Yellow Book

[westbounder]

I am an American here in Chiang Mai on a retirement Visa.

My wife and I have land and a house in SanPatong.

I was told that if I get a yellow book, I do not have to report to Immigration every 90 days.

Is this true or a bunch of bs...?

[CMSteve]

always have to report, unless you become a citizen....

[msg362]

Not True, the yellow book is only useful for proof of residence- buying a car/ renewal visa etc. Trust me, been here many years with a book, still sign on

[Rotweiler]

As commented above, yellow tabien baan is a really pretty colour - but of very limited usefulness. It will reduce the requirement for other proof-of-residence documents for a drivers licence, for buying a motor vehicle, etc. It does not reduce reporting; does not give you special status with Immigration; but does grant you a nice warm feeling when you show it around to Thai friends and neighbours who shake their heads in consternation and mutter "silly farang can't even get the colour right"..... :-)

[hml367]

As commented above, yellow tabien baan is a really pretty colour - but of very limited usefulness. It will reduce the requirement for other proof-of-residence documents for a drivers licence, for buying a motor vehicle, etc. It does not reduce reporting; does not give you special status with Immigration; but does grant you a nice warm feeling when you show it around to Thai friends and neighbours who shake their heads in consternation and mutter "silly farang can't even get the colour right"..... :-)

Why would you "show it around to Thai friends and neighbours....." ? That seems to me to be a problem with a person's ego, not with having a yellow book.

I use mine when extending my permit to stay. Cuts MY interview time to almost nothing.

MSPain

[Thailand]

As commented above, yellow tabien baan is a really pretty colour - but of very limited usefulness. It will reduce the requirement for other proof-of-residence documents for a drivers licence, for buying a motor vehicle, etc. It does not reduce reporting; does not give you special status with Immigration; but does grant you a nice warm feeling when you show it around to Thai friends and neighbours who shake their heads in consternation and mutter "silly farang can't even get the colour right"..... :-)

Why would you "show it around to Thai friends and neighbours....." ? That seems to me to be a problem with a person's ego, not with having a yellow book.

I use mine when extending my permit to stay. Cuts MY interview time to almost nothing.

MSPain

It's called sarcasm.

I will take mine at my next visa renewal, do I just wave it at the officer and that's it for the interview?

[hml367]

It's called sarcasm.

I will take mine at my next visa renewal, do I just wave it at the officer and that's it for the interview?

No idea if what it will do for you. I just posted what happened for me. I would think when you are extending your permit to stay, if you do anything with a sarcastic attitude, like wait it at the officer, during the interview, you could have a hard time. I just included copies of it with all the other copies. The officer opened the book to see it had my name, and that was it.

If you are responding to my posts with sarcasm, please don't.

MSPain

[Thailand]

It's called sarcasm.

I will take mine at my next visa renewal, do I just wave it at the officer and that's it for the interview?

No idea if what it will do for you. I just posted what happened for me. I would think when you are extending your permit to stay, if you do anything with a sarcastic attitude, like wait it at the officer, during the interview, you could have a hard time. I just included copies of it with all the other copies. The officer opened the book to see it had my name, and that was it.

If you are responding to my posts with sarcasm, please don't.

MSPain

I will take your advice and ensure I do not wait my Tabian Baan at the officer.

[Rotweiler]

MSPain appears to be very tense today. Me shrugs.

I have never required “proof of residence” at visa renewal time – just a copy of my wife’s ID card. When I first got my yellow tabien baan. I took it along with me for my next yearly visa extension. It was promptly handed back to me with the comment “Not need”, but DID ask for a copy of my wife’s BlueBook which went into my permanent file.

But there is ONE aspect of a yellow book that should not be overlooked – in the event your name is NOT listed as an interested party in the land/house documents at the land titles office, either directly on the title (as in my case) or in the form of a usufruct, the yellow book CAN act as some protection in the event of the death of your Thai spouse or marriage breakdown.

It's called sarcasm.

I will take mine at my next visa renewal, do I just wave it at the officer and that's it for the interview?

[hml367]

MSPain appears to be very tense today. Me shrugs.

I have never required “proof of residence” at visa renewal time – just a copy of my wife’s ID card. When I first got my yellow tabien baan. I took it along with me for my next yearly visa extension. It was promptly handed back to me with the comment “Not need”, but DID ask for a copy of my wife’s BlueBook which went into my permanent file.

But there is ONE aspect of a yellow book that should not be overlooked – in the event your name is NOT listed as an interested party in the land/house documents at the land titles office, either directly on the title (as in my case) or in the form of a usufruct, the yellow book CAN act as some protection in the event of the death of your Thai spouse or marriage breakdown.

It's called sarcasm.

