Switching from Marriage to Retirement Visa.

[habfan]

Little under 6 months left on my first yearly marriage extension I've heard talk of the retirement extension being a some-what easier and less demanding process. Other than the extra 400,000 baht in my account can anyone tell me how to go about the switch?

[Mario2008]

You just apply for an extension of stay as usual, but this time you write down "retirement" as the reason and submit the evidence of money in the bank and/or income.

The first time best if the misses acompanies you, as immigration sometimes want that she understands that you are chenging your reason to stay.

[ubonjoe]

Every thing will be the same minus all the documents associated with marriage. Money will need to be in bank 90 days instead of 60.

Just apply for an extension based upon retirement instead of marriage. You probably should take the wife along because some offices will want her approval for you to change.

You can also do the 65K income or a combination of income and money in the bank to reach the 800K amount.

[OJAS]

The key advantage, I think, of a retirement extension over a marriage one is that your local immigration office should be able to stamp it for the whole year on the spot (assuming, of course, you have satisfied all their requirements), instead of having to refer your application up the line for approval. That said, I do gather that some offices such as Jomtien still retain your passport overnight.

Might still be worth taking your marriage docs along with you, however, if you rely on your wife's blue tabien house book for proof of address purposes (as I do).

[Estrada]

I wouldn't recommend anyone trying for an extension based on marriage, It is a pain in the neck. Mountains of paperwork required each year. I was doing this for the first 12 years I was here, they used to get me coming back each month for 3 months whist my application was "Under Consideration" before they gave me the 12 month extension (back dated 3 months). In fact I gave up and got a job overseas on a 10week/3week rotation and only used the tourist entry permit to stay.

When I retired 2 years ago I changed my tourist extension to a Visa at Chaeng Wattana Bangkok Div. 1 Immigration office and then they gave me a one month extension so that they could check that the B800,000 was still in the Bank and then on my return I got 12 months extension of stay based on retirement. Last year I went to extend another 12 months and they only wanted to see my Thai Bank Time Deposit Book with B800,000 and not a letter from the bank, only a bank statement. However, the officer said that as I am married they would accept B400,000 no need for B800,000, which is not strictly to the regulation but this is Thailand "The land of All Possibilities", the officers can apply the rules at their own discretion. I wouldn't like to risk it though so I keep B800,000 in a time deposit account at 3.25%.

[OJAS]

Last year I went to extend another 12 months and they only wanted to see my Thai Bank Time Deposit Book with B800,000 and not a letter from the bank, only a bank statement. However, the officer said that as I am married they would accept B400,000 no need for B800,000, which is not strictly to the regulation but this is Thailand "The land of All Possibilities", the officers can apply the rules at their own discretion. I wouldn't like to risk it though so I keep B800,000 in a time deposit account at 3.25%.

Interesting to read of the rules being bent in our favour for a change!

[Anthony an Panida]

Just changing to Marriage visa from Non-B, advised by a good friend who is senior at Immigration. The advantage is you can teach and not be dependent on a school for your stay here..

[Toscano]

Thanks for the advice . I have been living here nearly 8yrs on a marriage visa . The documentation gets worse every year , i advise any older man thinking to live in Thailand to get a retirement visa . I have just extended for another year , but am planning to switch to a retirement visa before next year . i will check out the details with my local immigration office , they have a new boss there .

I believe it is legitimate to have BT400,000 deposited in the bank , together with an income that totals BT800,000 annually ?

[TerryLH]

Yes, for retirement extensions the combo method is generally accepted.

[Surasak]

I have just change from marriage to retiement but they would not let me use 50/50 money in bank and income. Only other thing was the yellow book which negated the requirememt of the wife attending. I was in the K/K office ten minutes only with a 12 month extension. very simple.

[maybefitz]

I changed 5 years ago, on the advice of a very friendly immigration lady officer in Chiang Mai. Without doubt, it's much easier and can be done with the minimum of fuss. I use the income method, certified by the UK consulate, last year immigation wanted to double check the income figures that I'd submitted to the Consulate. I had them with me, so 5 minutes checking, big smile - all was in order. I've always found CM Immigration very pleasant to deal with despite the cramped conditions. This should ease when they have a new office opened near the Changwat centre offices on the Mai Rim road - a complete new building; so let's hope someone has thought it through and it's built for the job.

[habfan]

All this is very encouraging, so far switching to retirement seems the easy way to go no posts to the contrary. 800,000 or 400,000 baht makes no difference to me if the extra 400,000 is going to break me I should'nt be living here.

[Bagwan]

I went the marriage route for one year and on the advice of an Immigration officer changed back to Retirement. Makes life easier for them I understand. Make them happy, they make you happy.

[ubonjoe]

I would not recommend changing from marriage to retirement unless you can easily meet the money in the bank requirement or have the income already. For some it might be a serious sacrifice to come up with the additional 400K baht or money in the bank to make up the difference if income is not enough.

I have done 5 extensions already based upon marriage and have found that is not that big a deal that a lot of people make it out to be. Just a few extra copies, a few photos, two application forms to fill out and the time it takes for your wife to do the statement. Then a trip back after 30 days for the extension stamp.

I could change now but why would I do it since I have found it to be not a big a problem plus it is the proper extension for me. I am here to live with my family not retirement.

Edited July 5, 2013 by ubonjoe

[habfan]

I would not recommend changing from marriage to retirement unless you can easily meet the money in the bank requirement or have the income already. For some it might be a serious sacrifice to come up with the additional 400K baht or money in the bank to make up the difference if income is not enough.

