How Is a Retirement Visa Simpler Than a Marriage Visa?

[renaissanc]

17 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

No photos

Thank you! That's what I've been looking for in the replies.

[poppysdad]

Everyone to their own re pictures. Our neighbour took two photos of us outside of house (thanks to KhunLA for some help with one but problem rectified with new numbers) and 2 photos inside house. Put on computer and then printed out, less than 10 minutes taken up with it all. Immigration officer just glanced at them and put her stamp on the pages. All very easy. 

[Old Croc]

2 hours ago, BangkokAlan said:

The marriage extension is easy I did mine last week at Chaengwattana, booked online for the appointment and was in and out in 30 mins

Unfortunately, not all offices work the same way.

Last year I booked an appointment on-line, but it was ignored by the IO and I was given a number in last place. After a 2 hour drive I had to wait about the same time again before getting a very officious officer who took over an hour to finish shuffling papers and getting approx 7000 signatures on every scrap of paper he could find, despite me having already done so on most. The 2 hour drive home made it a long day.

Having to go back again a month later is a pain. (I won't entrust my PP to Thai post)

[brianthainess]

18 hours ago, renaissanc said:

I'll also need to have 800,000 Baht in a bank account for 3 months before the application.

And not dropping below 400k all year. (2 Months before)

[DrJoy]

18 hours ago, renaissanc said:

Do you need to show 10 photos of your home as in the Marriage Visa

2 Photos inside home and 2 photos outside your home with the house number clearly visible.

 

Printed in color on A4 sheets

[DrJoy]

19 hours ago, renaissanc said:

I've heard that a Retirement Visa requires fewer documents.

Sure retirement visa/extension requires fewer documents.

 

Main advantage of marriage extension is the ability to get a Work Permit (If you get a job)

 

You are allowed to work on a marriage extension, retirement cannot.

Edited April 5, 2023 by DrJoy

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, poppysdad said:

I rarely get spoken to, my wife handles everything with them and it all flows very smoothly. Perhaps that’s part of the secret as we have all seen some bad examples of expats who think they no it all and argue away with the immi officers.

Same here all I get from the IO is go sit down Pa Pa, I say ok Son. Only when I have to sign his docs do i have to go back outside on the porch and pose with him for photos. 

[Kalasin Jo]

3 hours ago, poppysdad said:

Dr. Jack, we had a home visit first time which was no problem whatsoever to us and there was no mention yesterday that we would be getting another this time. But yes we could still get a phone call to expect one.
As for some saying they feel they lose control of the situation, I’m perfectly happy as one other said it’s a joint operation between husband and wife. My wife happily and in a friendly manner chats away with all the immi officers while we sit there, I rarely get spoken to, my wife handles everything with them and it all flows very smoothly. Perhaps that’s part of the secret as we have all seen some bad examples of expats who think they no it all and argue away with the immi officers.

Sadly my wife is useless at any admin.. especially this! Last time we had to go together for the farang stay in house notice and ask about current extension requirements the IO started with her in Thai but soon gave up. Turning to me and in English. After a while he said you understand all this better than your wife, then to her : you must take better care of your husband. She was not at all amused, but I certainly was! Close to expiry of my 90 day non O marriage based e-visa obtained out of country I applied for and obtained a retirement extension 1 year. Did this solo. No request to see wife. No photos other than my mug shot, no home visit ( yet!).

[NoshowJones]

How Is a Retirement Visa Simpler Than a Marriage Visa?

Simple, making things unnecessary harder is in the Thai gene's.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2023 by NoshowJones

[4MyEgo]

6 hours ago, glegolo18 said:

Too many people relay on their wifes and therefore loses control completely, and do not even know the rules that apply to these extensions...

Man up, like said......

This maybe true, however there are those of us who control mostly everything when it comes to paperwork and finances, except for cooking, cleaning etc....LOL

 

I simply print off the things that are required for my annual marriage extension which are saved on my laptop. copies and all. I have my wife take the photos of the house required and I print them off (this is accepted at our immigration office), sometimes we will LINE them to the photo place and pick them up when I go to the bank, I provide the bank staff with a copy of last years letter and say same, same, i.e. the bank statement, while I send the wife to the Amphur to get the "we are still married letter" 20 baht.

 

There is nothing hard about the marriage extension, except returning to get the stamp in your passport on the due date and it not being there, this happened twice in a row, last year and this year. This year I went in a day late to give them more time...., no have, net week....LOL, note to self, next year, ring before going in to make sure.

