Difference on retired visa Thai spouse or not ?

[still kicking]

OK maybe I am high jacking this topic but there is so many topics going on about visas. I have lived in Thailand for many years but a few years I moved back . So, my Thai wife of 20 years ask if I would like to move back to Thailand. I would have enough money to deposit into a Thai bank. Even so I am married would it be better to apply for a retirement visa since I have not the required income to apply for a married visa. I am getting old; 76 can I still get health insurance or not? I can live for no rent in Thailand since I still have a place. I will lose most of my pension but don't have a monthly income to satisfy the requirements for a married visa. So what visa is the best? I have a lovely family in Thailand who support me so the important question is can I still Healths insurance at my age since I also take medicine. No need to reply if you are a troll.

[jaxon]

On 12/18/2023 at 5:54 PM, Liquorice said:

Hi Jaxon,

 

Section 34 of the Thai Immigration Act lists 15 different activities you may enter Thailand for;

Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979) ENG.pdf
Section 34 : aliens entering into the kingdom for a temporary stay may enter for the below listed activities ;

1. Diplomatic or Consular Missions.

2. Performance of official duties.

3. Touring

4. Sporting

5. Business

6. Investing under the concurrence of the Ministries and Departments concerned.

7. Investing or other activities relating to investing subject to the provisions of the law on investment promotion.

8. Transit journey.

9. Being the person in charge of the crew of a conveyance coming to port, station , or area in the Kingdom.

10. Study or observation.

11. Mass media.

12. Missionary work under the concurrence of the Ministries and departments concerned.

13. Scientific research or training or teach in a Research Institute in the Kingdom.

14. The practice of skilled handicraft or as a specialist

15. Other activities as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

 

The letter ''O'' in a Non Imm O visa merely stands for 'Other' activities not listed in 1-14 and includes for the purpose of retirement or visiting/staying with Thai spouse/family.

The Non O-A visa is issued purely for the purpose of retirement.
The Non O single entry visa can be applied for on the basis of retirement or Thai spouse/family, the only difference being documents supplied and the financial requirements.
Certain Thai Embassies also offer the Non Imm O multi entry visa on the basis of retirement or Thai spouse/family.

 

In your particular case, you should apply for the Non O single entry visa based on Thai spouse.

The validity of the Visa and the period of stay are different.

The Non O SE visa is valid to enter Thailand for 3 months.
On entry, you are granted a period of stay of 90 days.
You cannot extend a visa, but you can extend your temporary period of stay for 1 year based on retirement or Thai spouse/family, subject to meeting the financial requirements.
These are commonly referred to as extensions of stay and are permits (of stay), not visas.

 

One issue you have is that you mentioned you married in the UK.
Whilst the Thai Embassy, London will accept your UK marriage certificate as proof of marriage, internal Thai Immigration offices will not accept a foreign marriage certificate for applications of extending your stay based on Thai spouse. Your UK marriage must first be registered in Thailand, and there is a legal procedure for doing that.

 

 

Thanks for clarifying Licorice.  So it's simply the Non O visa (visiting Thai spouse/family) rather than some specific marriage category of Non O.   Some others mentioned the need for a Thailand registered marriage, and that's something I'll have to do prior to applying for an extension.     

 

 

 

[Liquorice]

3 hours ago, jaxon said:

So it's simply the Non O visa (visiting Thai spouse/family) rather than some specific marriage category of Non O. 

Correct.

 

3 hours ago, jaxon said:

Some others mentioned the need for a Thailand registered marriage, and that's something I'll have to do prior to applying for an extension. 

For UK registered marriages, the process starts in the UK.

Basically you must first send your UK marriage certificate to the Home office in Milton Keynes for authentication, then forward to the Thai Embassy in London for a vignette which authenticates the Home office stamp and signature. On arrival in Thailand, the UK marriage certificate must be translated to Thai, then both documents must be legalised by Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

You present both the legalised marriage certificate and translation to your local Amphur office, who will then register your foreign marriage.

[Liquorice]

On 12/19/2023 at 2:17 AM, still kicking said:

OK maybe I am high jacking this topic but there is so many topics going on about visas.

The visa only permits travel to Thailand.

On entry, you are given a stamp permitting your length of stay based on the type of Visa you obtained. You thereafter extend this period of stay, commonly known as extensions of stay.

You would require the Non Imm O visa to visit Thai spouse/family.

 

On 12/19/2023 at 2:17 AM, still kicking said:

Even so I am married would it be better to apply for a retirement visa since I have not the required income to apply for a married visa.

Not sure what you've been reading, but the financial requirements are less based on Thai spouse than for retirement.

For example;

 

The Non Imm O visa applied for on the basis of Thai spouse only requires proof of a bank statement showing the equivalent of 20,000 THB.

https://canberra.thaiembassy.org/non-immigrant-visa-category-o/

– For Non-O “Single Entry” Visa, a bank statement in the past six months showing a deposit account with the minimum fund of equivalent to THB 20,000 per person or THB 40,000 per family

Whereas the Non Imm O visa based on retirement also requires proof of a bank statement showing the equivalent of 20,000 THB.
https://canberra.thaiembassy.org/retirement-visa-categories/

3.5.1 For Non-immigrant “O” Visa

• A bank statement in the past six months showing a deposit account with the minimum fund of equivalent to THB 20,000.

 

However, once in Thailand, to extend your permission of stay for 1 year at a time, based on retirement, you must provide evidence of either a funds deposit in a Thai bank account of 800,000 THB, or 12 monthly overseas transfers of 65,000 THB to a Thai bank account.

To extend your permission of stay for 1 year at a time, based on Thai spouse, you must provide evidence of either a funds deposit in a Thai bank account of 400,000 THB, or 12 monthly overseas transfers of 40,000 THB to a Thai bank account.

[oldcpu]

On 12/19/2023 at 2:17 AM, still kicking said:

 I have lived in Thailand for many years but a few years I moved back . So, my Thai wife of 20 years ask if I would like to move back to Thailand. I would have enough money to deposit into a Thai bank. Even so I am married would it be better to apply for a retirement visa since I have not the required income to apply for a married visa.

 

As noted there are two types of Visas to consider: Type-OA and Type-O (with permissions of stay in Thailand can be based on retirement or based on marriage).

 

If you obtain permission to stay (in the Visa application and subsequent extensions) based on marriage, you do not need to worry about being forced to get health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company.

 

A type-O visa has (IMHO) the advantage that if one wishes to go for a 'permission to stay' based on retirement, there is no Health Insurance requirement (from a health insurance company Thai branch).  This is contrary to a Type-OA which has a health insurance requirement for extensions based on retirement.

 

Note:  A retirement extension is more expensive in terms of proof of funds than a marriage extension:  An extension of one's permission to stay in Thailand requires more proof of funds for an extension based on retirement, as opposed to when on an extension based on marriage.

 

The advantages to an extension based on retirement (over marriage) is that there is far less paperwork (and IMHO less hassle, and its quicker to obtain) and it if based on an underlying Type-O visa, no health insurance proof needed.

 

The advantage to an extension based on marriage (over retirement) is that one needs less proof of money (than that of a retirement extension) and in the case of a Type-OA underlying visa, there is no Health Insurance proof needed for an extension based on marriage.

 

I would recommend going for a Type-O based on retirement if you can prove the funds.  And if you don't want to meet the financial requirements (for retirement) then I still recommend a Type-O (but instead based on marriage). This way if something should happen to your wife, or something happen to your relationship with your wife, you can more easily (at your annual renewal) switch to a permission to stay extension based on retirement (assuming you can then meet the increased financial requirements of a retirement extension over a marriage extension).  

 

If you were on a Type-OA (based on marriage) and you were suddenly no longer married, you would be faced with the Health Insurance requirements from the Thai branch of a health insurance company, which could be disruptive to one's current health coverage setup.  The Type-O visa avoids such a potential future possibility.

 

[jaxon]

15 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

The advantages to an extension based on retirement (over marriage) is that there is far less paperwork (and IMHO less hassle, and its quicker to obtain) and it if based on an underlying Type-O visa, no health insurance proof needed.

 

 

Many people have alluded to the fact that a Type O extension based on marriage requires far more paperwork than one based on retirement.  And, from what I can gather, a one month "under consideration" period plus some home photos.  I am wondering what is the main extra paperwork that is required, and is it really that onerous.  Are these mainly Thai forms which I would need to sign ?   

 

[couchpotato]

6 minutes ago, jaxon said:

 

Many people have alluded to the fact that a Type O extension based on marriage requires far more paperwork than one based on retirement.  And, from what I can gather, a one month "under consideration" period plus some home photos.  I am wondering what is the main extra paperwork that is required, and is it really that onerous.  Are these mainly Thai forms which I would need to sign ?   

 

There are many threads and hundreds of posts on your 'wondering' question.

Futile answering it all again, do some forum research yourself.

[oldcpu]

5 hours ago, jaxon said:

 

Many people have alluded to the fact that a Type O extension based on marriage requires far more paperwork than one based on retirement.  And, from what I can gather, a one month "under consideration" period plus some home photos.  I am wondering what is the main extra paperwork that is required, and is it really that onerous.  Are these mainly Thai forms which I would need to sign ?   

 

 

The paperwork?

 

For the first extension, its mostly paper work proving one is married.   If married not in Thailand (to one's Thai spouse) then there is a lot of official translations ($$)  and certifications needed of one's foreign marriage documents (and even foreign passport) to take in Bangkok to one's embassy (for certification) and to Thai foreign affairs (for certification) followed by taking to one's local city hall, to have the marriage registered in Thailand and obtain the Kor-22 (?).    And after obtaining this, do NOT lose it ... its a pain to do again.

 

Then every year, prior to going for the extension for the permission to stay in Thailand, some (all ? ) immigration offices require one go back to City Hall to have the Kor-22 (?) marriage registration document in Thailand updated (with a current date stamp).  Dependent on the City Hall, this could mean hours waiting.  Some immigration offices may not require this, but some do require this, every year.

 

One also needs to have paper copies with images of one's wife's current ID for each extension of the permission to stay.  Some offices require images of one with their wife (1) inside their home (2) outside their home where their house (or condo) # is visible. In the case of a condo it could be 2 images (not just one by the entrance), with one by the door to their unit, and one by the condo entrance.  Some immigration offices insist it be new image(s) (by one's home with one's wife) every year (as opposed to continually using the same image).   I think some Immigration offices might require one's wife accompany one as part of the extension (of one's permission to stay) process.

 

Also some (not all) immigration offices require that one be at home with one's wife for a house visit, where  one or more immigration officers will come to one's home, and want to take images of one with their wife in all sorts of rooms in one's home.

 

That is what comes to my mind off of the top of my head - maybe others know of other items that I forgot while typing this.

 

I did not find it too onerous, but it was definitely more than what was needed for retirement.  However I do believe there are those who would have ZERO patience for all of that, every time a renewal is required.  I know my wife was irritated by the process ... and "a happy wife is a happy life" ... but an upset wife makes one's life less than pleasant at times.

 

....  What I found most unpleasant, was that the annual extension for one's permission to stay, based on marriage, took weeks waiting for the approval, as opposed to days in the case of a retirement extension.

Edited December 21, 2023 by oldcpu

[jaxon]

9 hours ago, couchpotato said:

There are many threads and hundreds of posts on your 'wondering' question.

Futile answering it all again, do some forum research yourself.

 

No need to waste your time replying if you have nothing useful to add.

[jaxon]

4 hours ago, oldcpu said:

 

The paperwork?

 

For the first extension, its mostly paper work proving one is married.   If married not in Thailand (to one's Thai spouse) then there is a lot of official translations ($$)  and certifications needed of one's foreign marriage documents (and even foreign passport) to take in Bangkok to one's embassy (for certification) and to Thai foreign affairs (for certification) followed by taking to one's local city hall, to have the marriage registered in Thailand and obtain the Kor-22 (?).    And after obtaining this, do NOT lose it ... its a pain to do again.

 

Then every year, prior to going for the extension for the permission to stay in Thailand, some (all ? ) immigration offices require one go back to City Hall to have the Kor-22 (?) marriage registration document in Thailand updated (with a current date stamp).  Dependent on the City Hall, this could mean hours waiting.  Some immigration offices may not require this, but some do require this, every year.

 

 

 

Thanks, good to know the marriage certification process can be done in Bangkok too (via embassies).  Annual update stamp would be an annoying situation but I suppose it is what it is.  

 

[DrJack54]

20 minutes ago, jaxon said:

 

No need to waste your time replying if you have nothing useful to add.

I think @couchpotato gave good advice.

Perhaps you are not familiar with best ways to find threads for advice.

 

Skip AseanNow search function.

Google something like ......

"extension retirement vs marriage AseanNow" 

Make sure you include AseanNow at the end to take you to relevant threads

I did this to demonstrate and attach screenshot of Google results.

Further specific questions can also be answered this way