Enter on Retirement Visa then Apply for Extension based on Marriage

[hotandsticky]

Is the above possible?

 

 

A friend was apparently told, by his local Immigration office, that because he entered on a retirement visa his extension application must be based on retirement.

 

I have not come across this before and suspect that the IO simply wants the easier route of retirement, rather than send a marriage application to Khon Kaen.

[Lite Beer]

There is no Retirement Visa.

Does he have a Non O Visa or an Extension of Stay?

Either way he can apply for an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai lady if he qualifies.

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, Lite Beer said:

There is no Retirement Visa.

Does he have a Non O Visa or an Extension of Stay?

Either way he can apply for an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai lady if he qualifies.

He entered on a Non-Imm O Visa based on retirement.

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, hotandsticky said:

He entered on a Non-Imm O Visa based on retirement.

He should be able to apply for a extension based upon marriage during the last 30 days of the 90 day stay allowed by the non-o visa.

[OJAS]

By "retirement visa" do you mean an original visa of the non-OA or non-O variety? If non-OA, there are certainly reports on here of those who sought annual extensions of stay for retirement after their visa had been fully used prior to its expiry being subsequently able to switch to marriage extensions so as to overcome the mandatory health insurance requirement. As I recall, @Pib was able to secure such a switch at Chaengwattana Immigration.

 

But, with all such matters Immigration-related, I think that it all depends on (1) the particular immigration office you deal with, (2) the particular officer you deal with, and (3) most importantly which side of the bed said officer had got out of that morning. Which immigration office are we talking about in this particular instance?

 

EDIT: Crossed with your reply to Lite Beer, it would appear.

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by OJAS

[Liquorice]

21 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

A friend was apparently told, by his local Immigration office, that because he entered on a retirement visa his extension application must be based on retirement.

It doesn't matter on what basis he applied for the Non Imm O Visa.
If legally married to a Thai, he can apply for an extension of stay based on Thai spouse.

You can change the 'reason' for an extension from retirement to Thai spouse and vice versa provided you meet the requirements.

[Peterw42]

OP, I originally arrived on an OA, and subsequently switched to marriage extensions.

in jomtien

[DrJack54]

59 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

I have not come across this before and suspect that the IO simply wants the easier route of retirement, rather than send a marriage application to Khon Kaen.

I must be in the wrong on this as I was thinking that the FIRST extension needed to be based on what the non O was based on.

 

However subsequent extensions can change to based on marriage or retirement.

Perhaps I'm thinking of the first extension from a non O-A.

 

As usual it comes down to the immigration office.

 

ubonjoe has indicated "no problem" in his post and others agree.

[DrJack54]

17 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, I originally arrived on an OA, and subsequently switched to marriage extensions.

in jomtien

So, was that your first extension from the non O-A? 

Able to apply for the extension based on marriage?

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I must be in the wrong on this as I was thinking that the FIRST extension needed to be based on what the non O was based on.

 

However subsequent extensions can change to based on marriage or retirement.

Perhaps I'm thinking of the first extension from a non O-A.

 

As usual it comes down to the immigration office.

 

ubonjoe has indicated "no problem" in his post and others agree.

You are not alone in thinking that a 1st extension should be on that basis  -  hence me posting the question.

[Lite Beer]

2.18 In the case of being a family member of a Thai national (applicable only to parents, spouse, children, adopted children, or spouse’s children):

 

(1) The alien must have been granted a non-immigrant visa (NON-IM). (2) The alien must have proof of relationship. (3) In the case of spouse, the relationship must be de jure and de facto:

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

You are not alone in thinking that a 1st extension should be on that basis  -  hence me posting the question.

If it was a Non-OA visa that could be the case. Not sure why people are bringing the OA visa into the discussion.

The is no reason for immigration not to extend a non-o visa that was issued based upon retirement. Not sure how immigration would even know that it was issued for retirement unless the embassy or consulate that issued it wrote a note on the visa sticker.

[Peterw42]

12 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

So, was that your first extension from the non O-A? 

Able to apply for the extension based on marriage?

No, I did a couple of retire extensions (one via an agent), then switched to marriage extension.

They did initially try to enforce the OA insurance but I was able to argue the point and they changed their mind.

 

 

[Liquorice]

17 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I must be in the wrong on this as I was thinking that the FIRST extension needed to be based on what the non O was based on.

 

14 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

You are not alone in thinking that a 1st extension should be on that basis  -  hence me posting the question.

 

Many foreigners previously met their now Thai spouses on visits to Thailand.
At the time of applying for a Non Imm O, they are not married, therefore have to apply based on retirement.
Once legally married, which is a change in circumstances, you can then change the reason of extending your stay based on Thai spouse/family.

 

Certain Immigration officers simply resent the extra work when applying based on Thai spouse and give all manner of excuses.
Extensions based on Thai spouses have to be approved by regional offices, therefore the Immigration officer accepting your documents for the extension is having his 'competence' of requirements' checked in effect. They hate to be told by an authority the application is incomplete, basically being incompetent and loosing 'face'.

 

This is a universal list of documents that may be requested for an extension based on Thai spouse.
Docs Extension of Stay based on Thai spouse.pdf 

[Liquorice]

30 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not sure how immigration would even know that it was issued for retirement unless the embassy or consulate that issued it wrote a note on the visa sticker.

The only difference I've noted is that certain Thai Embassies note in the remarks 'Employment prohibited' when the Non O was issued based on retirement.
I very much doubt Immigration would be aware of that fact anyway.

[TheFishman1]

I cannot count all the years then when people put retirement visa and everybody really knows it’s an extension on staying they pointed out 1 million times here and gets so boring I wish I had a penny for every time somebody would correct I think he’ll just get over it you know what you’re trying to say TIT

[hotandsticky]

13 minutes ago, TheFishman1 said:

I cannot count all the years then when people put retirement visa and everybody really knows it’s an extension on staying they pointed out 1 million times here and gets so boring I wish I had a penny for every time somebody would correct I think he’ll just get over it you know what you’re trying to say TIT

 

That is not the point of this thread.......

 

It is about whether you can apply for a marriage extension having entered on a Visa based on retireman.

Edited November 3, 2022 by hotandsticky

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

That is not the point of this thread.......

 

It is about whether you can apply for a marriage extension having entered on a Visa based on marriage.

Think you made a typo.

You mean entered on non O based on retirement. 

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Think you made a typo.

You mean entered on non O based on retirement. 

 

Thank you.......duly edited.