Planning for a marriage extension

[Inderpland]

The 31st of July amnesty end date is fast approaching and even if they extend it it's unclear when the borders will be open again for an out/in stamp required for my 1 year non-O based on marriage obtained in Savannakhet.

Since that visa expires on 31st of September I plan to get a marriage extension in Jomtien. That means I will have to transfer 400k before 31st of July for the two months seasoning but since it's been years since I did this the last time could someone please link the complete list of requirements for the extension and multiple reentry stamp?

In addition, any tips on what to do to facilitate the process when dealing with Jomtien Imm. would be highly appreciated.

[ubonjoe]

This is my list of required documents and etc. Marriage Extension Requirements 2.pdf

The re-entry permit will not be done until after you get a your extension stamp at the end of the under consideration period. You will need copies of your passport photo page, visa, new extension stamp and TM6 departure card.

I assume you will be applying for a 60 day extension to visit your wife to have it in bank for 2 months when you apply.

[Inderpland]

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

This is my list of required documents and etc. Marriage Extension Requirements 2.pdf

The re-entry permit will not be done until after you get a your extension stamp at the end of the under consideration period. You will need copies of your passport photo page, visa, new extension stamp and TM6 departure card.

I assume you will be applying for a 60 day extension to visit your wife to have it in bank for 2 months when you apply.

Thank you for the info. I was planning to apply for a 60 day extension before 31st of July unless they extend the amnesty. If they extend it for a month I will do it on 31st of August. But if I apply for a one year marriage extension just before my one year visa expires I should get a under consideration stamp that allows me to stay after my visa expires on 23rd of September, is that correct?

Just to clarify, I am under the assumption that I will have to apply for the 1 year marriage extension before my 1 year non-O visa expires. I can not do it later than that (let's say during the 60 day extension to visit family). Am I wrong in this?

Edited July 2, 2020 by Inderpland

[ubonjoe]

20 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

But if I apply for a one year marriage extension just before my one year visa expires I should get a under consideration stamp that allows me to stay after my visa expires on 23rd of September, is that correct?

You visas expiration date means nothing now that your are in the country. That is the only the day your have to use your visa to get a new 90 day entry.

The under consideration stamp will allow you to stay in the country until your extension is approved and stamped in your passport.

23 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

Just to clarify, I am under the assumption that I will have to apply for the 1 year marriage extension before my 1 year non-O visa expires. I can not do it later than that (let's say during the 60 day extension to visit family). Am I wrong in this?

Yes you are wrong.

[Inderpland]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

You visas expiration date means nothing now that your are in the country. That is the only the day your have to use your visa to get a new 90 day entry.

The under consideration stamp will allow you to stay in the country until your extension is approved and stamped in your passport.

Yes you are wrong.

OK, good to know. So if I'm able to do an out/in for an additional 3 months before my visa expires on 23rd of Sept and then get an additional 60 day extension to visit family on top of that does that mean I won't need to apply for a one year marriage extension before 23rd of February 2021?

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

So if I'm able to do an out/in for an additional 3 months before my visa expires on 23rd of Sept and then get an additional 60 day extension to visit family on top of that does that mean I won't need to apply for a one year marriage extension before 23rd of February 2021?

You you could if you have still have a valid permit to stay until you go out and re-enter for a new 90 day entry.

[JackThompson]

7 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

OK, good to know. So if I'm able to do an out/in for an additional 3 months before my visa expires on 23rd of Sept and then get an additional 60 day extension to visit family on top of that does that mean I won't need to apply for a one year marriage extension before 23rd of February 2021?

Please let us know what they say in Jomtien, when you go in to extend (60 days or a year) from the covid-extension you are on now.

Edited July 2, 2020 by JackThompson

[Antoine2]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

This is my list of required documents and etc. Marriage Extension Requirements 2.pdf

The re-entry permit will not be done until after you get a your extension stamp at the end of the under consideration period. You will need copies of your passport photo page, visa, new extension stamp and TM6 departure card.

