Is staying in thailand on marriage visa safe?

[oskar55]

I've been reading this forum and people say that staying on the tourist visa isnt safe and that you can be denied entry after a while. What about other visas, specifically a working visa and also the O-visa based on marriage? I'm american nationality if it matters

Edited November 7, 2019 by oskar55

[steve187]

No working visa , only a long term visa that allows a work permit to be issued once you have a job, a non immigrant 'O' visa for being married to a Thai national allows for a work permit to be issued, as does an extension of stay for one year for being married to a Thai national (financials required for this extension).

 

so staying here long term is one thing, working here is a completely different thing

[oskar55]

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

No working visa , only a long term visa that allows a work permit to be issued once you have a job, a non immigrant 'O' visa for being married to a Thai national allows for a work permit to be issued, as does an extension of stay for one year for being married to a Thai national (financials required for this extension).

 

so staying here long term is one thing, working here is a completely different thing

Oh yeah, if I have a B-visa and working as a teacher I never have to border run, right? As for the o-visa based on marriage, would I ever have any trouble on my border runs getting back into thailand? I don't have the 400k baht so I wouldn't be getting the year extension, I'd be border running every 5 months as I'd be  using the 90 days + 60 day extension.

[baansgr]

47 minutes ago, oskar55 said:

Oh yeah, if I have a B-visa and working as a teacher I never have to border run, right? As for the o-visa based on marriage, would I ever have any trouble on my border runs getting back into thailand? I don't have the 400k baht so I wouldn't be getting the year extension, I'd be border running every 5 months as I'd be  using the 90 days + 60 day extension.

Every 90 days, a 60 day extension is only good once. WP can be issued on a Non O...or marriage/dependent extension

[BritTim]

53 minutes ago, oskar55 said:

Oh yeah, if I have a B-visa and working as a teacher I never have to border run, right? As for the o-visa based on marriage, would I ever have any trouble on my border runs getting back into thailand? I don't have the 400k baht so I wouldn't be getting the year extension, I'd be border running every 5 months as I'd be  using the 90 days + 60 day extension.

Historically, with very rare exceptions, Non O visas have been honoured. However, there are rumblings from certain quarters that make it possible that a multiple entry Non O visa will only be honoured for periodic visits to see your wife, not for living in the country which might in the future only be possible with an extension of stay granted by Immigration.

 

Bottom line: you would be OK under the current rules (official and unofficial) Immigration is applying, but this is subject to change.

[steve187]

15 hours ago, baansgr said:

Every 90 days, a 60 day extension is only good once. WP can be issued on a Non O...or marriage/dependent extension

a 60 day extension can be applied for on every fresh entry, so a border run every 5 months or so, can get 17 months ish from each multi entry non imm 'O'

[steve187]

16 hours ago, oskar55 said:

Oh yeah, if I have a B-visa and working as a teacher I never have to border run, right? As for the o-visa based on marriage, would I ever have any trouble on my border runs getting back into thailand? I don't have the 400k baht so I wouldn't be getting the year extension, I'd be border running every 5 months as I'd be  using the 90 days + 60 day extension.

once you are working you can use the salary 40,000 baht a month, to apply for a 'married' yearly extension

[ChipButty]

Nothing is safe in Thailand

[PST]

17 hours ago, BritTim said:

Historically, with very rare exceptions, Non O visas have been honoured. However, there are rumblings from certain quarters that make it possible that a multiple entry Non O visa will only be honoured for periodic visits to see your wife, not for living in the country which might in the future only be possible with an extension of stay granted by Immigration.

 

Bottom line: you would be OK under the current rules (official and unofficial) Immigration is applying, but this is subject to change.

First ive head of this,,,anyone else heard similar?,,,,,which 'certain quarters' are the rumblings coming from exactly?

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, PST said:

First ive head of this,,,anyone else heard similar?,,,,,which 'certain quarters' are the rumblings coming from exactly?

Just unfounded speculation IMO.

