Possibly seperating from my Thai wife

[bkkbill75]

My Thai wife and I have been married for 12+ years. I have a visa extension based on marriage to a Thai National. We've been talking about seperating but neither of us is convinced that's what we really want to do. My question is: if we do seperate, even for a trial period, must I report to Thai Immigration and switch to a visa for retirement purposes? Or, is there some allowance for this situation?  Thanks for any advice.

[KhunLA]

Why would you report anything, until a divorce is final ?  As long as she don't mind going to Imm during extension time.  A nice day out, meal, relax, maybe even a nice 'ending' to the day.

 

Actually good friends with a couple of my relationships afterwards, once not living together.  Still talk to wife #2 on FB.

 

TECHNICALLY, yea, your supposed to report any address changes, but .... UP2U / her.  I'd wait till you got your retirement visa requirements all lined up, 800k / 2 or 3 months or DDs for the year.

[Tod Daniels]

Sadly, there is no allowance for this.

 

But, with that being said, separating from your Thai wife isn't getting legally divorced from her at the local Amphur with the divorce decree.

 

So there's no reason to inform immigration about anything. At least not until you're going to go get your next yearly extension based on marriage to a Thai.

 

Now on the other hand, if you do get divorced legally here, you need to go to the immigration office and cancel your marriage extension that day. Then you either meet the requirements for another extension for a different reason (retirement, having Thai children, etc) or you have to leave the country.

[bkkbill75]

Thanks for the replies.

 

My visa renewal isn't until December so, there should be plenty of time for things to be settled.

 

If, however, things are still not settled (meaning we haven't decide to divorce) , can my wife and I go to Thai Immigration and apply for an extension based on marriage? Or, is that pushing it?

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks for the replies.

 

My visa renewal isn't until December so, there should be plenty of time for things to be settled.

 

If, however, things are still not settled (meaning we haven't decide to divorce) , can my wife and I go to Thai Immigration and apply for an extension based on marriage? Or, is that pushing it?

Why not, as until you are divorced, you are still married.  Only you can tell them different.  All you are telling imm is you are married, you support her (help) and are living together.  They don't care if you're in a happy blissful relationship.

[bkkbill75]

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

[jvs]

10 minutes ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

There are many people married and not living together,what about people who work overseas for 6 months at the time?

My advice,do not create a problem out of nothing.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

If you and your wife agree to a lat relation and you are both happy with that then who

really cares what others think?

Personally i know of more then one couple who do not live together anymore

but every year they both go to immigration in other for the husband to get another extension.

Is it breaking the law?Maybe so but so is speeding but as long as you don't get caught?

I know of much worse things.

[TimBKK]

Immigration will on occasion pay an unannounced home visit - we read stories about this now and then - so I suppose that could be a risk, if they show up and your spouse clearly no longer resides with you.  Likely will not happen, but it is a (small) risk nonetheless and should be planned for.  Frankly, if you are still contemplating a separation at the time of your next extension, I would switch over to retirement presuming you can meet the additional requirements - why take a risk if things go south?

[KhunLA]

18 minutes ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

Nothing wrong with having 2 residents, then you're simply Hi-so, and no need to inform them of any changes that will affect your visa.  UP2U of course, but what you don't offer, may make things easier at extension time.

 

Or simply get the retirement visa.  I'll be getting that next time, even though happily married, just for convenience of less paperwork, and no need for a witness, as Imm office is 100 km away.  My DD now meets the 65k month.  Have done in the past, but not a big fan of lump summing it.  

[bkkbill75]

I definitely tend to overthink things but, since I really like living in Thailand, I don't want to make a mistake I regret.

 

I'm leaning toward changing to a Retirement in December. I have sufficient monthly Direct Deposit income which will make life simpler.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

[problemfarang]

Hi,

first of all its sad to hear 12+ marriage might end. but trust me its not the end of the world.

 

second, as long as you guys are officially married you dont need to take any action. After divorce yes, you need to inform this to immigration and do what you can do to extend your visa. If you change your place, i would do a new TM30 nothing to lose but it will be good for you later. safety first.

 

speaking first hand, i strongly suggest not to stay marry but live separate and use the marriage visa. Thats what one of my friends did and it didnt ended up well for both sides. Both legally and personally. Had lot of issues and problems. 

