Visa For Burmese Gf

[myauq]

hi,

i've been living with my burmese gf here in the los for the past year, and she is on an education visa. i have a non-imm b visa, with a work permit on the way. i was wondering how i would go about getting a spouse visa - if that's what its called - for her to stay longer, after the ed visa runs out. i've got a couple of questions...

what is this visa called?

how much does it cost?

do we need to get married or have official documents prepared to apply?

and what happens if my wp expires or i change jobs, does this mean that her visa will also be cancelled?

any advice will be very appreciated

m.

[Lite Beer]

Being Married will only entitle her to yearly extensions of stay providing you have a 12 month extension of stay because of business or Retirement etc.

Here are the rules for extensions.

[Mario2008]

For a non-immigrant visa based on Marriage with a thai nationaland subsequent extensions of stay you need to be married and you need to be a thai national, so you do not qualify.

What your girlfriend can do is get an extension of stay as your dependend, again provided you are married. And that is the big problem, the Burmese government is unwilling to see her subjects getting married to a foreigner. You might ask some refugee organisations if there are ways around this.

[myauq]

For a non-immigrant visa based on Marriage with a thai nationaland subsequent extensions of stay you need to be married and you need to be a thai national, so you do not qualify.

What your girlfriend can do is get an extension of stay as your dependend, again provided you are married. And that is the big problem, the Burmese government is unwilling to see her subjects getting married to a foreigner. You might ask some refugee organisations if there are ways around this.

shit.

thanks for that advice. i will have to look into this a bit more.

[lopburi3]

You would have to be married and on an extension of stay. She then could obtain a single entry non immigrant O visa and that stay could be extended on a yearly basis as long as you remained on an extension of stay. Her extension would end with yours.

[InterestedObserver]

For a spouse (marriage) visa you have to be legally married. It is against Burmese (Myanmar) law for their citizens to marry a foreigner.

[myauq]

You would have to be married and on an extension of stay. She then could obtain a single entry non immigrant O visa and that stay could be extended on a yearly basis as long as you remained on an extension of stay. Her extension would end with yours.

what is an 'extension of stay'?

is it that what will be granted when i get my work permit, as an extension of my non-immigrant b visa?

[myauq]

For a spouse (marriage) visa you have to be legally married. It is against Burmese (Myanmar) law for their citizens to marry a foreigner.

what if we get married in thailand?

[lopburi3]

No. You have to apply to Immigration and meet there specific requirements. If not you can only stay 90 days at a time. Work permit does not allow you to stay in Thailand. Visa does not allow you to work in Thailand. You must balance the two.

[lopburi3]

For a spouse (marriage) visa you have to be legally married. It is against Burmese (Myanmar) law for their citizens to marry a foreigner.

what if we get married in thailand?

You can not marry in Thailand without a letter from your Embassy. Same same for her.

Edited April 16, 2009 by lopburi3

[InterestedObserver]

For a spouse (marriage) visa you have to be legally married. It is against Burmese (Myanmar) law for their citizens to marry a foreigner.

what if we get married in thailand?

She will not be able to get the necessary Affirmation Of Freedom To Marry certificate from the Myanmar Embassy.

Edited April 16, 2009 by InterestedObserver

[InterestedObserver]

For what it's worth this was posted last year. The OP married his Burmese GF, in Bangkok, apparently without her getting an embassy letter:

"Yep, I tied the knot earlier this year. Got married in BKK and are now back in Myanmar. You are right that the Myanmar gov't does not recognise marriage between a Myanmar woman and a foreign man, but this has been the case for several years. (In truth, my lawyer says that there is a law for marriage between a buddhist and a non-buddhist, that would make the marriage legal, but this is the Myanmar gov't we are talking about, so best to look at the practical reality).

So, my advice is (assuming that you will get married in BKK) is as follows:

1. Go to one of those legal / translation / marriage agency offices (early in the a.m.) on the corner of Wireless Road and Ploenchit.

2. They will take you to your embassy to arrange an affidavit stating that you are legally entitled to get married.

3. They then take you to a Thai marriage registration office (a Thambon office or something like it).

4. Your bride will then have to sign an affidavit at the marriage office. (It's for this reason that it is worth to pay the Agency fees, as this might be harder to arrange on your own)

5. With the 2 affidavits, he will then sign some papers and tell you that you are married.

6. Take the flowery certificate, and get the agency to give a copy to your embassy for your home registration of the marriage (or dont)

7. Pay the balance of about THB 12,000. The whole process takes less than a day.

8. Get on your honeymoon.

Get back to me when you are ready to have kids, because if you want them to have dual-nationality, well, thats a much more complicated story!

All the best. "

Edited April 16, 2009 by InterestedObserver

[lopburi3]

And I suspect not a legal marriage if anyone does any checking.

