Is It Possible To Add Wife To Non-O Ext For Retirement?

[loumaripol]

Hello,

I am a 67 year old American. My wife is a 65 year old American.

My wife has been employed by a major Thai health care institution, and has had Business visa and work permit for the past 7 years, handlked by the HR department.

I entered the Kingdom March 2004 with a non-0 visa and extended for purpose of reitrement. My 8th extension was approved in January 2013.

My expects to retire in a year or 2. When she does will it be possible for me to add her as dependent to my current visa extension?

Many thanks!

Lou

[Mario2008]

Yes, she can be your dependent and ask for an extension of stay based on that if she can't meet the qualifications for a retirement extension herself.

[lopburi3]

Nancy should be along to lobby for her to obtain retirement on her own - some wives don't seem to trust our judgement as we get older; and she has good points as it is more of an even playing field with everyone equal if wife is of an age where she can qualify - in an emergency it would make things easier if each has own visa status and financial means easily available.

[tolsti]

An elderly couple I know in Patong and who have been living here on a retirement visa for a number of years were told at their latest renewal that it had to be 2 separate visas each with the financial requirement.

[loumaripol]

Thanks you both for your help!

Good point about having her own visa in the event of emrgency, lopburi.

Again thanks and regards,

Lou

[Lite Beer]

Getting your own extensions separately would require you to both qualify financially.

With the way the exchange rates are dropping a lot of people cannot do that.

Fair enough if the money is not a problem but if things are getting a little tight then having her as your dependent would be the way to go.

If you were to pass away then she could always change without too many problems.

[Lite Beer]

An elderly couple I know in Patong and who have been living here on a retirement visa for a number of years were told at their latest renewal that it had to be 2 separate visas each with the financial requirement.

That is not the official rule and I suspect that Phuket Immigration know that it is not.

[NancyL]

Lopburi3 did a great job of summing up my concerns. I strongly encourage my friends to maintain their own retirement visas rather than depending on their husbands. It's not that we don't trust their judgement, but stuff happens. Guys die, guys get sick and go on medical extensions, guys run off with new wives, etc.

Last month I assisted a friend whose husband died and a few weeks ago another friend whose husband was very ill and couldn't go to the Immigration office. I strongly disagree with Lite Beer's statement about how a wife could change things "without too many problems". These women already had too many problems at those times. Fortunately, each had the means to hire a visa agent -- but they really didn't know where to turn or what to do in these circumstances. The lady whose husband died thought she wouldn't have to do anything until the retirement extension ended.

[Lite Beer]

If one partner dies, the remaining can simply apply on their own merits. It is not difficult.

Assuming they still wish to stay that is.

Anyway it is whatever suits the couple concerned.

[NancyL]

The problem is that the wife's permission to stay expires when her husband does and she has 7 days to do a task that isn't simple, at least not in Chiang Mai where the Immigration office is always a packed zoo.

Also, if the husband's extension was justfied by an 800,000 baht bank account that would have had to have been a sole account -- perhaps not an account that the spouse would be able to access immediately. Also, the life insurance, survivor pension issues, etc often can't be ironed out in 7 days to be able to show suitable pension income.

It's just one more problem to heap on someone at a time when they already are going thru some very difficult times.

[Naam]

The problem is that the wife's permission to stay expires when her husband does and she has 7 days to do a task that isn't simple, at least not in Chiang Mai where the Immigration office is always a packed zoo.

Also, if the husband's extension was justfied by an 800,000 baht bank account that would have had to have been a sole account -- perhaps not an account that the spouse would be able to access immediately. Also, the life insurance, survivor pension issues, etc often can't be ironed out in 7 days to be able to show suitable pension income.

It's just one more problem to heap on someone at a time when they already are going thru some very difficult times.

that's not the case Nancy. we are here since 8 years, have a joint account and my wife is piggy-backed on my extension.

[TerryLH]

"Also, the life insurance, survivor pension issues, etc often can't be ironed out in 7 days to be able to show suitable pension income."

Nancy, if you are advocating that spouses get their own extensions, this is irrelevant because they would already have had the ability to meet the requirements on their own.

If they didn't meet the requirement on their own, then getting an extension as a dependent is a good way to go. In that case, the above becomes relevant.

Terry

[lopburi3]

The problem is that the wife's permission to stay expires when her husband does and she has 7 days to do a task that isn't simple, at least not in Chiang Mai where the Immigration office is always a packed zoo.

