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

[transam]

6 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Obviously you don't know the Isaan Farang.

What a stupid post..............................

[Bangkok Barry]

6 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

11 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I doubt there are many foreigners involved in fake marriages for the pleasure of staying in Thailand. Again, it's surely the other way around.

Obviously you don't know the Isaan Farang.

I am one. If you believe that farangs would enter a fake marriage to live in Thailand, at the same time almost certainly from a country with higher standards in just about everything, then I can't imagine the people you mix with.

[lopburi3]

3 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I am one. If you believe that farangs would enter a fake marriage to live in Thailand, at the same time almost certainly from a country with higher standards in just about everything, then I can't imagine the people you mix with.

Actually there are those who do just that - but the larger foreign group would be other Asian nationalities.

[DrJoy]

On 10/19/2023 at 1:44 PM, Sheryl said:

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.

You can work with a Thai Wife extension, if u get a WP sponsored by a company.

 

Retirees are not allowed to work

[Coota]

On 10/19/2023 at 9:51 AM, lopburi3 said:

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).

I have just done my first Marriage extension and will be approved in about 3 weeks. The home visit happened yesterday. I put the 400,000 baht in the bank about 4 months ago with the intention of just keeping it there forever so it is ready to go next year, however, I have just realised that, unlike the retirement extension, I can actually spend all or part of the money. Is this true? It doesn't have to stay in the account for a certain amount of time after the extension is granted? I know it has to be seasoned for at least 3 months before applying which would mean finding that money again and topping up the account.

 

We need a new car and I was struggling to find enough for the deposit as most of my money is tied up in shares and selling a portion now would be foolish as they are below value at the moment. I could use part of the Visa money to pay the deosit then sell the required amount of hares later when they are worth more.

 

Please, no lectures about about being foolish and the share price may not got up. 

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Coota said:

I have just done my first Marriage extension and will be approved in about 3 weeks. The home visit happened yesterday. I put the 400,000 baht in the bank about 4 months ago with the intention of just keeping it there forever so it is ready to go next year, however, I have just realised that, unlike the retirement extension, I can actually spend all or part of the money. Is this true? It doesn't have to stay in the account for a certain amount of time after the extension is granted? I know it has to be seasoned for at least 3 months before applying which would mean finding that money again and topping up the account.

 

We need a new car and I was struggling to find enough for the deposit as most of my money is tied up in shares and selling a portion now would be foolish as they are below value at the moment. I could use part of the Visa money to pay the deosit then sell the required amount of hares later when they are worth more.

 

Please, no lectures about about being foolish and the share price may not got up. 

Yes once extension is in passport safe to use money until next seasoning period.

[Lemsta69]

37 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I am one. If you believe that farangs would enter a fake marriage to live in Thailand, at the same time almost certainly from a country with higher standards in just about everything, then I can't imagine the people you mix with.

 

It's not only white people that want to come and live here on the cheap. Or do you think that 'farang' means all foreigners? Plenty of countries out there that aren't to the standard of 'farangland'.

 

And there I was thinking you were a proper 'journalist' and that the locals are all ignorant 😹

[Ben Zioner]

2 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

 

It's not only white people that want to come and live here on the cheap. Or do you think that 'farang' means all foreigners? Plenty of countries out there that aren't to the standard of 'farangland'.e Thai 

 

And there I was thinking you were a proper 'journalist' and that the locals are all ignorant 😹

My point is  that there are plenty of  cheap charlies who can't  come up with the 65000 K/month or  800000K/savings. Their "motivation" is such that they go either the illegal agent way or get into a cheap marriage. And, I'll let the idiots and hypocrites call me stupid, there are plenty,  some keep paying "fees" to their [ex]wives for years after the relationship has ended, de facto, just to be able to get their next extension of stay.

[Lemsta69]

7 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

My point is  that there are plenty of  cheap charlies who can't  come up with the 65000 K/month or  800000K/savings. Their "motivation" is such that they go either the illegal agent way or get into a cheap marriage. And, I'll let the idiots and hypocrites call me stupid, there are plenty,  some keep paying "fees" to their [ex]wives for years after the relationship has ended, de facto, just to be able to get their next extension of stay.

