Marriage Extension

[khastan]

I applied for a marriage extension yesterday for my Non 0 visa at Nong Khai Immigration, we duly completed the mountain of paperwork this involves including photographs.This morning the wife received a call from them ordering her to attend at 1pm with two witnesses to testify that we are married, When we arrived with our two witnesses they wanted their original id cards and house book, they were then required to sign documentation verifying that we were married. Is this a new requirement or am I just unlucky?

[Lite Beer]

No. It will be whatever they need as proof you are living together as Husband and Wife.

Years ago I had to take a friend to Immigration to sign a statement.

[Mario2008]

As said, nothing unusual. Sometimes they will visit someones home and/or interview the neighbours. But that is normally only done the first time you apply for an extension of stay, unless you move to another area.

[khastan]

As said, nothing unusual. Sometimes they will visit someones home and/or interview the neighbours. But that is normally only done the first time you apply for an extension of stay, unless you move to another area.

Okay thanks.

Having been married for two and half years and living in the same house together for three and half within 5 minutes walk from Nong Khai immigration, would have been very easy to verify anyway.

[EvilDrSomkid]

We will be applying for the first (marrigae)extension next week Tuesday at Cheang Wattana.

Do they usually require this from people in Bangkok, too?

We will bring tons of pictures.

The thing is, we have little contact with the neighbors in our condo.

On top of this, we will be going on a short vacation on the following Sunday.

[fvw53]

We will be applying for the first (marrigae)extension next week Tuesday at Cheang Wattana.

Do they usually require this from people in Bangkok, too?

We will bring tons of pictures.

The thing is, we have little contact with the neighbors in our condo.

On top of this, we will be going on a short vacation on the following Sunday.

If you are leaving the country the mention this to the Immigration Officer : they want photocopies of your latest entry card, but if you are leaving the country after the application you will come back with another entry card number

[khastan]

We will be applying for the first (marrigae)extension next week Tuesday at Cheang Wattana.

Do they usually require this from people in Bangkok, too?

We will bring tons of pictures.

The thing is, we have little contact with the neighbors in our condo.

On top of this, we will be going on a short vacation on the following Sunday.

Cheang Wattana may be more sympathetic than Nong Khai but its up to you to supply them with whatever they demand. In my case, at first they said they were going to interview our neighbour then the next day my wife was told they would not be doing this and demanded we bring two witnesses to testify we were married and living together in the house.

[EvilDrSomkid]

We will be applying for the first (marrigae)extension next week Tuesday at Cheang Wattana.

Do they usually require this from people in Bangkok, too?

We will bring tons of pictures.

The thing is, we have little contact with the neighbors in our condo.

On top of this, we will be going on a short vacation on the following Sunday.

If you are leaving the country the mention this to the Immigration Officer : they want photocopies of your latest entry card, but if you are leaving the country after the application you will come back with another entry card number

We are not leaving the country, just down south for a few days.

When you say entry card, you mean the Departure card in my passport, right?

The arrival card is taken by immigration when one enters.

I keep seeing people saying you need a copy of the arrival/entry card. How can you?

[EvilDrSomkid]

We will be applying for the first (marrigae)extension next week Tuesday at Cheang Wattana.

Do they usually require this from people in Bangkok, too?

We will bring tons of pictures.

The thing is, we have little contact with the neighbors in our condo.

On top of this, we will be going on a short vacation on the following Sunday.

Cheang Wattana may be more sympathetic than Nong Khai but its up to you to supply them with whatever they demand. In my case, at first they said they were going to interview our neighbour then the next day my wife was told they would not be doing this and demanded we bring two witnesses to testify we were married and living together in the house.

OK, understood. We had two witnesses doing the same for the yellow book.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Ok, so today we went to K-bank to get the letter about the 400k being in the bank for 2 months.

They would NOT issue a letter stating that my balance had been above 400k for two months.

We only got a letter stating my balance of TODAY. Will Cheang Wattana accept this along with the copies of all the bank book pages?

Then, we went to Bang Rak to get the "updated" Kor Ror.2. What a hassle. It took over an hour.

Apparently, what they do is print out a copy of the original and stamp it with today's date and sign it.

I read that one can print it from somewhere online.

