Marriage Extension Without the Wife - Possible?

[ExpatOilWorker]

Is it possible, under special circumstances,  do do a marriage extension without the wife?

The issue is that the wife is pregnant and the due date it right on my extension date.

We could go 30 days early, when she is 8 months pregnant, but CW really isn't the best of place for a pregnant to waste a day.

[ubonjoe]

Normally it the wife has to be present to complete a affidavit in front of a immigration officer that both of you have to sign along with the officer. If she cannot attend you would have to contact immigration to make arrangements to do it.

At Chaeng Wattana you can apply up to 45 days early.

[KhunLA]

Short answer, no or maybe, depending on Imm office / IO, but poor excuse, as a 30 or 45 day window to extend.  Might be a good time to use that agent.

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Short answer, no or maybe, depending on Imm office / IO, but poor excuse, as a 30 or 45 day window to extend.  Might be a good time to use that agent.

That agent?

Do you have contact information for a trustworthy agent operating at CW?

[Paulaew]

After holding a so-called marriage visa (Non-O by reason of marriage, for you sticklers) for many years, the annual inconvenience of dragging Mrs. Laew to the immigration office just became too much to bear.

 

She always had a legitimate excuse -- her work, pregnancy, family illness, a trip upcountry, etc. Just imagine if she had been in prison for 25 years! So finally I threw in the towel and switched to a so-called retirement visa. Best thing I ever did. Less paperwork and less inconvenience for the wife, and the immigration officers appreciated it too, since less work for them.

 

I realize this option is not open to everyone, but if you're of a relatively ripe age and have the money in the bank, it reduces the pain of annual extensions to a dull ache.

 

Paul Laew

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

After holding a so-called marriage visa (Non-O by reason of marriage, for you sticklers) for many years, the annual inconvenience of dragging Mrs. Laew to the immigration office just became too much to bear.

 

She always had a legitimate excuse -- her work, pregnancy, family illness, a trip upcountry, etc. Just imagine if she had been in prison for 25 years! So finally I threw in the towel and switched to a so-called retirement visa. Best thing I ever did. Less paperwork and less inconvenience for the wife, and the immigration officers appreciated it too, since less work for them.

 

I realize this option is not open to everyone, but if you're of a relatively ripe age and have the money in the bank, it reduces the pain of annual extensions to a dull ache.

 

Paul Laew

I agree with you, but only partially. Putting the wife in front of the immigration officer is a strong trump card and previous years have been painless. 

A few friends on retirement extension have been hit by odd requests about landlords ID, rental contract, TM30 nonsense, etc. 

Are you also using CW?

[Paulaew]

25 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

I agree with you, but only partially. Putting the wife in front of the immigration officer is a strong trump card and previous years have been painless. 

A few friends on retirement extension have been hit by odd requests about landlords ID, rental contract, TM30 nonsense, etc. 

Are you also using CW?

There are always possible snags. But my guess is that there are more questions raised about potentially fraudulent marriages then there are about rental contacts and TM 30's.

 

One of the other advantages of the retirement extension is that your visa is only depending on you. If your wife passes away or you decide to move on to someone else, you've got a visa status which is free and clear.

 

I usually do my visa extensions upcountry, a lot faster than in Bangkok. I always have my paperwork in order and the last 2 years I was in and out in about 20 mins.

 

Paul Laew

[TheScience]

There are a few papers for her to sign but that's only happened in last few years.

 

What it's really all about is that none of the immigration officers can speak English so they use the wives for translation. Additionally, they just don't want to speak with the Foreigner. The attitude is starting to grate on me.

 

My experience of the last few years is it they are totally and thoroughly inflexible so even giving your perfectly reasonable situation there will be no accommodation.

[TheScience]

25 minutes ago, Paulaew said:

I usually do my visa extensions upcountry, a lot faster than in Bangkok.

While this may be true this is kind of useless information.

 

One doesn't get to pick and choose the immigration office that they get their annual marriage or retirement extension.

 

Retirement extension definitely has less paperwork but whether it's smoother the devil is in those details. Bangkok doesn't have home visits.

[Paulaew]

21 minutes ago, TheScience said:

There are a few papers for her to sign but that's only happened in last few years.

 

What it's really all about is that none of the immigration officers can speak English so they use the wives for translation. Additionally, they just don't want to speak with the Foreigner. The attitude is starting to grate on me.

 

My experience of the last few years is it they are totally and thoroughly inflexible so even giving your perfectly reasonable situation there will be no accommodation.

it's important to understand the dynamics of the situation at an immigration office when applying for an extension. It often seems like the officer is inflexible, but the reality is that he is trying to make sure he satisfies his senior officer in that office. In the case of a marriage extension application submitted upcountry, I believe the application has to go back to Bangkok for approval (retirement extensions, I know, can be approved in the local office, since they are simpler). The officer doesn't want to lose face by having the application bounced back to him. I always make sure I'm up on the latest requirements when I show up at immigration with my application.
 

I'm often surprised at how much English the immigration officers can speak when they actually have to deal with a farang directly. I can speak some Thai, but I'm not particularly good.

 

Paul Laew

[DrJoy]

Firstly, the extension is called `Thai wife extension` not marriage. It says `Pallaya Thai thii 2` on my PP.

 

They take photo of the couple thru their webcam, in case of `Thai Wife Extension`

 

Moreover, 1st extension they can interview you both like where did you meet, DOB of baby etc.

 

So, how will you get a Thai Wife Extension without the `WIFE`.

????

 

 

[bbko]

In the past I would bounce back to the states for months at a time to work and return.  One time my wife wanted to give it a try as she had a relative in Florida with a Thai restaurant willing to hire her for a few months.  As we're planning her trip to the US, I saw she would be away when I was due to renew my marriage visa.  So both of us went to the IO in Jomtien and I went to the "family visa" desk and explained the situation and specifically asked if my wife being away would be a problem, the lady there said "no problem", cut to 3 months later as I'm filing my visa extension papers, the exact same lady said "You must have wife here", I reminded here I was there a few months ago and she said it's wouldn't be a problem, she didn't want to hear any of my story and for the next couple of days I had to scramble to file for a retirement visa. My mistake, I should of gotten something in writing.

[Skeptic7]

21 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

That agent?

Do you have contact information for a trustworthy agent operating at CW?

Quite sure Tanya at Bangkok Buddy could help you. She helped a friend of mine very capably. 

 

https://bangkokbuddy.com/

[The Hammer2021]

21 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

That agent?

Do you have contact information for a trustworthy agent operating at CW?

'that' is being used rhetorically. Most agents here in Pattaya advertise on TV and other media. They have offices, secretaries and business licenses. They provide a wide range of services to the expat community. Hopefully there will be agencies in your nearest town

[mrwebb8825]

OP-My wife had meetings upcountry 1 yr and we had a "Proxy-Wife" stand in for her. Immigration had my wife's number and called her during the process and she had to identify the "Proxy" and answer a few questions. A couple more forms were filled out. I sat and played my role as the "smiling husband" and all went just fine. Never say never. That being said, this was in Nakhon Nayok and not Bangkok.