Changing from non B to non O

[zyphodb]

I've been teaching for 5 years at the same school on a non B visa or it's extensions, I'm finishing this April and don't want to leave the country if I can help it.

 I'm married with children to a Thai, was here on non O marriage visa and extensions for 5 years previously to starting teaching but had to change to a non B for the job as they wouldn't accept marriage visas for working in border provinces allegedly.

 So now I'm thinking how am I going to change back without leaving the country. I thought a 60 day visa for either visiting Thai wife or Thai child, can I do this at Immigration without leaving? If not, would an agent be able to sort this out without me leaving the country do you think?   @Udonjoe mainly...

[ubonjoe]

You can change the reason for your extension of stay based upon teaching to one based upon marriage to a Thai without leaving the country. You will need 400k baht in Thai bank for 2 months on the day you apply or proof of 40k baht income.

If you need more time to apply for the one year extension you could apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife.

You will need a letter from your school stating the last day you will be working for immigration to cancel your current extension of stay on the day you apply for either the one year or 60 day extension.

 

 

[zyphodb]

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can change the reason for your extension of stay based upon teaching to one based upon marriage to a Thai without leaving the country. You will need 400k baht in Thai bank for 2 months on the day you apply or proof of 40k baht income.

If you need more time to apply for the one year extension you could apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife.

You will need a letter from your school stating the last day you will be working for immigration to cancel your current extension of stay on the day you apply for either the one year or 60 day extension.

 

 

Great, so I should be able to go for the 60 day marriage or Thai child option at local immigration without having to cross any borders then?

 

                     Thanks for the impressively quick reply BTW

[ubonjoe]

54 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

Great, so I should be able to go for the 60 day marriage or Thai child option at local immigration without having to cross any borders then?

Yes

You will only need to change the reason for your extension of stay.

[Ubik314]

If the poster is currently staying with a non immigrant B visa, this visa will expire as soon as he quit his job/retire. There is no "change reason for extension" option there as only a work permit allows for extension of non immigrant B visa. 

So his question on how to switch from non immigrant B to non I visa is valid. Before the covid crisis it was in theory not possible in country (maybe allowed in some immigration offices?), You had to go oversea.

I think it was possible in country during the height of the covid crisis.

I do not know if it is still possible currently, please tell us later how/if you managed it, I for one will be interested as I will soon be in a similar situation.

 

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Ubik314 said:

If the poster is currently staying with a non immigrant B visa, this visa will expire as soon as he quit his job/retire. There is no "change reason for extension" option there as only a work permit allows for extension of non immigrant B visa. 

I am sure his non-b visa expired long ago. He on a permit to stay from that non-b visa and extended that stay based upon teaching. Many have changed the reason for their extension when working and etc.

No specific visa category is required to apply for a extension of stay. It order for theme only states it has to be a non immigrant visa.

[Ubik314]

 

If you are correct this would be a great new for me and others!

 

Ziphonb, could you tell us latter if you managed to get an extension based on marriage without the need to change your visa from non-imm B to non-imm O or OA? 

This would surprise me but I certainly wish you to succeed (and then I may do the same myself latter, with retirement instead of marriage as the justification for the extension).

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

24 minutes ago, Ubik314 said:

If you are correct this would be a great new for me and others!

I am correct.

I suspect you were given false info by employers and such or 2nd info from somebody.

[zyphodb]

1 hour ago, Ubik314 said:

 

If you are correct this would be a great new for me and others!

 

Ziphonb, could you tell us latter if you managed to get an extension based on marriage without the need to change your visa from non-imm B to non-imm O or OA? 

This would surprise me but I certainly wish you to succeed (and then I may do the same myself latter, with retirement instead of marriage as the justification for the extension).

Thanks in advance.

 

 

I will post the result but my visa doesn't run out until the end of April so you'll have to be patient, although I may have more info on 8/3 when my next 90 day comes up as I intend to quiz them about it...

 

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, Ubik314 said:

If the poster is currently staying with a non immigrant B visa, this visa will expire as soon as he quit his job/retire. There is no "change reason for extension" option there as only a work permit allows for extension of non immigrant B visa. 

So his question on how to switch from non immigrant B to non I visa is valid. Before the covid crisis it was in theory not possible in country (maybe allowed in some immigration offices?), You had to go oversea.

I think it was possible in country during the height of the covid crisis.

I do not know if it is still possible currently, please tell us later how/if you managed it, I for one will be interested as I will soon be in a similar situation.

 

It is a bit of a contentious subject. When I tried to extend on the basis of retirement with a Non B visa immigration refused saying that extensions must be consistent with the visa being used and they sent me to the MFA.

Of course people on here said immigration were wrong, the fact that immigration hold the stamp seems irrelevant.

The visa office in the MFA agreed that immigration were right, that extensions should be on the basis of the visa being used. Again, people on here said the MFA were wrong.

It is wrong to say that visas expire, they never do and remain on your immigration history, it is only the permission to stay in respect of that particular visa that expires. 

Bottom line is it is a bit of a lottery on how immigration will treat any application for extension. What happens in one office is of little guarantee of what will happen in another.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

It is a bit of a contentious subject. When I tried to extend on the basis of retirement with a Non B visa immigration refused saying that extensions must be consistent with the visa being used and they sent me to the MFA.

That is different from what is being discussed in the topic. You had a new non-b visa that was actually issued in error.

When going from one extension of stay to another the type of visa does not matter since it a non immigrant visa and that is all that is required to apply for a new extension.

 

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

It is wrong to say that visas expire, they never do and remain on your immigration history, it is only the permission to stay in respect of that particular visa that expires. 

Visas certainly do have a date that they expire and cannot be use for entry.

You technically still retain the same permit to stay it allowed until it expires either at the end the original entry or a extension of it.

[zyphodb]

@ Sandyf what is MFA?

[ubonjoe]

56 minutes ago, zyphodb said:

@ Sandyf what is MFA?

Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He went there to have the non-b visa changed to non-o visa since it was an error done by the embassy issuing it.

[sandyf]

On 2/2/2022 at 11:53 AM, ubonjoe said:

That is different from what is being discussed in the topic. You had a new non-b visa that was actually issued in error.

When going from one extension of stay to another the type of visa does not matter since it a non immigrant visa and that is all that is required to apply for a new extension.

 

Visas certainly do have a date that they expire and cannot be use for entry.

You technically still retain the same permit to stay it allowed until it expires either at the end the original entry or a extension of it.

You can change the context and spin things any way you want, doesn't make it right.