Mariage in Thailand and visa turnaround time

[cauchy]

Hi there,

 

After a few years with my Thai gf plus too much stress dealing with Thai immigration matters, thinking of tying the knot, then securing a non-O visa by the same occasion.

 

After enquiring on the process, I found out that as a French national, I can expect at the very least 3-4 weeks (best case scenario) of turnaround time to secure the required paperwork from my embassy. Add to this the time to prepare / translate / certify the paperwork brought into and out of the embassy, I am planning for a total turnaround time (from starting gathering the documents to show up at the Amphur and sign up the marriage documents) of 5-6 weeks at the very least.

 

Problem: my current visa-exempt stamp expires in 1 month and due to one-too-many visits to the kingdom - I have been there on a visa exempt stamp obtained in January, followed by 2 Covid extensions since; I flew to Singapore for 2 weeks and on the way back a few days ago, have been (not so nicely) let known by the immigration staff that I would not been given an extension on top of my visa exempt stamp.

 

So I find myself in a bit of a catch. If I start with the process paperwork tomorrow, I will not have the time to complete the process by the time my visa-exempt expires. And I suppose that without a marriage certificate, I will not have any chance to secure a way back to Thailand before the usual cool off period (Thai embassy in France has a practice of making you wait 3 months after your last visit to Thailand to issue a new tourist visa, not sure what my chances would be if asking for a regular Thai tourist visa from a neighboring country).

 

Would gladly hear your thoughts on whether there could be a solution to either stay longer in TH until my marriage paperwork goes through, or a way to come back without waiting for a few months to finish the process here?

 

 

[DrJack54]

18 minutes ago, cauchy said:

I flew to Singapore for 2 weeks and on the way back a few days ago, have been (not so nicely) let known by the immigration staff that I would not been given an extension on top of my visa exempt stamp.

Immigration staff where? 

 

You will be able to obtain a 30 day extension to visa exempt entry.

 

You didn't consider marriage earlier? Seems you had some time in Thailand previously to do that easily. 

[2 is 1]

Like DRJack said :

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You will be able to obtain a 30 day extension to visa exempt entry

if there is any space in your passport!

[brianthainess]

Why does your Embassy take so long to give the relevant req. docs ? normally at most given the next day, and you can get it translated the same day. Marry anywhere the same or next day with your chosen witnesses.  

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, brianthainess said:

Why does your Embassy take so long to give the relevant req. docs ? normally at most given the next day, and you can get it translated the same day. Marry anywhere the same or next day with your chosen witnesses.  

Some embassies take a while since it is a requirement for them to get confirmation the country they represent that a person is not married already.