Marriage Visa Extension At Koh Samui Immigration.

[robertson468]

Just completed my Marriage Visa Extension at Koh Samui Immigration based on 400,000 baht in the Bank.  I had to do it this way because my Visa was issued in October 2018 and expires on October 2019.  The system of transferring monthly 40K baht from Bank outside Thailand to Thai Bank was not published until 26 December 2018.  I had started putting 40K into my Thai Bank from October, but I was withdrawing it from an ATM Machine and then putting it in my Thai Bank.  Consequently I had credited my Thai Bank in October, November and December without showing a record that it had come from an overseas source. er      However from January to December 2019 I have been doing electronic transfers from UK to Thailand.   I went to Immigration in October and explained that due to their late publication of the rules for transferring money to Thai Bank Account for the purpose of a Marriage Visa Extension, I did not have the full 12 months as required.  Incidentally I had also changed my type of Visa from Retirement on my own cognisance to Marriage Retirement.  Immigration said I would have to complete all the documentation (an enormous of bunf) for a Marriage Extension Visa, that would have to be sent to Immigration HQ for approval, in the meantime, they would issue me a one month Visa to tide me over and I should return to them on today, 20 December 2019 for my new Marriage Retirement Visa.  I am delighted to say that after approximately one hour wait at Immigration I received my Passport back with the appropriate Visa endorsed in it, much to my relief.  I understand the extension in December 2020 should be less onerous and less paperwork, assuming they system does not change!  I found Immigration very professional and business like, but no doubt having my Thai Wife along with me to better translate (and keep me calm) was a great bonus.  I did however see in TV very recently that Immigration Officers are to be more understanding should there be any issues about putting monthly money in a Thai Bank.  I assume that this is a confession (confession indeed!) by Immigration that in their haste to get the new rules out in 2018, they had made a bit of a nonsense of what they had said.  All is well that ends well and would recommend that anyone who has a Visa problem pops along to the Immigration Office for help.

[khunPer]

Moderator ( @PoorSucker ) perhaps move this post into the pinned Samui Immigration thread, or the local Samui forum...????

[robertson468]

19 minutes ago, ScottyL said:

Just one thing. You said your extension expires in October 2019 but you just did it. When did you do it? Because if it expired in October then this month of December would obviously be too late. 

Please re-read the post - I did say that they had granted me an temporary extension to tide me over 

[tweedledee2]

3 minutes ago, ScottyL said:

Did anyone else notice the problem with the OP’s timeline or is it just me? Either I’m really missing something or his timeline is way off. Because if his visa or extension expired in October then he would have been an overstay by now. 

It's too late to win the POTY Award. 

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, robertson468 said:

Please re-read the post - I did say that they had granted me an temporary extension to tide me over 

I think you got a 60 days extension based on marriage in October. It's not a "temporary" extension. When applying for the 1 year extension based on marriage you'll get a 30 days consideration Visa because the local immigration will send your papers elsewhere for approval. 

[Max69xl]

12 minutes ago, ScottyL said:

He said he got it done like yesterday in December but he also said it had expired in October so that’s obviously not accurate. 

If his extension expired late October,then a 60 days extension would fix the time gap. OR, they gave him a 30 days extension + the 30 days consideration Visa. Who knows? ????

[Tchooptip]

2 hours ago, ScottyL said:

“ I had to do it this way because my Visa was issued in October 2018 and expires on October 2019.  The system of transferring monthly 40K baht from Bank outside Thailand to Thai Bank was not published until 26 December 2018.“

I was almost in the same boat but luckily I started transferring money to my Thai Bank Account last year just about a month before they changed the procedures so for this extension I was just perfect on my monthly deposits. I always renew my extension at the end of the year or in January as well and last year when they started doing away with the embassy letters the embassy wasn’t telling us anything about how we would be able to verify our income in the future. But luckily I FINALLY got someone from the embassy to give me a detailed answer and the embassy did finally tell me exactly what the new rules would be around the end of November last year. So luckily I started complying with immigration rules as far as actually having a Thai Bank account last year about a month before the new rules went into effect. Otherwise the same thing might have happened to me but I was lucky. It pays to really push hard for answers sometimes. Luckily I had exactly 14 consistent monthly transfers. 