 

[steve187]

18 hours ago, BritTim said:

Historically, with very rare exceptions, Non O visas have been honoured. However, there are rumblings from certain quarters that make it possible that a multiple entry Non O visa will only be honoured for periodic visits to see your wife, not for living in the country which might in the future only be possible with an extension of stay granted by Immigration.

 

Bottom line: you would be OK under the current rules (official and unofficial) Immigration is applying, but this is subject to change.

another post with lots of maybe's, let stick to current rules and practices, not what might happen, because no-one know what might be, but for now multi entry non imm 'O' married are allowed and have been for some time.

[malt25]

"Is staying in thailand on marriage visa safe?"  Me thinks it would depend entirely on the sanity of implied wife !

[Lacrimas]

I think no country is really safe to live in today. At least Thailand has less taxes than let's say the U.S. and Europe so you have a bigger margin of safety when it comes to money problems. 

 

Are visas subject to change? Yes indeed but I have taken a look at the history of spouse visa extensions and they got better. In the past there was no money requirement but you had to work to demonstrate you are financially independent. After that 200.000 baht were required and now 400.000 (adjustment to inflation I guess) so no more work proof is required. 

My hope is that in 10 or 20 years time PR will be possible for married non working foreigners as well. I'm not expecting citizenship but I hope for PR.

[Russell17au]

The best is you get a 90 day Non-Imm "O" visa and that gets you your Thai bank account opened and you immediately place 400,000 baht into it and as soon as that has seasoned for the 2 months then you apply for your 1 year extension based on your marriage to a Thai national and then you are required to do a 90 day report at the local Immigration Office. You do not have to do border runs. But if you decide to get a 1 year Multi Entry Marriage Visa then you are required to leave the country every 90 days. The 90 day Non-imm "O" visa is the best because you do not need to leave the country and at present that cost is 1900 baht compared to the Multi Entry visa which you must leave the country every 90 days and that cost you 5000 baht for the visa fee plus the visa fee for the country that you are going to do the border run to (Laos 1600 baht for the tourist visa plus the travel expenses).

 

[UKresonant]

No not safe!

It's maybe safer relatively?

As a new example, looking at what has happened to the O-A people, that have had their conditions changed / defaulted on at entry, only a short time after completing their Visa at an MFA outpost. The precedent that would suggest stability, has diminished month by month in recent times..

[kralledr]

6 hours ago, steve187 said:

once you are working you can use the salary 40,000 baht a month, to apply for a 'married' yearly extension

does the amount not depend on nationality?

[maprao]

Unfortunately nothing is safe. Having watched what has happened over the last 20 years I will follow the financial requirements and apply a factor of 3 (×3).

Hopefully this will satisfy any change in rules that they may have along the way.

[ubonjoe]

33 minutes ago, kralledr said:

does the amount not depend on nationality?

No

The 40k baht income is what is required to apply for an extension of stay based upon marriage.

Only a extension of stay based upon working for a company has a minimum salary requirement dependent upon nationality.

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, malt25 said:

"Is staying in thailand on marriage visa safe?"  Me thinks it would depend entirely on the sanity of implied wife !

Or close relatives.

Re the rumours.

Starts in the bar. Do you think they'll change the rules on xxxxx?

Yes, I think they will, anythings possible.

Really, that would cause problems for some.

Yeah, give it another 6 months and for sure they will. I've heard it a couple of times from different people.

So, could be true then, Oh hi Bill, Jim just told me that it looks like some changes coming up on visas, probably no more multi 0's in 6 months time and the money might go up as well.

Maybe that's why those two guys moved to Vietnam last week, bet they knew and got out without telling anyone.

Yadda yadda yadda.

[steve187]

45 minutes ago, kralledr said:

does the amount not depend on nationality?

no set in stone, for a yearly married to Thai wife extension.

[Tayaout]

I was denied entry on tourist visa at DMK. I did 3 entries since then on non-o multi based on marriage. I did not try any problematic entry point yet. I expect they will eventually force me into extension but they don't seem to care right now. 

