extend retirement visa for one month then apply for marriage visa with passport of different country

[notrub]

I have dual nationality.  My current retirement visa is in my UK passport.  I have my new Canadian passport (issued in BKK).  My retirement visa is up for renewal in January.   My partner and I are about to be married.  I would like to transfer my existing retirement visa to my Canadian passport and change it to a married visa.  The immigration officer who I normally see is away until February and I think he would be easier to deal with in rearranging my visa status etc..  Can I extend my retirement visa renewal for 60 or 90 days ? (until the officer is back in the office)   All this is honest and legal and I have money in the bank for a visa.  Any comments or ideas about how I can do this easily or anything else about this will be gratefully received.  Thanks in advance.

[Salerno]

Never come across this situation before. Given in the normal situation of a new passport you'd have to get a letter from the British Embassy (in your case) asking for the visa to be transferred from the old to the new it'll be interesting to see how it works out in your scenario.

[ubonjoe]

The only way to change to a passport from another country is to leave and re-enter using the other passport. Immigration will not do the transfer your extension from your UK passport to the Canadian one.

Your best option is to get a new UK passport if your current passport has less than a year of validity on it.

[notrub]

Thanks Ubonjoe,  My UK (renewed) passport is only 1 year old.  I decided to renew my Canadian passport and so have a new one of those too.  I moved my original retirement visa from my old UK passport to the new one without leaving the country.  They also transferred the TM 6 that had been issued for my old UK passport as part of the process.   I will be marrying my partner this month so when I renew my retirement visa in January I will change my status to 'married' or whatever it is called.  I will have to pay a fee (I think) and will also have to pay to become a 'married' visa holder.  My current visa is a non 'o' which I think is better than a non 'o'a visa.  The officer told me that with a 'o' visa I do not have to have health insurance and with a 'o'a visa I do.  Also I think an 'o'a visa expires after 20 years and a 'o' does not.  I would like to tidy everything up at the same time and I do not want to have a visa that is not as good as the one I have now.  At 72 health insurance is prohibitively expensive and I don't want to mistakenly wind up with a visa that requires it.  Does a 'married' visa require health insurance?  I have enough money in the bank and so do not require the amount on deposit to be reduced due to marriage.

 

I would prefer my visa be attached to my Canadian passport as I was born there.  I am a naturalized UK citizen and who knows what the current government there might do.  It would not surprise me if they decided to revoke citizenship of all foreign nationals for some reason or another.  They have been doing some pretty crazy things there lately.  Thanks in advance for any comments.

[notrub]

2 hours ago, Salerno said:

Never come across this situation before. Given in the normal situation of a new passport you'd have to get a letter from the British Embassy (in your case) asking for the visa to be transferred from the old to the new it'll be interesting to see how it works out in your scenario.

The UK government has nothing to do with Thai visas.  What I would like to do is transfer my current visa to a passport of a different country.  Thai immigration are happy to transfer a visa to a renewed passport of the same country.  I have done this with no drama at all.   Thanks for your interest.

[ubonjoe]

You will only change the reason for your extension from retirement to marriage. You do not change the reason for your original non-o visa. There is no extra fees to do. You will pay the standard fee of 1900 baht for the extension.

I suggest you do not have enough financial proof to apply for a retirement extension. If your proof is enough they may try to push you to stay on the retirement extension.

[OJAS]

43 minutes ago, notrub said:

My current visa is a non 'o' which I think is better than a non 'o'a visa.

 

In which case the mandatory health insurance requirement won't be an issue for you, regardless of whether you extend your stay on the basis of retirement or marriage.

 

In all the circumstances I think that your best course of action would be to seek a further 1-year retirement extension in your British passport . Hopefully the borders will have reopened by this time next year to enable you then to make a trip to a Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate in an adjoining ASEAN country (e.g. Savannakhet or Hoh Chi Minh City) for the purposes of obtaining a fresh non-O visa (and I do mean a real genuine McCoy visa as opposed to an extension of stay masquerading as one, as per some of the terminology which you have used in this thread!) in your Canadian passport, which will be an Immigration prerequisite to your subsequently switching to 1-year marriage extensions using that particular passport.

Edited December 3, 2020 by OJAS

[gamini]

I had a problem when I wanted to change my passport from my UK to
New Zealand one. Immigration said I had to use the same nationality that I had originally applied for a visa, even though it was a different kind of visa. The reason being my nationality was in their database database.

[natway09]

Canadian PP issued in Bangkok, you sure ?

Why in heaven would you change from retirement to marriage ?

I just cannot see any advantage unless it is to release 400K in which case maybe should not

be thinking of staying here?

[dsj]

You apply for the Canadian Passport in Bangkok, and then they scan everything back to Canada, and it takes about 15 working days to pick up the new passport.

[notrub]

Well, this has attracted some comments, thank you.  My 90 day (?) 'o' visa was obtained years ago in Surathani (not from a Thai consulate in a country outside Thailand) from the immigration office there and is 100% above board and correct.  I did it all without an agent etc..  I then got my retirement visa 'upgrade' from immigration in Koh Samui, following the required several month waiting period.  Also completely above board.  (I was living in Koh Phangan and that was my local office)  I keep 1M(+)  THB on deposit in a foreign currency account BKK  (in euros) and this is used as my proof of income etc..  I have a small pension that we use to live on and withdraw funds from the foreign currency account for house building and car buying etc..  Otherwise we live on my small pension.

