Let's assume, a Farang living here a long time, having acquired Thai-Wife and fathered a few children. For some reason, the funds for marriage / retirement visa are no more available. Other back-to back border run visa options are being phased out. How is he supposed to stay in Thailand legally?

Him back in home-country (separated from wife and children and property, that he had to sign away at the very beginning).

Can only say, that if I were working as a journalist for a tabloid-newspaper in Europe and ran across a story like this, it'd surely make my day.

He could go to Savannakhet and apply for a Multiple Entry Non-O (on the basis that he is married).

Over there you don't have to show any money. (This is at the moment still available, but don't know for how long.)

He could also get 60 days at Immigration on the same basis.

But 1 question, if he doesn't have the money to fulfill the 400k requirement, how can he support himself, the wife and especially his children ? Wouldn't it then be a better idea if he goes back to his home country and starts working ?

Edited July 9, 201412 yr by MJCM

If I was a journalist in Europe, what would make my day is a story of a European who moved to Thailand, fathered a "few" kids, married a woman, went all in buying a house he couldn't own, and then found himself not able to stay in Thailand with his family because he couldn't meet financial requirements that had been in place the whole time.

I fully agree with the 2 answers to this a bit strange reasoning about this topic..

I can only say to all these people that are crying out there... Dont dive into the water if you can´t swim...

Dont make baby´s if you dont have any money..... And finally... do you like your own country to house

and allow in foreigners that has absolutely nothing to contribute with....

Glegolo

Edited July 10, 201412 yr by glegolo

There are many options for a person with a Thai family to avoid going on an overstay.

As mentioned there is the non-o multiple entry from Savannakhet.

Or the 60 day extension that be obtained with any entry including one from a border crossing.

Even a single entry non-o with the 60 day extension added on to the 90 day gives almost 5 months without needing to leave.

I guess if he can't afford to the stay in the country he should take his wife and kid home with him..? But yeah, I guess I agree with the OP's general point that too many people have kids without ever considering the long-term financial cost and the fact they will have to provide for them.

Really simple answer to this. If he doesn't have enough money for the correct visa (including flying out somewhere to obtain one) then he is not in a position to be able to look after a young family. Unless he is working illegally?....

My advice is to get his skates on, get a real job and spend his holidays relaxing with that family he has been taking care of. Over time and with some hard work he will be able to find a position where he can get regular time off work and spend 6 months a year in Thailand with a nice multi entry "O" family visa in his passport. Problem solved.

Just the hard work bit may be a stumbling block?

Well its not so cut and dried...

Lets say the person has worked fulltime on a work permit for a few years and then due to a fallout, lost his job and started just eeeking out a living that paid the rent and put food on the table with nothing left to do any form of travelling, let alone pay for a visa. He also had no outside family that gave a damn and friends who would occasionally help them out when even the food was hard to put on the table?

A situation like that could not be predicted and as much as many here would like to condemn a person like this... He has lived by the rules, got screwed by the rules and is in a dire situation due to the rules....

He could do like many responsible Thai fathers do: leave family and go work overseas in some construction site, etc. Come back in a year or so.

Well its not so cut and dried...

Lets say the person has worked fulltime on a work permit for a few years and then due to a fallout, lost his job and started just eeeking out a living that paid the rent and put food on the table with nothing left to do any form of travelling, let alone pay for a visa. He also had no outside family that gave a damn and friends who would occasionally help them out when even the food was hard to put on the table?

A situation like that could not be predicted and as much as many here would like to condemn a person like this... He has lived by the rules, got screwed by the rules and is in a dire situation due to the rules....

I would say that if that person doesn't have a "plan B" he shouldn't have a "few kids" and buy a house for a wife. There's always something that can go wrong with "Plan A."

Lets say the person has worked fulltime on a work permit for a few years

Then, if married, they should investigate going straight for Thai citizenship.

If I was a journalist in Europe, what would make my day is a story of a European who moved to Thailand, fathered a "few" kids, married a woman, went all in buying a house he couldn't own, and then found himself not able to stay in Thailand with his family because he couldn't meet financial requirements that had been in place the whole time.

And amazingly, he's not the only one.

I guess if he can't afford to the stay in the country he should take his wife and kid home with him..? But yeah, I guess I agree with the OP's general point that too many people have kids without ever considering the long-term financial cost and the fact they will have to provide for them.

If people thought like this, there would NEVER be any kids.

Well its not so cut and dried...

Lets say the person has worked fulltime on a work permit for a few years and then due to a fallout, lost his job and started just eeeking out a living that paid the rent and put food on the table with nothing left to do any form of travelling, let alone pay for a visa. He also had no outside family that gave a damn and friends who would occasionally help them out when even the food was hard to put on the table?

A situation like that could not be predicted and as much as many here would like to condemn a person like this... He has lived by the rules, got screwed by the rules and is in a dire situation due to the rules....

I would say that if that person doesn't have a "plan B" he shouldn't have a "few kids" and buy a house for a wife. There's always something that can go wrong with "Plan A."

That doesn't account for the way many kids are born. Sneaking through unplanned and literally unwanted. I have a friend with 3 kids that beat, the pill, the second a condom and third a diaphragm.

He has had to afford these technology errors..

