Just Stay A Little Bit Longer ..... Extension Of Stay

[changnoi48]

Just a report about how I did get an “Extension of stay” (for 1 year) on a Non-Immigrant “O” visa. And on a more personal note I would like to say that the Immigration office of Pattaya seems to have improved very much. I had some unfriendly experiences there before but not anymore. Friendly staff that is doing what they should do. And mostly they do it with a smile.

As we all know that things differ from place, time and person I hereby state that the following information was gathered by me in the beginning of 2009 at the Immigration Office of Pattaya.

I was originally in the understanding that I would apply for a new Non-Immigrant “O” visa but of course this is not true. One applies for an “Extension of stay” of a current Non-Immigrant visa or of a current “Extension of stay”. So before one applies for this one needs to have a Non-Immigrant visa in the first place. My reason for applying for the extension of stay was “Marriage”, but there are of course also other reasons to apply for the extension of stay (like retirement)

The moment your application for the “Extension of Stay” is accepted by the Immigration officer, you will get a stamp in your passport that “an application for extension of stay is in consideration” and that you will have to come back to the immigration office at a date 30 days after you made the application. Actually as long as your application is pending you can stay in Thailand.

For applying for an (1 year) “Extension of stay” (Marriage) your need a double set (2) of the following documents:

• Application form with a pass-photo of 2½ inch (4cm by 6cm)
  
• Copy of first & second page of the house-book where you are living
  
• Copy of all used pages of your passport
  
• Copy of your TM-card
  
• Copy of front & back side of ID-card of your Thai wife/husband
  
• Copy of all pages of current your Thai bank book
  
• Copy of “Letter of certificate” from your Thai bank
  
• Copy of marriage certificate
  
• 4 recent photos showing both partners on 4 different places in & outside their house (better make some more so they can choose which one they like)
  
• Copy of house-book of your (Thai) neighbor that have to come with you
  
• Copy of ID-card of your (Thai) neighbor that comes with you
  
• Copy of map of the location where you both live (you have to make that yourself)
  

Be aware of that

• You Thai bank account must have a minimum of 400.000 Thai baht (in case of marriage) AND it must be on your account for at least 2 months at the moment you apply (and as I understand the second time it must be 3 months in your account)
  
• All copies must be signed by the owner of the original document
  
• You should be accompanied by a neighbor who can proof that you life at your house together
  
• Application fee is 1900 Thai baht
  
• All applications are send to Bangkok and it takes at least 30 days to be finished
  
• You should have the following original documents with you
  

· Marriage certificate

· House-book

· ID-card Thai wife/husband

· Passport from

· Bank book that shows that you have at least 400k Thai baht for a minimum of the last 2 months at your bank account

· “Letter of certificate” of the bank of the bank account

· House-book from neighbor

· ID-card from neighbor

When granted the “Extension of stay” you will get a stamp in your passport giving you an extension of stay of 1 year. You do not have to leave the country anymore but you will have to report yourself every 90 days to your local Immigration Office to show where you are living. When doing this you should show proof about your address, like a driver-license or a invoice with your name. Useless but true.

When you leave The Kingdom your “Extension of stay” becomes invalid. To prevent that you have to apply for a “Re-entry permit”, which are available as a “Single” or as a “Multi”. When you leave to country with a “Re-entry permit” and come back again you will get an entry-stamp up-to the date of your “Extension of stay” (please check that before leaving the counter of the immigration!). And your period of “90-days-reporting” starts at zero again.

Getting this “Re-entry permit” was a simple walk in, take a queue, apply for it, pay the fee, wait 10min for your passport and receipt of payment.

For applying for a “Re-entry permit” you need the following documents:

• Application form with a pass-photo of 2½ inch (4cm by 6cm)
  
• Your Passport
  
• Copy of all used pages of your passport
  

Be aware of

• Application fee for single re-entry permit is 1000 Thai baht
  
• Application fee for multi re-entry permit is 3800 Thai baht
  
• Apply for this as soon as possible as you never know when you might need it
  
• As far as I know you can not get it at the airport anymore
  
• Although on the application form is asked when & where you will travel abroad it seems that this is never checked. And traveling over land is hardly possible to check
  

[AjarnChan]

Just a report about how I did get an “Extension of stay” (for 1 year) on a Non-Immigrant “O” visa. .....

Hi changnoi48 and thanks for the information. It is really useful to hear how other people get on.

[Mario2008]

Note that 90 day reporting can also be done by mail, you don't have to go there in person. You can also ask someone else to do it for you.

[hansnl]

Just a report about how I did get an “Extension of stay” (for 1 year) on a Non-Immigrant “O” visa. And on a more personal note I would like to say that the Immigration office of Pattaya seems to have improved very much. I had some unfriendly experiences there before but not anymore. Friendly staff that is doing what they should do. And mostly they do it with a smile.

]IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE THAT THE IMMIGRATION OFFICER IS NOT THE TRUSTING TYPE AND WILL ASK YOU FOR MUCH MORE PAPERWORK, IF ASKED FOR PROOF OF LIVING TOGETHER, ASK ANY GOVERNMENT OFFICER TO ACCOMPANY YOU TO THE IMMIGRATION, OR BRING ADDRESS SLIPS OF STATEMENTS FROM BANKS, TAX PAPERS (IF ANY).

Edited May 3, 2009 by ubonjoe
removed reply from quoted text and reduce quotet tex ubonjoe

[Billion]

You Thai bank account must have a minimum of 400.000 Thai baht (in case of marriage) AND it must be on your account for at least 2 months at the moment you apply (and as I understand the second time it must be 3 months in your account)

Very good report, thanks.

Samut Prakan Immigration office has the same rules; it must be on your account for at least 2 months at the moment you apply for the first time extension. (The second and coming extensions it must be 3 months in your account)