Requirements for 1 year non O extension based on marriage in Pattaya

[rattlesnake]

Hello everyone, 

 

I am currently on a ME visa based on marriage and am considering extending to 1 year. I am currently based in Pattaya and have had negative experiences in the past with immigration there, as they just tend to make things difficult. 

Could anybody kindly provide the list of what is required at Pattaya immigration for the above-mentioned extension? I will be going for the 40k per month option, do I need a stamped letter from my embassy?

 

Thanks a lot!

[ubonjoe]

My general list is here. Marriage Extension Requirements 2.pdf

If your embassy will issue proof of income you will certainly need that. Immigration might ask to show something to prove what is on that letter.

If no letter you will need to show proof of at least 2 transfer from abroad by showing bank statements and your bank book. Pattaya has also asked for a similar letter to this one to prove them.   Example-BankLetter-Monthly-Deposits.pdf

[rattlesnake]

Thanks a lot for that Ubonjoe, most helpful.

 

Regarding the following point:

"Proof of residence if not living where your wife's house book is for."

 

Does that mean if I apply at the IO where my wife has her house book (in our case Phitsanulok) I will not need to provide any proof of residence?

[innosiem]

10 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Thanks a lot for that Ubonjoe, most helpful.

 

Regarding the following point:

"Proof of residence if not living where your wife's house book is for."

 

Does that mean if I apply at the IO where my wife has her house book (in our case Phitsanulok) I will not need to provide any proof of residence?

maybe Joe will correct me on this
but you should apply where last registered or where you actually be living 
so if you want to do in phitsanulok
go there, get wife to register you there (TM.30)
then go apply at immigration there
you may be required to be there for the consideration period
as many provinces they will do a home visit to make sure you are actually living there
might be the better option
a month or so in sticks is more like reality than in the cities
i just got back from nearby phetchabun

Edited July 26, 2020 by innosiem

[time2093]

My embassy does not issue income letters. Will that effect me using the 40k monthly option for extension of stay based on marriage?

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Does that mean if I apply at the IO where my wife has her house book (in our case Phitsanulok) I will not need to provide any proof of residence?

You have to apply for the extension at the designated office where you are living.

If living in Pattaya that is where you have to apply. You will need a rental agreement with signed copies of the owners house book and ID card.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, time2093 said:

My embassy does not issue income letters. Will that effect me using the 40k monthly option for extension of stay based on marriage?

You will need to show transfers into a Thai bank account in your name only from abroad.

[Peter Denis]

25 minutes ago, time2093 said:

My embassy does not issue income letters. Will that effect me using the 40k monthly option for extension of stay based on marriage?

It depends on your IO. 

Normally the Immigration officer handling your application will be satisfied when you provide him the evidence that the +40K monthly income transfers to your personal thai bank-account  originated from abroad.  But the officer might also request you to provide evidence of the SOURCE of that monthly foreign income. 

And at some IOs (e.g. Jomtien, SiRacha, HatYai, ...) the local requirements list for the 1-year extension of stay application, even specifies that you need to provide an Embassy certified pension-statement as proof of the source of your foreign monthly income.

When you are a US, UK or Australian citizen you will not be able to meet that requirement as the Us, Uk and Aussie Embassies do not issue such monthly-income statements anymore.  And the same goes, if you do not have pension income (yet).

So in that case use of the monthly-income transfer method is not possible, when applying at those Immigration offices.

> Attached the list of requirements from SiRacha (sister-office from Jomtien) and HatYai, addressing that Embassy certified pension-statement when using the monthly income-transfer method.

 

 

MarriageextdocsEng-SiRacha.pdf Hat Yai - 1-year Marriage extension requirements dd May 2020.pdf

[Max69xl]

1 hour ago, rattlesnake said:

Thanks a lot for that Ubonjoe, most helpful.

 

Regarding the following point:

"Proof of residence if not living where your wife's house book is for."

