Do My Australian Kids Need A Non O Visa Also?

[buckhumyai]

I have a Non O multi entry visa based on marriage and am moving to Thailand with my wife( Dual citizen) Eldest Daughter, 8 (Dual citizen) and two Australian boys aged 2 and 4 who will be travelling on Australian passports. I will be applying for extension of stay based on 400K in the bank etc etc. and would like to know if the children can enter on Tourist visas and be included in the application for extension of stay or would they also require Non O visas?

The consulate in Perth has advised taking them on tourist visas and "working it out" when we get there. We will be travelling through South East Asia and Europe amongst other places during the year all on Australian Passports and I would like it to be 100% legal and hassle free. My wife and eldest daughter were planning on entering and leaving Thailand on Thai Passports but using Australian passports when we travelled. Would this cause any problems?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[monty]

They can enter on 30 day visa free stamps.

Children of 14 or less do not get overstay fines, so many don't bother getting them extensions/visa's.

I do think however that it is possible to get them extensions based as being your dependents once you have your extension.

[lopburi3]

You are the father but your wife is not the mother of the boys? You have custody or paperwork for travel so no potential problems in that regard (you mention extensive travel planned)?

For Thailand they should obtain non immigrant O visas after you obtain your one year extension of stay and then they can obtain dependent extensions based on yours. I would not worry about that until your year of travel is over as children are not charged an overstay fee - but they may be required to have onward tickets within 30 days for trips to Thailand if they do not have a visa of some type. Currently tourist visas are free so it would make sense to obtain them.

[buckhumyai]

For Thailand they should obtain non immigrant O visas after you obtain your one year extension of stay and then they can obtain dependent extensions based on yours. I would not worry about that until your year of travel is over as children are not charged an overstay fee - but they may be required to have onward tickets within 30 days for trips to Thailand if they do not have a visa of some type. Currently tourist visas are free so it would make sense to obtain them.

So, in the meantime it is no real problem if they habitually overstay , ie we stay as long as we feel like each time then leave the country and come back and keep repeating this? Once I have my extension of stay do the kids need to be holding current O visas to gain an extension based on mine? If they are eventually going to need O visas wouldnt it make more sense to just get them now? Sorry for more questions but I am struggling to get my head around how this whole thing works. Thanx

[Mario2008]

If one of the parents was Thai at the time of birth, a child has Thai nationality by law. Your two boys can apply for a Thai passport. If they were born in Australia they can apply for a Thai birth certificate at the Embassy or a general consulate with their Australian birth certificate. At he same time you can apply for a Thai passport for them. Should take about 3 weeks.

Yes, for an extension of stay the children would need to have a non-O themselves.

[lopburi3]

There is no problem with the overstays but when school starts expect they may need a valid visa entry for that. A single entry visa would not be of much use if travel is planned and you said Consulate was not interested in providing a non immigrant visa of any kind. Once you have the year extension of stay and proof of relationship they can easily obtain the required non immigrant visa.

My post mentioned your wife not being the mother of the boys; so believe they do not have a Thai mother? If indeed they do you should obtain Thai passports; using the Oz birth certificate to register birth at Thai Embassy first.

[buckhumyai]

My post mentioned your wife not being the mother of the boys; so believe they do not have a Thai mother? If indeed they do you should obtain Thai passports; using the Oz birth certificate to register birth at Thai Embassy first.

Sorry for not clarifying that the boys indeed DO have a thai mum however we live in Perth which only has access to a Mobile Passport unit for about 2 weeks out of the year otherwise it will involve 2 flights and about an 8000km round trip. I plan to coincide my next trip back home to Perth when the Passport booth is in town. The Perth consulate take your name and number and call you when they know the dates. However as you state you need a Thai Birth Certificate first.

My wife did try to organise the boys thai birth certificates before Christmas while I was working away however the Thai embassy in Canberra refused to accept the Australian Birth Certificates we sent because they were not Authorised as genuine.

<deleted>? The Aussie passport Office needed only to sight the Birth Certificates, the kids didnt even have to go!

Apparently the 35 security features built into the certificate which is accepted by every Australian institution in the country was not good enough for the Thai embassy and they quoted that "Australia is a big place so we need the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to confirm its authenticity." What it has to do with them I will never understand. They then returned the application imcomplete. I spat the dummy. But not as much as my wife. I felt sorry for the girl on the phone.

I will indeed do as you suggest Lopburi3 and after my extension of stay is granted I will Get O visas for the kids and apply for dependent Extension of stay for them. Thanks for helping me figure it out. I appreciate it.

[lopburi3]

Actually believe that is normal procedure anywhere in the world. A foreign Embassy has no knowledge of Oz security features or normal signatures. And normally it is MFA/DOS/DFAT that is the legal authority. So nothing unique to Oz on that.

[buckhumyai]

Actually believe that is normal procedure anywhere in the world. A foreign Embassy has no knowledge of Oz security features or normal signatures. And normally it is MFA/DOS/DFAT that is the legal authority. So nothing unique to Oz on that.

Fair enough, you learn something every day, However, if the 18 year old girl at the post office in Oz could be trained to recognise a genuine birth certificate and process Passport applications then you would think they might be able to train maybe just one university educated Thai staff at the embassy to do the same. The security features are listed one by one on the back of the birth certificates. Its not like they must become familiar with hundreds of different ones as you must apply at your Child's country of Birth meaning they would deal exclusively with Oz Birth Certificates. I mean, all the officer at DFAT is going to do is look at the watermarks etc and then sign it. Not exactly rocket science.

[samran]

the horse still hasn't bolted yet so far as the Thai birth certificate is concerned. You can get them issued by mail in Australia. Form is here: http://canberra.thaiembassy.org/doc/form/form_birth.pdf

Instructions in english on the last page.