (depending on your local office's particular requirements in that regard) - unless, of course, you were minded to bolt on a 60-day extension to a particular border run (as suggested by @lopburi3 above) or needed to have other dealings with your office during the lifetime of your multi-entry non-O visa (e.g. obtain a residency certificate).

[geoffbezoz]

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can get a single entry non-o visa in Vientiane with no financial proof that will only allow one 90 day entry.

A re-entry permit would only be valid until your 90 day entry from the visa ended.

Thanks for the clarity

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, geoffbezoz said:

Thanks for the feedback but it raises a question as Vientiane is closest for me by far. Can you therefore get a 1 year Single entry visa from Vientiane without proof of financials ? That being the case then prior to the first 90 day exit and return could I get a multi entry permit from my local immigration office ?

No. SE visas only last 3 months from the date of issue and you only get one 90 day entry within those 3 months.

 

You could stay up to 150 days with a 60 day extension. At the end of that 5 months you could go out for another visa.

[geoffbezoz]

Just now, elviajero said:

No. SE visas only last 3 months from the date of issue and you only get one 90 day entry within those 3 months.

 

You could stay up to 150 days with a 60 day extension. At the end of that 5 months you could go out for another visa.

thanks for that update