Also, if the husband's extension was justfied by an 800,000 baht bank account that would have had to have been a sole account -- perhaps not an account that the spouse would be able to access immediately. Also, the life insurance, survivor pension issues, etc often can't be ironed out in 7 days to be able to show suitable pension income.

It's just one more problem to heap on someone at a time when they already are going thru some very difficult times.

that's not the case Nancy. we are here since 8 years, have a joint account and my wife is piggy-backed on my extension.

I suspect your account had well over the required 800k? They used to allow joint accounts with double the amount in them but even that may not be available most places anymore.

[purushanti]

Nancy should be along to lobby for her to obtain retirement on her own - some wives don't seem to trust our judgement as we get older; and she has good points as it is more of an even playing field with everyone equal if wife is of an age where she can qualify - in an emergency it would make things easier if each has own visa status and financial means easily available.

This idea of fairly leveling the playing field for the two genders brings to mind a question or two:

Does it work also the other way?, i.e., if the wife has the retirement reason for extension of stay, can the husband qualify for extension as a dependent? Here we are in a conservative country, and the question has to do with a non-traditional relationship..

And also, while we are talking about marriage, do foreign couples qualify under the same non-O regulations as easily as a foreigner with a Thai?

Edited March 17, 2013 by lopburi3
correct font

[TerryLH]

Yes, the male spouse can be the dependent of the female.

A Non O for marriage requires that one of the couple be Thai.

Terry

[merijn]

An elderly couple I know in Patong and who have been living here on a retirement visa for a number of years were told at their latest renewal that it had to be 2 separate visas each with the financial requirement.

That is not the official rule and I suspect that Phuket Immigration know that it is not.

I suspect that they could not prove that they are legally married.

You have to show your marriage certificate to get the dependent extension for the wife.

If they qualify she should get the dependent visa without much trouble.

[Naam]

The problem is that the wife's permission to stay expires when her husband does and she has 7 days to do a task that isn't simple, at least not in Chiang Mai where the Immigration office is always a packed zoo.

Also, if the husband's extension was justfied by an 800,000 baht bank account that would have had to have been a sole account -- perhaps not an account that the spouse would be able to access immediately. Also, the life insurance, survivor pension issues, etc often can't be ironed out in 7 days to be able to show suitable pension income.

It's just one more problem to heap on someone at a time when they already are going thru some very difficult times.

that's not the case Nancy. we are here since 8 years, have a joint account and my wife is piggy-backed on my extension.

I suspect your account had well over the required 800k? They used to allow joint accounts with double the amount in them but even that may not be available most places anymore.

i just remembered that we discussed this topic before and you could be right because our account always shows "well over the required 800k". nevertheless i will ask the party who handles our visa affairs what the actual local requirements are.

[tolsti]

An elderly couple I know in Patong and who have been living here on a retirement visa for a number of years were told at their latest renewal that it had to be 2 separate visas each with the financial requirement.

That is not the official rule and I suspect that Phuket Immigration know that it is not.

I suspect that they could not prove that they are legally married.

You have to show your marriage certificate to get the dependent extension for the wife.

If they qualify she should get the dependent visa without much trouble.

They have been here for a number of years and have always been on the one visa. They had all the paperwork needed however the visa was refused until the wife got a seperate bank account and applied for her own visa.

[NanLaew]

I am with Nancy and would advocate elderly couples to plan ahead and try and get individual extensions if they meet the financial requirements. Apart from the authorities moving the goalposts and without getting too maudlin, serious illness or death of one or the other partner is the next most likely status-changing event for elderly retirees.

The process may truly be an 'easy', simple formality in some jurisdictions but the trauma of losing a loved one changes even the most organised of souls. When my father died in the UK, I was offshore Vietnam but luckily my sister was able to help my normally bright and clued-up mother cope with the formalities of her bereavement. My mother was absolutely and hopelessly lost in the first few weeks without her life partner.

If the partner conveniently dies at a weekend, the remaining partner would have the luxury of 5-working days to resolve all this, apart from the funeral, cremation, etc., if they are truly on their own as I suspect most would be. The 7-days quoted is a quite meaningless time frame when government offices are open only Monday-Friday.

If you consider yourself a good husband and it is your duty to handle everything and keep your wife under your wing on your retirement visa, be an even better husband and make sure she is aware of what needs to be done in the unfortunate event that you predecease her. Otherwise, you could have a local lawyer on retainer to handle these matters but both partners would need to be aware of what the arrangements entail.