 

Apart from that, if you have extra stuff with you, just in case the want to pull a rabbit out of a hat, you should be fine. I also give them the exact money, suffice to say I won't allow them to keep 100 baht from the 2,000 baht that others give them, they have a job and should do it, if they can't provide the change, then give them the exact money.

 

@renaissanc The only difference with the Retirement extension (AKA Visa) is you will be required to have 800,000 baht in the bank 3 months before your application, 1st application (swapping from Marriage extension), you will be required to have photos of house and neighbour present, after that, you won't require the last two, but then again, each immigration have their own rules as I have found on this forum, i.e. that the rules vary.

 

You are correct about not requiring the letter from the Amphur, suffice to say, best stick to what your used to, as I do, besides, it makes them work as they have to send the docs off to be checked and approved as opposed to shoved in their draws and approved the same day.

 

[proton]

19 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

For extension based on marriage only 400k in bank for two months prior to application for extension and maintained durning under consideration period.

If the financial requirements were the same for marriage and retirement NO ONE would extend based on marriage from a non O .

 

The only group that would still opt for based on marriage is the folk doing extensions from a non O-A to avoid the insurance requirement. 

 

 

Up to the office, reports on here have stated some want 3 months still and have declined extensions with 2 months, I don't trust them so keep to the 3 months before 

[Old Croc]

55 minutes ago, DrJoy said:

2 Photos inside home and 2 photos outside your home with the house number clearly visible.

 

Printed in color on A4 sheets

I've been asked to bring six colored photos this year, 3 in 3 out.

Can vary with offices and officers.

[Tuvoc]

7 hours ago, HampiK said:

The main reason for me to change to retirement will be, that I don't have this 30 day under consideration period. 

Yes - both the last 2 years that I have renewed my retirement extension, I left the country the same week. A marriage extension would not have been possible if I read things here correctly. And I did them at the earliest opportunity.

[foreverlomsak]

23 hours ago, renaissanc said:

When I renewed my Marriage Visa the IO said I still need to take 10 photos of our house and I still need to have a neighbour vouch for me living where I do.

Unless you are unlucky with your Imm. Office

No photos are needed except for TM7

No neighbour needed to verify where you stay

No need for wife to be with you

No need for KR2 or KR3 proof of marriage

No home visit

  

[foreverlomsak]

Down side is the financials,

800K in Thai bank for 2 months before application (some offices still want 3 months)

the same 800K for 3 months after

and 400K for remainder of year

Alternatives are available like

Embassy letter of income

min of 65K foreign transfer each and every month

or combination of monthly transfer and money in bank (not all offices accept this option)

[foreverlomsak]

5 hours ago, Kalasin Jo said:

obtained a retirement extension 1 year. Did this solo. No request to see wife.

Why would they ask a retiree to produce a wife?

It's not mandatory to have one? 

It could even be a problem, during my first extension submission, the wife of the couple in front of us was demanding Immigration reject her husband's extension request and send him home (all in Thai of course), while her husband was gazing around the office oblivious and  the officer was trying to explain to her that all the documents were OK and they were still married, so he had no reason to reject the application, her reply to that was "I don't want him anymore".

[Kalorymetr]

It's disrespectful they require 400k in a bank for marriage extension. I just found out about it recently, never heard about such thing in any other country.

[renaissanc]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:07 PM, MJCM said:

NO Photo's except your passport pic on the application form. (See #2 in my list as I addressed it there)

 

But 10 Photo's? We had to show only 4 photo's.

I'm used to having to print out 10 photos each year for the Marriage Visa.

[renaissanc]

14 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

Why would they ask a retiree to produce a wife?

It's not mandatory to have one? 

It could even be a problem, during my first extension submission, the wife of the couple in front of us was demanding Immigration reject her husband's extension request and send him home (all in Thai of course), while her husband was gazing around the office oblivious and  the officer was trying to explain to her that all the documents were OK and they were still married, so he had no reason to reject the application, her reply to that was "I don't want him anymore".

I feel sorry for the man! I don't have that problem fortunately. 

[renaissanc]

On 4/5/2023 at 7:10 AM, Dante99 said:

Never asked for photos or neighbors.  What are you doing to get such special attention?

For the Marriage Visa we've had to show 10 photos each year. The Immigration Police visit us each year, take about 8 photos, and ask the 80+ year old neighbour to vouch for us. It's just their procedure.

[renaissanc]

16 hours ago, foreverlomsak said:

Unless you are unlucky with your Imm. Office

No photos are needed except for TM7

No neighbour needed to verify where you stay

No need for wife to be with you

No need for KR2 or KR3 proof of marriage

No home visit

  

Thank you for your time!

