Changing Extension of stay based on work to non-o and extension based on having Thai child

[farangzy]

Hi all,

 

Advice needed!

 

I currently have a WP and yearly extension of stay based on employment. My current WP ends 25 May.

I will change this to a non-o or extension of stay based on having a child with my Thai girlfriend.

 

I am the legal father (based on court ruling) and have the 400k baht in the bank for 2 months.

My plan is to head down to Chiang Watthana immigration next week to change the visa/extension of stay.

 

However i cannot fiind the requirements online. Has anyone been in the same situation?

What are all the documents needed for this? What is the procedure? Do i cancel my current visa first?

 

I am pretty sure i don't need to exit the country, but i'm looking for reassurance:)

 

Anyone got any guidelines for me? Chances of being denied?

 

Thanks for your help!

[DrJack54]

23 minutes ago, farangzy said:

I will change this to a non-o or extension of stay based on having a child with my Thai girlfriend.

 

I am the legal father (based on court ruling) and have the 400k baht in the bank for 2 months.

Here is a thread that contains several links to threads along with immigration requirements.

So you are the legal father with court ruling and child lives with you? 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1327020-extension-of-stay-based-on-having-a-thai-child/

 

[Packer]

32 minutes ago, farangzy said:

 

I am the legal father (based on court ruling)

 

The mother will have needed to sign over legal guardianship either in court or at the local amphur if the child is over the age of 7 (which has a special named form for it).

 

It's typically an extension immigration are not too easy about granting. 

[farangzy]

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Here is a thread that contains several links to threads along with immigration requirements.

So you are the legal father with court ruling and child lives with you? 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1327020-extension-of-stay-based-on-having-a-thai-child/

 

Yes, i am the legal father and the child lives with us

[farangzy]

24 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

The mother will have needed to sign over legal guardianship either in court or at the local amphur if the child is over the age of 7 (which has a special named form for it).

 

It's typically an extension immigration are not too easy about granting. 

Yes, the mother did agree to everything in court and we are registered in the local amphur.

We live together as a family

[Packer]

51 minutes ago, farangzy said:

Yes, the mother did agree to everything in court and we are registered in the local amphur.

 

What did you register at the local amphur, that you are the sole legal guardian and the mother has no parental rights over her child? 

[Packer]

45 minutes ago, farangzy said:

We live together as a family

 

The IO's may well tell you to get married. They generally don't like giving out dependency visas/extensions as the funds don't need to be seasoned, so the alien can just drop 400k into their bank account for one day every year, as opposed to 2 months for marriage extensions. A neat little work around. 

 

If the IO's didn't make it difficult almost every alien father would nullify the marriage and get annual extensions based on dependency and say goodbye to needing to season 400k for months every year.  It's the reason IO's are often against it and what they say goes. 

[farangzy]

11 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

What did you register at the local amphur, that you are the sole legal guardian and the mother has no parental rights over her child? 

I don't think so, we are both the legal registered parents. Wouldn't that work?

[farangzy]

6 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

The IO's may well tell you to get married. They generally don't like giving out dependency visas/extensions as the funds don't need to be seasoned, so the alien can just drop 400k into their bank account for one day every year, as opposed to 2 months for marriage extensions. A neat little work around. 

 

If the IO's didn't make it difficult almost every alien father would nullify the marriage and get annual extensions based on dependency and say goodbye to needing to season 400k for months every year.  It's the reason IO's are often against it and what they say goes. 

As far as i understood, the 400k has to be in the bank for a minimum of 2 months, as is the case already with me.

I don't intend to take the money out of there

[Packer]

1 hour ago, farangzy said:

I don't think so, we are both the legal registered parents. Wouldn't that work?

 

No.

 

To get an extension based on a child the Thai mother needs to legally sign the child over to you, so the mother has no legal right to the child, and you are the one and only legal guardian. 

