Marriage Visa route

[JOCKANESE]

Hi Folks

My first post, i'll try to be brief:

Marrying my Thai fiancee next week in UK (she has British / Thai citizenship) after 7 years together in UK.

We had Thai ceremony 18 months ago but could not register locally as i did not have copy of my passport translated to Thai (no problem, we prefer the official marriage to be in UK anyway)... we are in the process of selling house and business in the UK with the plan to build our own place and live in Thailand (about 1 hour drive from Sisaket)..... would very much appreciate some advice from members on the following..

1) Marriage visa - is there a minimum time for being married before i can apply ? Should i apply for a 3 months visa first off and then apply for a marriage visa whilst in Thailand to give us time to organise all the documentation translations and bank accounts etc etc, what documents do i need to apply for married visa ? (i have checked Thai embassy website , but dont want any surprises (like criminal record check for example).

2) financial requirements - if we have (in my Thai bank account) for example THB 5mi, does the monthly income threshold (THB 40,000 I think) still stand ? or do the Thai immigration people accept that funds like that are sufficient until i receive pension in 10 years(i'm 45 years old now) .... we expect to be receiving other funds from business sale for 4 or 5 years to come and have about 17 rai (rubber trees) giving income in about 4 years time (i realise that the rubber income may not be deemed as my own but my wifes)

3) Tax - would the Thai authorities be looking to tax me on that THB 5million if i sent to my Thai savings & current account ? if so, what might i expect to pay in tax ?

Any howling pitfalls i should be aware of ?

All genuine advice (good or bad) welcome ... or not

Cheers, Jockanese

[cooked]

You must register your marriage here first of course.

1. No there isn't a minimum time for being married. Three month visa - you mean an 'O''visa - yes, get one in the UK. You take this to your immigration office along with all the required documents. Call the offices first, they will tell you what documents you require. We did this and were then told that we still needed the original 'freedom to marry' document that we got at the embassy. Just take everything. You will get one month's provisional extension while all your stuff goes to Bangkok, you come back within that time and get a one year extension (or is it 11 months, can't remember).

2. Money. You need either ฿400 000.- in the bank or a minimum of ฿40 000 a month income. You need a recent bank account statement or a certificate of income from your embassy. I wouldn't keep more money than necessary in Thailand myself.

3. Taxes: I dunno, I don't think so.

Lastly, you will not be getting a marriage visa but an extension to your 'O' visa to be renewed annually.

Good luck.

[JOCKANESE]

Much appreciated Cooked, taken on board.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Martyjustice]

Cooked is correct. Too make#2 clearer the 400k baht has to be in a account in your name, not a joint account. If you do the 40k per month just need a embassy letter.

Also I think you still need a medical certificate. Downloadable from embassy website( at least in US) and signed by your doc.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[cooked]

That's right. A medical certificate can be had from any doctor here for ฿100.-.

[khwaibah]

You must register your marriage here first of course.

1. No there isn't a minimum time for being married. Three month visa - you mean an 'O''visa - yes, get one in the UK. You take this to your immigration office along with all the required documents. Call the offices first, they will tell you what documents you require. We did this and were then told that we still needed the original 'freedom to marry' document that we got at the embassy. Just take everything. You will get one month's provisional extension while all your stuff goes to Bangkok, you come back within that time and get a one year extension (or is it 11 months, can't remember).

2. Money. You need either ฿400 000.- in the bank or a minimum of ฿40 000 a month income. You need a recent bank account statement or a certificate of income from your embassy. I wouldn't keep more money than necessary in Thailand myself.

3. Taxes: I dunno, I don't think so.

Lastly, you will not be getting a marriage visa but an extension to your 'O' visa to be renewed annually.

Good luck.

You will be put on a O-Visa single entry (90 days) Thia law. At the end of this 30 to 45 days before it expires you apply for your extension to stay based on marriage your wife must be present as there are forums in Thai she must fill out. All paper work is double and photos of you and the wife about the house are needed 3 each. As said double copies as one set is keep at local immigration and the actual application is sent to Korat not Bangkok for approval. Korat has been given permission to perform this function. Two week turn around. BTW Korat is the region 4 HQ for immigration which all of issan is in. There is no medical required for this extension and when during the time your application is being processed this is called a "thirty days under consideration" it is NOT and extensen it is the first 30 days of your 12 months marriage extension.

As for your UK marriage. You will need to have it translated into Thai at which time it will be registered with the MFA in Bangkok you then take the MFA registration to your local amphur and your marriage is then entered as legal, this is the forum from the amphur that you need for your marriage extension. Since you did not get married in Thailand you do not need the affirmation to marry from your embassy.

[puchooay]

Nobody has mentioned seasoning the money.

