What Visa Is Best For Me?

[thaisail]

I am 51 years old and I am employed in the US merchant marine. I was married in Thailand on December 28th, 2006 and my Thai marriage certificate was issued on the same day in Loei. My Thai wife and I live in Phuket in a rented house with a one year contract since May 2006. My wife is 34 years old and she gave birth last week to our baby daughter. A Thai birth certificate was issued by the Phuket City Hall and my name is on the birth certificate. I was issued a non immigrant visa type "O" on March 22nd in Miami, Florida by the Thai consulate. They asked for copies of my Thai marriage certificate and my wife's Thai ID card and family book. I arrived back in Thailand on 16th of May and was given until 13th of August to remain in Thailand. My appointment to register the birth and apply for a US passport for my daughter with the American Embassy in Bangkok is set for 11th of July. I work for an American company aboard ships outside of Thailand as a marine engineer and work a schedule normally of 120 days on and 120 days off. I may be working in Diego Garcia next time and may not be passing through my home country USA on the way to and from work to apply for visas with the Thai consulate. My visa is a multiple entry visa valid until March 22, 2008. If I go to back to work in mid July, I will return to Thailand around the middle of November and will hopefully be given until mid February to remain in Thailand. As I will not be due back to work before mid March, I will need to apply for an extension or leave Thailand on a visa run. I do not have a Thai bank account with 800000 baht and do not know if that rule applies for me since I am not going to be "grandfathered". I have had a Thai bank account with Bangkok Bank since September 2005 but with only about 4000 baht in it and no activity since opening.

I am asking for any information as what path to choose to have the least difficulty to remain in Thailand. Since I am starting after the October 1, 2006, I will not be able to use the same system as the others who will be grandfathered. Any advise will be apreciated.

[astral]

An extension of your Non Imm O based on retirement will be the easiest.

IF you can raise 800K and have it in the thai bank 3 months before you apply

in late Jan 2008. No grandfathering is required.

Alternatively you can show a regular income of 65K pm.

Or even a combination of the two, say 400K in the bank and income of 33K pm.

Such extensions can be done the same day, if you have all the paperwork ready

Immigration is much more chary of issuing extensions based on marriage, mind you,

your daughter does strengthen your case. You must show a 40K per month of family income.

(There is no cash in the bank option here now, for you).

Even so, extensions in this way can take 4-6 weeks to go through

Given that you are still working, you might not be around when the extension comes through,

therefore the retirement route is much easier.

[lopburi3]

You have all the options but believe the simple multi entry non immigrant O visa is as good as anything else until you decide to hang it up and really retire. In the area you can get in Singapore with proof of 400k in any bank account and your marriage certificate (take the ID and Home register just in case). One border run I would think might be enjoyable for you and the wife during the 120 days off as you can make it a mini vacation for her too.

As said you have both the retirement and marriage options.

Another option is to stay with child and being over age 50. There is no financial requirement for this option so of the visa extensions it would be most peoples choice. But it may only be available in Bangkok as most offices can not believe the no financial part. Forum sponsor Sunbelt is the best source for actual information on this provision.

[thaisail]

An extension of your Non Imm O based on retirement will be the easiest.

IF you can raise 800K and have it in the thai bank 3 months before you apply

in late Jan 2008. No grandfathering is required.

Alternatively you can show a regular income of 65K pm.

Or even a combination of the two, say 400K in the bank and income of 33K pm.

Such extensions can be done the same day, if you have all the paperwork ready

Immigration is much more chary of issuing extensions based on marriage, mind you,

your daughter does strengthen your case. You must show a 40K per month of family income.

(There is no cash in the bank option here now, for you).

Even so, extensions in this way can take 4-6 weeks to go through

Given that you are still working, you might not be around when the extension comes through,

therefore the retirement route is much easier.

For me the confusing thing is how to show income. When I was dealing with the Thai Embassy in Florida, they wanted to see my US bank statements going back 6 months showing income each month. But in the merchant marine, we are paid a regular check while aboard the ship and when we sign off the ship, we can apply for one vacation check from the union which is basically a check for 4 months of our base pay without overtime. This leaves several bank statments when there is no income. I tried to explain this to the Thai consulate in Miami but they don't know what to do with any case that does not fit their guidelines. Also, our local English language newspaper just published an article in which the person asked the same question. The answer came from Phuket immigration saying that a letter from one's embassy showing sufficient income would have to be presented for anyone applying for an extention who did not have a visa before October 1st, 2006. I do not see the US embassy issuing such a letter. It is hard enough to get even the documents that they are required to issue without asking them for extras. Please can you let me know what Singapore will require concering income at the Thai Embasy?

[lopburi3]

The US and other embassies most surly do this. Every workday they probably process a dozen such letters. They have the form at the ACS window in the Consular Section of the old Embassy building - you fill in the pay amount, pay the notary fee and return to swear/sign the document. Cost is $30 and there is no paperwork proof required. You use that only if immigration asks to see supporting evidence (which is not normally required).

For Singapore to issue a multi entry non immigrant O visa for marriage will require the marriage certificate and a bank statement or book that shows the equivalent of 400k baht in an account under your name. Believe they prefer it be current within the last week or at least within the month.