 

Does that mean if I apply at the IO where my wife has her house book (in our case Phitsanulok) I will not need to provide any proof of residence?

It means if you and your wife are staying somewhere else than the address in your wifes housebook. Then you might need a copy of your rental contract or equivalent. Where are you officially registered? In Pattaya? And FYI, if you're complaining about Jomtien immigration,then you haven't been to other offices. If you have your documents in order they will never make any problems. You'll be out in 15-20 min when applying for a 1 year extension based on marriage. Try that in BKK. 

[Max69xl]

23 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

It depends on your IO. 

Normally the Immigration officer handling your application will be satisfied when you provide him the evidence that the +40K monthly income transfers to your personal thai bank-account  originated from abroad.  But the officer might also request you to provide evidence of the SOURCE of that monthly foreign income. 

And at some IOs (e.g. Jomtien, SiRacha, HatYai, ...) the local requirements list for the 1-year extension of stay application, even specifies that you need to provide an Embassy certified pension-statement as proof of the source of your foreign monthly income.

When you are a US, UK or Australian citizen you will not be able to meet that requirement as the Us, Uk and Aussie Embassies do not issue such monthly-income statements anymore.  And the same goes, if you do not have pension income (yet).

So in that case use of the monthly-income transfer method is not possible, when applying at those Immigration offices.

> Attached the list of requirements from SiRacha (sister-office from Jomtien) and HatYai, addressing that Embassy certified pension-statement when using the monthly income-transfer method.

 

 

MarriageextdocsEng-SiRacha.pdf 682.91 kB · 0 downloads Hat Yai - 1-year Marriage extension requirements dd May 2020.pdf 672.41 kB · 0 downloads

"And at some IOs (e.g. Jomtien, SiRacha, HatYai, ...) the local requirements list for the 1-year extension of stay application, even specifies that you need to provide an Embassy certified pension-statement as proof of the source of your foreign monthly income."

This depends on the income letter from your embassy/consulate. Several countries income letters shows everything immigration asks for including the source (s). A few for some strange reason don't. Those are more like affidavits, sworn statements, and then immigration might ask for a letter showing the source. That letter you need to get from the pension provider, not from the embassy/consulate. 

Edited July 26, 2020 by Max69xl

[Peter Denis]

15 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

"And at some IOs (e.g. Jomtien, SiRacha, HatYai, ...) the local requirements list for the 1-year extension of stay application, even specifies that you need to provide an Embassy certified pension-statement as proof of the source of your foreign monthly income."

This depends on the income letter from your embassy/consulate. Several countries income letters shows everything immigration asks for including the source (s). A few for some strange reason don't. Those are more like affidavits, sworn statements, and then immigration might ask for a letter showing the source. That letter you need to get from the pension provider, not from the embassy/consulate. 

What you write is not correct.

At some IOs you can ONLY use the 'monthly income transfer' method when you have PENSION.

So if you do not receive pension, you cannot use that method.

Furthermore, even if you have pension, but you are a citizen of US, UK or Australia, your Embassy will NOT issue such income-statements anymore.

 

>> Attached below a screenshot from the SiRacha (sister-office from Jomtien) requirements - see title and 1.1-1.3 re need for PENSION, and 1.2 for Embassy certified pension statement.

[rattlesnake]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

What you write is not correct.

At some IOs you can ONLY use the 'monthly income transfer' method when you have PENSION.

So if you do not receive pension, you cannot use that method.

Furthermore, even if you have pension, but you are a citizen of US, UK or Australia, your Embassy will NOT issue such income-statements anymore.

 

>> Attached below a screenshot from the SiRacha (sister-office from Jomtien) requirements - see title and 1.1-1.3 re need for PENSION, and 1.2 for Embassy certified pension statement.

