My Khon Kaen Marriage Extention Details

[farmerjo]

Does anyone have a template of SCB  bank letter used.

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

Does anyone have a template of SCB  bank letter used.

The standard bank letter is about the same at all banks. Here is an example of a Bangkok Bank letter. bank letter.pdf

[MagnumForce]

If you're on a Non-Imm 'O' first extension based on marriage which was secured using the 400K in the bank, can you then switch to 40K per month for 12 months for year 2's extension?

 

Also, if you are working legally in Thailand while on the Non-Imm 'O' extension, will the 40K per month from a Thai salary be acceptable, or will they insist on it being 40K per month from abroad?

[recom273]

And here we go .. “too many questions .. that’s why I go to Sav’ and sit in a hotel bored out of my nut then waste days driving to the border every 90 days” and “I’d rather use an agent as I don’t have a pot to <deleted> in”

 

Thanks for the report! I have just bought a plot of land in KK, so this was interesting reading. It all sounds pretty standard, less paperwork than I’m used to (no Landlords ID card and signed declaration?) but 2 witnesses? I hope that I can be avoided as I have had a few extensions from another office (oh, some new replies suggest that might not be possible).

 

Props for trying to explain that you earn money online from another country, I just tell them as little as possible, one word, investments, for a yearly extension. I don’t think explaining working online would work in my local office.

[spornb]

We deal with Khonkaen immigration, and for marriage extension 400,000 for the two months prior to applying is the simplest, we tried the income one year and just left us open to too many questions

 

We have never had any real problems with KK immigration, prior to the KK office was Nongkai 

 

Have been doing this over 10 yrs

[Peter Denis]

13 hours ago, CountryThai said:

What I do is not on any Thai restricted list. I think the Thai economy get a fair share of me already. The officer was polite and I was polite back but could not understand why they need to verify how I earned the money. She asked if it was a pension (I am too young for that) . I will do 400k next year if the current situation still exists. 

You did use the +40K monthly income transfer method to apply for the 1-year extension of stay based on your Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage.

In that case - as you found out - you need to provide evidence of the foreign origins of the funds.  On top of that the Immigration Officer can and will often also ask to provide evidence of the SOURCE of the income.

As suggested already by @DrJack54it will be far easier to use the +400K funds-in-bank method, which does not require that you prove the foreign origins nor the source of those funds.  And you only need to keep the funds on your personal Thai bank-account in the two months preceding your application and the 3-4 weeks till you get the 1-year permission to stay stamp in your passport.  Once you have that stamp you are free to use the funds as you please, and only need to top up again to +400K two months before your next 1-year extension application.

Especially when your income is from on-line work you do not want to 'wake sleeping dogs' and therefore the +400K funds-in-bank method is the choice of preference.

 

[fulhamster]

What is this "Village Head" requirement ??

 

I live in a soi near Pattaya, there are about 70 houses but nobody is village head.

 

Or does this only apply if you actually live in an isolated village ?

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, fulhamster said:

I live in a soi near Pattaya, there are about 70 houses but nobody is village head.

If you live within the Pattaya municipality there are no village heads.

If living in Banglamung district then there are village heads that report to the Kamnan for the subdistrict where they are located.

[sometimewoodworker]

15 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Thanks for the report,i will be off to do same at KK.

Can i ask how many days early you went to get extension and is it busy at the moment.

The witnesses sounds a pain in the bum as i've got a 200km plus turn around trip to get there.

You will be well advised to take the witnesses with you when you apply, if you can take your Phu Yai Bann with you as 1 of the witnesses you will have a easier time with less paperwork, (they need their house books and ID cards)

 

Regon 4 usually allows a maximum of 30 day early application, at least Udon’s Office does.
 

 I don’t know if KK has the same policy as Udon with the 90 day report, syncing it to the extension expiration, if they do then because of that I will not be going more than 15 days early so that I can do the 90 day at the same time as applying for my extensions that way I only need to visit twice.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, MagnumForce said:

If you're on a Non-Imm 'O' first extension based on marriage which was secured using the 400K in the bank, can you then switch to 40K per month for 12 months for year 2's extension?

 

Also, if you are working legally in Thailand while on the Non-Imm 'O' extension, will the 40K per month from a Thai salary be acceptable, or will they insist on it being 40K per month from abroad?

Yes you can, yes you can, you will need Thai tax information if using income from Thailand.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, recom273 said:

Thanks for the report! I have just bought a plot of land in KK, so this was interesting reading. It all sounds pretty standard, less paperwork than I’m used to (no Landlords ID card and signed declaration?) but 2 witnesses? I hope that I can be avoided as I have had a few extensions from another office (oh, some new replies suggest that might not be possible).

If your spouse bought the land and has her name on the blue book and you live there, that’s all you need. if you don’t live on the land and your wife is not the householder in the blue book where you do live you will very probably still need the landlord’s information.
 

Usually 2 witnesses are for the 1st extension, thereafter 1 is usually enough. That is certainly true in Udon, KK could have different rules.

[Neeranam]

They should have told you to put 400k in the bank for just 1 day, if you have children. 

 

 

I'm not surprised they didn't.

