Getting A Non-O Visa For My Wife

[vagabond48]

I am in China right now and want to get a Non-O visa for my Chinese wife. I have a Non-O visa and I have made 4 annual retirement extensions. I want to get the Non-O visa for my wife so that when we return to Chiang Mai, I can make her a dependent of my visa. The clerk at the Kunming Thai Consulate is telling me that for my wife to get this visa I have to show proof that I was retired. All I have with me is my passport which shows the transferred Non-O visa from my previous passport and 3 annual extensions. Unfortunately, I never noticed that the extension stamp did not have the word "retirement" in the body but I am not sure if that would make a difference to him. He appeared to be very busy and was rather curt with me when I wanted to discuss a way around this.

Is what he is saying correct?

Outside of leaving my wife temporarily in China with her family and returning to Chiang Mai to get proof of my retirement and emailing/mailing to her, what else can I do while we are both in China?

Assuming my only option is returning to Thailand, is there a document immigration would provide showing that my retirement extension is based on my letter of income which I get from the US Consulate?

Thanks in advance.

[lopburi3]

That extension of stay is normally stamped retirement. What they need to see in the one year extension of stay which you say you have without the stamp so expect it should be accepted if you explain that is your one year retirement proof. Make a photo copy and sign it and see if they can accept that.

[vagabond48]

That extension of stay is normally stamped retirement. What they need to see in the one year extension of stay which you say you have without the stamp so expect it should be accepted if you explain that is your one year retirement proof. Make a photo copy and sign it and see if they can accept that.

My original visa back in 2006 was a Non-O not a Non-OA which only required that I be over 50 yo and I had to do visa run every 90 days. The transferred (from old passport) 1 year visa stamp is written in Thai except for the handwritten "NON-O", unlike the 3 annual extensions which are written in English. Is it possible that the word "retirement" is written in Thai? I don't know if a transferred visa stamp is unique for each type of visa? The original visa issued in the USA was written in English and may have had the word "retirement", unfortunately it is back in Chiang Mai.

I will try to speak to the Consul General there to convince he/she that I am retired since 2006. Perhaps she could call the CM Immigration and get verbal confirmation. I will also print out a couple of my USA 1099 statements from my banks which would satisfy the income requirement.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mario2008]

It might be written in Thai, or show a number refferring to the police order: Like "2.22" for a retiree.

[lopburi3]

There is no retirement visa. The non immigrant O visa you had stands for "other reasons". The visa that is a pre-approved extension of stay for retirement is actually called a "long stay" visa. Retirement extensions of stay are provided by immigration inside Thailand and that stamp is what Consulate should be interested in seeing (and her marriage certificate to you).

[vagabond48]

There is no retirement visa. The non immigrant O visa you had stands for "other reasons". The visa that is a pre-approved extension of stay for retirement is actually called a "long stay" visa. Retirement extensions of stay are provided by immigration inside Thailand and that stamp is what Consulate should be interested in seeing (and her marriage certificate to you).

Well I hope I can convince someone there that the 3 continuous annual 1 year extensions I have are for retirement even thought the word "retirement" does not appear on the stamp.

[Maestro]

My original visa back in 2006 was a Non-O not a Non-OA which only required that I be over 50 yo and I had to do visa run every 90 days. The transferred (from old passport) 1 year visa stamp is written in Thai except for the handwritten "NON-O", unlike the 3 annual extensions which are written in English...

Your non-O visa was not transferred from the old to the new passport but a note was entered in the new passport with details of your old passport and the non-O visa with which you originally arrived in Thailand. Just like the original non-O visa, the reference to it in the new passport does not indicate "retirement".

The extension stamp was transferred to your new passport. An extension is always for a specific reason. Some immigration offices indicate that reason in English, some in Thai, and some not at all. Regardless of this, this extension stamp is your valid permission to stay in Thailand.

There was probably a third entry in your new passport, a stamp with details of your latest arrival stamp in Thailand.

Example of transfer stamps in new passport:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/gallery/image/9163-transfer-stamps-old-to-new-passport-bangkok-20011127jpg/

[JimGant]

Outside of leaving my wife temporarily in China with her family and returning to Chiang Mai to get proof of my retirement and emailing/mailing to her, what else can I do

I don't know if this would work, but maybe she could come with you to CM on a tourist visa, then convert to a Non Imm O visa on the basis that she's eligible for a one-year extension as your spouse. Obviously, it would be nice to know if this would work, before wasting money on an airline ticket.

Off the top of my head, I don't recall eligible spouses converting to Non Imm visas. However, you would think that it could be done, as the conversion process is simply to obtain the Non Imm visa upon which all one-year extensions have to hang their hat. If one is eligible for a one-year extension, regardless of criteria being met, you would think conversion would be allowed.

[vagabond48]

It might be written in Thai, or show a number refferring to the police order: Like "2.22" for a retiree.

