Advice on requirements to get Married + Changing from Non "B" to Non "O"

[SlyAnimal]

Hi All,

I've got a few questions regarding my situation and document requirements.

Current Situation:

I'm currently an English teacher, am on a Non Immigrant B with work permit etc, both of which expire on the 30th of April 2014.

We am planning on having our wedding on the 20th of April, 2014, just 10 days before my visa expires.

After our wedding, I'm planning to quit my job, move to Bangkok and enrol at a Thai language school.

My bank account is currently in good shape for the extension monetary requirements due to building a house + working + preparing for the wedding. So extending my visa within the next 6 months would be ideal.

In January we will travelling back to NZ to visit family for 1 month.

Neither my gf or I have previously been married, and neither of us have children (Hopefully this makes the process easier).

While I am in BKK studying, I will probably keep my address registered as in Isaan, as it should be less paperwork and we will be regularly travelling back and forth anyway (Plus I usually try to travel overseas regularly to avoid 90 day reports anyway).

Bearing in mind the above, we are thinking about either:

a/ Having our wedding + getting married in April, then rushing to Laos to process a new visa.

b/ Getting married earlier, processing an O visa and then utilising the funds to assist with my extension before having my wedding in April.

I've got a few questions regarding my above plans:

1/ What documents will I need to give the Amphur in order to get married?

When I got them to do my yellow book they were pretty clueless, as hadn't processed one for a farang for ~10 years. I imagine this will be a similar deal when we register our marriage, so if there are any official documents outlining the process in Thai, then please advise me and I'll take these with me to the Amphur as well.

2/ How long does it usually take for an Amphur to process a marriage and issue a marriage certificate etc?

3/ What documents are required for a Non Immigrant O visa based on marriage?

4/ What documents are required for a Non Immigrant O extension based on marriage?

5/ Is there a way to change my visa, but keep my current WP valid? As I think this is tied to the visa right? e.g. Am I able to change my visa in BKK, rather than getting a new one, and would my WP then remain valid?

6/ If we pursue option b, do I need to wait before I go to immigration to process a visa extension? As I know with subsequent extensions of my Non B I had to wait until 15 days before the extension's expiry. I'm not sure how it applies to the initial extension though.

7/ If I get my Non O before I goto NZ, am I able to get a re-entry permit for it? Or are re-entry permits only available when you're on a visa extension?

8/ Any other advice regarding what you think would be the best way to facilitate my change of visas etc?

9/ If I get a Non Immgirant O visa in March, can I apply to have it extended in March/April?

Edit: As some questions have been answered already, I have struck out some of my initial questions, to avoid duplication of answers, likewise based on comments already made I have struck out some of the options I was originally considering. My primary question is now whether I can go to Immigration to extend a Non Immigrant O visa straight away, or do I have to wait until 15 days before it expires (I think I can, but I'm simply not sure).

[Lite Beer]

1. Affirmation to Marry obtained from your Embassy.

I.D etc.

2. in my case 30 minutes if that.

3. Marriage Certificate.

I.D etc.

4 A rough guide:

(6) In case of marriage with a Thai lady, the husband who is an alien must have an average annual income of not less than 40,000 baht per month or a money deposit in a local Thai bank of not less than 400,000 baht for the past 2 months for expenses within a year.

Letter from your Thai Bank showing balance and up to date bank book.

OR.

If income from outside Thailand: Letter from your Embassy showing income. Now may also need proof of income as back up.

If Income from Thailand: Statements showing Income Tax receipts.

Marriage Certificate. (Kor Ror 3)

Marriage Registry entry. (Kor Ror 2)

Wife's Tabbien Baan and ID Card.

Your Passport.

Copies of everything.

Photos of you and your Wife in and around the house.

A map showing the way to your house.

Passport size photos and 1,900 Baht fee.

Take your Wife to be interviewed.

One or two witnesses may be required.

You will be given a 30 day under consideration stamp.

Go back in a month and get the remainder.

[ubonjoe]

I suggest you register your marriage a little earlier.

You do not need a new visa you just change the reason for your extension of stay. You probably would not be able to do the change until you stop working or your current extension ends. To do the change you would need to meet all the requirements for the extension of stay based upon marriage on the date your job ends and have a letter from your employer stating job had ended on that date.

If there were any problems getting the one year extension you could get a 60 day extension to visit your wife.

[lopburi3]

If I am reading right you want to extend now as you have money in the bank which might not be the case in April? This would be easier if you did not have a re-entry permit but apparently you do so a trip out and return is not going to end your current extension of stay and apparently you must continue work until end of semester so you can not end on that basis. If you actually do not have a multi re-entry just exit and that should end your current extension and if you have registered marriage early as above you can obtain a non immigrant O visa (which should allow a new extension (Thai wife) as well as permit work to continue).

[SlyAnimal]

I'm pretty sure I can override my Non B by getting a new visa and simply writing that visa number, rather than my re-entry permit, on my arrival card when I re-enter Thailand.

If this assumption is incorrect, then please confirm for me.

Having looked at the responses and thought about it myself a little more, I will probably goto the Amphur and get married then at the end of March goto Laos and apply for a Non O visa.

This should remove any concerns about my work permit being cancelled.