[sometimewoodworker]

13 hours ago, whitefarang said:

Married to a Thai ,  does an immigration office really need birth certificates of any children ? I believe a birth certificate of a child is only necessary in case of applying for a non O based on being the parent of a Thai child , right ?  

Why did immigration ask for the original marriage certificate ? I read on the immigration website that they only need proof of a relation , being married , so that would be either the original one from abroad OR the Thai version . Not both . Can anyone explain that to me ? 

Immigration requires the original of the marriage certificate to be produced as they only take the copies you have made. It’s the same as your passport and bank book , your wife’s ID card and blue book. they take your copies not the originals

 

you can not have a marriage certificate from overseas and a Thai one.

 

the KR2 KR22 is to show that you are still married.

Edited October 7, 2020 by sometimewoodworker

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, spornb said:

We deal with Khonkaen immigration, and for marriage extension 400,000 for the two months prior to applying is the simplest, we tried the income one year and just left us open to too many questions

 

We have never had any real problems with KK immigration, prior to the KK office was Nongkai 

 

Have been doing this over 10 yrs

I used to go to Udon and Nong Kai, but I thought the KK office had been here for much more than 10 years.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Neeranam

[Peter Denis]

14 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

They should have told you to put 400k in the bank for just 1 day, if you have children.

I'm not surprised they didn't.

That is correct.

When using the +400K funds-in-bank method when applying for the 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O Visa, and doing this for reason of THAI DEPENDENT CHILD(REN) you only need to provide evidence that the funds are on your personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application.  And after that you are free to use those funds as you please.

So no need for seasoning the funds for at least 2 months which is required when applying for reason of marriage. 

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I used to got to Udon and Nong Kai, but I thought the KK office had been here for more than 10 years.

In January of of 2009 only the Nong Kai and Korat offices were available for Khon Kaen. That is when the immigration came out with designed offices for each province (and districts if there was more than one office). At that time they made the Nong Khai office as the designated office for Khoen Kean. I think they opened the Khon Kaen and Udon offices at about the same time after that.

 

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

In January of of 2009 only the Nong Kai and Korat offices were available for Khon Kaen. That is when the immigration came out with designed offices for each province (and districts if there was more than one office). At that time they made the Nong Khai office as the designated office for Khoen Kean. I think they opened the Khon Kaen and Udon offices at about the same time after that.

 

Thanks Joe. Actually, I went a few times to Udon before KK. 

[recom273]

19 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

If your spouse bought the land and has her name on the blue book and you live there, that’s all you need. if you don’t live on the land and your wife is not the householder in the blue book where you do live you will very probably still need the landlord’s information.
 

Usually 2 witnesses are for the 1st extension, thereafter 1 is usually enough. That is certainly true in Udon, KK could have different rules.

At the moment we have to do this, as we have rent a place down here in the south, just wondering as the OP didn’t mention it, that’s all. We will be in rented before the house is finished.

As I have had an extension for a few years now, just wondering if I could swerve the  requirements - it would be my first application in the issan region .. only one way to find out really. The wife left Kao Suan Kwan 20 years ago, and we just bought land towards Chiangyeun, so chances are we won’t have anyone who knows us or we could ask to be a witness, let alone two. 

 

[Neeranam]

2 minutes ago, recom273 said:

At the moment we have to do this, as we have rent a place down here in the south, just wondering as the OP didn’t mention it, that’s all. We will be in rented before the house is finished.

As I have had an extension for a few years now, just wondering if I could swerve the  requirements - it would be my first application in the issan region .. only one way to find out really. The wife left Kao Suan Kwan 20 years ago, and we just bought land towards Chiangyeun, so chances are we won’t have anyone who knows us or we could ask to be a witness, let alone two. 

 

Easy enough to find a local who is happy to go for 500 baht or so.

[farmerjo]

So on 1st application,do you require witnesses when they come to visit your house at KK imm.

And what sort of time frame should be expected on 1st application providing you have all your ducks in row and get to KK imm. for opening time?

 

 

[bbbbooboo]

17 hours ago, Paiman said:

That sounds terrible. A lot of work you had to go through.

 

You get the impression they let you run the gauntlet. For what reason, only they know.

Because they can ? It’s almost like they don’t want us here innit?( hush my mouth)

[recom273]

39 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Easy enough to find a local who is happy to go for 500 baht or so.

Ahhh .. So it can be a rent-a-friend? Lol - Kind of defeats the object, but satisfy the requirement. “How long have you known them?” About 10 mins, “What does the farang do?” Mai leu. Love it.

 

We don’t have anything like this down here, one guy did a home visit once, chatted to the missus for 10 mins, took a photo of us in the bedroom, looked around to find a neighbor on his way out, didn’t find one and left.

[TheFreqFlyer]

2 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

You did use the +40K monthly income transfer method to apply for the 1-year extension of stay based on your Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage.

In that case - as you found out - you need to provide evidence of the foreign origins of the funds.  On top of that the Immigration Officer can and will often also ask to provide evidence of the SOURCE of the income.

