Change 60 Day Tourist Visa To Non O On Marriage Or Retirement

[johng]

Went to Bangkok yesterday with all the above documents.... a few points.

1: The imigration division is not at the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs building !

2: They would not except a 3 day old bank letter so had to get a new one, luckily there are branches of most if not all Thai banks downstairs.

3: They would not convert the visa same day let alone convert and extend, have to go back on the 23rd to get the Non O.

4 They took only 2 photos ( because 4 wouldn't fit on the sheet of paper ! ) wife and me in wedding clothes + wife and me in front of house clearly showing the house number.

Edited July 10, 2012 by johng

[eppic]

Since I was told my claim of a non-o visa converted from visa waiver "did not make any sense" and "was not possible" in replyi to my very first post on TV, I thought I would report what I actually did, which was to follow instructions given by a member on another site (I don't know the rules here, so won't mention his name, but his approach worked perfectly): This is an edited repost (it's my own post, so that should be OK right?). This was my experience going from visa waiver to Non-O using form TM87.

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[On Nov 13] I drove to Thai Immigration, Chaengwattana Rd, arriving around 2 pm. Google Maps navigation got me there from my condo in Central BKK with no problems. I departed about 90 minutes later with a receipt to return and get a Non-Imm O stamp in exactly two weeks, one day before my scheduled flight to Hong Kong.

The process was incredibly straightforward and painless, so anyone but the most timid could surely accomplish it without too much stress or any outside assistance.

The quick details:

I arrived with only (a) my passport, incl immigration card (stamped with 30-day visa exemption); and my BKK Bank passbook.

EVERYTHING, other than those two items, can easily and quickly be taken care of in the basement of Immigration. So, I did the following (in this exact order):

• Withdrew the THB2,000 from an ATM in the basement (used my US Schwab card, no fees or fx charge)
• Went to BKK Bank, asked for FX remittance proof and letter. This took 10 minutes and cost THB100. The THB800K had been remitted to BKK Bank only a couple of days earlier
• Went to the Photo/Copy center, had visa photo taken and got copies of passport (ID and current visa stamp pages), passbook (if you don't leave a copy they would want the original), and the bank FX remittance form. This was very quick and incredibly cheap, THB100 for photos and a two baht/copy.

After gathering the documents, I went to the Immigration office (up one floor) and completed form TM87, which took only a few minutes, including my asking a couple of clarifying questions from the helpful and friendly Information Desk staff.

I then showed the application at the queue number desk, was given a number for the C1 desks, and waited maybe 45 minutes.
[as an aside, I considered getting a 'Q' number before completing my basement tasks, and that is certainly a good option if the wait appears long, but in my case the crowd didn't appear large so I didn't bother].

A friendly (and very pregnant) immigration officer took my paperwork, and without asking a single question, asked for my paperwork and THB2,000, and told me to return on Nov 27 (exactly two weeks) to get my passport visa stamp. She also helpfully inquired when I would be traveling (which happened to be the 28th), reminding me that I should get a re-entry permit at Immigration immediately after collecting my passport.

I don't anticipate any problems in steps two and three either, but I will make a (more brief) report here, either way.

P.S.: I can't guarantee that all banks can provide the remittance letter on the spot, but it was easy at BKK Bank and pretty much all Thai banks seem to be represented there in the Immigration building basement. Probably best to check in advance with your own bank.

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P.P.S Update 27 Nov -- Unfortunately, I couldn't get near the immigration office today thanks to the protests (see other threads), so I was unable to return for the visa stamp, but hopefully I can get it done (in addition to re-entry permit) tomorrow or Friday before my Saturday flight

Edited November 27, 2013 by eppic

[balsup]

Any update on the need to have 21 days left on the current tourist visa in order to change over to non-o? The last update was in 2012.

Thanks.

[ubonjoe]

It has been 15 days remaining on an entry for some time now.

[Mister Al]

Is it still (year 2016) possible to convert a tourist visa to a marriage visa in Bangkok?

[sunnyjim5]

Is it still (year 2016) possible to convert a tourist visa to a marriage visa in Bangkok?

No, but it might be possible to convert the TV to a 90 day none "O" visa entry if the financial and other requirements for an extension of stay based on marriage can be met.

There is no "marriage visa"

"

Edited January 26, 2016 by sunnyjim5

[Eclipse]

Is it still (year 2016) possible to convert a tourist visa to a marriage visa in Bangkok?

Yes you can convert to a Non Imm O Visa if you qualify for a 12 month extension.

400,000 Baht in bank Or 40,000 Monthly income.

[Mister Al]

Thank you for your answer.

I was planning to convert the tourist visa to the "marriage visa" after our wedding, however, this is my problem: before I went to Thailand I unregistered from the commune of my hometown, so that I could register at the Belgian embassy in Bkk. About 1 week ago I found out you can not register if you are on a tourist visa. If I can not register, I can not apply for the "affidavit", not get married an forget about converting my visa. So I have 2 options:

1) I go back to Belgium for a while to register in the commune again and apply for a new tourist visa so I can get married and get the "marriage visa".

2) I don't go back to Belgium but enroll in some kinda school so I can get a "year visa" and register at the Belgian Embassy.

My question is if anybody experienced the same problem and/or if anybody knows a school that could guarantee a "year visa", although I already stayed 3 years in Thailand before on an ED-visa.

Any help is welcome. Thanks a lot in advance.

Alexis

[ubonjoe]

You could go to a nearby embassy or consulate and apply for a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage. No financial proof is required to get one. All you would need is your marriage certificate plus a copy, signed and dated copies of your wife's, house book registry and ID card.

Then apply for an extension of stay based upon marriage during the last 30 day of the 90 day entry from the visa.

[Mister Al]

Thanks Ubonjoe, but the problem is not the financial proof, the problem is that I can't get married if I can't get the affidavit from the embassy. I can't get the affidavit if I'm not registered at the embassy and I can't register on a tourist visa.

[ubonjoe]

Thanks Ubonjoe, but the problem is not the financial proof, the problem is that I can't get married if I can't get the affidavit from the embassy. I can't get the affidavit if I'm not registered at the embassy and I can't register on a tourist visa.

Sorry about that.

It seems a bit absurd you have to be registered to get the affirmation of permit to marry. Are you sure they will do it after your register again back home?

Perhaps you should ryy and talk to the embassy about it to see if they can make an exception.

[Mister Al]

I tried to talk with people from the embassy, but no exception will be made.

I just want to make sure that I can get married on a tourist visa in Thailand?

Thanks for your help.

[ubonjoe]

I tried to talk with people from the embassy, but no exception will be made.

I just want to make sure that I can get married on a tourist visa in Thailand?

Thanks for your help.

You do not need a visa on any kind to register your marriage at a Amphoe. People have gotten married on visa exempt entries.

It might be best to contact a language or some other type of school about the cost for them to supply the paperwork to get a single entry non-ed visa. That might be less costly than a trip home.

[Mister Al]

Thanks for the info. I was gonna contact a language school on Monday, but because I already spend 3 years on an ED-visa to learn Thai, I'm afraid they cannot guarantee my visa and the Immigration office will start asking questions. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help.

[ubonjoe]

Thanks for the info. I was gonna contact a language school on Monday, but because I already spend 3 years on an ED-visa to learn Thai, I'm afraid they cannot guarantee my visa and the Immigration office will start asking questions. Anyway, thanks a lot for your help.

I suggested getting a single entry non-ed visa from a nearby embassy or consulate. You would have no dealings with immigration to get it. I was not suggesting you use extensions for attending school to stay here.