I assume you will be applying for a 60 day extension to visit your wife to have it in bank for 2 months when you apply.

 

Hello,

 

On a multi-O 'married'.

 

60 days extended on current entry already.

 

60 days over. On amnesty now.

 

If I start procedure now for 1 year extension - showing from now monthly 40k income), could immigration give me 60 days extension as a time to make a decision about my request?

 

Best,

Anthony

[ubonjoe]

9 hours ago, Antoine2 said:

If I start procedure now for 1 year extension - showing from now monthly 40k income), could immigration give me 60 days extension as a time to make a decision about my request?

You will get a under consideration stamp when your application is accepted that allows you stay until your extension is approved. It will have report back date on it that will be 30 days from the day your apply.

[Inderpland]

Could anyone with specific knowledge of Jomtien Immigration please let me know about their experience in getting a one year marriage extension and if the list ubonjoe kindly posted is complete wrt that specific office?

For instance, I seem to recall being told that a printed map from Google maps showing the way to your house was not accepted, it had to be hand drawn. 

[JackThompson]

55 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

Could anyone with specific knowledge of Jomtien Immigration please let me know about their experience in getting a one year marriage extension and if the list ubonjoe kindly posted is complete wrt that specific office?

For instance, I seem to recall being told that a printed map from Google maps showing the way to your house was not accepted, it had to be hand drawn. 

The hand-drawn map has been reported - I would bring a google-printed and hand-drawn.

 

Bring extra pictures - more then the minimum, so harder to block you by not approving one of them.

Be sure your TM-30 is up to date - though that is just the start of issues with where you live.  If you rent, that (and a few other difficult offices) will try to block you with "landlord docs."  This is not a problem if you own your condo.  But, if renting, landlord-signed copies of your landlord's ID card, your rental-contract, the house-book for where you live, and proof-of ownership document (chanote) for where you live.

 

They know the last two can be difficult to get from landlords (especially absentee), which is the only reason they ask for them - to block your legit application.  They will be coming to visit, to confirm where you live, during the under-consideration period, so not really a question of "if you are really reporting a valid address."

 

Hopefully, you will be proving financials with the 400K "money in the bank" seasoned for 2 months.  If using income, there are other issues reported - at least one report saying they were outright refused when using the 40K/mo method.

[Inderpland]

7 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

The hand-drawn map has been reported - I would bring a google-printed and hand-drawn.

 

Bring extra pictures - more then the minimum, so harder to block you by not approving one of them.

Be sure your TM-30 is up to date - though that is just the start of issues with where you live.  If you rent, that (and a few other difficult offices) will try to block you with "landlord docs."  This is not a problem if you own your condo.  But, if renting, landlord-signed copies of your landlord's ID card, your rental-contract, the house-book for where you live, and proof-of ownership document (chanote) for where you live.

 

They know the last two can be difficult to get from landlords (especially absentee), which is the only reason they ask for them - to block your legit application.  They will be coming to visit, to confirm where you live, during the under-consideration period, so not really a question of "if you are really reporting a valid address."

 

Hopefully, you will be proving financials with the 400K "money in the bank" seasoned for 2 months.  If using income, there are other issues reported - at least one report saying they were outright refused when using the 40K/mo method.

Thanks for the tips. When they say bring pictures will photos printed on A4 paper suffice or do I have to go to a photo shop and have proper ones printed?

 

Wrt where I live we own a house in the wife's name and I have a yellow house book. Might be the first time I can actually find a use for it!

Edited July 3, 2020 by Inderpland

[JackThompson]

6 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

Thanks for the tips. When they say bring pictures will photos printed on A4 paper suffice or do I have to go to a photo shop and have proper ones printed?

I had photos printed at the shop, but on normal "non glossy" paper, and the IOs didn't bring that up.  But they blocked me on landlord-docs, so might have used the picture-paper move, if they hadn't blocked me with another "undocumented requirement," already. 