The 400k needs to be in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to application.

[khwaibah]

Nobody has mentioned seasoning the money.

The 400k needs to be in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to application.

The op has two choices on his funds. 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account in his name only seasoned for two months. OR a letter from his embassy verifying his income of at least 40,000 baht per month. Either has to be done every year. Being British he needs to go to Bangkok every year and the cost for this letter at the British Embassy is approximately 2500 baht. Depending on what immigration you use the letter from the embassy is valid for 30 days to 6 months, need to ask. The letter from your bank verifying your 400,000 normally can only be 3 days old.

Edited July 23, 2014 by khwaibah

[JOCKANESE]

Thanks for feedback folks, will post same on main forum , hopefully get some info on the tax question. cheers. Jock

[ubonjoe]

There is no minimum to time to be married to apply for a visa or extension.

You should get a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage before traveling to Thailand. You easily get it a the embassy or one of the consulates. Just your marriage certificate, wife house book and ID card. The might just want a copy of passport photo also.

For the extension of stay you only need the 400k in the bank in your name only for 60 days. It is money or income not and.

You might want to check with embassy about registering your marriage there. Info in Thai: http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/9

Registering it there might save you a lot time doing it here.which requires certification, translations and certificate at the MFA before doing it at the Amphoe to get a Kor Ror 22 that you will need to do the extension of stay,

[JOCKANESE]

Much appreciated UbonJoe, i'll certainly look into the registering at your link... any idea on the tax issue please?

[ubonjoe]

The taxes are a non issue for the money you send in because it could be money earned in a previous year or from something not taxable if earned abroad or you were not resident here for tax purposes when it was earned.

[rgs2001uk]

3. Tax.

Lets assume you have 5 million baht in your account and earn 3% interest = 150,000 baht.

You will be taxed 15% of the interest,15% of 150,000 = 22,500 baht tax.

You can claim back the tax, someone can maybe provide a link to the thread that gave details on how to do it.

2. Bank account, best keep it simple and have it in your name.

Or have two accounts, one with the 400k required, and put the rest in a joint account.

If you have 400k in a bank account in your name, there is no need to show an income of 40k per month.

Living where you intend to live, the bank account option is best, sure saves trips to the embassay in Bkk for letters to take to immi.

Love the avatar, one of the best albums ever released.

[JOCKANESE]

Again, much appreciated UbonJoe. All the best, Jock.

[Assurancetourix]

Nobody has mentioned seasoning the money.

The 400k needs to be in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to application.

That's for a renewal;

but for the first time, u must have it three months prior the application .

[khwaibah]

Nobody has mentioned seasoning the money.

The 400k needs to be in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to application.

That's for a renewal;

but for the first time, u must have it three months prior the application .

Seasoning of money for an extension to stay based on marriage is 2 month every time. Extension to stay based on retirement is 2 months the first time and 3 months every time after.

[ubonrthai]

Getting our U.S. marriage registered in Thailand was a huge pain in the rear. In hindsight it would have been way easier to register marriage at a Thai Embassy overseas as UbonJoe mentioned. I have no info to add other than do as much as possible in the UK first.

[JOCKANESE]

Guys

Apologies if i misled slightly... we will be married at a local council registrars office in the UK next week and receive the certificate of marriage immediately ,, does the advice from Ubonjoe and UbonThai regarding the registration of our marriage at the Thai embassy still apply ? it seems to me that it would be perfectly sensible for us to register our marriage at the Thai embassy (as my wife is Thai) if that would save us a whole lot of running around various government departments in Thailand to prove we ARE really married , in order to apply for the marriage visa somewhere down the line..... or does the fact that it seems very sensible automatically mean that i've got it WRONG,,, we are after all dealing with bureaucracy !!!!

[JOCKANESE]

rgs2001uk

Big thanks for the tax advice, and couldn't agree more about the album.... a gem among many

All the best

[khwaibah]

Guys

Apologies if i misled slightly... we will be married at a local council registrars office in the UK next week and receive the certificate of marriage immediately ,, does the advice from Ubonjoe and UbonThai regarding the registration of our marriage at the Thai embassy still apply ? it seems to me that it would be perfectly sensible for us to register our marriage at the Thai embassy (as my wife is Thai) if that would save us a whole lot of running around various government departments in Thailand to prove we ARE really married , in order to apply for the marriage visa somewhere down the line..... or does the fact that it seems very sensible automatically mean that i've got it WRONG,,, we are after all dealing with bureaucracy !!!!

Yes register the marriage with the Thai Embassy in London. When you get to Thailand this will make it easier to have it registered with the MFA in Bangkok which has to be done so you can get registered at your local amphur office. As another poster said it would be easier if you just got married at your local amphur office in Thailand.