One Surprise With My Extension Of Stay Request.

[Rsquared]

Ok.....anyone who has been following my venture will know where I am coming from.....for those who haven't...I hope I can prepare someone else as I have been prepared.

Today I applied for my extension of stay based on being married to a Thai.

A 140km drive from our home, thankfully found due to a lot of homework....Nakon Pathom Immigration. (mind you...no where near Nakon Pathom....30km closer to Bangkok!)

Ok...our number is called. Without making this a long story.....I am Mr Invisible.

I start handing over all the paperwork......I'll cut to the chase.....throughout the whole 3 hour experience...our female officer utters 4 words to me in all that time.

"Passport?"...."Photos?"....."Sign Here".

She spoke to my wife as though I was on the moon.

The double take occurred when she asked for our witness....<deleted>! As if I was going to drag one of our neighbours all this way, when throughout my research I have seen nothing about presenting a witness.

Fortunately, I had 2 copies of our neighbour's ID card (and signed)....from another adventure to acquire our KR 22 form.....don't ask.

Before we left, our officer told my wife (remember I am Mr Invisible) that 30 days from todays date......which is a saturday (1st June) which is the time for me to find out if my request has been accepted or denied.....she gave us a phone number to call stating that the office would be manned, and if my request was accepted, then we would need to "come in". Apparently this was an acknowledgement to the fact that we lived so far away from the office.

For the experts who have helped me so wonderfully in the past........have you heard of this request for a witness before?

Cheers.

[moe666]

They can ask for anything they want if it helps them make the decision

[Rsquared]

They can ask for anything they want if it helps them make the decision

Thanks for that insightful advice.....it never occurred to me.

[CWMcMurray]

5. Years now on marriage extension and have never been asked for witness

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[Maestro]

It is part of the requirement to put proof on file that the marriage is not only de jure but also de facto, ie that you are continuing to live together as a married couple. Some immigration offices send out an officer to interview neighbours, others ask the applicant to take a witness along to the office.

[mjj]

Last week they told us we needed a witness. The immi officer said just someone that was a neighbour and not family. No problem, we then drove the 2 hour journey to immi with a neighbour only to be told, not a neighbour from where we live. A neighbour from where my wife's blue book is from. Next day had to drive a total of 6 hours driving to the wife's home town, then picking some up and taking them to immigration.

Oh, how we laughed.

Tbh, the whole process has been a driving marathon because we also needed to get my son in the blue book.

Wednesday.

Drive to immi 30 minutes away to be told we have to go to the province that my wife comes from. Total 1 h

Thursday.

Nakhon immi asks us to look at our info. 2 hours. Another hour to Amphur to put son in blue book only to be told we cannot as the paperwork from the UK states a different house. Drive back to that Amphur to be told come back tomorrow. Total 7 hours

Friday. Back to Amphur 1 h 30m to be told the guy that needs to sign is too busy. Total 3 hours

Monday. Back to Amphur told to be come back at 4pm. It was 10:30 when we got there. At 4pm we were told the guy is too busy. Total 3 hours.

Tuesday. Drive to pick up paperwork in the blue book then to immi to be told we have the wrong neighbour. Total 5 hours

Wednesday. New neighbour, immi and back to blue book address back home. 5 hours

Now waiting to see if its accepted.

Total driving time. 24 hours give of take. :-)

[wooloomooloo]

(remember I am Mr Invisible)

Don't dwell on it as it's not personal, Rsquared. Far easier for the ladies to converse.

Remain nonchalant.

There's a lot of threads on Thai Visa over the last few days where Johnny Falang is overly offended by the faintest slight.

You'll get it with age and / or experience of LOS, eventually.

[Maestro]

It just goes to show how lenient Thai immigration is. Where else in the world would official documents showing that the wife lives hundreds of miles apart from the husband's officially registered residence be accepted as proof that this marriage is de facto? Perhaps this run-around you were given is intended as a gentle hint to get all family members living under the same roof registered at this address.

[Rsquared]

@ mjj....thanks for sharing that, makes all my running around seem like a walk in the park.

In hindsight, it is ok to be Mr invisible, then I don't get asked questions I can't answer. Reminds me of a wise saying "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt."

BTW we were introduced to the guy who does the house visits, and when he realised how far out in the sticks we are, I swear he lost about 3 shades of colour from his face.

Cheers.

[Paul888]

If you don't want to be considered "Mr Invisible", speak to the Immigration staff in Thai.

if you can't, then you can't really complain when the Immigration officer takes the easier path of talking to your wife.

[OJAS]

They can ask for anything they want if it helps them make the decision

Or maybe they get a sadistic thrill out of causing you the maximum inconvenience and hassle in the knowledge that you have just driven 140 km!

If you don't want to be considered "Mr Invisible", speak to the Immigration staff in Thai.

if you can't, then you can't really complain when the Immigration officer takes the easier path of talking to your wife.

Personally I'm more than happy to be Mr Invisible and let the wife do all the talking with the IO if, at the end of the day, the desired result is achieved.

[mjj]

It just goes to show how lenient Thai immigration is. Where else in the world would official documents showing that the wife lives hundreds of miles apart from the husband's officially registered residence be accepted as proof that this marriage is de facto? Perhaps this run-around you were given is intended as a gentle hint to get all family members living under the same roof registered at this address.