Thanks Peter for the info. So it turns out that what lots of people have been saying in this forum is not quite correct: some IOs might accept 40k oversea transfers to a Thai bank account for 2 months, but for several IOs such as Jomtien, it's actually 12 months and only from a pension, i.e. if you're not a pensioner then the monthly income option is not possible. This is very important and I am sure lots of people will benefit from it.

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

What you write is not correct.

At some IOs you can ONLY use the 'monthly income transfer' method when you have PENSION.

So if you do not receive pension, you cannot use that method.

Furthermore, even if you have pension, but you are a citizen of US, UK or Australia, your Embassy will NOT issue such income-statements anymore.

 

>> Attached below a screenshot from the SiRacha (sister-office from Jomtien) requirements - see title and 1.1-1.3 re need for PENSION, and 1.2 for Embassy certified pension statement.

I don't know what you're talking about. You have to read better. My info is 100% correct. I wasn't talking about the non-existing income letters from the UK,US and Australian embassies, but it applies to them,too. I was talking about how to get proof of source of pension. For a person from let's say the UK (there's been posts about this already) who needs to show proof of the source of his pension, won't get it from his embassy. He needs to get it from his pension provider. I read about a guy from Canada recently. He went to Jomtien Immigration for a 1 year extension. He had a letter/affidavit from his embassy,but the letter didn't mention the source,just the amount. He had to get a letter from his pension provider, not from his embassy. Read this twice and hopefully you understand what I'm saying. 

[Peter Denis]

31 minutes ago, rattlesnake said:

Thanks Peter for the info. So it turns out that what lots of people have been saying in this forum is not quite correct: some IOs might accept 40k oversea transfers to a Thai bank account for 2 months, but for several IOs such as Jomtien, it's actually 12 months and only from a pension, i.e. if you're not a pensioner then the monthly income option is not possible. This is very important and I am sure lots of people will benefit from it.

The requirements document from SiRacha IO for the 1-year extension of stay application based on an original Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage, does not make the distinction whether you

a) apply for first time for the 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension

b) apply for a continuation of your 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension

Imo the requirements document ONLY addresses case b) which is of course the most common, and applicable for those already on a 1-year extension and applying for a new 1-year extension.

The IO rules/regulations stipulate that ONLY 2 months of seasoning are required when applying for the FIRST time for the 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension.  Some offices - incorrectly - require 3 months of monthly income-transfers.  But requiring 12 months for a first application would make it impossible for most applicants to meet that requirement

So the foreign origins and sourcing requirement (embassy certified pension statement) would only be required for the 2 months of foreign monthly-income transfers.

[Peter Denis]

1 minute ago, Max69xl said:

I don't know what you're talking about. You have to read better. My info is 100% correct. I wasn't talking about the non-existing income letters from the UK,US and Australian embassies, but it applies to them,too. I was talking about how to get proof of source of pension. For a person from let's say the UK (there's been posts about this already) who needs to show proof of the source of his pension, won't get it from his embassy. He needs to get it from his pension provider. I read about a guy from Canada recently. He went to Jomtien Immigration for a 1 year extension. He had a letter/affidavit from his embassy,but the letter didn't mention the source,just the amount. He had to get a letter from his pension provider, not from his embassy. Read this twice and hopefully you understand what I'm saying. 

Requirement 1.2 on the SiRacha requirements document says otherwise.

> Pension certificate from Embassy

As this is Thailand the officer handling your case might accept a pension statement issued by his pension provider.  But the requirement clearly states that such pension statement needs to be certified by your Embassy (which is impossible for US, UK and Australian citizens).

[Surelynot]

I dare say it varies from IO to IO but ours, Chaiyaphum, would only accept a Kor Ror 2 marriage registry dated that day, the day we applied for the ext.

[rattlesnake]

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

My general list is here. Marriage Extension Requirements 2.pdf

If your embassy will issue proof of income you will certainly need that. Immigration might ask to show something to prove what is on that letter.