I have done 5 extensions already based upon marriage and have found that is not that big a deal that a lot of people make it out to be. Just a few extra copies, a few photos, two application forms to fill out and the time it takes for your wife to do the statement. Then a trip back after 30 days for the extension stamp.

I could change now but why would I do it since I have found it to be not a big a problem plus it is the proper extension for me. I am here to live with my family not retirement.

The thing is ubonjoe I fit both categories, I am married to a Thai National and I am also retired. I chose the marriage extension thinking that maybe over time there would be some sort of benefit or advantage over the retirement extension seeing as I was married to a Thai National. This turned out not to be the case, in fact it seems to be the less desired route to have taken by the powers that be i.e. Immigration.

Edited July 5, 2013 by habfan

[habfan]

Also I can meet the monetary requirements so.......... why not take the easy road?

Edited July 5, 2013 by habfan

[ubonjoe]

I made my post to discourage anybody reading this topic that might be considering the switch or even doing retirement instead for first extension because they have read or heard a lot misinformation about how hard it is to get the extension.

[Lite Beer]

As Joe said, it is not that difficult to get the Marriage Extension.

Choose whatever suits you if you have a choice.

[jrtmedic]

I am one of those who qualify for an extension of stay based on marriage or retirement.

By choosing to extend on the basis of retirement I secure my extension in one easy visit to immigration and with less paperwork !

[habfan]

I made my post to discourage anybody reading this topic that might be considering the switch or even doing retirement instead for first extension because they have read or heard a lot misinformation about how hard it is to get the extension.

As Joe said, it is not that difficult to get the Marriage Extension.

Choose whatever suits you if you have a choice.

Both point's well taken.

[Rob5060]

How long do you need to have been taking a pension when changing to retirement from marriage

For instance if you are on a marriage extension and during the last year started taking a pension maybe for 4 months before renewing would that be ok

[Mario2008]

There is no minimum time requirement, but if you want to change from marriage to retirement you must season the money for 3 months instead of 2 months if you apply based on money in the bank only.

There is not even a requirement to have a formal pension. Income and/or money is what is required.

[dsfbrit]

After 10 years of extensions based on marriage, I was going to change to an extension based on retirement as it is slightly easier and involves just one visit to Jomtien. Then I saw the exchange rate, it was about 44 to the pound at the time and I just could not bring myself to transfer 18000 pounds to Thailand. So I transferred 9000 pounds and will consider changing next year.

Mind you, as people have said above, the extra effort involved in the marriage extension application is hardly that great once you can mostly copy what you did the year before and it does mean if I do decide to get a job in the future, then I can do so - unlike with the extension based on retirement.

Out of interest, I have read and heard different stories about how easy it is to go back to an extension based on marriage once you have switched to the extension based on retirement - is it an easy switch back at Jomtien???

Edited July 5, 2013 by dsfbrit

[IMA_FARANG]

Another advantage to a retirement "visa" (actually extension based on retirement not a "visa") is that you can usually use the "combined income" method.

So you could have 500K Thai Baht in a Thai bank account and a pension or other form of income from outside Thailand to put you over the 800K financial requirement.

Disadvantage is .... with a retirement extension you most often will not be allowed to get a work permit and therefore can't "work" in Thailand on a retirement extension.

I used the "combo method" in Chaeng Wattana in October 2012 and extended my retirement with about 500K in the bank, and another 40K equivalent of government pension monthly.

It worked, as the total was above 800K yearly.

But you can't use that same combo method on a marriage extension.

I plan to use it again for my next renewal in October 2013.

There are advantages and disadvantages to all long term stay visas or extensions .... you just have to carefully pick the one that best suits your particular circumstances.

Edited July 5, 2013 by IMA_FARANG

[asiamaster]

I had a company and a business visa (+ work permit) until I turned 50. It was a lot of paperwork but the only way to get a one year visa. When I turned 50 I closed down the company and thought the best would be to go for a marriage visa. Each and every year they came up with another hassle + you would always get one month first and then another and then finally for the rest of the year making it almost impossible to go out of the country for a longer period of time during that 3 month procedure. After two years I decided to make sure I had 800 K in the bank but did provide all the paperwork (recent family photo, birth certificates of the kids etc.). Not being able to find something this time the officer went back to our marriage certificate ( at that time we were married 15 years) and said "too old -need new one" meaning we would have to go to the embassy etc. So I said " I'll go for retirement visa then". Officer: "No can do- need more money!" Me: "Did you look at the letter from the bank already?" He looked and then just shoved the papers to the officer sitting next to him (retirement) and 5 minutes later I was out with my one year visa....

[ubonjoe]

The 30 day under consideration period seldom goes beyond that now. You can get a re-entry permit for the under consideration period if you need to leave the country. For some the time from application date on stamp may be greater than 30 because many immigration offices start the 30 days from when permit to stay date runs out (IE: make application 10 days early wait will be a total of 40).

Not being able to find something this time the officer went back to our marriage certificate ( at that time we were married 15 years) and said "too old -need new one" meaning we would have to go to the embassy etc.

They were wanting a new Kor Ror 2 from the Amphoe not a complete new marriage registration. What on earth made you think that they wanted you to get married all over again.

I suspect a lot of your problems were self induced.

Edited July 7, 2013 by ubonjoe

[prodriver]

Another good reason for doing yearly extensions based on retirement is that in the past when they have raised the amount of money required they have "grandfathered" the amounts to those already getting extensions based on retirement. Not so for extensions based on marriage.