The sister of a Laotian friend is living in a long-term relationship with a Thai man, with whom she has two children aged 7 and 13.

Her situation is precarious because she has to rely on regular border runs and, as a result, she cannot obtain health insurance in Thailand.

I have been told that it may be possible to obtain a Non-Immigrant O visa as the mother of Thai children.

Is this correct, and if so, what are the requirements and procedures?

Any clarification or firsthand experience would be appreciated.

Thanks

2 hours ago, daejung said:

…I have been told that it may be possible to obtain a Non-Immigrant O visa as the mother of Thai children…

Yes, the sister of your Loatian friend can apply for a non-O visa on the website

https://thaievisa.go.th/

The online application form will indicate the required documents step by step as the form is being filled in.

She'd require financial evidence of 400K for the Non O and again for 12 month extensions.

Is there any reason they're not married?
As the spouse of a Thai man there is no financial requirement for 12 month extensions.

Extract from https://www.thaievisa.go.th/visa/non-immigrant-o regarding required documents

In the toolbar at the top of the page, Lao can be selected as the language for the page.

9 hours ago, Liquorice said:

She'd require financial evidence of 400K for the Non O and again for 12 month extensions.

I was said it is not required for a mother of thai children

9 hours ago, Liquorice said:

Is there any reason they're not married?

Because they need a lot of paperwork from Laos and they say it is very expensive due to corruption

33 minutes ago, daejung said:

I was said it is not required for a mother of thai children

In the eyes of Immigration she is no different than any other foreigner and subject to the same financial requirements .......... unless married to the Thai Father.

35 minutes ago, daejung said:

Because they need a lot of paperwork from Laos and they say it is very expensive due to corruption

Yes, Lao make it extremely difficult for their nationals to marry foreigners, unless you have deep pockets.

With respect, this is not entirely accurate, and this is exactly why firsthand experience matters.

Thai Immigration does grant extensions of stay under the Non-Immigrant O category based on being the parent of a minor Thai child. In practice, this is treated differently from other foreigners without Thai family ties.

✔️ This is not a tourist or “visiting” situation.

✔️ It is a legal basis to live in Thailand as long as the child is a minor.

✔️ Marriage to the Thai father is not required in this specific case.

While Immigration may ask to see means of support, there is no fixed high minimum income requirement comparable to a marriage-based or retirement extension.

This is why lawyers, visa agents, and immigration officers commonly refer to it as:

“Extension of stay based on being the parent of a Thai child.”

Unfortunately, the official Immigration website is silent or unclear on this specific scenario, which leads to a lot of confusion online.

That is precisely why I mentioned that firsthand experience would be appreciated, rather than assumptions based on other visa categories.

1 hour ago, daejung said:

With respect, this is not entirely accurate, and this is exactly why firsthand experience matters.

Why ask the question, if you have the answers?

She is a Lao national, a foreigner in the eyes of Thai Immigration.
She would first have to apply for the Non O visa through the category of 'Staying with Family Visas' https://www.thaievisa.go.th/

She would then apply 'To stay with Thai family' based on Thai children, as posted above by @Maestro

When unmarried the procedure is no different for a woman than that based on the foreign Father of a Thai child.

You must have Non Immigrant status to apply for annual extensions.

As the OP now has made it crystal clear that he doesn't appreciate posts that are not based on personal experience on the subject in question, ie from a woman of Lao nationality with at least one child fathered by a Thai national and cohabiting with che child's father and the child and wishing to obtain a non-immirant visa to visit the child and its father, and as no member meeting these criteria has posted so far, I am now closing this topic.