 No question about health insurance? Even you were a little before it was mandatory the  first November? I am 75 it is very hard too hard to find insurance, I guess the easiest solution would be to marry my "girlfriend" we are together for eight years so she would be only too happy her daughter too, we all get along very well, but right or wrong  I had sworn not to get married anymore. 

[tweedledee2]

Joined the forum less than 24 hrs ago and it appears he's trying to hit 1,000 posts before the new year. 

[khunPer]

14 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

 No question about health insurance? Even you were a little before it was mandatory the  first November? I am 75 it is very hard too hard to find insurance, I guess the easiest solution would be to marry my "girlfriend" we are together for eight years so she would be only too happy her daughter too, we all get along very well, but right or wrong  I had sworn not to get married anymore. 

What is mandatory health insurance for extension of stay based on marriage, or whatever...?

[Max69xl]

15 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

 No question about health insurance? Even you were a little before it was mandatory the  first November? I am 75 it is very hard too hard to find insurance, I guess the easiest solution would be to marry my "girlfriend" we are together for eight years so she would be only too happy her daughter too, we all get along very well, but right or wrong  I had sworn not to get married anymore. 

Only the O-A Visa needs a health insurance. And in your case very expensive. Go marry your gf instead. That's a much smarter move. A lot of paperwork,photos and a visit from immigration, but cheaper and in your case worth it.

[Max69xl]

4 minutes ago, khunPer said:

What is mandatory health insurance for extension of stay based on marriage, or whatever...?

Are you asking or what?

[Max69xl]

Just now, ScottyL said:

Insurance is a separate issue for new retirement visas issued at embassies trust me I know because I just did my last extension earlier this month, that’s not even in the same ball park as marriage visas. 

Only for the O-A Long Stay Visa issued in your home country. 

[khunPer]

33 minutes ago, ScottyL said:

See what I mean? 
 

Here’s what he said:

 

“Just completed my Marriage Visa Extension at Koh Samui Immigration based on 400,000 baht in the Bank.  I had to do it this way because my Visa was issued in October 2018 andexpires on October 2019.“

“Immigration said I would have to complete all the documentation (an enormous of bunf) for a Marriage Extension Visa, that would have to be sent to Immigration HQ for approval, in the meantime, they would issue me a one month Visa to tide me over and I should return to them on today, 20 December 2019 for my new Marriage Retirement Visa.  I am delighted to say that after approximately one hour wait at Immigration I received my Passport back with the appropriate Visa endorsed in it, much to my relief.  I understand the extension in December 2020 should be less onerous and less paperwork, assuming they system does not change!”

 

So he says his last extension or visa expired in October yet he did it yesterday on 20December, no, I don’t think so. Maybe it’s just the way he writes but that obviously does not sound like an accurate timeline because in reality he would have been an overstay by now. I think it might be another fake post but I don’t know what the intention is for this one. Weird very weird. 

Dear ScottyL, welcome as poster in Thaivisa forum. Does it really matter for what reason the OP was granted an extension of his previous stay in the Kingdom by Surat Thani Immration's Samui branch, while checking documents in HQ. Op got legal permission to remain in the nation while changing his method of extension of stay, and he informed us Samui residents that it all went smooth through the HQ approval.

 

We expats on the island appreciate folks the kindly posts about their experience at our local immigration, as it know for being strict with rules, and that kind of postings helps other to prepare the documentation. Here we learned, the the kind officials at Samui Immigration Office makes it possible to change to extension based on marriage with a 400k baht deposit.

By the way, are you staying on Samui or on one of her sisters?

[khunPer]

6 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Are you asking or what?

I'm asking user @Tchooptip...????

[rhodie]

23 minutes ago, tweedledee2 said:

Joined the forum less than 24 hrs ago and it appears he's trying to hit 1,000 posts before the new year. 

On this topic alone. ???? 