 

Sorry habib but I didn't read your posts, I was just responding to silly old Barry the nudnik 😉

[transam]

18 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

My point is  that there are plenty of  cheap charlies who can't  come up with the 65000 K/month or  800000K/savings. Their "motivation" is such that they go either the illegal agent way or get into a cheap marriage. And, I'll let the idiots and hypocrites call me stupid, there are plenty,  some keep paying "fees" to their [ex]wives for years after the relationship has ended, de facto, just to be able to get their next extension of stay.

So you're a hi-so member,  , I bet you came to LOS to live on the cheap, be honest..................

I've met a few like you...........🤭

[Ben Zioner]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

So you're a hi-so member,  , I bet you came to LOS to live on the cheap, be honest..................

I've met a few like you...........🤭

 

3 hours ago, transam said:

What a stupid post..............................

 

[transam]

12 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

 

 

Not really in your case, it's the "Hi-So" members like you that post stupid assertions towards other members that are stupid, thankfully there are only a couple on here like you.......

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, transam said:

Not really in your case, it's the "Hi-So" members like you that post stupid assertions towards other members that are stupid, thankfully there are only a couple on here like you.......

AseanNow has an ignore option and yet another thread reading this rubbish. 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

AseanNow has an ignore option and yet another thread reading this rubbish. 

I don't ignore tools that make daft assertions towards members financials here, but I do know you yourself have posted similar, because I pointed it out to you.

 

We have members from ALL financial brackets and should be treated as equals on any visa issue...

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

It's not only white people that want to come and live here on the cheap. Or do you think that 'farang' means all foreigners? Plenty of countries out there that aren't to the standard of 'farangland'.

 

You have a point. Do you actually know of anyone who has taken the marriage of convenience route though? I don't.

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You have a point. Do you actually know of anyone who has taken the marriage of convenience route though? I don't.

I don't even understand this post.

Would be VERY naive to think this is uncommon.

Perhaps not for certain nationalities however look at big picture. 

 

[transam]

My friend (81) has always had a retirement visa, think the last 20 years, but he recently had a fall, couple of ops, hospital stays, think it cost them about 400k, well at his age insurance is impossible with his other ailments.

 

So, I am going to try and do the marriage extension for him/them, so they can recoup some cash for their bank account and any other problem until he recovers, which at the mo looks a bit shaky.

This is just a point for some, none of us know what's around the corner, so we must do anything thing we can to keep the permission to stay valid, as in this case, and back off daft comments of folks financial situation comments.... 😊

 

 

 

[Lite Beer]

6 hours ago, Coota said:

 I know it has to be seasoned for at least 3 months before applying which would mean finding that money again and topping up the account.

 

 

Actually it is 2 months if that helps.

[GroveHillWanderer]

On 10/20/2023 at 11:05 AM, AhFarangJa said:

Yes. Marriage paperwork is 38 pages, duplicated equals 76. You have to provide every page of your passport that bears a Thai stamp,regardless of how old, copies of marriage papers, affidavits that still married from local amphur, copies of Wife's i.d. , copy of her tabien bahn from home village, copies of our tabien banh for house in Hua Hin, including pages 1, 18, first blank page, and signature page,  copies of our Son's birth certificate, his i.d., house purchase papers, or house contract, three months internet & power bills with my name on, map to house, including google co-ordinates, letter from bank, updated bank book, no later than 24 hours before, photos inside and outside house, wearing different clothes, and finally, all these papers must be placed in the correct order as listed by immigration.

I've been doing marriage extensions in Hua Hin for several years now - I don't supply or do half the things you refer to there. For instance, I have never supplied house purchase papers, or house contract, or internet & power bills with my name on and for the map to our house, it's just hand drawn and does not include Google coordinates. For the photos, they're all taken with us wearing exactly the same clothes (I'm not aware of any requirement for them to be taken with different clothes on and the IO's are perfectly happy with the photos I supply). 

 

Also, if I might ask, why is your wife still on a tabian baan from her home village? The tabian baan is supposed to be a record of where a person is actually living now, not where they used to live. If she's living with you in a house in Hua Hin, she should be on the tabian baan for that house.

 

As far as all the copies of passport pages, marriage certificate, bank book, letter etc I just hand everything to the "copy lady" at HH immigration and she does the needful - and at an extremely good price as well. 

 

I've never bothered counting how many pages it is in total but it's way less than 74 - probably less than 30, I reckon.