I will take mine at my next visa renewal, do I just wave it at the officer and that's it for the interview?

Not at all actually.

MSPain

[Sophon]

But there is ONE aspect of a yellow book that should not be overlooked – in the event your name is NOT listed as an interested party in the land/house documents at the land titles office, either directly on the title (as in my case) or in the form of a usufruct, the yellow book CAN act as some protection in the event of the death of your Thai spouse or marriage breakdown.

How do you figure that? The yellow book is just a hourse register and doesn't give you any rights of ownership, nor does it give you a right to live at the address listed in the book. If someone else inherits the property they can kick you out whether you have a yellow book or not.

Sophon

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I am American. 50, Hang dong area and on a Non O M visa. A married visa. I only had to have proof of 100,000 Bt and never have to go to Immigration to renew or extend. There are 2 types of Married visas. Make sure the get the good one. PM me if you want more information.

[Maestro]

Jeffrey, you seem to be confused about what you have and I fear that anybody accepting your invitation to PM you for more information would get still more confusing information from you.

There is no "married visa" or "marriage visa", and there are not two types of "married visa". There are the following:

1. Multiple-entry non-immigrant visa category O for the purpose of visiting one's Thai wife in Thailand, for short referred to as multiple-entry non-O visa. This visa is obtained from a Thai embassy or consulate, ie outside Thailand. It allows an unlimited number of entries into Thailand within one year from the issue date of the visa and on every entry the traveller will receive permission to stay for 90 days.
   
2. One-year extension of stay for the reason of living with one's Thai wife in Thailand, for short referred to as marriage extension. This extension is obtained from the local immigration office, ie within Thailand.
   

From what you wrote you appear to have the first one I mentioned, the multiple-entry non-O visa, and you seem to have obtained it in Kuala Lumpur, where the consulate asks for evidence of 100,000 Baht in a bank account. Because you receive permission to stay for only 90 days every time you arrive with this visa in Thailand you obviously never need to notify the immigration office of staying longer than 90 days. There is no mystery about this.

The OP asked if he would no longer "have to report to Immigration every 90 days" if he got the "yellow book", ie the house registration book available to foreigners. He was given the correct answer that he would still have to make this notification of staying in Thailand longer than 90 days. Your method of staying in Thailand – or, more correctly, of visiting Thailand for a maximum of 90 days at a time – shows a way of avoiding the notification to immigration every 90 days but I suspect that it would be more inconvenient and more costly for the OP than the annual extensions he seems to be doing now, for the reason of retirement, combined with the notification every 90 days.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Jeffrey, you seem to be confused about what you have and I fear that anybody accepting your invitation to PM you for more information would get still more confusing information from you.

There is no "married visa" or "marriage visa", and there are not two types of "married visa". There are the following:

1. Multiple-entry non-immigrant visa category O for the purpose of visiting one's Thai wife in Thailand, for short referred to as multiple-entry non-O visa. This visa is obtained from a Thai embassy or consulate, ie outside Thailand. It allows an unlimited number of entries into Thailand within one year from the issue date of the visa and on every entry the traveller will receive permission to stay for 90 days.
   
2. One-year extension of stay for the reason of living with one's Thai wife in Thailand, for short referred to as marriage extension. This extension is obtained from the local immigration office, ie within Thailand.
   

From what you wrote you appear to have the first one I mentioned, the multiple-entry non-O visa, and you seem to have obtained it in Kuala Lumpur, where the consulate asks for evidence of 100,000 Baht in a bank account. Because you receive permission to stay for only 90 days every time you arrive with this visa in Thailand you obviously never need to notify the immigration office of staying longer than 90 days. There is no mystery about this.

The OP asked if he would no longer "have to report to Immigration every 90 days" if he got the "yellow book", ie the house registration book available to foreigners. He was given the correct answer that he would still have to make this notification of staying in Thailand longer than 90 days. Your method of staying in Thailand – or, more correctly, of visiting Thailand for a maximum of 90 days at a time – shows a way of avoiding the notification to immigration every 90 days but I suspect that it would be more inconvenient and more costly for the OP than the annual extensions he seems to be doing now, for the reason of retirement, combined with the notification every 90 days.

Yes, that is the type of visa I do have.

If you be it step out and return just before it expires it is good for about 15 months.

lots of my firends are changing to this kind of visa, we wither work out of Thailand, say the oil fields, or we as me, like to ride and explore asia. And with this visa, we don't need a re entry permit either.

Is this visa for everyone, no, but neither are the other types too.

everyone needs to decide what works best for them. for me, this was the easiest, cheepest, and gave me the most fexability

[Lite Beer]

^^^^ Yes. A Non Imm O Multi Entry Visa would work better for a lot of people who do not intend staying in Thailand permanently without leaving every few months.