As suggested already by @DrJack54it will be far easier to use the +400K funds-in-bank method, which does not require that you prove the foreign origins nor the source of those funds.  And you only need to keep the funds on your personal Thai bank-account in the two months preceding your application and the 3-4 weeks till you get the 1-year permission to stay stamp in your passport.  Once you have that stamp you are free to use the funds as you please, and only need to top up again to +400K two months before your next 1-year extension application.

Especially when your income is from on-line work you do not want to 'wake sleeping dogs' and therefore the +400K funds-in-bank method is the choice of preference.

 

True, but for the most part, there is no issue with working online if it's from sources abroad. Especially at the moment, when borders are closed...realistically, how else could one be working? 

 

I think it's better to use the 400K method or an embassy letter, as there's just too much ambiguity with using the 40K monthly transfers from abroad method.

 

In my personal experience, most of the time officials are simply curious and want to ask questions, which is fine. Asking questions is not an interrogation as some farang make it out to be. 

 

Another option would be to use an agent. I hear a lot of agents use immigration offices such as Khon Kaen anyway, so that makes it even easier. 

[sometimewoodworker]

17 minutes ago, farmerjo said:

So on 1st application,do you require witnesses when they come to visit your house at KK imm.

And what sort of time frame should be expected on 1st application providing you have all your ducks in row and get to KK imm. for opening time?

 

 

We are in region 4 so KK is the regional head office. You are asked for a neighbour to be present when they visit, the neighbour doesn’t need to be one of the same people who accompanied you when you put in your application. For us we met them in a local restaurant for lunch they didn’t come to the house, SWMBO arranged that.

 

Unless the regional HQ is particularly busy the under consideration is 30 days, as the immigration office doesn’t do more than confirm your documents are correct then sends them to the regional HQ the time you arrive in the office makes no difference to the under consideration period, only to the time you spend on that day.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, recom273 said:

At the moment we have to do this, as we have rent a place down here in the south, just wondering as the OP didn’t mention it, that’s all. We will be in rented before the house is finished.

As I have had an extension for a few years now, just wondering if I could swerve the  requirements - it would be my first application in the issan region .. only one way to find out really. The wife left Kao Suan Kwan 20 years ago, and we just bought land towards Chiangyeun, so chances are we won’t have anyone who knows us or we could ask to be a witness, let alone two. 

 

You can only apply in the area you live, so unless you move back to the chicken town you can’t use KK for your extension.

[billd766]

15 hours ago, whitefarang said:

Married to a Thai ,  does an immigration office really need birth certificates of any children ? I believe a birth certificate of a child is only necessary in case of applying for a non O based on being the parent of a Thai child , right ?  

Why did immigration ask for the original marriage certificate ? I read on the immigration website that they only need proof of a relation , being married , so that would be either the original one from abroad OR the Thai version . Not both . Can anyone explain that to me ? 

You are pretty much correct in your thinking. There is a sort of Immigration check list for their eyes only but, there is always a but, each IO i permitted to ask for more information if they so wish. This is what leads to confusion among us expats and to Immigration as well.

 

If they only used one central standardised set of documents for each extension category then life for Immigration IOs and us, life would be too easy.

 

I can remember a song by a guy called Jeremy Taylor called Jobsworth.

 

Job's worth, job's worth
It's more than my Job's worth
I don't care, rain or snow
Whatever you want the answer's NO!
I can keep you standing
For years in the queue
And if you don't like it
You know what you can do

[recom273]

24 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

You can only apply in the area you live, so unless you move back to the chicken town you can’t use KK for your extension.

Yeah I know that. We are moving back to KK, and will end up applying in KK within 12 months of being back there .. but not to the village of BBQ chicken, thankgod.

[CountryThai]

16 hours ago, whitefarang said:

Married to a Thai ,  does an immigration office really need birth certificates of any children ? I believe a birth certificate of a child is only necessary in case of applying for a non O based on being the parent of a Thai child , right ?  

Why did immigration ask for the original marriage certificate ? I read on the immigration website that they only need proof of a relation , being married , so that would be either the original one from abroad OR the Thai version . Not both . Can anyone explain that to me ? 

I only took mine as an extra, if they wanted and they took them. I am sure they were not needed.

[TheFreqFlyer]

36 minutes ago, CountryThai said:

I only took mine as an extra, if they wanted and they took them. I am sure they were not needed.

No need to give them extra unnecessary documentation.

 

You applied for a marriage extension. I think they care far more about proof of funds than whether you have a child or not. In the past, I never even heard of anyone suggesting they would ask for details about children. Besides, what if your children are all grown up and 30 or 40 years old? 

[CountryThai]

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

That is correct.

When using the +400K funds-in-bank method when applying for the 1-year extension of stay based on your original Non Imm O Visa, and doing this for reason of THAI DEPENDENT CHILD(REN) you only need to provide evidence that the funds are on your personal Thai bank-account at the moment of application.  And after that you are free to use those funds as you please.

So no need for seasoning the funds for at least 2 months which is required when applying for reason of marriage. 

I did not know that and I searched for that information and I emailed the KK Office many times asking what would be easier. I should have asked UbonJoe. I will definately do this next year. Thanks for the information.