[myauq]

For what it's worth this was posted last year. The OP married his Burmese GF, in Bangkok, apparently without her getting an embassy letter:

"Yep, I tied the knot earlier this year. Got married in BKK and are now back in Myanmar. You are right that the Myanmar gov't does not recognise marriage between a Myanmar woman and a foreign man, but this has been the case for several years. (In truth, my lawyer says that there is a law for marriage between a buddhist and a non-buddhist, that would make the marriage legal, but this is the Myanmar gov't we are talking about, so best to look at the practical reality).

So, my advice is (assuming that you will get married in BKK) is as follows:

1. Go to one of those legal / translation / marriage agency offices (early in the a.m.) on the corner of Wireless Road and Ploenchit.

2. They will take you to your embassy to arrange an affidavit stating that you are legally entitled to get married.

3. They then take you to a Thai marriage registration office (a Thambon office or something like it).

4. Your bride will then have to sign an affidavit at the marriage office. (It's for this reason that it is worth to pay the Agency fees, as this might be harder to arrange on your own)

5. With the 2 affidavits, he will then sign some papers and tell you that you are married.

6. Take the flowery certificate, and get the agency to give a copy to your embassy for your home registration of the marriage (or dont)

7. Pay the balance of about THB 12,000. The whole process takes less than a day.

8. Get on your honeymoon.

Get back to me when you are ready to have kids, because if you want them to have dual-nationality, well, thats a much more complicated story!

All the best. "

hey, that's a really nice post to read. thanks for digging it out .

ok, so assuming that we can do this, would i be right in assuming that my gf could get an extension of permission of stay along with the extension granted with my work permit and non-imm b here in thailand?

i have also heard about the myanmar law regarding permission being granted to foreign marriages with locals providing they are either christian marriages/buddhist or christian/christian marriages. my gf says that other couples have just gotten married at churches, despite being buddhist to save the hassles. i hope that's a way around the concern you mentioned, lopburi3

my last question(s) is(are) a bit more straight forward - can anyone recommend the name of one of these marriage places, and are there any in silom (which is a bit closer to our respective embassies and where we live)?

thanks again for all of your suggestions and feedback,

myauq.

[lopburi3]

I suspect a document obtained in such a manner might not hold up upon closer exam - Immigration now seems to sometimes ask for proof of the paperwork proving embassy letter I believe for extensions of stay (probably due to this scam/humanitarian action). Lower level use may well work. I would advise contacting refugee groups for the best current information on this rather specialized question.

[InterestedObserver]

I suspect a document obtained in such a manner might not hold up upon closer exam - Immigration now seems to sometimes ask for proof of the paperwork proving embassy letter I believe for extensions of stay (probably due to this scam/humanitarian action). Lower level use may well work. I would advise contacting refugee groups for the best current information on this rather specialized question.

Are you implying that the nice flowery certificate issued by the Amphur, a Thai government agency, is a fake, thus invalid?

[lopburi3]

No. I am saying the documentation used to obtain the certificate might not be considered up to standards.

[InterestedObserver]

hey, that's a really nice post to read. thanks for digging it out .

ok, so assuming that we can do this, would i be right in assuming that my gf could get an extension of permission of stay along with the extension granted with my work permit and non-imm b here in thailand?

i have also heard about the myanmar law regarding permission being granted to foreign marriages with locals providing they are either christian marriages/buddhist or christian/christian marriages. my gf says that other couples have just gotten married at churches, despite being buddhist to save the hassles. i hope that's a way around the concern you mentioned, lopburi3

my last question(s) is(are) a bit more straight forward - can anyone recommend the name of one of these marriage places, and are there any in silom (which is a bit closer to our respective embassies and where we live)?

thanks again for all of your suggestions and feedback,

myauq.

1. Yes, your wife can get a dependent extension of stay if, as lopburi3 points out, immigration does not question your marriage certificate.

2. A church marriage alone won't work, to be legal the marriage must be registered at the local Amphur (District Office), that is where you get the official certificate.

3. Just stand on the sidewalk, looking bewildered, across the street from the US Consulate (not the Embassy) on Wireless Road. You'll be approached by any number of representatives of firms that do such work.

[InterestedObserver]

myauq, does your Burmese GF have a regular Myanmar passport, not some kind of restricted travel document that allows her to study only. Also, I don't recall seeing your nationality mentioned.

[myauq]

myauq, does your Burmese GF have a regular Myanmar passport, not some kind of restricted travel document that allows her to study only. Also, I don't recall seeing your nationality mentioned.

yes, she's got an ordinary passport. my nationality is australian.