If no letter you will need to show proof of at least 2 transfer from abroad by showing bank statements and your bank book. Pattaya has also asked for a similar letter to this one to prove them.   Example-BankLetter-Monthly-Deposits.pdf

Thanks!

[rattlesnake]

21 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

The requirements document from SiRacha IO for the 1-year extension of stay application based on an original Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage, does not make the distinction whether you

a) apply for first time for the 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension

b) apply for a continuation of your 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension

Imo the requirements document ONLY addresses case b) which is of course the most common, and applicable for those already on a 1-year extension and applying for a new 1-year extension.

The IO rules/regulations stipulate that ONLY 2 months of seasoning are required when applying for the FIRST time for the 1-year Non Imm O marriage extension.  Some offices - incorrectly - require 3 months of monthly income-transfers.  But requiring 12 months for a first application would make it impossible for most applicants to meet that requirement

So the foreign origins and sourcing requirement (embassy certified pension statement) would only be required for the 2 months of foreign monthly-income transfers.

OK thanks for that, I think I will just go and ask Jomtien IO soon and will post any relevant info they give me.

[PattayaKevin]

Good luck they made it extremely difficult for me. I had the 2 months of transfers well over the 40k requirement approximately 100k for each of the past two months. They also required the usual paperwork. 1 year Thai bank statement, deposit same day with updated bank balance. They also required paperwork showing where I get my money from in the United States with an explanation. They also required 15 months of bank statements from my United States bank accounts showing my money every month with my deposits highlighted. They also required me to show them my debit card from the United States and give them two copies of it. I didn't like that since with all the information they had they easily can go on a spending spree on my account. I wound up having to cancel the card and ordering a new card from my bank in America. On the bright side they were finally happy with everything and gave me my 30 day under consideration stamp after spending all morning getting everything from my bank and at immigration the rest of the day. I had about 5 previous denials because I didn't jump through their hoops properly.

[rattlesnake]

27 minutes ago, PattayaKevin said:

Good luck they made it extremely difficult for me. I had the 2 months of transfers well over the 40k requirement approximately 100k for each of the past two months. They also required the usual paperwork. 1 year Thai bank statement, deposit same day with updated bank balance. They also required paperwork showing where I get my money from in the United States with an explanation. They also required 15 months of bank statements from my United States bank accounts showing my money every month with my deposits highlighted. They also required me to show them my debit card from the United States and give them two copies of it. I didn't like that since with all the information they had they easily can go on a spending spree on my account. I wound up having to cancel the card and ordering a new card from my bank in America. On the bright side they were finally happy with everything and gave me my 30 day under consideration stamp after spending all morning getting everything from my bank and at immigration the rest of the day. I had about 5 previous denials because I didn't jump through their hoops properly.

Right thanks for that, it confirms what I thought based on my own experience: Jomtien IO is OK if you're a pensioner, and if you're not it's a total nightmare. I will keep that option as a last resort.

[chilly07]

At Jomtien I have always used my P60 UK tax declarations from my pension providers as evidence of source of 40k pm income-never queried

[Peter Denis]

16 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

At Jomtien I have always used my P60 UK tax declarations from my pension providers as evidence of source of 40k pm income-never queried

Thanks for this report.

It confirms that although the SiRacha (sister-office of Jomtien) checklist requires a 'Pension certificate from embassy (applicant)', that in practice they do accept evidence from your pension provider without the need of having this certified at your UK embassy (which would be impossible anyway, as the UK Embassy does not certify such statements anymore).

[brianthainess]

From Trat IO.

