Dependent Visa Questions

[tomat]

Hi guys, I have a couple questions about obtaining a dependent visa for my wife.

I am on a Non-B visa with work permit and have been for many years now, my wife is also on a Non-B visa at the moment with her own work permit.

My wife is from a country that is at the bottom of the list of visas in pretty much every country, so visa-runs is not an option as she doesn't get any visa on arrival anywhere.

Her current non-B 1-year extension expires on May 22nd of this year. She is going to give her notice a month before that so she will stop working around that date. Now my plan is to get her onto my Non-B visa as a dependent after that.

She will be out of the country all of the month of May up until a couple days before the visa expires on May 22nd.

Now for my questions:

1) Can her visa be changed to dependent visa at the local immigration or do we have to go to a Thai embassy abroad?

2) This depends a bit on the answer to #1 I guess, if it can be done at immigration office, is it done at the spot or is there a processing period? I'm thinking if we can go there a day or two before her current visa expires and get it done, or if that would be cutting it too close in case there is a processing period? Or will they give her a temporary extension while processing it like I get on my non-B when it needs renewal?

Hope that made sense

[Mario2008]

1. Yes.

But her current permission to stay ends when her job ends if her job ends before her permission to stay ends. On that day she needs to cancel her work permit at labour office and her permission to stay at immigration and at that time apply for an extension of stay as your dependend.

Extension should be given on the spot.

[ubonjoe]

I assume you both have extension of stay based upon working not visas.

She can change the reason for her extension on the date her job ends (her extension will end on that date) to one based upon being your dependent. She will need your marriage certificate to prove your relationship. Plus copies of your passport photo page and extension of stay stamp.

[tomat]

1. Yes.

But her current permission to stay ends when her job ends if her job ends before her permission to stay ends. On that day she needs to cancel her work permit at labour office and her permission to stay at immigration and at that time apply for an extension of stay as your dependend.

Extension should be given on the spot.

Thanks Mario.

To clarify, you answered yes to it being possible to do at the local immigration?

So on the day her employment ends we go to labor office and then on the same day on to immigration, is there some sort of time limit on this, what if it's a day apart?

Her current visa is given from a BOI company, I'm not sure if that changes anything, I know they have their own immigration office in Bangkok, but I guess we can get it cancelled at the normal immigration also.

[ubonjoe]

She should go to the one stop service center to cancel her work permit and extension since that is where her extension was done. They might do her extension there also.

Just be sure she has the required documents for her extension.

[Mario2008]

The BOI extension complicate it a bit, but also makes it easier. She will need to cancel at the BOI (one stop service center), and they will cancel work permit and permission to stay at the same time.

Reportedly the one stop service center will give her 1 week to leave the country. That means she will have 1 week to go to your immigration office and apply there as your dependent.

Edit:

as she no longer falls on BOI, she needs to extent at your immigration office is my understanding. But there have only been a few reports regarding this subject.

[mimithewoof]

18 months ago my husband gave up his job, B visa and work permit intending to become a dependent on my retirement visa (for want of a better title). The reason was poor health - at that time he was seriously hypertensive and could only just walk unaided.

Some four years ago, I'd resigned from my job, given up my B visa and work permit and was immediately transferred to a retirement visa with no hassle, so we were anticipating a similar outcome.

My husband was refused a visa at Chiang Mai immigration and told he must leave the country immediately, even after he had explained he had been medically advised not to travel due to the risk of deep vein thrombosis or a stroke. His condition was obvious.

After the rage and panic died down, we paid for a seven day extension, and took it from there with help from an expat-run visa company. The long-term result is that we now, 18 months later, have two retirement visas,each backed with 800,000 baht in the bank. Fortunately, his health has improved, but the entire long-term scenario might explain why I posted this morning on another thread which mentioned the misused word 'guest'!

Until visas no longer depend on individual officials' day-to-day decisions, this sector of TV forum will run, run and run. Of course, immigration officials in most world countries also seem to move the goalposts with impunity, caring little for their effect on lives.