[myauq]

update...

we set aside a day to get married earlier this week. we first went to wireless road and spoke to a consultant/translation service. they told us we needed the declaration of freedom forms from our embassies (as mentioned above), and also assured us it wouldn't be a problem for burmese/non-burmese marriages.

so off we went to the australian embassy. half an hour and 500 baht later i had the form i needed. then came the hard part. we went to the myanmar embassy and someone took my gf upstairs (i waited outside). they introduced her to the 'marriage officer'. they told my g/f that if we paid 45,000 baht then we could get the certificate no problems. it's corrupt, but assured.

however, we decided to find another marriage broker outside. we couldn't find one. next time we will search until we find someone who knows what we should do to get the Affirmation of Freedom to Marry certificate (affidavit).

the other option could be this...

i understand that the australian embassy offers a marriage registration/certification service. if we can get the marriage certified with them then that might work. i will have to look into this too.

[Badbanker]

I think you should also look into getting married in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

Both of which are a lot easier than Thailand and perfectly acceptable at Thai immigration!

Do some internet searching and see what you come up with, because I have in the past been to both Singapore and Hong Kong researching for a friend who was in a similar situation you are in.

Cheers

BB

Edited April 25, 2009 by Badbanker

[myauq]

I think you should also look into getting married in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

Both of which are a lot easier than Thailand and perfectly acceptable at Thai immigration!

Do some internet searching and see what you come up with, because I have in the past been to both Singapore and Hong Kong researching for a friend who was in a similar situation you are in.

Cheers

BB

Cheers Badbanker,

I will definitely look into this also.

Great advice

[myauq]

I think you should also look into getting married in either Singapore or Hong Kong.

Both of which are a lot easier than Thailand and perfectly acceptable at Thai immigration!

Do some internet searching and see what you come up with, because I have in the past been to both Singapore and Hong Kong researching for a friend who was in a similar situation you are in.

Cheers

BB

Cheers Badbanker,

I will definitely look into this also.

Great advice

both of these countries require being in the country 2 weeks before the marriage. unfortunately neither of us have the time to do this

this is *really* annoying

[jetzie]

Hi all, i just want to share with the TS my experience.

I'm a singaporean married to a Shan lady (Burmese nationality with international passport) in thailand, bangkok

We registered on 22 Jan 08 at the registration office at Phasicharoen District Office.

It was simple actually. For my side, all i needed was to get my avidavitt from my Embassy and have the Freedom of marriage translated.

For her, i actually got a lawyer that handles Work Permits and stuff for foreign workers (ask if they do it for Burmese), and they actually got her Avidavitt done for her!

So when that is done, the lawfirm arranged a date , and ferried us down to the dIstrict office to get registerd.

all was done within 3 days upon my arrival in bangkok! (my den-gf was a student on a 1 yr ED-Visa in bangkok)

I'm not sure if i still have the lawyer's number, but if needed, drop me a PM i might be able to dig that out.

[slapout]

Reading the above posts about a Shan getting married in Thailand, legally is completely confusing and contradictory to what 2 friends of mine have found. They were told locally, CM, and Bangkok that Thailand will not register a marriage between a Shan and a foreigner. (same as Burma) One (American) took his wife to be to US and got the deed done there. (She has a Alien document to travel issued by Thailand) The other, has not found a way to get married legally in Thailand in several years of inquires, his gf is here legally also and has passport from Burma. This included the Burma embassy in Bangkok. I will reference this to him and the 45,000 requested??? I do not see how any Thai Amphur can register a marriage if neither one of the applicants is a Thai citizen. As money seems to talk at various government levels in Thailand, note, I did not say, will not, issue a document (for what it would be worth) and its future acceptance by any institution said document is presented to. Good luck on your quest.

[Mario2008]

To get married in Thailand it is not necesarry that one of the spousesis a Thai national. Many foreigners are getting married in Thailand. The problem is that you need to have clearence from your embassy, to make sure you are not already marrried, and that is why a Shan or Burmese national will have trouble getting married.

[myauq]

does anyone know the name of a good lawyer/translation service that can help us out here in bangkok? we're still looking, but if we can't find one we will just go tomorrow and search around the ploern chit area as recommended earlier until we find someone who knows what we're talking about.

[ubonjoe]

Here is a list of translators reccomended by the US embassy. I have used number 5 on the list and they did good work for me. http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/root/pdfs/tra...otographers.pdf

You could also give Sunbelt Asia a call and see if they can help. They are a sponser of this forum you should be able to see an ad for them at the top of his page.

[myauq]

this is absolutely ridiculous and infuriating. we just want to get married <deleted>. most of the lawyers that people have mentioned don't seem to know anything. we still haven't found a translation/migration/legal agency that can help

i don't want to waste more money on something which for other nationalities is fairly straight forward and hassle free. i will also be forced to pay extra money for some stupid visa for my fiancee to stay, when she should be entitled to stay here as my wife like other spouses who have working partners. this makes me very angry, and depressed