 

you have mentioned you can extend as retirement, do it. it will make your head and minds clear about the visa which is the most important thing actually. also you will not stress yourself with what will happen IF questions. also you will get your visa freedom. 

 

I must say if a couple started about divorcing, there is nothing to do more. soon or later most likely it will end. So if i were you i would ended before breaking both side's feelings more... ended as a friend, thats better. If it comes to this, i strongly suggest to sign a contract for both sides sake. I know 12+ year wife and who else you can trust more. right? well its not like that trust me. after divorce if there is a house,car,etc. believe me it will be a problem, soon or later. but for sure. unless you sign a contract and decide who will take what. if there is nothing at all then no worries.

 

good luck

[NanLaew]

45 minutes ago, bkkbill75 said:

I'm leaning toward changing to a Retirement in December. I have sufficient monthly Direct Deposit income which will make life simpler.

Do this and take the whole married, separated, non-cohabitation conundrum out of the picture. Prioritize your legal, long-term non-immigrant status first and worry about the relationship separately with no immigration 'hooks' attached later.

[wensiensheng]

2 hours ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks for the replies.

 

My visa renewal isn't until December so, there should be plenty of time for things to be settled.

 

If, however, things are still not settled (meaning we haven't decide to divorce) , can my wife and I go to Thai Immigration and apply for an extension based on marriage? Or, is that pushing it?

I think the thing to remember is that it is a marriage extension and not a living together extension. If you are legally married, there is still at least a moral obligation to provide some element of financial support to your wife, so I really can’t see a problem so long as your wife is amenable.

 

I’m not a lawyer, but for practical purposes, how do immigration know whether your wife lives with you or not? Only if she tells them.

[Meat Pie 47]

1 hour ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

Have to add to this I am seperated from my wife after nearly 18 years of marriage never got divorced we both live in the same city just a few minutes apart in different condos (albeit not in LOS anymore) we both moved back to OZ, she got dual citicen ship for many years. We are still connected to each other, in contact every day, she rings me every day and visits me every few days even takes me out to shops or restaurants. We are more happy now than we used to be when we lived together, actually she is my best friend now but maybe I am lucky. I am still in contact with her family and her nephew used to stay in my place a couple of days per week till he had to move back to Thailand because of visa reasons, he still rings me every night. So for us it was a good choice not to get divorced just get seperated but as I mentioned earlier we moved away from LOS but every situation is different so I won't give you any advice just tell you my story. Wish you all the best.

[RedArmy]

39 minutes ago, problemfarang said:

first of all its sad to hear 12+ marriage might end.

What's sad about it ??? That's life.

 

I got divorced last year after 27 years of marriage - I'm still celebrating now my new found freedom.

[sead]

Perhaps she is waiting for you to buy another car or house before she files the paperwork. Naah just kidding, she can't be that smart.....

Now is a good time to reassure some of you assets Nd money are being redistributed..

[RocketDog]

3 hours ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

I'm baffled by your post and replies. Are you serious about the "lying" part?

Separation and divorce are two completely different things, morally, ethically, and legally. Are spouse's living apart because of temporary job issues considered separated? Are two people living in the same house considered married? You're just arguing semantics.

 

Take the simple advice you've been given and stop with the virtue signaling nonsense.

 

Dealing with immigration here is difficult enough without making it harder on yourself.

 

I won't even read the rest of this thread.

[jack71]

9 hours ago, bkkbill75 said:

Thanks KhunLA but, if we're seperated, even if I am still helping her financially and we haven't decide to divorce, I'd be lying if I told them we're living together. Who knows, we both might be happier with that arrangement - happily married but not living together!

if you are still financially helping her then do you really think she is going to grass you up at immigration?

 

Is this thread for real?

[brianthainess]

20 hours ago, tod-daniels said:

Sadly, there is no allowance for this.

 

But, with that being said, separating from your Thai wife isn't getting legally divorced from her at the local Amphur with the divorce decree.

 

So there's no reason to inform immigration about anything. At least not until you're going to go get your next yearly extension based on marriage to a Thai.

 

Now on the other hand, if you do get divorced legally here, you need to go to the immigration office and cancel your marriage extension that day. Then you either meet the requirements for another extension for a different reason (retirement, having Thai children, etc) or you have to leave the country.

Or use an Agent if not have 800k in bank.