[sawadee1947]

As long as your marriage is safe.... ????

[kralledr]

11 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

As long as your marriage is safe.... ????

that was a good one ????

[FritsSikkink]

7 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Nothing is safe in Thailand

BS

[rickudon]

When i first came to Thailand 10 years ago you could stay on practically any visa, just get a new one. Conditions to get visas were minimal. Since then, there have been changes at least every 2 years - no more double and triple entry tourist visas, rules on use of visas exempts (both official and unofficial) and now the multi-entry tourist visa seems to be not a reliable visa either.

 

I used to use the multi-entry non-immigrant 'O', first couple of times just needed to sign declaration that i had adequate funds, then a financial requirement, then a more stricter interpretation of the funds needed. Now in the last year we have seen an end to embassy income letters for some of us, a more difficult to meet interpretation of the monthly income method, and insurance required for OA visas.

 

This all heading in one direction, and it doesn't look good for western foreigners who want to live in Thailand. Hopefully, those on marriage extensions should be the safest and least effected by these changes, but, 2 years ago i didn't plan to leave Thailand, now, I am thinking that day might come.

[ivor bigun]

On 11/8/2019 at 1:27 PM, sawadee1947 said:

As long as your marriage is safe.... ????

The wife owns the house ,the car ,our furniture ,she even bought my last 3 shirts and two pairs of trousers ,so i suppose she owns those as well ,got joint bank accounts(in the UK)  been married 19 yrs ,together in Thailand and the UK before that for about 2 years ,mind you she is 23 years younger than me , so am i safe , i think ime in with a chance . ????

[Lacrimas]

2 hours ago, rickudon said:

When i first came to Thailand 10 years ago you could stay on practically any visa, just get a new one. Conditions to get visas were minimal. Since then, there have been changes at least every 2 years - no more double and triple entry tourist visas, rules on use of visas exempts (both official and unofficial) and now the multi-entry tourist visa seems to be not a reliable visa either.

 

I used to use the multi-entry non-immigrant 'O', first couple of times just needed to sign declaration that i had adequate funds, then a financial requirement, then a more stricter interpretation of the funds needed. Now in the last year we have seen an end to embassy income letters for some of us, a more difficult to meet interpretation of the monthly income method, and insurance required for OA visas.

 

This all heading in one direction, and it doesn't look good for western foreigners who want to live in Thailand. Hopefully, those on marriage extensions should be the safest and least effected by these changes, but, 2 years ago i didn't plan to leave Thailand, now, I am thinking that day might come.

Requirements for Spouse visa were the same as today 10 years ago. All the other kind of visas have been abused so it is no surprise that they have started tightening the rules.

[fishtank]

On 11/8/2019 at 12:29 PM, kralledr said:

does the amount not depend on nationality?

Nope.

[rickudon]

4 hours ago, Lacrimas said:

Requirements for Spouse visa were the same as today 10 years ago. All the other kind of visas have been abused so it is no surprise that they have started tightening the rules.

In Theory. I used to use the embassy letter, last one used in December last year. Yes it is still 40,000 a month, but you have to transfer 40,000 EVERY month even if not in Thailand, no mandatory transfer required before. It is also net income, not gross income like before. I still qualified, but the margin of safety is reduced ... Brexit also a possible threat ..... I have now swapped to the 400,000 in the bank method.

  

Also now need a new Kor ror 2 every year. Just another small notch on the immigration rack. 

 

 

 

 

[William Osborne]

The problem now is actually getting a multi~o marriage....europe are only giving single entries since last year or so.

 

This will obviously put more strain on the Asian consultes/embassies so who knows when they will start issuing single entries.

 

Im seriously leaning to the 20 year elite as i dont want immigration snooping around my house treating me like a criminal for a marriage extension and if opt for retirement (in 5 years), i dont want to buy a scammy, more or less, useless insurance policey....along with a policy that i can actually rely on for decent cover

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by William Osborne