Philippine Dependent Visa issue

[tfa1957]

My wife, step children, and I went to Bangkok last week, as instructed by the Immigration department in Chiang Rai. I, am a U.S. citizen holding a non o retirement, and my wife, and children, who hold Philippine passports went to Bangkok in order to have them put under my non o retirement as dependents. First, this was a question I posed on here a few months ago as to how to go about getting my family, from the Philippines as dependent status, and we got the same answer as what the immigration department in Chiang Rai stated, which was, that we needed to go to the Immigration Department in Bangkok to process the change from tourist visa to dependent status. As it turns out, both were wrong. We, unfortunately, had no success in Bangkok. I don't blame anyone on here, nor at immigration in Chiang Rai. In fact, the immigration office in Chiang Rai are outstanding people, who always try to be helpful in anyway possible. I wish I could say there was a simple misunderstanding, however, we also checked at the immigration office in Mae Sai and was given the same information, and we had a Thai lady with us to make sure there were no misunderstandings. So, basically, this note is a warning that despite peoples experience with these issues, there can be mistakes along the way. What we apparently have to do is go out of the country to say Laos, or back to the Philippines to process the Visa paperwork, rather than in country. I don't want to get into semantics of what the proper terms with the Non O, the Retirement Visa, or anything like that, because that isn't the issue. Our hope is that when we go out of the country to process the paper work at a Thai Embassy or Consulate, is that this will not be a wasted trip. If there is anyone on here who has gone through this personally, and can give accurate advice with how they accomplished getting their Philippine family placed as dependents, and they are retired U.S. citizens, then we would sincerely like to get your feedback, and advice, but only if you have personally gone through this process. We are not wanting to make anymore needless trips, especially out of country if we can help it, as we worry about them getting a 3rd tourist Visa and repercussions from getting continuous tourist Visa's for the family.

[ubonjoe]

I can assure you it was not me that posted anything saying you could do a conversion to a non immigrant visa for a dependent extension of stay in Bangkok or at any immigration office.

I have written many times that it is not possible to do it and that you have to go to a nearby embassy or consulate to get a single entry non-o visa.

You will be able to get the non-o visas without a problem as long as you have your marriage certificate, their birth certificates in English or Thai and copies of your passport including the extension of stay stamp from immigration.

[Mario2008]

Your old topic is here: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/739592-im-in-the-2nd-stage-of-my-o-visa-with-a-problem/

The comments by Ubonjoe and Lopburi3 clearly state that no conversion will be done for your dependents.

[tfa1957]

Joe, your correct in that you didn't give me incorrect info, and your info seems correct. As Time went by and upon my wife's return from the Philippines, we did as they stated in the immigration office, as the way they explained, it seemed appropriate. So, as it is, we will need to go outside the country and get this done.

[ubonjoe]

You are not the first one to given wrong info about being able to do a conversion based upon a dependent extension by immigration.

[tfa1957]

We will be leaving for Vientiane next week, and my 43 year old Filipina wife and two children, ages 13 and 16 will be applying for a non o at the Thai Embassy. We have a verified (from Philippine Embassy in Bangkok) marriage certificate, as well as birth certificates for the children. My question is, will my wife or step children have any difficulty in getting a non o? We opted for Vientiane for a couple of different reasons, and we do not mind a long line and are not in any big hurry, so all we are concerned about are them getting their non o and making our way back home. Because they will be going in for a non o, can I hazard a guess that they will not need verification of a plane ticket out of Thailand now? If there is anything else I need to be aware of, any help will be sincerely appreciate,, and not forgotten this time, unlike my mess up last time.

[ubonjoe]

Do the applications on a Tuesday or Wednesday and it will be less busy.

Tickets out of the country will not be needed.

They will have no problem getting their non-o visas.

[tfa1957]

I appreciate the advice that you provided, and everything went smoothly. The folks at the embassy in Vientiane were polite and official in a respectful manner and the process was straight forward, although we did have to photocopy off more document than we anticipated, but it all made sense, and my wife and 2 children all got their Non "O" the next afternoon, and the bonus was that we had enough time to see the bigger sites for the city. I have to say, the contrast from one side of the border to the other is fairly dramatic. Vientiane has a small town feel to it, and it is clear that the wealth factor is different than back here in Thailand, but, the people are just as nice, helpful and kind as they are here. So, all in all, with the help of some good folks here, everything went great, and I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude.