I plan to be in Thailand for a year.  I will be getting married after 6 months but the local farangland embassy would not give me a non-immigrant visa on the basis of that.

However I will ordain as a monk for 3 months before getting married and they have offered to give me a non immigrant visa on that basis.  Note:  I'm doing this because meditation is a strong interest of mine, so not recommended for everybody ;-)

I just want to clarify a couple of things if I can.  I'm expecting to get a non-immigrant (O) visa so I can continue to use it after i leave the Wat and get married, but I'm worried my girlfriend might have her wires crossed and i will end up with a missionary or education one instead and have to get another afterwards, what's the likelihood?

If I understand correctly I will get 90 days initially then will need to go to immigration to get it extended for a year before that expires.  I'll have ordained a week or two before expiry so I guess getting an extension will be no problem at that time, once they see my attire.  Is that correct?

Thanks.

Get a multi O Non Imm Visa, that'll do the job for you. Until you are formally married, a 12 month extension wont happen. It MAY be that the Abbot can help if your Temple stay exceeds three months. You are aware of the monetary requirements for the one year extension I presume.

A multi O will give me how long? Any reporting or renewing required?

No I'm not aware of the monetary requirements, does that mean I need money in a thai bank account? or is overseas ok? if so how much?

Thanks for your help.

A multi entry Non Immigrant Visa is valid for a year and enables 90 day stays on each entry.     AFTER you are

married, you can apply for a one year stay on marriage

grounds. A condition of that extension is that you have

a bank account IN Thailand with a credit balance of at

least 200,000 baht,   or an acceptable combination of

income and/or cash. It might pay to have a good read

up on forum advice so that you are familiar with the

rules.

What country are you  in Bruce ?

New Zealand

Will the Thai Embassy or the Consulate in Auckland give you a multi entry visa ?

It's Wellington, and yes they will, but I don't know the exact detail of what the visa entitlement will be because everything is going through my fiancee, and non-immigrant visas are confusing at the best of times.  Hence my question.

Visa advice of 13 June is correct then.

Cheers

Pat