Changed from a retirement visa to a marriage visa last month. Do I have to go through this whole process again next year?

[Pinot]

Getting a retirement visa is a piece of cake compared to that terrible marriage visa experience. We did it in the end, but that was ridiculous. Two complete sets of paperwork? Ridiculous requirements for multiple pics of us in our home? I'm surprised they didn't want pics of us in bed. Just endless paperwork hoops they make you jump through. My question is what happens next year? Does this get any easier in the second year? Will they require everything all over again? Thanks.

[DrJack54]

The requirements for your next extension will be the same each. Year.

 

Just to be clear ...you do not have a marriage visa or a retirement visa.

You have a temporary permission of stay that can be extended by 12 months each year.

The extension can be based on marriage or retirement.

 

Retirement has more difficult financial requirements whereas the extension based on marriage has many document requirements 

 

[lopburi3]

Two sets because it is not a local decision - normal.

Same requirements each and every year (with the 30 day under review) - home visits may or may not be made.

 

Advantage is that account money is yours to use for 9 or 10 months of the year - unlike for retirement (unless using income method).

[BenStark]

30 minutes ago, Pinot said:

Ridiculous requirements for multiple pics of us in our home? I'm surprised they didn't want pics of us in bed. Just endless paperwork hoops they make you jump through. My question is what happens next year?

You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it 🙂

[transam]

2 minutes ago, BenStark said:

You made your bed, now you have to sleep in it 🙂

Is printing off a few extra pages of stuff too difficult for you...........?  🤭

[foreverlomsak]

You've a number of choices 

Stick with it, some of my friends are complaining about extra photo's being needed year on year.

Return to retirement, not a problem, if Immigration ask say too much paperwork.

Use an agent, at a cost, and I believe since tax has been spoken about it has jumped considerably.

Return to home country.

Move to another country.

The choice is yours.

[Will B Good]

Same every year, but can get more onerous.

 

Couple of years ago we had to drive three sets of neighbours to immigration to be interviewed......last year I had a 20 min interview....father's name? Mother's maiden name?.....how many siblings?.....Brother's middle name.....

 

..................AND this was conducted by the same officer we see every year........and we've been married for 17 years.

[BenStark]

9 minutes ago, transam said:

Trolling, those are the words of a lost boy........🤭

 

So tell me, why did you say, you made your bed now lay in it. Do you prefer to have money tied up most of the year, where if a bloke is married he doesn't, just needs to print off a few extra pages.

Now if you do the retirement thing, it is you who should lay in it, I would have thought....😭........................😋

Try to read the OP and comprehend it, which may be difficult for you, but here it goes.

 

The OP complained about the excessive paperwork involved with a marriage extension and questioned if it would be the same each year.

12 minutes ago, transam said:

Now if you do the retirement thing, it is you who should lay in it, I would have thought....

Yes I know you switched to marriage extension as well because you're skint. Not me, I can afford to have 800K parked in an account 12 months a year.

 

13 minutes ago, transam said:

Trolling, those are the words of a lost boy.

Only trolls, silly and brain-dead people use a lot of emojis in their posts, which one is you?

[transam]

23 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Try to read the OP and comprehend it, which may be difficult for you, but here it goes.

 

The OP complained about the excessive paperwork involved with a marriage extension and questioned if it would be the same each year.

Yes I know you switched to marriage extension as well because you're skint. Not me, I can afford to have 800K parked in an account 12 months a year.

 

Only trolls, silly and brain-dead people use a lot of emojis in their posts, which one is you?

To even mention emojis is questionable, please stay focused.........🤭

 

Plus, I have never been on a retirement visa, seems daft if one is married and just show 400k in the bank for 60 days.

But you carry on, stash your cash over a few extra printouts..........

 

In your own words, you made your bed, now lay in it........😂

[connda]

Have a checklist.  Keep multiple copies of reusable items (for example, hand-drawn map, your wife's house-book and id, your passport).  That leaves you with annual pictures.  If you want to get sneaky about it, take multiple pictures wearing different clothes.  Our office wants two pictures (copies of the same picture) at the front gate with address, two pictures in living room and two picture sitting on the bed.  While your at it, make multiple copies of a 4x6 photo of yourself.  You could spend one afternoon/evening at put together application packets for the next three or four years.  That leaves you only with going to the bank to get a bank letter (you have to do this for retirement too) and on the way stop by the Amphur office and pick up a copy of your Kor 2 (20 or 30 THB). 

