'o' Visa Extension Uk Falang With Thai Wife And Baby

[topsecret]

I think I have had every visa under the sun over the past 5 years. NIB, EDU, Tourist etc.

Now that I have a Thai wife (married 12 months) and a 7 month old baby I thought I should get the proper visa (Non Immigrant O) to say here with some security and no more visa runs. I was surprised how difficult the whole O visa process was compared to the other visas.

Firstly i went to Phnom Penh with all my documents to get the initial 90 day visa. No problem at all. The consulate was empty and the staff were friendly.

88 days Later I went to Bangkok Immigration to apply for the one year extension. I had all documents but the officer asked me where my wife was! I explained she was at home and they said i needed to bring her with me. I had one day left on my visa.

So the next day me and my wife went down and they told me that i needed 400,000 Baht in a Thai bank in my name and it had to have been there for 2 consecutive months. Even though i had UK statements with the equivalent amount and my wife had 400k, they wouldn't issue the visa.

I thought i just had to prove i had 40K per month. Apparently you need a certified letter from your embassy for this.

They were good enough to give me a 2 month extension and asked me to deposit the money in my account that day and come back in 2 months.

Fair enough i didn't read the conditions properly.

Anyway i decided to hire a visa agent i had used before and they were great. (I wont mention their name) They made sure i had a number of other documents that the immigration did not tell me about and got everything organised for me.

The great thing was that when we went down to immigration is was rammed full but my agent had booked an appointment with the head officer. Although 70+ people were waiting, we got seen in 10 minutes. I thought great, my agents has it all covered, perhaps its a brown envelope under the table and were done.

It was not to be. I stern faced lady sent me back to the seat while she interviewed my wife. 20 minutes later i was called over, my wife sent away and she asked me everything about my wife. Family, job, personal habits..you name it. Luckily our relationship is genuine but I cant imagine any one getting away with a dodgy marriage. Even we made some simple errors in our statements.

The officer seemed satisfied and they gave me a one month extension. Apparently i pick up the new one year extension next month.

The punchline is that my agent informed me that the law will change this year allowing falangs who are married to a Thai, hold an O visa for 3 concecutive years can then apply for Thai citizenship. She said it will actually be easier than getting permanent residence.

This means no more visa worries, you can buy land etc and you don't need to give up your falang passport. Oh you must be able to sing the Thai national anthem fluently. No mention of any criminal or financial checks, just sing the song.

Personally I find it all hard to believe but my agent is credible and always seems to know her stuff. I hope it's true because otherwise the O visa extension is simply more trouble than it's worth.

I hope this helps anyone who is applying for an O Visa extension.

Does anyone have any more info on the Thai citizenship claim for falangs married to Thais?

[NanLaew]

Hmmm... no responses. I guess the usual suspects must all be out and about, looking for Mrs. Right and not Miss Right Now!

Edited April 30, 2009 by NanLaew

[Maestro]

...

The punchline is that my agent informed me that the law will change this year allowing falangs who are married to a Thai, hold an O visa for 3 concecutive years can then apply for Thai citizenship. She said it will actually be easier than getting permanent residence... I hope it's true...

This is the first that I see this reported and I’m sure that a lot of people are hoping with you that it is true. It applies already to a foreign woman married to a Thai national and applying the same procedure to a foreign man would make a lot of sense.

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Maestro