A friend of mine has a retirement visa. He's thinking about trying for the 'Married' route but is wondering if it's possible to get anything as a 'dependent' of his Thai son. The son is in his mid twenties and expects to start a job fairly soon. I' ve never heard of this approach but hazzard a guess that if it could be done then the son would need to provide some sort of proof of financial status.

Yes it is possible.

The financial requirements are the same as the marriage option so Immigration will go down the marriage route.

400,000 Baht in the bank or 40,000 Baht income. It has to be the Husbands/Father's money.

a 'dependant' refers to a child who is dependant on their parent/s until they reach a working age.

I dont think that a retired person who is financially dependant on their unemployed offspring is going to fly very well.... 400K in the bank still required if I'm not mistaken (providing he can prove paternity).

Edit:

Oops! Sorry. Just saw that the child is mid twenties. Please ignore the following, but I will leave it for future reference in a Google search. No, if the child is mid twenties, there is no basis for requiring support. The child is legally an adult and capable of taking care of himself. In this case, he will need to find a family member who does require support, such as a wife. He can not claim to be a dependent of his Thai son, as your friend is already past the age of majority, therefore does not require support from anyone.

Since your friend is not married but has a son, I will assume he was never married to the mother of this child.

In this case, he will first need to legalize the child as his son. This is easily done if the child is 7 years of age or older. All 3 need to go down to the office at the ampur where the child is registered on the house papers. Then they all need to swear that he is the father. 5 minutes later it is done, and he is now the legal father of the child. Sometimes this route can be used if the child is younger. People have has success this way with children as young as 3, but 7 is the accepted age used in most jurisdictions.

If the child is not yet 7 years of age, he will need to legalize through the juvenile court. That will take about 3 months. He will need to hire a lawyer for this task, and that will cost about 30,000 baht. The court will interview the mother, and if nobody contests the action, this will have exactly the same effect as above. He will now be the legal father of the child.

Once he has legalized his child, he may apply for a visa on the basis of supporting the child. There is no difference between the requirements for supporting a wife or supporting a child. Any family member is as good as the next as far as immigration is concerned.

Edited August 17, 201015 yr by gregb

There is no difference between the requirements for supporting a wife or supporting a child.

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Actually there is a huge difference as noted below. Less than 20 years of age.

(4) In the case of a child, adopted child or child of his/her spouse, the said person must not be married, must be living with the family, and must be less than 20 years of age;