Op, you're making a mountain out of a mole-hole.  You're railing at the system probably because it is unfair as compared with the immigration policies of our own country's where foreign wives are pretty much a shoe-in for a visa, a green-card (work permit), permanent residency, and a path to citizenship.

I get it!  I've been there. I've done that. I do understand.
But now pushing 16 years of marriage and 17 years living here?  You adapt.  Or you don't and you leave. 

The process is an afternoon of prep work (or like I said, make packages for the next three years) and a day at immigration that could be as little as an hour to as much as all day depending where you Immigration office is.  Put it in perspective - It's Once A Year.  Really - it's not that big of a deal.

I've attached Ubonjoe's (may he rest in peace) Marriage Extension Checklist.

Marriage Extension Requirements - Ubonjoe.pdf

[Ben Zioner]

1 hour ago, Pinot said:

Does this get any easier in the second year? Will they require everything all over again? Thanks.

Yes you will need everything again. But you can make it easier by getting organised. Keep docs ready to be printed on your computer, then photos,  Kor Ror 2, Bank and off you go.

 

Also use only the 400k in the bank, don't even try the income option, some offices won't do it anyway.

 

I did 7 extensions, took about one day for each, needed also an extra hour or two to get the stamp. But when the LTR came, it was a no brainer,  just got it.

[Eff1n2ret]

36 minutes ago, connda said:

Have a checklist.  Keep multiple copies of reusable items (for example, hand-drawn map, your wife's house-book and id, your passport).  That leaves you with annual pictures.  If you want to get sneaky about it, take multiple pictures wearing different clothes. 

Copies of reusable items, good idea. For Rayong Office the multiple pictures wheeze wouldn't work, because they come round to visit. My pal does marriage extensions, and my missis is the "friendly neighbour", we go round for the visit every year. The process on the day seems very laid back and only takes a few minutes. The pile of paperwork seems a bit of a workup compared with my retirement extension, and a second trip to the office is required to pick up the passport with the new extension, but the less stringent financial requirement is certainly a factor for some.

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, Pinot said:

My question is what happens next year? Does this get any easier in the second year?

One thing that you should notice next year is that, once again, your annual extensions of stay will be dated from when your latest permission to stay expires rather than from when you applied for the extension (as was, I take it, the case this year because of your switch from retirement to marriage).

 

[BenStark]

Just now, OJAS said:

One thing that you should notice next year is that, once again, your annual extensions of stay will be dated from when your latest permission to stay expires rather than from when you applied for the extension (as was, I take it, the case this year because of your switch from retirement to marriage).

 

That is the same with every extension

[OJAS]

Just now, BenStark said:

That is the same with every extension

What on earth are you banging on about????

[BenStark]

19 minutes ago, OJAS said:

What on earth are you banging on about????

You pretend that this is only the case with an extension based on marriage, but an extension based on retirement, or based on any other subject, the extension is also dated when the previous one expires, not the date you apply.

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

The extension process is the same every year. But individual Imm offices often vary their requirements a bit year by year.

 

Marriage extension always involved more steps than retirement extension. In no small part because it has to be sent higher up the chain for approval whereas retirement extensions can be approved on the spot at level of Imm office.

 

The greater paperwork and longer approval time is the trade off for lower financial requirement. Up to you whether worth it or not.

[Peterw42]

I'm on my 6th marriage extension, its really no big deal. 400k in the bank for 60 days prior, I print the same photos, documents every year. As others have said, 1st stop ampher as they open, to get kor ror 2, next stop bank for the letter, get to immigration mid morning, there is never much of a queue like the retire desk, all done and finished by lunchtime. start spending the 400k.

[Photoguy21]

Yes, you have to do it every year.

[AhFarangJa]

I did my extension based on marriage for the first four years, then it just got ridiculous.