Like many posters have said. Go and get money. One that snuck through has now, cost me 18 months away from the kid trying to get a business together, doing a part time job driving for cash and sending money. Its not always easy, and I'm 68. So no excuses needed. We do what we have to do.

Go to Savanakhet. Get a non O family visit. Leave the country, go back to the mother country, work send money. There are options.

OH yes, my friend eventually had an operation, to stem the flow of children.

Overstayers are in a no win situation as it appears even if your honest enough to give yourself up you will still be deported and not allowed back in for a couple of years so I would imagine those who are on overstay will hope that they will not be caught. I would have thought that the Government would have given a 60/90 day period for all those on overstay to come forward ,pay the fine of 20,000 and apply for a new visa sadly this does not appear to be the case. Not everyone arrives in the Kingdom to overstay sometimes due to circumstances it happens . I have no doubt that there are those who know longer have a valid passport as they have been here so long on an overstay, I would suspect there are many 1,000s in the Kingdom who should not be here !

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

I guess if he can't afford to the stay in the country he should take his wife and kid home with him..? But yeah, I guess I agree with the OP's general point that too many people have kids without ever considering the long-term financial cost and the fact they will have to provide for them.

I agree with your last sentence, but if he can't afford to stay in Thailand, how can he afford to support his family in his Western country? ie, If he comes from the UK, what are his chances of getting a job there, unless he has good qualifications? If he had good qualifications, he could legally work in Thailand, so I suspect that is not the case.

There is no excuse for overstaying, Ubon Joe has just mentioned good methods of staying here legally.

Overstayers are in a no win situation as it appears even if your honest enough to give yourself up you will still be deported and not allowed back in for a couple of years so I would imagine those who are on overstay will hope that they will not be caught. I would have thought that the Government would have given a 60/90 day period for all those on overstay to come forward ,pay the fine of 20,000 and apply for a new visa sadly this does not appear to be the case. Not everyone arrives in the Kingdom to overstay sometimes due to circumstances it happens . I have no doubt that there are those who know longer have a valid passport as they have been here so long on an overstay, I would suspect there are many 1,000s in the Kingdom who should not be here !

It has not started yet. They are awaiting approval form the interior ministry.

It seems they are giving a lot of advance notice and it may still have an effective date that will be announced later after approval.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

Coming away with sensible posts like this, I hope there are many more from you. Welcome to Thaivisa.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

If he have 40k in pension he will meet the requirement

If you don't have money enough to meet the requirements for extension of stay. (Which is rather low for marriage) Then you have to work so you get some money. That's what other people all over the world do.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

If he have 40k in pension he will meet the requirement

OK, even 30K would be enough living up country, don't forget there is no debt involved.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension – more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

An extension of stay based upon marriage only requires 40k baht income. What do you think the requirement is?

The wife's income does not count for the income. But her money can be part ot the 400k baht as long as the account is in the husbands name only.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

An extension of stay based upon marriage only requires 40k baht income. What do you think the requirement is?

The wife's income does not count for the income. But her money can be part ot the 400k baht as long as the account is in the husbands name only.

I know Joe, I actually meant to say 30K. I do believe though that a guy with a wife and three kids, with no debt to pay could live on 30K per month. Again, my apologies.

Edited July 10, 201412 yr by ubonjoe
moved reply from quoted text

I really think if you want to live in the country you should respect the law and provide the things that are required, in your home country you would expect everybody else to do so also. I often wonder if those guys who say the don't have the money for the proper visa (but apparently are still able to live here without any problems) really don't have it or are just to lazy to report every 90 days and ask for the extension when needed.

I think some of the comments are not really fair. You can have a reasonably good pension more than enough to look after your family without having 400,000 in the bank. Especially if you have a mortgage free property a paid car ,etc.

If he has enough income to take care of his family he would then qualify on income without needing 400k?

Wouldn't it be hard to support a "few" kids and wife and himself, even on the minimum income for a marriage extension?

If someone had a wife, and say three children, his house and car paid for, and a pension of 40.000 Baht per month, he would not meet the marriage extension requirements, don't forget, there is no combination, but could quite easily live on 40.000, per month.

Also, his wife could work, and as far as I know, any wage his wife was bringing in would not make any difference to the requirements for marriage extensions.

If he have 40k in pension he will meet the requirement

OK, even 30K would be enough living up country, don't forget there is no debt involved.

30k is to little money to support a wife and a couple of kids. And also having a car like you wrote.
The limit has to be somewhere and 40k a month or 400k in a bank account isn't a high limit. His wife can also help him with money in his account if she love and like him.
A retired person need much more money for only one person.

Edited July 10, 201412 yr by ubonjoe
fixed broken quotes (space needed between quote code blocks and text).

An extension of stay based upon marriage only requires 40k baht income. What do you think the requirement is?

The wife's income does not count for the income. But her money can be part ot the 400k baht as long as the account is in the husbands name only.

I know Joe, I actually meant to say 30K. I do believe though that a guy with a wife and three kids, with no debt to pay could live on 30K per month. Again, my apologies.

That is why many people are getting multiple entry non-o visas.

They have enough income to live on but cannot save up enough to put 400k baht in the bank for the extension.

Also there are many that have a working wife who makes enough money but her income cannot be used.