Am presently on a tourist visa and planning to get married and hoping to change to 'Marriage Visa'. I am told that apart from proof of marriage and money etc I need a Non Imm O. After getting married 'legit', I am told that I go to another country and apply for a Non Imm O. Do I take it that the embassy abroad will allow me 3 months on the Non Imm O and then I apply to my local immigration office to get a one year visa?

Not if you meet the requirements regarding income (40,000 a month) or money in the bank (400,000). If you have that it is possible to convert your tourist visa to a non-immigrant O if you have at least 21 days remaining on your tourist visa. Note that you can extent a tourist visa with 30 days.

If you have at least 21 days left after your marriage just go to immigration in Thailand.

Yes. With at last 21 days left on your stay you can change to a Non O Visa at Immigration for a fee of 2,000 Baht.

With the Non O Visa you can apply for the 12 month extension (not a visa) based on marriage.

Here are the extension rules. Plus a few other things will be needed. Ask nearer the time.

(6) In case of marriage with a Thai lady, the husband who is an alien must have an average annual income of not less than 40,000 baht per month or a money deposit in a local Thai bank of not less than 400,000 baht for the past 2 months for expenses within a year.

Many thanks.

A few days ago I went to Chiang Mai Immigration with my Thai fiancee, so there should have been no 'Lost in Translation'. She told them that we're not yet married and I'm on a tourist visa. They were very polite and gave me this very glossy leaflet. I mentioned to the staff that it gave instructions for visa extensions and not first application (Leaflet is bilingual). They smiled and insisted that it was still the right information. I must say that the staff were really quite good but I left feeling a tad uncertain.

I will do as both replies mention and apply before the 21 days and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again for your help - hopefully it will save me a trip.

Don't worry. You wil be all right. Just have a nice wedding day and my congratulations.

When married you can even get a 60 day extension on your tourist visa.

...A few days ago I went to Chiang Mai Immigration with my Thai fiancee, so there should have been no 'Lost in Translation'. She told them that we're not yet married and I'm on a tourist visa. They were very polite and gave me this very glossy leaflet. I mentioned to the staff that it gave instructions for visa extensions and not first application (Leaflet is bilingual)...

The leaflet may call it a visa extension but it is in fact an extension of stay and the requirements are exactly the same whether it is a first or a subsequent application. Here is the link to the form you will use for the application for extension:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/download/pdf/tm7.pdf

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Maestro