Apart from 76 pages of paperwork, a letter from the local amphor to say we are still married, two sets of picture, outside the house with the house number clearly visible, then change clothes, and take photo by the front door, change clothes, and take photo in the lounge, and yes, we had to have a photo sitting on the bed, again, with different clothes, ( at least we kept the clothes on !!). The final straw was that four days before the visa ran out we had a call from immigration. Now, all photos had to include our Son as well. I went to the office and said, firstly he is dual nationality, and secondly what if he is in Chiang Mai in University. All I got was a shrug of shoulders, and told that is what Bangkok wants now. 

Changed the following year to simple extension to stay, one piece of paper, and a photograph of just me. 

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Also use only the 400k in the bank, don't even try the income option, some offices won't do it anyway.

From where did you get that from? I doubt whether there is a single office in the land that would reject the oncome method. They would certainly have no just cause for doing so.

[VocalNeal]

27 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Yes, you have to do it every year.

...and for a visa/work permit. Every year photos of the premises, staff, me at a desk, staff at work. et al. and sit for most of the day in area M at Chaengwattana. Just part of the cost of doing business. 

 

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

From where did you get that from? I doubt whether there is a single office in the land that would reject the oncome method. They would certainly have no just cause for doing so.

Actually, without a work permit and/or tax payment, they could have cause I suspect.  But if legally working here with required income it should be accepted - but have seen reports that this might not always be the case.

[Photoguy21]

46 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

...and for a visa/work permit. Every year photos of the premises, staff, me at a desk, staff at work. et al. and sit for most of the day in area M at Chaengwattana. Just part of the cost of doing business. 

 

Exactly. That is the system and as much as we may not like it we have to abide by it.

[foreverlomsak]

3 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Changed the following year to simple extension to stay, one piece of paper, and a photograph of just me. 

What extension did you get with one piece of paper and a photograph.

I've been here 17 years on extensions for marriage, retirement, Non-B and back to retirement using 6 different offices and every year is a paper chase (next year expect to have to submit a total of 24 pages for retirement, 5 of which have to be obtained from my local office first for completion and inclusion in the pack).

I am forced to assume you used an agent to obtain it with not even proof of finances.

[Muhendis]

16 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

I'm on my 6th marriage extension, its really no big deal. 400k in the bank for 60 days prior, I print the same photos, documents every year. As others have said, 1st stop ampher as they open, to get kor ror 2, next stop bank for the letter, get to immigration mid morning, there is never much of a queue like the retire desk, all done and finished by lunchtime. start spending the 400k.

One small point.

KR 2 hasn't been required for a few years now. Immigration office computers have access to that information, but, as we all know, some offices have been known to invent their own set of rules. It might be an idea to check if it is still required next time you apply for your extension. 

[Peterw42]

2 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

One small point.

KR 2 hasn't been required for a few years now. Immigration office computers have access to that information, but, as we all know, some offices have been known to invent their own set of rules. It might be an idea to check if it is still required next time you apply for your extension. 

I've never heard of the databases being linked, Its certainly still required in Pattaya, and they probably do more marriage extensions than any other office. 

[nobodysfriend]

20 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Same every year, but can get more onerous.

 

Couple of years ago we had to drive three sets of neighbours to immigration to be interviewed......last year I had a 20 min interview....father's name? Mother's maiden name?.....how many siblings?.....Brother's middle name.....

 

..................AND this was conducted by the same officer we see every year........and we've been married for 17 years.

Sometimes they like to make it difficult ... happened to me also ...

Wife asked the boss ( small immigration office ) , what he likes to drink ... he liked red wine , he said .

Next extension date , he got 2 bottles of good wine ( for the crew ) , handed to him discretely ... but they all noticed ...

Was out of the office with my extension in about 30 min .

Super friendly staff , waied on my way out ...

This is the way to go in Thailand if you can .

They are all underpaid , happy about some good wine wine they would not buy themselves ...and I was happy too , I felt very welcome .

[Muhendis]

8 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

I've never heard of the databases being linked, Its certainly still required in Pattaya, and they probably do more marriage extensions than any other office. 

Yeah.

The first we knew about it at Buriram office was a couple of years ago when the officer removed KR 2 from the bundle of docs. and dropped it in the bin. He then explained about the linked information.

Like I said you should ask your local office about this. It would save a bit of running around.

[Bangkok Barry]

22 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Two sets because it is not a local decision - normal.

Depends which office you use. Kalasin requires one set, even though applications are then forwarded to Khon Kaen.