What website is this? And will the print show the print date or the marriage date?

I am really nervous about the extension application tomorrow. I want to make sure we got everything correct.

I printed out PoorSucker's check list and we should have it all now.

[lopburi3]

The letter is normally only of account balance - they can see it is above the required amount over time in your passbook/copies.

FYI: there is a bank branch on ground floor at Chiang Watanna if you need anything else.

[EvilDrSomkid]

The letter is normally only of account balance - they can see it is above the required amount over time in your passbook/copies.

FYI: there is a bank branch on ground floor at Chiang Watanna if you need anything else.

OK, thanks.

Looks like we are good to go.

If we get to CW Soi 7 at 8AM or so, how long could this take?

[lopburi3]

Likely not more than about 30 minutes with processor but may have to wait a short while (although you seem to be earlier than most so likely not long). But really hard to put a set time on it. Am quite sure you will finish well before noon break.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Likely not more than about 30 minutes with processor but may have to wait a short while (although you seem to be earlier than most so likely not long). But really hard to put a set time on it. Am quite sure you will finish well before noon break.

Excellent. Thanks again!

I'll report tomorrow.

[bangkokburning]

I have a question if someone might humor me,

Here are the requirements I am fuzzy on:

3. Copy Kor Ror 2 from amphur office (not older than six months)

*What is Kor Ror 2 if it is not the marriage certificate indicated by prior question.

5. Copy wife’s house registration

*We (She) lives in apt in BKK, born in BKK and we (she) is/are not registered here.

7. Copy passport, non-Im visa, arrival card.

*Can this be made on a TR? Waiting period aside.

10. Picture of house and family, in house and outside showing house number.

*We do not live in a house, a photo of the 8 floor (1 of 3) apt blocks will do?

1. Letter from bank same day or day before stating bank records, make a transaction just before to get it up to date.

*First year does not need to be seasoned. 2/3 mos thereafter?

*Assuming we are married, can I just get a few non-o's in Malaysia, NYC or Washington as needed? We travel a lot and I go home every year. A retirement visa is a total hassle for me. I spend almost as much time outside Thailand as I do in.

Thanks!

[lopburi3]

Keyed to the numbers above:

3. Copy of the ledger entry of marriage at the District Office - it is not the certificate.

5. Copy of the blue book having the wife listed (regardless if living there or not) - it is a normal ID document in Thailand.

7. You must have a non immigrant visa entry to extend one year for marriage - if on tourist visa you would have to change at extra step/cost of 2,000 baht and that may have to be done in Bangkok.

10. Show the apartment number (outside door) on one of the photos.

1. Bank deposit must be in account two months for all extensions of stay for marriage using bank account method.

Yes with marriage certificate/copy of wife ID card and home register non immigrant O visas are available. In KL multi entry is available with proof of 100k in an account.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Right, we were at Immigration at 7:45 this morning. Had to wait in line until 8:30.

We had all documents according to the check list, however the woman processing us was VERY strict and did not really like it, I guess, that ALL docs were in order.

She looked a bit of a dragon.

She insisted that the book bank had to be updated today. The letter from K-bank was fine, no comment.

However, because we had the updated Kor Ror 2, she wanted to have the translated Affirmation Free to Marry letter. Which, of course, I have never heard asked for before. FFUUUUU...

Luckily, my wife had the original in the folder.

So, downstairs and deposit 100 baht, update, get copies of this and the translated Affirmation Free to Marry.

The interview was no probs.

Got sent to the next woman to double check the paper work. She requested a copy of the entry stamp.

Luckily again, my wife had a copy made of that this morning.

Out by 9:40.

So, back on June 8th to get the result.

I should not spend any of the money yet, right? Do they ask for more documents when we come to get the extension stamp, if approved?

Also, where do I apply for work permit if in Khannayao?

[lopburi3]

People do not seem to have a problem now using the money (it did cause problems before when there was no time period for it to be in account). If you don't have to use below required amount probably best not to do but have not seen any recent reports of it being a problem.

Should not be any other documents until next year (other than doing the TM.47 address reports).

[bangkokburning]

Thanks for the clarification.

Dude - you need to move, seriously! Those are hateful people.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Dude - you need to move, seriously! Those are hateful people.

