What To Believe?

[coalminer]

Hi all,

Loaded with all the information in this website and others websites I went together with my spouse and child to the Immigration Office in Bangkok to apply for a spouse Visa.

Here some remarks/questions:

1. According to the Thai Immigration law, I need to show an income of minimum 40.000 Baht/month OR a Bank account with 400.000 baht on it.

I had prepared an affidavit from the Belgian Embassy specifying my monthly income which was far above the required 40.000 Baht/month and just for the case a Bank statement of my funds at the Asia Bank.

But Immigration Office had put on a wall in front of the photocopier all the requirements for all type of Visa's, and everywhere it said that you need to prove the funds in a Bank account (independent from your income), whether you are applying for a spouse Visa, a retiree Visa, or some other Visa. The officer who processed my application wanted to have this Bank statement or she would not process my application.

Maybe it is the law and anybody showing a minimum income OR a Bank statement can apply, but it is the officer at the Immigration office who decides.

Is this law written somewhere on an "official" document which can be showed to the Immigration officer, or is it something which has been published in some paper without any legal link?

2. My application was processed and I have to return on 20 September to see if it has been approved or not.

Yet, as I don't have any approval on my spouse Visa, a note is attached in my passport stating:

"REMINDER: ONCE A NEW EXTENSION STAMP IS MADE INTO YOUR PASSPORT A NEW RE-ENTRY PERMIT APPLICATION IS NEEDED AS A PREVIOUS RE-ENTRY PERMIT IS AUTOMATICLY INVALID"

Changing my status while the Visa is not yet approved seems not logical to me.

3. In the same way, a stamp is put in my passport stating "THAI WIFE"

I am a Belgian resident, and according to our law we are free to decide if we want to mention our spouse on a passport/Id Card or not, and on the first page of the passport it says clearly that the passport is an officail document and propierty of Belgium. Nobody is allowed to put such entries in my passport unless a Belgian official.

Is the Thai Immigration not aware of these laws, or are they simply being arrogant?

Carlos

[jen_f_lim]

they did that !!! shocking !!!

[paulfr]

and just for the case a Bank statement of my funds at the Asia Bank.

it said that you need to prove the funds in a Bank account (independent from your income)

------

a note is attached in my passport stating:

"REMINDER: ONCE A NEW EXTENSION STAMP IS MADE INTO YOUR PASSPORT A NEW RE-ENTRY PERMIT APPLICATION IS NEEDED AS A PREVIOUS RE-ENTRY PERMIT IS AUTOMATICLY INVALID"

Changing my status while the Visa is not yet approved seems not logical to me.

-----

In the same way, a stamp is put in my passport stating "THAI WIFE"

Carlos

I agree that dealing with Thai Immigration can be frustrating.

But the wording of your problems show that you have some minor misunderstandings.

"a bank statement of my funds" ......

What you need is not a bank statement, but a letter from the

bank that states that you meet two criteria. 1/ that the funds are

above the required amount. AND 2/ that the funds came from a foreign

source (even though many bank passbooks have a code that

shows foreign sources).

I paid 200B to my bank for this letter.

Re-Entry Permit ......

Whenever you leave LOS and plan to re-enter, you either

need a multi-entry visa or a separate re-entry permit.

If you have the first one, it becomes invalid if you do

any processing or changes to your visa class or status.

They are just reminding you to get this re-entry permit

so as not to invalidate the changes you are making.

Thai-Wife Stamp .......

You are applying for the 400,000B 1 year extension based

on supporting a Thai spouse. They need to identify that type

of visa in your passport. They are not telling everyone you

are married, just stating the class of visa extension.

You could avoid this if you are over 50 yrs old by applying

for the retirement 1 yr extension which needs 800,000Baht.

If you are not over 50 yrs, a 3 million Baht investment in

Thai govt securities or real estate would also work.

These laws, like laws in the US or UK, need to be understood

carefully or you can have problems. That is why lawyers

are around. Ignorance is no excuse when dealing with

authorities. The good news is they will tell you what you need

to do. That is part of their job if they are in a good mood

that day.

Just keep plugging away and ask for advice until you get

what you need. Never be rude or loud at the Immigration

Office. It will get you no where.

[Axel]

Not sure Coalminer, where the problem is. I try to explain:

1) The affidavit by your embassy sure helps, although this usually is required for a retirement visa showing that you have a retirement income.

Still the officer has a right to ask for further supporting evidence.

Evidence of funds is a statement of a Thai bank and such statement must show the money came from abroad. This, to avoid that you have local income which would be seen as illegal working, since you do not have a work permit.

2) The moment you enter Thailand your visa is used and void. In exchange you received a permission to stay for a certain period (I assume you arrived here with a non-immigrant O -visa).

Before the permission to stay expired, you have to apply for extension, which you obviously did and received a confirmation of that in your passport to the effect that your application is under consideration and you should return in person on Sep. 20. So at this moment you are permitted to stay until Sep. 20. Should you wish to leave the country you must apply for a re-entry permit which as well will be valid until Sep 20, only. The immigration informed you that any previous re-entry permit, you might have, is no longer valid, even if the date shown is different. Well that's the rule and they only reminded you of it.

Probably on Sep. 20 you will receive another stamp saying that your application is still under consideration and you should return a month or so later. OK, if yo wish to travel need a new re-entry permit.

3) The immigration police did not change the entries in your p/port, you are correct this can only be done by your own country's authorities. What they did, they made a remark in the visa-page of your p/port. Since you apply for a permission to stay with your Thai wife, they marked correctly "THAI WIFE"

Hope this helps.

[astral]

All sounds a little odd.

It is 400K in the bank, or 40K per month, or a combination of the two.

For the bank part you do need a supporting letter from the Bank, as someone else said, this costs 200 baht, generally.

Never heard of the Thai Wife stamp.

Certainly not in my passport.

As they refused your extension you have to leave and you re-entry permit is invalid. You will have to come back on a new 90 day Non-Imm 'O' and try again.

Bad luck.

Next time get them to write down a list of what you need, before you apply.

My own check list says:

Application form plus photo

Passport - copy of all pages used since last visa.

Copy of Bank book

Letter from Bank certifying amount in account

Marriage Certificate

Wife’s household papers

Wife’s id card

Bank letter listing foreign exchange plus exchange certs

[lopburi3]

All sounds a little odd.

It is 400K in the bank, or 40K per month, or a combination of the two.

For the bank part you do need a supporting letter from the Bank, as someone else said, this costs 200 baht, generally.

Never heard of the Thai Wife stamp.

Certainly not in my passport.

As they refused your extension you have to leave and you re-entry permit is invalid. You will have to come back on a new 90 day Non-Imm 'O' and try again.

Bad luck.

Next time get them to write down a list of what you need, before you apply.

My own check list says:

Application form plus photo

Passport - copy of all pages used since last visa.

Copy of Bank book

Letter from Bank certifying amount in account

Marriage Certificate

Wife’s household papers

Wife’s id card

Bank letter listing foreign exchange plus exchange certs

The requirement is what they say it is. Almost all will want a bank deposit of some amount even if bulk is confirmed as monthly income. Try to go with the flow rather than upstream is a good rule for living here.

Thai Wife stamp is indeed being done in passport now, in both Thai and English. Something new.

I did not see anything about extension being refused - it appears to be under review for the normal 40-45 days. Looks like he will be fine.