[khunPer]

1 minute ago, ScottyL said:

I’ve been here 7 years and his timeline is clearly wrong. 

Thanks for your reply, 7 years on Samui or one of her sisters?

[Tchooptip]

10 minutes ago, khunPer said:

What is mandatory health insurance for extension of stay based on marriage, or whatever...?

Mandatory for extension based on retirement with non OA visa since november the first and covering at least 400.000 bahts, which is my case.

But I was 75 five years old last month so good luck to find an insurance at a decent price, I did not say cheap, I said decent!

[Max69xl]

8 minutes ago, khunPer said:

I'm asking user @Tchooptip...????

Then you asked wrong person because he doesn't have a clue.

[Max69xl]

4 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

Mandatory for extension based on retirement with non OA visa since november the first and covering at least 400.000 bahts, which is my case.

But I was 75 five years old last month so good luck to find an insurance at a decent price, I did not say cheap, I said decent!

There's unfortunately no decent insurance for a good price at your age. 400k in coverage isn't enough if you get real sick. Plus the exclusions. Change Visa if possible. 

If you really want an insurance,check out Pacific Cross Health Insurances. Probably the best option. 

[tweedledee2]

20 minutes ago, rhodie said:

On this topic alone. ???? 

You might be right 26 and counting on this topic.

[khunPer]

21 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

Mandatory for extension based on retirement with non OA visa since november the first and covering at least 400.000 bahts, which is my case.

But I was 75 five years old last month so good luck to find an insurance at a decent price, I did not say cheap, I said decent!

Health insurance is only mandatory for the non-immigrant "O-A" visa and "O-X" (10-year) so-called "retirement visa", originally issued in one's home country.

If you change to a normal non-immigrant "O" and extension of stay based on retirement, there is no demand for a mandatory health insurance, which at high age could be around 25 percent in annual fee of the coverage limit.

[khunPer]

23 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Then you asked wrong person because he doesn't have a clue.

That's why – I know it already – but perhaps he will get a clue after answering...????

[steve187]

1 hour ago, ScottyL said:

Well he did say it expired in October and then he got it done yesterday December 20th. That’s not even possible. He would have been an overstay there’s not really anyway around that. 

ok you seem to be the only one posting and fixated on his visa dates, it makes it hard to follow a thread when the only person posting is you, and you keep repeating yourself, on the first page of the thread you posted 11 times  out of the 15 posts, one of those other 4 posts was the op.

 

 he stated that ''my Visa was issued in October 2018 and expires on October 2019.'' ( i assume he means his yearly retirement extension) he than stated '' I went to Immigration in October ..... Incidentally I had also changed my type of Visa from Retirement on my own cognisance to Marriage Retirement. ....., in the meantime, they would issue me a one month Visa to tide me over and I should return to them on today, 20 December 2019 for my new Marriage Retirement Visa.''

 

the op seems to be calling yearly extensions - a visa, so if he changed yearly extension from retirement to marriage, then immigration will date the new extension from the date you apply, (not the expiry date of the previous extension,) also for married yearly extensions you are given a 30 day under consideration period stamp, so he must of applied for the married yearly extension on the 21st of november  he would have had to return on 20th dec , i would assume his new married yearly extension expires at the end of november 2020( a year from when he applied for it.

 

so somewhere along the line immigration must of given him an extension to run from his original retirement yearly extension expiring until he re-visited at the end of November, ( maybe a visit Thai wife 60 day extension

 

i could be wrong in my assumptions

[Tchooptip]

3 hours ago, Max69xl said:

Only the O-A Visa needs a health insurance. And in your case very expensive. Go marry your gf instead. That's a much smarter move. A lot of paperwork,photos and a visit from immigration, but cheaper and in your case worth it.

Thank you for this answer, ????being French I will go to the consulate in Samui asking for all the papers needed for a marriage in Thailand, my extension next year in at the end of July, maybe we could manage to be married before . Still seven and a half month left. 

I thought 75 years old was not anymore an age to marry again.????

