I am living and working in Thailand on a 1 year Non Immigrant B visa. I have been since June 2008. I have filed 1 year extensions for the last 3 consecutive years. My extinction ends on September 11th.

Last year the Non B department told me to switch to a Non O it would be easier each year and for applying for my PR it would be cheaper.

I was married last June and want to switch my Non B to a Non O so that I am not tied to a company.

Can I switch the Visa at Immigration Division 1 without leaving the country? Or extend based on Non O requirements.?

I was told different conflicting statements from each different department ( Non B, Non O, PR and the info desk ) at divisions one.

One such statement was that I would half to resign from my company to cancel the Non B then fly out of the country to get a Non O 90day overseas and then apply for a Non O one year at Division one but the point is I am not stopping work for the company that I am working for and I want to keep my Work Permit and such. This was told to me by the Non O department. Then the Non B told me that it would be possible to switch but I would half to talk to the info counter to find the proper channel. The info counter didn’t know that a Non O marriage visa can have a work permit and I would half to talk to the Non B dept again. Then they sent me to the Permanent resident department because I wanted to know if I switched the visa would that be seen as consecutive years when appling for a PR later this year. The PR department couldn’t give me a answer as there was only a trainee on hand and the supervisory didn’t what to get involved in anyway what so ever.

I have had 3 consecutive years on a Non B if I switch to the Non O will that end my chances to apply for PR this Year?

Do I half to cancel my work permit if there is some whay to swith from Non O to Non B even thou I still plan on working for the same company?

There is one more problem I leave for the USA on Tuesday for 36 days. Re applying for the Non B will take 16days to 1 month to processes and check. So if that is the option that I half to take then I may half to cancel my trip.

Can you extended a Non B based on Non O requirements?

My one thought was to fly to the USA and before my Non B visa expires apply for a Non O there and fly back into Thailand on a Non O. If I do that do I half to cancel my Work permit?

Thanks for the advice.

You just appear with wife and marriage requirements during the last 30 days of current extension to extend for reason of Thai wife. They are not concerned with work permits (not an immigration matter). The original visa entry does not matter - requirement is only that it was non immigrant allowing extensions of stay.

Yes, you can change the reason for the extension of stay from work to being married and vica versa without any problems.

I believe it will not change your chances for PR, as the requirement is that you must be in Thailand for 3 years on 1 year extensions of stay. I beleive you can even still choose to apply for PR based on employment, while you have a permisison to stay based on marriage.

You do not have to cancel the work permit, as you have a valid permission to stay. I also have a work permit will on an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai national, like many other people.

But since your extension ends on the 11th of september and you leave tomorrow for 36 days, your only option is to get an extension of stay based on employement. if you can't manage that, you will need to get a new visa while abroad and start all over again with waiting 3 years before you can apply for permanent residency.

An alternative might be to apply for a 60 day extension based on your wife today at immigration. You will need to bring the wife, the marriage certificate, her ID-card and household registration book ad your passport and passphoto. best is to call them first which docuemtns they need to see, to make sure you don't miss anything.

Don't forget the re-entry permit.

After your return you can then apply for a regular extension of stay.

Actually do not believe any extension other than the visa Thai wife 60 days will be available as he would have to be back for approval within 16 - 30 days and that does not seem possible. If able to cancel trip the marriage option would be an option but may require longer than 30 days under current conditions. Have no idea what PR section will make of the odd 60 day extension but it would seem to fulfill the continuous extension of stays requirement.

If PR is your prime motivation I would delay trip to be sure.