Not always possible. We rent a house and the owners don't want us in their blue book. We have a contract, but immi don't want that. A bank statement or utility bill is accepted in other countries, not your electoral roll address.

[Time Traveller]

It just goes to show how lenient Thai immigration is. Where else in the world would official documents showing that the wife lives hundreds of miles apart from the husband's officially registered residence be accepted as proof that this marriage is de facto? Perhaps this run-around you were given is intended as a gentle hint to get all family members living under the same roof registered at this address.

Maestro what are you talking about? I've never heard of landlords that let tenants onto their household registration, so it's very common the official documents are not accurate. Have you ever rented a house in Thailand?

And it's not reasonable that they should request to see witnesses in person. People have jobs and often can not be available at the whim of some immigration officer not willing to do their jobs correctly.

[Apache704]

In Udon Thani a witness is required along with all necessary documents,a drawn map showing where you live, and photos of you and your wife sitting on your bed,photos of your house with the House Number,Passport photos,yellow book,or blue book,bank book,proof of Income from your Embassy,Marriage Certificate and I'm sure there's still more that I've forgotten.

[JLCrab]

About not being the invisible person: I remember my first visa visit to Nong Khai. The officer asked me if I was married. I said not officially but, yes, I had an unofficial wife. The officer asked: Well why didn't you bring her? I said: She doesn't speak English.

He quickly stamped the papers and said "Next?"

[NancyL]

This is why so many immigration officers encourage people to move from marriage extensions to retirement extensions if it's possible. Much easier to get a retirement extension -- no need for wife, witnesses, Kor Ror and no 30 day wait for approval.

[Time Traveller]

This is why so many immigration officers encourage people to move from marriage extensions to retirement extensions if it's possible. Much easier to get a retirement extension -- no need for wife, witnesses, Kor Ror and no 30 day wait for approval.

The reason it's more difficult is because the immigration officers themselves make it more difficult. If they would give an extension anyway (such as retirement) then why do they ask the same person as a marriage extension applicant for witnesses and other things that are not listed on immigration's own requirements? If an applicant qualifies for retirement (or any other extentions such as work) why would they then try to make up some lies about a marriage based extension?

There is no logic in how they assess aplications

[ubonjoe]

All the additional requirements needed for an extension of stay based upon marriage is for the following from 2.18 of police order 777/2551.

(3) In the case of spouse, the relationship must be de jure and de facto

[OJAS]

This is why so many immigration officers encourage people to move from marriage extensions to retirement extensions if it's possible. Much easier to get a retirement extension -- no need for wife, witnesses, Kor Ror and no 30 day wait for approval.

The reason it's more difficult is because the immigration officers themselves make it more difficult. If they would give an extension anyway (such as retirement) then why do they ask the same person as a marriage extension applicant for witnesses and other things that are not listed on immigration's own requirements? If an applicant qualifies for retirement (or any other extentions such as work) why would they then try to make up some lies about a marriage based extension?

There is no logic in how they assess aplications

Whilst I am by no means an apologist for IO's (see post #11 on this thread by way of an example), I suspect that the protracted arrangements in force for processing marriage extensions may derive from the fact that it is possible to obtain work permits under such extensions, which is not, of course, the case for retirement extensions.

Might also explain why the financial requirements for marriage extensions are less than for retirement ones.

[Time Traveller]

This is why so many immigration officers encourage people to move from marriage extensions to retirement extensions if it's possible. Much easier to get a retirement extension -- no need for wife, witnesses, Kor Ror and no 30 day wait for approval.

The reason it's more difficult is because the immigration officers themselves make it more difficult. If they would give an extension anyway (such as retirement) then why do they ask the same person as a marriage extension applicant for witnesses and other things that are not listed on immigration's own requirements? If an applicant qualifies for retirement (or any other extentions such as work) why would they then try to make up some lies about a marriage based extension?

There is no logic in how they assess aplications

Whilst I am by no means an apologist for IO's (see post #11 on this thread by way of an example), I suspect that the protracted arrangements in force for processing marriage extensions may derive from the fact that it is possible to obtain work permits under such extensions, which is not, of course, the case for retirement extensions.

Might also explain why the financial requirements for marriage extensions are less than for retirement ones.

Work permits are issued by the labor department, so it has nothing to do with the immigration dept at all.

For some reason - that is beyond anyone's explanation - it seems the work related extension is easier to get from immigration than marriage extension, even though the marriage extension may be preferred because the right to stay is not cancelled immediately upon ending employment with the sponsoring company as is the case with work related extensions.

In any case, if immigration need to more thoroughly investigate these applicants the question is why they didn't do that when they first gave the visa to the applicant? It's like they don't even trust their own officials that hand out the visas so need to check again. Instead they ask for the same documents each year that they already have copies of from every single year before.

[ubonjoe]

In reality getting an extension based upon working requires more paperwork and in some cases will also have an under consideration stamp given because immigration will visit the work place to see if company is real.

There are many advantages to having the extension based upon marriage if working. It eliminates the long list of documents and requirements to get a working extension. IE:. no minimum salary, no proof of Thai employees, company does not have to meet the same requirements and etc.

Work permit only requires 2 Thai employees and registered capital is only 1 million baht also.