If blocked on pics, there is (or was) a good photo-shop on Beach Rd near Jomtien Soi 6 (I think that's the number), which has nice folks and can print anything.  After your final extension, is also a good place to get a laminated card for your wallet w/ passport info-page on one-side, and permitted-stay stamp on the flipside.

 

Tell your wife to expect to deal with rude, abusive people who will treat her like dirt (unless she is hi-so or a govt-employee), so she is prepared.

Edited July 3, 2020 by JackThompson

[innosiem]

@ubonjoe or anyone else

Does anyone know if the 400k can be in an FCD account ?
(Foreign Currency Deposit)

i keep my funds in an FCD account to have them here and avoid poor exchange rates when transferring
funds have sat there for longer than two months but are in GBP on paper
would immigration accept this with a letter from the bank ?
the account also has no bank book,
so i assume a letter and printed off statement with tx same day may suffice

has anyone ever used an FCD account to show funds at immigration ?

[ubonjoe]

43 minutes ago, innosiem said:

Does anyone know if the 400k can be in an FCD account ?

Yes it can. But there could be an odd office that may say no.

The bank letter will need to show the balance on the day it is written in baht based upon the exchange rate for that day.

You will need a statement done by the bank on the day you apply.

[innosiem]

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes it can. But there could be an odd office that may say no.

The bank letter will need to show the balance on the day it is written in baht based upon the exchange rate for that day.

You will need a statement done by the bank on the day you apply.

ok, thanks

[Matzzon]

Good Luck!

[Peter Denis]

On 7/2/2020 at 12:18 PM, Inderpland said:

...

Just to clarify, I am under the assumption that I will have to apply for the 1 year marriage extension before my 1 year non-O visa expires. I can not do it later than that (let's say during the 60 day extension to visit family). Am I wrong in this?

The 1-year ME Non Imm O marriage Visa expiry date is only relevant when re-entering Thailand.  When re-entering before its validity expires you get a 90-day permission to stay.

And it is that permission to stay expiry date (as stamped in your passport) that is the date of relevance.  If that permission to stay expired already, you are presently on the automatically extended permission provided by the Amnesty.

As there is no clarity/consistency in how IOs treat this situation when applying for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your wife, or applying for a 1-year extension of stay based on that Non Imm O marriage Visa, it is recommended to enquire at your local IO how they would handle such an application.  

The following options are possible:

1 - IO flatly refusing to handle your application both for the 60-day or 1-year extension of stay (because you are not on a valid permission to stay anymore and are on an Amnesty extension)

2 - IO willing to handle your application for the 60-day or 1-year extension but 'back-dating' it from the moment of application

3 - IO willing to handle your application for the 60-day or 1-year extension but letting it start from the moment of application (it is probable that they will do this for the 60-day extension, but might refuse to do this for the 1-year extension - however a combination of first doing the 60-day extension and before that permission to stay expires apply for the 1-year extension of stay, may be possible)

4 - IO willing to handle your application for the 60-day or 1-year extension and letting it start from the envisioned end of the amnesty.

 

 

[Peter Denis]

@Inderpland > In post #2 UJ already attached his generic list of requirements when applying for a 1-year extension of stay based on a Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage.

But as you will know by now every IO has slightly different requirements.

Since you will be applying at Jomtien I attach here a text-file in which I compiled 3 recent (March 2020) posts of TVF-members addressing the requirements for such an extension in Jomtien.

Note 1: My apologies to the posters that provided that comprehensive information for the fact that I am not able to provide them the credit due as I did not copy their names.

Note 2: FYI > I also attached the official requirements as provided by Jomtien's sister-office SriRacha (both the thai and english version).

Non Imm O - marriage extension requirements - Jomtien March 2020.txt MarriageextdocsEng-SiRacha.pdf MarriageextreqdocsThai-SiRachaDec19.pdf

[Antoine2]

On 7/3/2020 at 8:16 AM, ubonjoe said:

You will get a under consideration stamp when your application is accepted that allows you stay until your extension is approved. It will have report back date on it that will be 30 days from the day your apply.