Then, if I'm able to apply for my Non O Extension in March/April I should still have a good recent bank history with which to show immigration. Haha we can also invite the immigration officers to our wedding, which might be better than them simply coming for the inspection etc (Which I don't think they'd bother doing anyway, as the immigration office is a 2h drive from where we live).

[ubonjoe]

You could go to immigration 30 days (or more possibly) early and apply for your new extension instead of waiting until your job ends. Just have every thing you need for the extension based upon marriage then. Your work permit would still be valid changing the reason for your extension would have no effect on it.

Much better to do it this way than going for a visa.

[wayned]

In order to avoid last minute hassle, you should get "legally" married in the next couple of months. It requires that you get an "affirmation to marry" from your Embassy, have it translated into Thai and Then have it "legalized' at the ministry of foreign Affairs in Bangkok. Once that is done you go to your local Amphur and are officially married and get the marriage certificate which is required for your extension. You can still have the ceremony in April in your wife's village but if you do the legwork now it will make it easier.

Once that is done you should get all of your paperwork together and go to your local immigration office and see if they will extend your current permission to stay for marriage purposes and is so when, and if not what exactly do you have to do. You can work on an extension for marriage so it should not affect your current work permit and you might not have to get a new visa outside of Thailand. I did it years ago in the reverse order, but as said, that was years ago!

[SlyAnimal]

I'm currently on a Non Immigrant B, I'm pretty sure that I can't extend this based on marriage. As I know it doesn't work the other way around (Extension of an O, based on employment), or at least not at my "local" (2h drive away) immigration office (2 teachers at my school had their O extensions refused, as they tried to extend on the basis of employment).

I think I can change my visa in Bangkok though, so might look into this in March/April (Or take a trip to Laos, as the distances are much of a muchness).

In order to avoid last minute hassle, you should get "legally" married in the next couple of months.

I'd ideally like to wait until our wedding day for sentimental reasons, however will get married earlier if waiting makes my visa unnecessarily complicated/expensive. The documents from the NZ Embassy etc I will definitely get married early.

It requires that you get an "affirmation to marry" from your Embassy, have it translated into Thai and Then have it "legalized' at the ministry of foreign Affairs in Bangkok.

Do you know if this has a "use by date" on it? As I don't travel to BKK often (It's 6 - 7h away on the bus).

[lopburi3]

You can extend for work or marriage using a non immigrant B visa original entry but you are already extended so that would be done at next extension time. You just present the documents for Thai Wife extension rather than employment.

You can not change your visa. Change of entry is done for visa exempt or tourist visa entry - not for another non immigrant visa. But as above you do not need a change only the change of extension when due.

As long as you have the money in account for 2 months at time of application after your April 20 marriage you can visit immigration the next workday to request new extension. If willing to register marriage earlier they normally allow application at least 30 days early and often 45 days early currently.

[ubonjoe]

I'm currently on a Non Immigrant B, I'm pretty sure that I can't extend this based on marriage.  As I know it doesn't work the other way around (Extension of an O, based on employment), or at least not at my "local" (2h drive away) immigration office (2 teachers at my school had their O extensions refused, as they tried to extend on the basis of employment).

I think I can change my visa in Bangkok though, so might look into this in March/April (Or take a trip to Laos, as the distances are much of a muchness).

 

In order to avoid last minute hassle, you should get "legally" married in the next couple of months.

 

 

I'd ideally like to wait until our wedding day for sentimental reasons, however will get married earlier if waiting makes my visa unnecessarily complicated/expensive.  The documents from the NZ Embassy etc I will definitely get married early.

 

It requires that you get an "affirmation to marry" from your Embassy, have it translated into Thai and Then have it "legalized' at the ministry of foreign Affairs in Bangkok. 

 

 

Do you know if this has a "use by date" on it?  As I don't travel to BKK often (It's 6 - 7h away on the bus).

You actually no longer have a B visa you have an extension of stay.

You will have no problem changing to an extension based upon marriage.

The affirmation of a permit to marry is not date sensitive.

You can get it and go to a translation service. They can also do the MFA part for a small fee and EMS it to you when completed. That is what I did years ago.

[b2bme]

Got married recently. Was on a 30 day tourist visa.

Affidavit from my embassy to say I was eligible for marriage. They had a standard form. Cost 300 baht from memory. 30 minutes

I delcared on the affidavit how much I earn and that was the only part where money or income came into it. Did not have to show bank statements or letter from employer, or salary slips.

Translate form into Thai. (200-1000+baht depending where you go) I took the 1000 baht option. 1 day.

Take translated form to Thai foreign ministry to get notarised. This can take 4 days but if you turn up at 6:30 in the morning and get to front of queue then you can do it in one day for what I think was an extra 800 baht. They only do 30 express apllications a day and by 9:30 you are too late.

Go to amphoe with passport, notorised translation (take original just in case they want to see it).

Wife took ID card, Tabien Ban. 45 minutes later married.

I think it was a few hundred baht but I gave them a tip anyway.

You can if you want then get marriage certificate translated into own language and then register with your emabssy.

Wife if she chooses to change her name will get new ID card at same time. She then has to change name in passport and so on.

Wish you best of luck.

[Mario2008]

The affirmation of freedom to marry must be used within 3 months.