Are you referring to me? Why would want to move?

I would not say they are hateful people. They were just being civil servants.

I must say that all things considered, it went better than expected.

Nice clean place, HUGE building, efficiently organized, as far as I could tell.

Man, that Atrium is humongous! You could have a football match in there!

[bangkokburning]

They gave you that grief in Bangkok?!

Wow, I am SO not getting a visa based on being married.

You are far too apologetic.

Man, that Atrium is humongous!

Yeah, great work if you can get it. Built entirely with farang generated fees and fines :-)

[EvilDrSomkid]

They gave you that grief in Bangkok?!

Wow, I am SO not getting a visa based on being married.

You are far too apologetic.

Man, that Atrium is humongous!

Yeah, great work if you can get it. Built entirely with farang generated fees and fines :-)

Apologetic? Man, that was nothing!

So what visa would you get? ED, B or Retirement are not options for me.

B visa extension is even worse.

[bangkokburning]

I continue to do runners, if I marry I will continue to get TRs and apply for Non-O based on marriage (3mo). I will not bow and scrape to that subjective and whimsical nonsense. It's just plain insulting.

I have my girlfriend here, but my days of "lovin' " this place are long gone. When we can, we will spend 6 months here and six months abroad.

Thailand is set to have some major issues tossed at it. The politics do not bode well, corruption is endemic, serious issues with flooding, lack of global competitiveness, strong baht... - I'm not setting up shop here. In fact, emphasis is now on the gf learning English not me honing my Thai. Way past sell by, way.

Seems like the bureaucrats do whatever it takes to reject the app, not assist applicants in processing it. I don't know if its nastiness, xenophobia, ignorance, laziness or grubbing for baksheesh. As I have said in a prior post, I do not understand the niggling hassles as any fraudulent marriage will come to their attention in a few years (3 max). If Thailand is concerned about crime that some individuals may be involved in - that is a matter for the police.

Finally, a single person on a retirement visa is required to put 800k in the bank or roughly 4.5x the per capita income of Thailand. Insane. What proves this point is that someone married has to put half that, 2.25x. Please note, this assumes perhaps these are expenses for two persons so ....1.125x - which seems reasonable. But what this says is basically ...Yes, we (Thailand) believe that a foreigner can have an acceptable lifestyle on 200,000B a year - but we for reasons of our own require 4x that amount. There is no way to counter this. Thailand does not care about how your income may help families directly or your micro economy indirectly. The only thing Thailand cares about is that the airport is busy and the large hotels are full.

I'd urge people to look at Malaysia.

[merijn]

As said, nothing unusual. Sometimes they will visit someones home and/or interview the neighbours. But that is normally only done the first time you apply for an extension of stay, unless you move to another area.

According the information i have they are not allowed to interview your neighbours. ( i don't have even neighbours close to my house ) They can come to your house within the 30day processing time ( between your application and the date that you receive your extension ) to check that you are really living together on the provided address. Sometimes they do this when you apply for the first extension, but i spoke to nobody who had the immigration on their doorstep.

Right, we were at Immigration at 7:45 this morning. Had to wait in line until 8:30.

We had all documents according to the check list, however the woman processing us was VERY strict and did not really like it, I guess, that ALL docs were in order.

She looked a bit of a dragon.

She insisted that the book bank had to be updated today. The letter from K-bank was fine, no comment.

However, because we had the updated Kor Ror 2, she wanted to have the translated Affirmation Free to Marry letter. Which, of course, I have never heard asked for before. FFUUUUU...Luckily, my wife had the original in the folder.

So, downstairs and deposit 100 baht, update, get copies of this and the translated Affirmation Free to Marry.

The interview was no probs.

Got sent to the next woman to double check the paper work. She requested a copy of the entry stamp.

Luckily again, my wife had a copy made of that this morning.

Out by 9:40.

So, back on June 8th to get the result.

I should not spend any of the money yet, right? Do they ask for more documents when we come to get the extension stamp, if approved?

Also, where do I apply for work permit if in Khannayao?

The affirmation Free to marry is not required for any visa extension but is only required when you are getting married to proof that you are not married allready. Looks you had a bad day at the immigration or maybe the imigration officer had a fight with her husband.