[BritTim]

10 hours ago, Peciacake said:

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

Is this from personal experience or is it across the board?  What have others experienced with the income option?  Is it a requirement to have 40.0K THB deposited every month or 480.0K (or more) over a 12 month period?

 

Income proof is most often accepted if it is either from employment in Thailand, or you can get a supporting letter from your embassy.

[Peciacake]

Income proof is most often accepted if it is either from employment in Thailand, or you can get a supporting letter from your embassy.

 

Thank you for your reply BT.  Unfortunately Australia, like the US and several other countries do not provide supporting letters.  Found another option here: https://pcec.club/Married/Related-to-a-Thai

[AhFarangJa]

10 hours ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

I've been doing marriage extensions in Hua Hin for several years now - I don't supply or do half the things you refer to there. For instance, I have never supplied house purchase papers, or house contract, or internet & power bills with my name on and for the map to our house, it's just hand drawn and does not include Google coordinates. For the photos, they're all taken with us wearing exactly the same clothes (I'm not aware of any requirement for them to be taken with different clothes on and the IO's are perfectly happy with the photos I supply). 

 

Also, if I might ask, why is your wife still on a tabian baan from her home village? The tabian baan is supposed to be a record of where a person is actually living now, not where they used to live. If she's living with you in a house in Hua Hin, she should be on the tabian baan for that house.

 

As far as all the copies of passport pages, marriage certificate, bank book, letter etc I just hand everything to the "copy lady" at HH immigration and she does the needful - and at an extremely good price as well. 

 

I've never bothered counting how many pages it is in total but it's way less than 74 - probably less than 30, I reckon.

Well, I guess you are one of the lucky ones. I wish you continued success. I posted my experiences in the hope of helping someone else out. I am not in the habit of making up facts for the fun of it, I have better things to do. You say you have never supplied house documents, I find that strange as you have to show a valid verification of where you live, be it a rental contract, or house papers. We actually had our first set of pictures rejected, because we had on the same clothes. We had a visit from Immigration who took pictures on his tablet we had to change clothes each time. As for the Tabian Bahn, your information is incorrect, it is not where a person is living at any specific time, it is where they are registered as their principle address, for example registration for voting, opening of bank accounts, buying and registering a vehicle.   

[Pinot]

On 11/1/2023 at 2:18 PM, Coota said:

I have just done my first Marriage extension and will be approved in about 3 weeks. The home visit happened yesterday. I put the 400,000 baht in the bank about 4 months ago with the intention of just keeping it there forever so it is ready to go next year, however, I have just realised that, unlike the retirement extension, I can actually spend all or part of the money. Is this true? It doesn't have to stay in the account for a certain amount of time after the extension is granted? I know it has to be seasoned for at least 3 months before applying which would mean finding that money again and topping up the account.

 

We need a new car and I was struggling to find enough for the deposit as most of my money is tied up in shares and selling a portion now would be foolish as they are below value at the moment. I could use part of the Visa money to pay the deosit then sell the required amount of hares later when they are worth more.

 

Please, no lectures about about being foolish and the share price may not got up. 

 

It's only for a few months, mate. 

 

On 11/1/2023 at 6:32 PM, transam said:

My friend (81) has always had a retirement visa, think the last 20 years, but he recently had a fall, couple of ops, hospital stays, think it cost them about 400k, well at his age insurance is impossible with his other ailments.

 

So, I am going to try and do the marriage extension for him/them, so they can recoup some cash for their bank account and any other problem until he recovers, which at the mo looks a bit shaky.

This is just a point for some, none of us know what's around the corner, so we must do anything thing we can to keep the permission to stay valid, as in this case, and back off daft comments of folks financial situation comments.... 😊

 

 

 

The interview process is intense. The wife should be able to do all the talking. Have everything ready down to the last detail. 

[KhunLA]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:53 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

You have a point. Do you actually know of anyone who has taken the marriage of convenience route though? I don't.

it was a bit rampant at one time, and big news in isan (how did you miss it).  Why you now need photos, and even the IO has to take a photo of him/herself at address #.

 

Not allowed to link, but Google this for a news blip "marriage visa scam prompts crack down"

 

Probably just a tip of the iceberg, those that were found out.  Expats making life more difficult for expats.   Same ol' story.