 

I do not want to waste money on health insurance as I am very happy with Thai government  hospitals and still have French national health insurance if I need to go for something major.  I would prefer to drop dead rather than go for open heart surgery, or something, anyway.

 

I am not sure of the married status benefits other than the lower income requirements.  I would have thought I would have more security to remain in Thailand if the government decided to restrict foreign nationals living here long term.  I am 72 and have no intention to leave Thailand.  We have a nice home and live in the village where my partner was born.  Family and friends abound.

 

I am Canadian so I would like my visa to be in the passport of the country of my birth.  I would like to stay here in Thailand for the duration and feel that a marriage visa will provide more security.  I did need a fresh TM6 for the original 'o' visa and this will be difficult given current travel restrictions.  That is why I was looking into having my UK 'o' visa transferred to my Canadian passport and re registering as a married person at the same time.  If it were somehow possible.  Otherwise I can extend my current 'o' visa in my UK passport without any problems.  I have all the necessary to do so.  I am not sure of the implications of telling the immigration office that I am now married and would not want to relinquish my 'o' visa.  Thanks again for your comments.

[ubonjoe]

You could get the extension based upon marriage now in your UK passport and then later when the borders are open make a trip to a nearby embassy or consulate, apply for a single entry non-o visa in you Canadian passport and then enter the country using that passport and then apply for a new extension. Be sure you don't get a re-entry permit until after you leave the country and get a new extension.

I am on my 13th extension of stay based upon marriage and have not had a problem doing them. In my opinion it is the correct extension for me since I am here to live with my family not retirement.

[Salerno]

5 hours ago, notrub said:

The UK government has nothing to do with Thai visas.

 

But the government (embassy) of the country your current visa is in does when you need it transferred.

 

You've got the info you need now anyway and IMO appear to be in a better position than a lot of threads started here (no rush, multiple options, financially solid) so best of luck to you regardless of which way you decide to go ????

[notrub]

11 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

But the government (embassy) of the country your current visa is in does when you need it transferred.

 

You've got the info you need now anyway and IMO appear to be in a better position than a lot of threads started here (no rush, multiple options, financially solid) so best of luck to you regardless of which way you decide to go ????

Thanks for the encouragement.  My old UK passport finally expired and was completely full anyway.  I simply applied for a new one (BKK) and took it, and the old one, to the Buriram immigration office.  They stamped and noted details of my old passport and gave me a 2nd new retirement visa stamp dated 26 01 2019.  I provided all the usual proof of income, residence etc. information then too.  I did not contact the UK embassy for this process.  I had to return to France for a new knee at the time so I had a 'fresh' TM6 for the transfer.   I have never had to ask or even advised the UK (or Canadian) authorities when traveling to countries that require visas, Nepal for example.   I feel that I have finally figured out the system here re visas etc. and the biggest 'learn' is to be prepared and expect the unexpected.  I normally go into the immigration office a month before my extension is due to show them my details (bank book etc.) and ask if I need anything else different this year for my extension to be granted.  Getting permission to exit and re enter on a single entry visa is an important one as the retirement visa is voided on exit without this permission.  I learned this lesson the hard way.  Thailand rules can be confusing and difficult at times but they are pretty reasonable compared to some other countries, the UK for example.

[OJAS]

18 hours ago, gamini said:

I had a problem when I wanted to change my passport from my UK to
New Zealand one. Immigration said I had to use the same nationality that I had originally applied for a visa, even though it was a different kind of visa. The reason being my nationality was in their database database.

Yup, you would have first needed to exit the country in order to obtain a fresh non-immigrant visa in your NZ passport.

[notrub]

13 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You could get the extension based upon marriage now in your UK passport and then later when the borders are open make a trip to a nearby embassy or consulate, apply for a single entry non-o visa in you Canadian passport and then enter the country using that passport and then apply for a new extension. Be sure you don't get a re-entry permit until after you leave the country and get a new extension.

I am on my 13th extension of stay based upon marriage and have not had a problem doing them. In my opinion it is the correct extension for me since I am here to live with my family not retirement.

Thanks Ubonjoe,  Looking at various websites it seems that the big advantage for a person already in possession of a 'o' retirement visa is the reduced income level required.  Are there more that are not self evident (the joys of not living in sin etc.)?  I see what you mean about extending my existing 'o' visa as a married person as the simplest solution.  Thank you.

 

On a slightly different subject, I currently have a usufruct contract on the land that I paid for and put in my partner's name.  I built a house and improved the land etc.. I would like to have a prenuptial contract to be sure we both understand our circumstances.   I don't plan to have a problem with our marriage but who knows what the future holds?  I would like this contract to acknowledge that I built and paid for the home we live in.  And that in the event of a separation she will leave and I will stay in our home until I die when it will be hers and the usufruct contract expires (as it will on my death).  I also want it to be clear that I do not want to go to a 'retirement home' when I get even older.  I would like to employ a nurse (if my wife is unable to look after me alone) and stay in my home.   Do you know where I could find examples of these sorts of agreements that I could look at and think about please?  I have a lawyer but I would like to have some food for thought before sitting down with him to discuss this matter.  Thanks very much for this and other advice you have given me in the past.