Edited July 27, 2020 by brianthainess

[johng]

My list from earlier this year just before the WuFlu nonsense broke out

 

Quote

Jomtien March 2020

2 x copies of

1. TM7 application form  signed  both sides.

2. passport face page
3. visa page
4. previous visa extension page
5. TM6
6.Marriage Kor Ror 3  both sides on one page
7. Marriage Kor Ror 2  both sides on one page
8. ID Wife ( front back same page)
9. House book ( showing current address)
10.Bank statement confirming 400,000 + in  Thai bank for at least 2 month's + a transaction on that day

and if the book isn't updated for a while during the last 3 months and book doesn't show when top up occurred then also need a statement showing the last 3 months

Bank statement must be from that day
11. photos 4 different on 2 A4 pages     you and wife at home, 1 must clearly show you including the home/house/condo number.
12. Map to house
 
2 sets of everything   sign every page ( blue ink  best) except your wife's and witness ID/house book which they must sign.
 
They will come to interview  at home,and want to interview a "witness"  who must be Thai  but not a close relative  2 copies of their ID and house book..(no need to take witness to immigration office)

 

[Chris747]

18 minutes ago, johng said:

10.Bank statement confirming 400,000 + in  Thai bank for at least 2 month's + a transaction on that day

and if the book isn't updated for a while during the last 3 months and book doesn't show when top up occurred then also need a statement showing the last 3 months

I read different requirements - some say 400k at least 2 months and others say at least 3 months. Is there any official statement here?

[johng]

2 minutes ago, Chris747 said:

I read different requirements - some say 400k at least 2 months

At Jomtien they say 2 months  well actually 60 days,  they caught me out on that one year  as the 2 months only had 59 days ????

[ubonjoe]

37 minutes ago, Chris747 said:

I read different requirements - some say 400k at least 2 months and others say at least 3 months. Is there any official statement here?

From clause 2.18 of immigration order 327/2557 basis for extension of stay.

"(6) In the case of marriage to a Thai woman, the alien husband must earn an average annual income of no less than Baht 40,000 per month or must have no less than Baht 400,000 in a bank account in Thailand for the past two months to cover expenses for one year."

[Kalasin Jo]

It is as clear as mud really for income based applications to extend for 1 year from a non O or to ""renew" ( quotes because it's only a renewal in the sense that you already have an existing 1 year and want another. There are no favours, no reduction in requirements, no qualifying after a few years for a permission of more than 1 year, ever).

 

It all daepends entirely on the IO you use and if marriage based have to use because of home visit, even if they don't do it. And yes many such as mine are sub offices and so the application needs to be considered by a higher authority too creating a months delay. At least you can stay in this period, but might have to leave within just 1 week if not granted.

 

They might accept only a pension income, they might want evidence of source, they might want a bank certified print out of a full 12, not just 2, months of transactions despite the amended police order consequent on some Embassies, like mine, ending the " Embassy income letter", that print out  showing foreign transfers in of at least 40k each month.

 

If this is a first application and you were not in Thailand for a full previous 12 months that is unlikely to be possible as you probably were using that income where you actually were living when not here, not sending it to Thailand. Even if you could have planned it, you didn't because you didn't know you would need this!

 

And my I O seems to want ALL of this for the income route.

But what they really want is the simple 400 k in the bank financial proof. But I hadn't budgeted for that this year and can't do it. And once again this amnesty extension to 26 September already isn't long enough to meet the seasoning requirement anyway.

 

All this grief, not just the IO but also from my wife, because of the local border closures and lack of Thai Embassy issued multiple entry non O visas without the need for any financials. I know the curmudgeons say those living here all year round and border bouncing are cheating, but with respect it's legal. For me back in the normal world a stay of 90 days extended by a further 60 days is more than I would want as I have a home elsewhere, where it is pleasant to be between May and October. So I've missed mos of that too this year.

 

So I'm out of here soon, probably without my wife. Yup we managed to get her a new visa to come with me, but she is afraid  because it's France and Europe  and she and her family have seen what's happening there on the news. She's also afraid that returning to Thailand may be difficult for her as well as me.. It certainly is at the moment.

 

Ironic that for the last 4 years  I thought it would be brexit that would restrict us as I am a Brit resident in France ( the exchange rate for the GB£ though is now a problem).