[renaissanc]

Thank you everyone for your replies. In spite of the Retirement Visa having fewer documents, we'll carry on with the Marriage Visa for Year 40. Leaving 800,000 Baht in an account earning so little interest is silly, in my opinion. The 400,000 Baht difference is better off being in gold thanks to the mess Joe Biden has created. Besides, the additional documentation isn't onerous, and we'd still have to travel the 130 kms. to Immigration there and back twice anyway. At the old office the return journey was 150 kms.

[HampiK]

45 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

Thank you everyone for your replies. In spite of the Retirement Visa having fewer documents, we'll carry on with the Marriage Visa for Year 40. Leaving 800,000 Baht in an account earning so little interest is silly, in my opinion. The 400,000 Baht difference is better off being in gold thanks to the mess Joe Biden has created. Besides, the additional documentation isn't onerous, and we'd still have to travel the 130 kms. to Immigration there and back twice anyway. At the old office the return journey was 150 kms.

You can put your 800'000 in a time deposit, which will give about 1.5% interest at the moment. It's still not a very high interest, but at least not that bad, as in a saving account. Check with your Immigration office which they accept. But most should accept Time deposit accounts (As you can take out your money at any time, maybe with loss of interest).

[glegolo18]

On 4/5/2023 at 8:42 AM, poppysdad said:

My wife happily and in a friendly manner chats away with all the immi officers while we sit there, I rarely get spoken to, my wife handles everything with them and it all flows very smoothly. Perhaps that’s part of the secret as we have all seen some bad examples of expats who think they no it all and argue away with the immi officers.

You speak of 2 completely different kind of expats. where 1 is the argumentative one (as you said) thinking he knows it all... And the other one is very often a complete novis, left everything to wifey and do not understand the process at all..

 

But I can tell you that there is a huge crowd of expats, knowing their way around Immigration and the rules, and are fully capable of performing an extension of stay based on retirement. I think that to achieve this level, you really need to show some interest and be part of the process, and not take the easy way out and sleep it out, and let old wifey take charge....

[poppysdad]

What a ridiculous post you make glelego. You really need read what posters actually say rather than putting your own spin on everything. 
I’m fully aware of the whole procedure, I have prepared everything myself doing all the copying of everything including the kitchen sink a few days beforehand, my wife has no input into this whatsoever. She gets the Kor Ror 2 simply because it’s easier for her than me. We go to the bank together she only interacts if language problem. We get to immigration and they prefer to speak to her as others have also stated. If I’m asked anything I reply. Simple which seems to be what you are. Your apology will be accepted, so now go sober up. 

[brianthainess]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:36 AM, glegolo18 said:

You speak of 2 completely different kind of expats. where 1 is the argumentative one (as you said) thinking he knows it all... And the other one is very often a complete novis, left everything to wifey and do not understand the process at all..

 

But I can tell you that there is a huge crowd of expats, knowing their way around Immigration and the rules, and are fully capable of performing an extension of stay based on retirement. I think that to achieve this level, you really need to show some interest and be part of the process, and not take the easy way out and sleep it out, and let old wifey take charge....

So Three completely different kind of expats then. 

[renaissanc]

On 4/5/2023 at 8:17 AM, DrJack54 said:

You certainly had a helpful io.

Do you have home visits? 

 

Strangely, that's one thing that would do my head in.

Can understand many saying that it's no big deal.

I wouldn't appreciate it. 

We don't mind the annual visit. They like cats (we have 19) and they're away within the hour.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, renaissanc said:

We don't mind the annual visit. They like cats (we have 19) and they're away within the hour.

Is the 19 a typo?

If not perhaps you can check out Health forum ☺️

[TigerandDog]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:55 AM, nigelforbes said:

In Chiang Mai, only two photographs are required and nothing required from neighbors, even that is overkill and unnecessary.

I've only ever had to provide 1 photo at CM, and that's attached to the TM7, in the 10 years I've been here.

Edited April 8, 2023 by TigerandDog

[TigerandDog]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:36 AM, HampiK said:

You can put your 800'000 in a time deposit, which will give about 1.5% interest at the moment. It's still not a very high interest, but at least not that bad, as in a saving account. Check with your Immigration office which they accept. But most should accept Time deposit accounts (As you can take out your money at any time, maybe with loss of interest).

or you could open a ttb Non-Fixed account. It pays the same interest rate as their fixed term deposits without the limitations of a fixed term deposit, viz you can make withdrawals at any time and NOT LOSE any interest earned.

Edited April 8, 2023 by TigerandDog