You hit a home-run Mario. I found that notation. The line was spaced a bit down from the main stamp so I apparently over-looked it. It refers to the police order document number followed by the sub-section number 2.22. I'll print the police order cover page and page that describes 2.22. Before I go to the Chinese visa clerk, I think I'll go to the main Consulate office and show them the above information first.

Again guys, thanks so much!

[vagabond48]

Just as a follow-up, my retirement extension of stay is up Jan 5th. I normally renew it about 3 weeks early. When I do, my wife can then convert her Non-O visa to be a dependent of my annual retirement extension for 2012. Since she will have a 90 day visa, can I assume that her last day of stay would have to be at least Jan 5 or later even if I go down to immigration in the middle of December to make her a dependent? I would prefer to return to Thailand a couple of weeks earlier than Oct 8th but don't really want to extend her Non-O visa just for a couple of weeks.

Again, thanks guys!!!!

[Mario2008]

She can extend for the time you are allowed to stay or, if that is shorter, for 1 year.

It would be nice if her stay matches you, so a stay for her for up to 5 jan. might be best. Than she will also get a stay for up to 5 Jan. 2013.

[vagabond48]

She can extend for the time you are allowed to stay or, if that is shorter, for 1 year.

It would be nice if her stay matches you, so a stay for her for up to 5 jan. might be best. Than she will also get a stay for up to 5 Jan. 2013.

I haven't had access to the internet until now. I was a bit confused by your answer. Can I give you a scenario, if my wife arrived in Thailand let's say, Nov 1 on a 90 day Non-O visa. What date will her converted visa, to become a dependent of my visa ret extension, start, Jan 6, 2012, which is the start of my extension or Jan 31 which is 90 days after her arrival Nov 1?

[lopburi3]

The idea is to have her apply for matching extension of stay as soon after you obtain as possible. If arrival November and your extension starts in January should work out well as that will be prior to the 90 days she is allowed entry on that visa.

[vagabond48]

The idea is to have her apply for matching extension of stay as soon after you obtain as possible. If arrival November and your extension starts in January should work out well as that will be prior to the 90 days she is allowed entry on that visa.

To confirm, as long as her visa ends after Jan 6th, she will be able to be a dependent of mine starting the same day as my visa extension which is Jan 6th.

[lopburi3]

She has to apply with normal TM7 using your passport with extension of stay and proof of marriage and paying 1,900 baht fee - but having the valid non immigrant visa entry is a basic requirement and she will have that taken care of. It is actually her permitted to stay that is important - she could have a visa that was past expiration date (used for entry some time after issue) and still be able to extend as long as her permitted to stay date had not passed.

[Sojourner]

It might be written in Thai, or show a number refferring to the police order: Like "2.22" for a retiree.

I also use the Chiang Mai Immigration office for my one year extensions based on retirement. My last two extensions (2009 &2010) have written 2.22 after a stamp containing a string of numbers mixed in with Thai script abbreviations. The number string is คำส้ง ตร.ที่ 777/2551 ลง 25 พ.ย. 51 ข้อ 2.22. I hope this helps.

[vagabond48]

1st, I want to thank everyone for all the useful advice, especially Mario's post #4, about getting a Non-O visa for my wife.

Today, my wife finally got the Non-O visa but even armed with a detailed letter, copies of my passport photo page, extension of stay which references police order 777/2551 and reason 2.22, the cover page of the police order both in English and Thai and the page of reason 2.22 both in English and Thai, it was still a bit of touch and go. I can only assume that, at the Kunming consulate visa section, nearly all of their visas are for tourist or Non-O study or work. I played it safe, bypassed the Visa section and went to present my case to the Thai Consulate General but after getting my paperwork, it still took the CG almost 20 minutes to confirm that my wife could get the Non-O.

[vagabond48]

She has to apply with normal TM7 using your passport with extension of stay and proof of marriage and paying 1,900 baht fee - but having the valid non immigrant visa entry is a basic requirement and she will have that taken care of. It is actually her permitted to stay that is important - she could have a visa that was past expiration date (used for entry some time after issue) and still be able to extend as long as her permitted to stay date had not passed.

As I wrote, in my last post, the wife got her Non-O visa.

Before we leave China, I want to make sure I take everything I need to bring to the CM Immigration. You mentioned that I would only need my extension of stay which I have and proof of marriage. What is considered proof of marriage and would it have to be in Thai. I know in China, to get the Thai visa, I had to get my Chinese marriage certificate translated to English, then go get it notarized and then finally get it certified for the Thai Consulate visa.

[lopburi3]

I suspect English translation would be accepted by Thai Immigration. For marriage to a Thai done outside Thailand the procedure is to translate into Thai and register and get chop from your Embassy (normally when the marriage was performed) and then register with Thai MFA and record in a District Office here (reason needs to be in Thai). But do not believe there is any such procedure for foreign marriage to a non Thai.