Change retirement visa to marriage visa in different passport.

[notrub]

I have dual nationality.  CDN by birth + UK.  My current Thai Retirement visa is in my UK passport and has been for several years.  Long story but I had to be married using my Canadian passport.  All above board and legal.  I now have a pink Thai ID card, house book and our marriage documents (and a wife too).  I have all the necessary (including money in a long-term deposit account) for a normal Ret. Visa but want to change it to my CDN passport and register as a person married to a Thai National.

 

Any comments on whether I will have to leave the country to get a new TM6 as I have been forced to do in the past?  I have one for my UK passport.  I see that they are temporarily suspending it (TM6).  Would it be a good idea to change my visa now?  My existing visa in my UK passport is not due for renewal until 26 01 2023 but could just change over now if leaving the country would not be req'd..  I know I would have to pay the visa fee early but that is OK, especially considering the cost and inconvenience of making an exit and re-entry trip by air. 

 

Any comments will be gratefully received.  Thank you

[ubonjoe]

You cannot change from a passport from one country to another without leaving the country's and re-entering with the other passport to get a new arrival stamp in it.

In your case if you want to change to your Canadians passport you would have to start all over again by getting a new non-o visa.

[Tuvoc]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You cannot change from a passport from one country to another without leaving the country's and re-entering with the other passport to get a new arrival stamp in it.

In your case if you want to change to your Canadians passport you would have to start all over again by getting a new non-o visa.

Yeah, same situation here, I got my retirement Visa in my UK passport followed by extensions of stay, but thinking now I'd rather have used my NZ passport. Mainly because NZ passport renewals  abroad are far easier than UK ones, and NZ is my country of birth. But I'd have to leave the country and start all over again, and whilst it isn't difficult it is still a hassle. I guess since the passport renewals are only every 10 years I can live with the current situation.

[notrub]

Thank you.  When I got my current non 'o' visa class in Surat Thani I  had to then wait for 60 (?) days and then apply for my retirement visa in Koh Samui.  (Years ago, I forget  the details.)  So, if I go out of the country on my UK passport and come back in on my Canadian passport where does that leave me?  Will my UK passport visa still valid as it has about 6 months to go before renewal?  I forget if they stamp passports on exit and with no TM6 on entry how would that affect my UK passport visa?  What duration of stay would I get on entry with my CDN passport?  Now I live in Buriram Province btw, and immigration here are very helpful. 

Thank you for any comments.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, notrub said:

Will my UK passport visa still valid as it has about 6 months to go before renewal?

No

You would not be able to use your UK passport that has your re-entry permit in it. As soon as you entered with your other passport it would no longer be valid.

[grain]

OP: you sure you really want to change from being on a retirement ext to a married ext? I've been on both in the past and the retirement ext is a breeze compared to the married ext. The only advantage of marry ext is the 400K Vs 800K in the bank, but with a marry ext. you have to involve your wife, have to show maps & photos and Imm will check on you and go around asking your neighbors about you. And personally I don't think it's a good idea to have one's Thai wife in control of your visa/permission to stay.

[DrJoy]

4 minutes ago, grain said:

OP: you sure you really want to change from being on a retirement ext to a married ext? I've been on both in the past and the retirement ext is a breeze compared to the married ext. The only advantage of marry ext is the 400K Vs 800K in the bank, but with a marry ext. you have to involve your wife, have to show maps & photos and Imm will check on you and go around asking your neighbors about you. And personally I don't think it's a good idea to have one's Thai wife in control of your visa/permission to stay.

I am on a Marriage extension, the IOs came to visit my home only the 1st time.

They never visited for subsequent extensions.

 

[Moonlover]

29 minutes ago, grain said:

And personally I don't think it's a good idea to have one's Thai wife in control of your visa/permission to stay.

That's nonsense. Ones Thai wife is not in control your permission to stay. She's there to confirm that you're married and living together. Nothing more. Like @DrJoy above we've only had one visit from immigration at our home and that was little more than a courtesy visit.

[OJAS]

7 hours ago, grain said:

And personally I don't think it's a good idea to have one's Thai wife in control of your visa/permission to stay.

So by the same token do you also agree that it is a thoroughly bad idea to have your Thai bank in control of your "visa"/permission to stay? If not, why not?

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by OJAS

[brianthainess]

16 hours ago, Moonlover said:

That's nonsense. Ones Thai wife is not in control your permission to stay. She's there to confirm that you're married and living together. Nothing more. Like @DrJoy above we've only had one visit from immigration at our home and that was little more than a courtesy visit.

Well lucky you. Of course that's all relative to what province you live in. Trat visit every year and even retirees need 4 photos and get home visits. 

[notrub]

I have resigned myself to swap my visa into my CND passport.  Goodness knows I have jumped through some hoops to satisfy 4 countries that I exist and have a right to be in any one of them.  Aside from the pleasant parts of marriage I thought it would be a good idea to be a registered spouse intending to stay and be a good guest of the country.  There was some talk about the kind of person would be welcome to stay here (modest income vs wealthy etc.).  That was b4 covid and it seems to have gone away.  If someone like Patel (UK) were in charge here it would be a worry.  Thanks again for any comments.

[oldcpu]

I confess I don't understand the concern that you have about the multiple citizenships (and being married using Canadian passport but using your UK Passport for permission to stay in Thailand).

 

I have dual Canadian and Irish citizenship. My Thai wife and I were married in Canada.  We both worked in Germany for 20 years prior to moving to Thailand.

 

I use my Irish passport for entering/leaving/staying in Thailand. ie Type non-OA visa and later an extension based on retirement, and subsequently an extension based on marriage.  Using the Irish passport, despite our being married in Canada, has never caused an issue with immigration (despite the local City Hall mistake).

 

The only problem came up when the local City Hall office first issued the Kor-22 (?) they mistakenly put my citizenship (written in Thai) as "German" (as I worked in Germany for 20 years and my last address in Germany before moving to Thailand somehow confused them).  Rather than re-issue that Thai language marriage document, they added an extra page to it, which corrects the mistake.  Of course as one might expect, when I went for a Kor-22 renewal (as one needs to renew the Kor-22 every year year for the marriage extension) they mistakenly copied the incorrect German citizenship entry (in Thai) to the updated Kor-22 and after I had my Thai wife proof read it, she saw the mistake and we had to have that corrected - which they did. They made the mistake as they did not read the last correction page on the original Thai issued marriage document.

 

As long as the city hall doesn't screw up there should be no issue. Just ensure someone who can read/understand Thai checks everything carefully.

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by oldcpu

[notrub]

Thanks.  I was born in Canada.  I am a naturalized UK citizen.  I was able to live in France as a UK citizen, and member of the EU.  Now I have a resident's certificate for France, having to do with my residency for 25+ years.  I used my recently renewed Canadian passport to obtain a 'freedom to marry' certificate as they accepted my French divorce documents without translation. So the Thai authorities married us on my Canadian passport. 

 

I am mindful of the UK government's actions and have some concerns that one day they may turn their sights on me.  I am white so maybe I am safe. But with racists such as Priti Patel in charge who knows what might happen?

 

I have no problem with my current visa but I would like to tidy things up a bit.  My wife is married to a man (me) with no visa which is not a problem for now.  But, who knows what could happen?

 

Thank you. Take care.