Changing From Retirement To Marriage Visa Extension

[Greenside]

Had Retirement Extensions for 8 years now and renewal is quick and easy. I live in Chiang Mai, my current extension expires in December and this year I'd prefer to change to marriage which I suspect is more of a performance but I think we have all the paperwork and other requirements in place. I'd quite like to get the marriage extension sooner than that so I can safely lower the amount of money I have sitting on deposit. I'm reluctant to leave myself in a position where I won't have had the 800k in place for the required amount of time if, for any reason, the marriage extension doesn't get approved and I have to do another retirement year.

The questions:

1. If I apply early will they process the application or will they say come back closer to my current expiry date?
2. We have home, family, pictures, map and at least 400k in the bank - are there any Gotchas that might crop up? When mentioning a possible change in the past, the immigration officer has always given me the impression that the marriage extension is complicated and to be avoided for unspecified reasons.

As ever, thanks for your advice in advance.

[OJAS]

I suspect that the advice given in the following thread might also apply in your case - in particular the possibility of using the "combination" method of proving finances for a successor retirement extension as an alternative to switching to the marriage route.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/757378-changing-retirement-to-marriage/

The earliest you can apply for any successor extension is 30 days before the existing one expires, although some immigration offices are prepared to consider applications submitted up to 45 days in advance. Not sure whether Chiang Mai are one of them, though.

[ubonjoe]

The chances of your extension is being denied is about zero. As long as your application is accepted there should be no problem.

I am on my under consideration period for my 7th extension based upon marriage. In my experience they are not all that hard to do.

You also have the option of getting a 60 day extension to visit your wife if it was denied.