Thai Marriage Visa vs Multi-entry Visa Question

[JCP108]

I am married to a Thai citizen. We were married in the U.S. Our marriage is not yet registered in Thailand. I am planning on going to Thailand soon to live long-term. I thought about getting a multi-entry visa then converting in Thailand once I'm there (as I know many people have done in the past). However, I recently heard that Thai Immigration has been not allowing retiring farangs to come in with multi-entry visas then convert to retirement status. Will I have trouble converting to the marriage visa once in Thailand if I enter on a multi-entry visa? Should I apply for the marriage visa while still in the U.S. If I do that, will the Thai Embassy require that I have the 400k baht shown to be deposited in a Thai bank and sitting there for more than two months? I'm going to transfer that money to my Thai bank account in about a week. But, I wasn't planning on waiting two months to travel to Thailand.

[cornishcarlos]

There is no such thing as a marriage visa.

You can get a Non Imm O visa based on either marriage or retirement but not a multi entry anymore, unless you get it from Laos or Vietnam. 

Just apply for a single entry Non Imm O based on marriage and then you can apply for a 12 month extension of stay once you have been in Thailand for 60 days. For that you will need to show the 400k in the bank for 2 months.

[JCP108]

Will I need to show 400k in the bank for two months prior to getting the initial 0 visa or just at the time of extension. I was planning on applying for the visa in the first part of January and traveling to Thailand the first week of February.

[steve187]

so you obtain a single entry non immigrant 'O' visa in your home country for being married to a Thai national,

 

you then entry Thailand and receive a 90 day permission to stay stamp

 

you need the 400,000thb to season for 2 months in Thailand in a bank account in your name only, once that has been seasoned for 2 months, you then apply for the one year extension at local immigration office in Thailand 1,900 baht

 

i have attached ubonjoe's list of requirements for a 'married to Thai' yearly extension

Marriage nExtension Requirements2.pdf

Edited December 25, 2019 by steve187

[JCP108]

Apparently there is a one-year non-immigrant visa to visit your Thai wife, too for only $150 more.

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, JCP108 said:

Will I need to show 400k in the bank for two months prior to getting the initial 0 visa or just at the time of extension. I was planning on applying for the visa in the first part of January and traveling to Thailand the first week of February.

No need to show 400k baht in the bank to apply for a single entry or multiple entry non-o visa at the embassy in Washington DC or the consulates in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. The multiple entry visa requires leaving the country every 90 days for a new entry.

You only need to show $700 in the bank to meet the equivalent of 20k baht requirement for all visa applications. See: https://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-visa-category-o/

You can also apply for the single entry non-o at one of the honorary consulates in person. https://thaiembdc.org/royal-thai-honorary-consulates-general-in-the-u-s/

To apply for the one year extension of stay you will need to to register your US marriage at a Amphoe to obtain a Kor Ror 22 marriage registry required by immigration. You will need to have your marriage certificate legalized, translated to Thai and Certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA in Bangkok.

You can do a affidavit at the US embassy to self certify your marriage certificate or do it the legalization before your arrival here.

Procedures for US is here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html

 

 

[Jeffrey346]

22 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No need to show 400k baht in the bank to apply for a single entry or multiple entry non-o visa at the embassy in Washington DC or the consulates in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. The multiple entry visa requires leaving the country every 90 days for a new entry.

You only need to show $700 in the bank to meet the equivalent of 20k baht requirement for all visa applications. See: https://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-visa-category-o/

You can also apply for the single entry non-o at one of the honorary consulates in person. https://thaiembdc.org/royal-thai-honorary-consulates-general-in-the-u-s/

To apply for the one year extension of stay you will need to to register your US marriage at a Amphoe to obtain a Kor Ror 22 marriage registry required by immigration. You will need to have your marriage certificate legalized, translated to Thai and Certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA in Bangkok.

You can do a affidavit at the US embassy to self certify your marriage certificate or do it the legalization before your arrival here.

Procedures for US is here. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html

 

 

Perhaps you can just get married again here in Thailand and not have to jump through hoops to register your US marriage. 

[steve187]

3 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Perhaps you can just get married again here in Thailand and not have to jump through hoops to register your US marriage. 

you can only get married once to the same person, unless you divorce first

[Jeffrey346]

10 minutes ago, steve187 said:

you can only get married once to the same person, unless you divorce first

I doubt that.  According to Google...

 

You can marry the same person in every state and every country. You just can't be married to two or more different people at the same time.

[ubonjoe]

Baiting posts have been removed. 

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Perhaps you can just get married again here in Thailand and not have to jump through hoops to register your US marriage. 

There is not really not much difference between the 2 procedures. It still requires documents to be translated and certified.

It also requires a trip to your embassy to do a affirmation of permit to marry and you have to state you are not currently married and/or proof of divorce if you were married before.

 

[JCP108]

Hopefully the Thai embassy doesn't require the Thai registration of our marriage before they will issue the initial visa for me to travel to Thailand. I'm currently in the U.S. and wife is currently in Thailand. Also, I'm nowhere near an embassy in the U.S.

Edited December 27, 2019 by JCP108
hearing voices

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, JCP108 said:

Hopefully the Thai embassy doesn't require the Thai registration of our marriage before they will issue the initial visa for me to travel to Thailand. I'm currently in the U.S. and wife is currently in Thailand. Also, I'm nowhere near an embassy in the U.S.

Embassies and consulates will accept your US marriage certificate. You can do the application by mail to the embassy or one of the official consulates in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.

From the page on the embassy website I posted a link in my previous reply.

"8. If you want to visit as a spouse or family member (spouse, son or daughter), proof of relationship such as a photocopy of marriage license or birth certificate with a proof that your spouse or family member is a Thai citizen such as as a photocopy of Thai passport or Thai identification card"

Your wife could email the copies I highlighted in bold to you.

[riclag]

On 12/26/2019 at 4:23 AM, cornishcarlos said:

There is no such thing as a marriage visa.

You can get a Non Imm O visa based on either marriage or retirement but not a multi entry anymore, unless you get it from Laos or Vietnam. 

Just apply for a single entry Non Imm O based on marriage and then you can apply for a 12 month extension of stay once you have been in Thailand for 60 days. For that you will need to show the 400k in the bank for 2 months.

I'm from the USA . I did exactly that,in August.  I came on a SETV and applied for the Non O on marriage at IO, 5 weeks after arriving. No problems !   

Edited December 27, 2019 by riclag

[Mbaki]

7 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

I doubt that.  According to Google...

 

You can marry the same person in every state and every country. You just can't be married to two or more different people at the same time.

That is a renewal of vowels not re registering the same marriage, 

[Jeffrey346]

7 minutes ago, Mbaki said:

That is a renewal of vowels not re registering the same marriage, 

Where does it say anything about renewing vows?

 

You can marry the same person in every state and every country. You just can't be married to two or more different people at the same time.

[lemonjelly]

Can anyone translate this? The IO underlined it at border crossing and asked why I didn’t have a 1 year visa (I have 12 month NON-O multi)... I was doing the 90 border hop. Just wondering if it’s going to be an issue in the future. Oh, and please don’t bother posting remarks “why don’t you get 1 year extension, you shouldn’t be using multi entry non O to stay in Thailand” etc etc..... cheers