On the other hand  here is a picture of me two weeks ago, so a little after my 75 birthday so I can hope people will not think my girl friend, a little over fifty, is marrying her father lol

She worked for a small newspaper whose name I will not mention, we met at a birthday party of a Frenchwoman in 2012, my neighbor at the time, I was in a good mood and joked all evening, she had a lot laughs
...it was only my second week in Thailand and we haven't left each other for eight years 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Tchooptip
edited by itself

[Mbaki]

1 hour ago, Tchooptip said:

Thank you for this answer, ????being French I will go to the consulate in Samui asking for all the papers needed for a marriage in Thailand, my extension next year in at the end of July, maybe we could manage to be married before . Still seven and a half month left. 

I thought 75 years old was not anymore an age to marry again.????

On the other hand  here is a picture of me two weeks ago, so a little after my 75 birthday so I can hope people will not think my girl friend, a little over fifty, is marrying her father lol

She worked for a small newspaper whose name I will not mention, we met at a birthday party of a Frenchwoman in 2012, my neighbor at the time, I was in a good mood and joked all evening, she had a lot laughs
...it was only my second week in Thailand and we haven't left each other for eight years 

Looking good for 75 mate 555 ????

[MH123]

If it would not be one thing it would be another. About the same thing happened to me with the bank deal During the course of one year I had put one million baht in a Thai bank. ($83,000) baht a month. She said no good, $65,000 every month. I had to go out and come back. Start the whole process over. They changed the visa requirements. I asked why 10 years of being here already doesn't count for something. Now the big boss is backpedaling and saying the people at the Immigration Offices should not be enforcing requirements so stringent. 

[PoorSucker]

11 hours ago, MH123 said:

If it would not be one thing it would be another. About the same thing happened to me with the bank deal During the course of one year I had put one million baht in a Thai bank. ($83,000) baht a month. She said no good, $65,000 every month. I had to go out and come back. Start the whole process over. They changed the visa requirements. I asked why 10 years of being here already doesn't count for something. Now the big boss is backpedaling and saying the people at the Immigration Offices should not be enforcing requirements so stringent. 

Did Samui immigration ask you for 65.000 for marriage extension?

[Peter Denis]

On 12/21/2019 at 7:32 AM, Tchooptip said:

 No question about health insurance? Even you were a little before it was mandatory the  first November? I am 75 it is very hard too hard to find insurance, I guess the easiest solution would be to marry my "girlfriend" we are together for eight years so she would be only too happy her daughter too, we all get along very well, but right or wrong  I had sworn not to get married anymore. 

 

On 12/21/2019 at 7:47 AM, khunPer said:

What is mandatory health insurance for extension of stay based on marriage, or whatever...?

 

On 12/21/2019 at 7:51 AM, Max69xl said:

Only the O-A Visa needs a health insurance. And in your case very expensive. Go marry your gf instead. That's a much smarter move. A lot of paperwork,photos and a visit from immigration, but cheaper and in your case worth it.

Health-insurance is ONLY required for extensions of stay based on an original OA Visa for reason of RETIREMENT.

When your OA extension is due, you can simply apply for reason of MARRIAGE.  The requirements are different, and as Max69xl already pointed out, the financial requirements are way lower than doing the extension for reason of retirement.

[Max69xl]

16 hours ago, MH123 said:

If it would not be one thing it would be another. About the same thing happened to me with the bank deal During the course of one year I had put one million baht in a Thai bank. ($83,000) baht a month. She said no good, $65,000 every month. I had to go out and come back. Start the whole process over. They changed the visa requirements. I asked why 10 years of being here already doesn't count for something. Now the big boss is backpedaling and saying the people at the Immigration Offices should not be enforcing requirements so stringent. 

"$83,000) baht a month. She said no good, $65,000 every month. I had to go out and come back."

What do you mean,she said no good? Are we still talking about an extension based on marriage? At least 65k/month is the financial requirement for an extension based on retirement. The financial requirement for an extension based on marriage is at least 40k/month or 400k in the bank. 

[Max69xl]

On 12/21/2019 at 6:27 PM, Mbaki said:

Looking good for 75 mate 555 ????

It's amazing what hair dye can do. ????