[EvilDrSomkid]

As said, nothing unusual. Sometimes they will visit someones home and/or interview the neighbours. But that is normally only done the first time you apply for an extension of stay, unless you move to another area.

According the information i have they are not allowed to interview your neighbours. ( i don't have even neighbours close to my house ) They can come to your house within the 30day processing time ( between your application and the date that you receive your extension ) to check that you are really living together on the provided address. Sometimes they do this when you apply for the first extension, but i spoke to nobody who had the immigration on their doorstep.

Right, we were at Immigration at 7:45 this morning. Had to wait in line until 8:30.

We had all documents according to the check list, however the woman processing us was VERY strict and did not really like it, I guess, that ALL docs were in order.

She looked a bit of a dragon.

She insisted that the book bank had to be updated today. The letter from K-bank was fine, no comment.

However, because we had the updated Kor Ror 2, she wanted to have the translated Affirmation Free to Marry letter. Which, of course, I have never heard asked for before. FFUUUUU...Luckily, my wife had the original in the folder.

So, downstairs and deposit 100 baht, update, get copies of this and the translated Affirmation Free to Marry.

The interview was no probs.

Got sent to the next woman to double check the paper work. She requested a copy of the entry stamp.

Luckily again, my wife had a copy made of that this morning.

Out by 9:40.

So, back on June 8th to get the result.

I should not spend any of the money yet, right? Do they ask for more documents when we come to get the extension stamp, if approved?

Also, where do I apply for work permit if in Khannayao?

The affirmation Free to marry is not required for any visa extension but is only required when you are getting married to proof that you are not married allready. Looks you had a bad day at the immigration or maybe the imigration officer had a fight with her husband.

Yes, I know it is not required. It was ridiculous. I would not be able to marry if I did not have it. We did not bring any khanom, so maybe that is why she was difficult.

At the risk of providing too detailed information, she was at desk L4. If this violates TV rules, mods can remove.

I remember her officer number, but will not post that.

[lopburi3]

Have seen a number of such requests over the years so it is not that unusual if there is any doubt. Immigration are police and are not only checking on you but on any District Officer who may have circumvented the rules. This, like the copy of ledger entry, is more proof of marriage status as that is a requirement they are charged with proving in order to extend stay. If they have any doubt they must check further as it is there name on that paper that says you meet the requirements; so could come back on them if something found later to be amiss.

[EvilDrSomkid]

I see.

Well, if she was not sure if our marriage was not real, she could have bothered to check out the wedding album we brought.

Never mind, we had the letter with us and will bring it next time, too.

We'll see on June 8th what they say.

[merijn]

Have seen a number of such requests over the years so it is not that unusual if there is any doubt. Immigration are police and are not only checking on you but on any District Officer who may have circumvented the rules. This, like the copy of ledger entry, is more proof of marriage status as that is a requirement they are charged with proving in order to extend stay. If they have any doubt they must check further as it is there name on that paper that says you meet the requirements; so could come back on them if something found later to be amiss.

This doesnt make sense.

At the time that you are get married for the Thai law everything is checked to see if you are allowed to get married in the first place.

For this reason you need the Affirmation Free to Marry letter from your hometown and you can't even get it on the embassy ( in case of The Netherlands ) but you have to get it from your city hall back in Holland.

The immigration has the duty to check that you qualify for the visa extension for which they need the Kor Ror 2 document which is the official marriage certificate from the Thai government and supersedes any Affirmation Free to Marry paper.

I think that the immigration officer was just not happy that she could not find anything wrong and just requested the first thing she could think of.

[lopburi3]

It makes sense to me and I know for a fact there have been such issues with false paperwork being issued without the required documents on file.

Most of us just get a document from our Embassy, not our hometowns.

The marriage certificate is not a Kor Roh 2.

[merijn]

It makes sense to me and I know for a fact there have been such issues with false paperwork being issued without the required documents on file.

Most of us just get a document from our Embassy, not our hometowns.

The marriage certificate is not a Kor Roh 2.

Different countries different rules.

And i did not say Kor Roh 2 but Kor Ror 2 which is the marriage certificate from the Thai Amphur where you married.

The Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate is only issued when you married and the Kor Ror 2 is the certificate which you can request always and proves that you are still married.