[Packer]

1 hour ago, farangzy said:

As far as i understood, the 400k has to be in the bank for a minimum of 2 months, as is the case already with me.

I don't intend to take the money out of there

 

No.

 

For extensions based on being the parent of a Thai child it only needs to be in the bank for one day.

 

It is why IO's fight against giving these extensions.

 

If they give them easily, every foreign father of a Thai child would be chasing them rather than marriage or retirement  extensions that requires months of fund seasoning. 

[farangzy]

22 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

No.

 

To get an extension based on a child the Thai mother needs to legally sign the child over to you, so the mother has no legal right to the child, and you are the one and only legal guardian. 

Really? Are you sure? That sounds harsh..

[Packer]

3 minutes ago, farangzy said:

Really? Are you sure?

 

Yes.

 

The child needs to be fully legally signed over to you so the Thai parent has no legal right to them, in order to get a visa extension based on being parent to a Thai child. 

[farangzy]

30 minutes ago, Packer said:

 

Yes.

 

The child needs to be fully legally signed over to you so the Thai parent has no legal right to them, in order to get a visa extension based on being parent to a Thai child. 

There is conflicting info here, because @Tod Daniels  claims otherwise. maybe we can clear this up?

 

Thanks anyway for your inputs!

[Rob Browder]

1 hour ago, Packer said:

 

No.

 

To get an extension based on a child the Thai mother needs to legally sign the child over to you, so the mother has no legal right to the child, and you are the one and only legal guardian. 

I have never heard that before.  I HAVE heard that if married to a Thai, they insist on using the marriage-based option, vs the child.  Also, that if an unmarried couple is separated, the child must THEN be living with the applicant - where your scenario applies.  I also recall joint-custody cases being accepted, though, in divorce situations.
 

That said, I would not be surprised if some IOs / offices have insisted on what you describe, simply as a way to avoid doing the extension ("too much work").

If I were you @farangzy I would bring bank-records showing the 400K is seasoned 2+ months, just so that isn't an issue.  The mother and child should attend with you.  Also, be prepared they may also try to make you leave the country for a Non-O Visa, first - though there is no legal reason for this. 

[Packer]

46 minutes ago, farangzy said:

There is conflicting info here

 

It doesn't matter what is said elsewhere.

 

Simply being the legal father will not get you an extension based on being a parent. 

 

You need a court or amphur document signed by the mother making you the one and only full legal guardian of the child. 🙂

[Tod Daniels]

48 minutes ago, farangzy said:

The child needs to be fully legally signed over to you so the Thai parent has no legal right to them, in order to get a visa extension based on being parent to a Thai child. 

That is 100% not correct at all.

 

Where did you get that information?

 

You only need to have legal parental rights granted by either the Amphur or by family court through decree.

[Packer]

32 minutes ago, Tod Daniels said:

 

You only need to have legal parental rights granted by either the Amphur

 

Do you have the name of the amphur form or document for this please? Thanks. 

[farangzy]

4 hours ago, Rob Browder said:

I have never heard that before.  I HAVE heard that if married to a Thai, they insist on using the marriage-based option, vs the child.  Also, that if an unmarried couple is separated, the child must THEN be living with the applicant - where your scenario applies.  I also recall joint-custody cases being accepted, though, in divorce situations.
 

That said, I would not be surprised if some IOs / offices have insisted on what you describe, simply as a way to avoid doing the extension ("too much work").

If I were you @farangzy I would bring bank-records showing the 400K is seasoned 2+ months, just so that isn't an issue.  The mother and child should attend with you.  Also, be prepared they may also try to make you leave the country for a Non-O Visa, first - though there is no legal reason for this. 

Thanks for your input!

I will prepare all the required documents and all other documents that i might think to be usefull; better too many docs then too few:)

Bank statements, pictures, rental agreement, court documents, etc.. Thai girlfriend and my 2 year old son will join too. Don't know if he will be too happy with a day or 2 at immigration lol