Thanks Ubonjoe.

 

Trying to open a bank account in Loei city.

 

Refusal in each bank I've visited.

Apart Kasikorn, who could, maybe, open one with my ambassy certification of monthly income in my native country.

 

My Ambassy, Switzerland, don't provide this kind of certification.

Does anyone has some ideas?

 

Maybe a branch not too far away (Udon, ...) which is known to be opened to foreigners?

[Inderpland]

Just a coupe of final questions before I do the marriage extension next week:

For the bank statement confirming 400k for 2 months is it OK with one original and a copy of it for the second set or do I need to request 2 originals,  and the same question for the kor ror 2?

[ubonjoe]

26 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

For the bank statement confirming 400k for 2 months is it OK with one original and a copy of it for the second set or do I need to request 2 originals,  and the same question for the kor ror 2?

One original and a copy of them. Your bank book will also need to be updated and you will need copies of it as well. Also a letter from the bank confirming your account.

[Inderpland]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

One original and a copy of them. Your bank book will also need to be updated and you will need copies of it as well. Also a letter from the bank confirming your account.

Thanks. Could you please explain the "letter from the bank confirming your account"? I have never heard of this requirement. I am getting a letter from the bank on the day of my application confirming that the 400k have been in the account for 2 months so doesn't this confirm I have an account?

[BritManToo]

Just now, Inderpland said:

Thanks. Could you please explain the "letter from the bank confirming your account"? I have never heard of this requirement. I am getting a letter from the bank on the day of my application confirming that the 400k have been in the account for 2 months so doesn't this confirm I have an account?

You have to ask the bank for a 'letter for immigration'.

If it ain't right, immigration will reject it.

[Inderpland]

Just now, BritManToo said:

You have to ask the bank for a 'letter for immigration'.

If it ain't right, immigration will reject it.

OK, but that is the letter confirming the 400k, right?

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, Inderpland said:

Could you please explain the "letter from the bank confirming your account"?

It confirms your account is valid and it also shows the balance in it on the day the letter is written.

You updated bank book confirms the 400k baht has been in the bank for 2 months.

[Inderpland]

Warning/Word of advice:

 

Today I went down to the offices/booths just outside the Jomtien Immigration office to have them print the required photos from the house which I brought on a USB stick. I did this because I believed my simple inkjet printer (Canon Pixma E400) wasn't up to the job of printing photos of acceptable quality.

I gave the guy my stick and he proceeded to print out 4 photos on two plain printer paper sheets using a printer no better than the one I have.

Cost: 200 Baht!

I went home fuming and printed them out on my own printer and the quality is actually slightly better with max quality settings.

 

PS. He did confirm that 4 photos is enough but that that is the minimum.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Inderpland

[Inderpland]

So I finally did the 1 year marriage extension application and got my "under consideration" stamp. I'm staying close to home for a week in case they come for an interview but wonder if there is any chance they might turn up on a Sunday? Reason I ask is that I could really do with a quick trip into BKK on Sunday.

 

Apart from that I can make a few comments that might be helpful:

The photos from the house were taken with my phone camera and printed on a basic inkjet colour printer (of course using highest settings) with standard printer paper - 4 photos on 2 A4 sheets.

After the no-nonsense lady at counter 6 had done the initial paper sorting and stamped my passport and received the 1900 Baht we were handed over to the man on her right who gave me 3-4 additional forms to be filled out and/or signed (one as a document confirming that I knew the penalties for overstay, another was some type of letter to the commissioner (?) of immigration stating that I applied for an extension, others I can't remember). They made me go and make copies twice (copier by the restroom), once for the 1900 Baht bill and once for the "under consideration" stamp.

Jomtien IO was quite busy on Tuesday but I arrived at 1300 and was out by 1410 even though there were 12 ahead of me at counter 6 so very pleased with the whole process.

 

PS. In the past I've seen comments like "oh no, not another lame report blah blah blah..." on several occasions and to those who might post this;

please don't bother.

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Inderpland