Carlosm Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Have been on a marriage visa for ten years now but the last three visits the immigration police have asked me to change it to a retirement visa. I'm quite nervous about doing this as I'm a firm believer in 'if its not broken, don't fix it'. As I've never been refused or even close to it I've continued with my usual marriage visa but the last visit he basically said 'last time, next time retirement', then looked me in the eye. So, is it easier as he say's and is there much difference in the requirements ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mike123ca Posted October 23, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2014 Maybe immigration will also pony up the extra 400,000 baht needed for a retirement visa. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 If you have the money it is easier as said. No need to worry. The other direction (from retirement to married) may look a bit "suspicious" to the immi ("he does not have enough money any more"). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlosm Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Always makes me laugh, 65k/month for retirement visa supporting one person and 40k/month for marriage visa supporting two people.... where's the logic in that ??? What form do you need for retirement visa ? and does thaivisa have a tick list for things to take with you to immigration to get the visa ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Always makes me laugh, 65k/month for retirement visa supporting one person and 40k/month for marriage visa supporting two people.... where's the logic in that ??? What form do you need for retirement visa ? and does thaivisa have a tick list for things to take with you to immigration to get the visa ? The difference is that the extension based upon marriage (it is not a visa) is for humanitarian reasons. Also their is the assumption that the wife could be working to supplement the income. Also a presumed lower cost of living. There are many married couples living on the retirement extension financial requirements with one being on a dependent extensions. For a retirement extension you you would need the same passport and TM6 copies as marriage. Proof of residence. Same application form. Same financial proof in the higher amounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMA_FARANG Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) If you qualify for a marriage extension the immigration would prefer you to get it rather than a marriage extension. Please note I used the word extension not VISA. The reason that immigration would rather you had a retirement extension than a marriage extension is simply that from their point of view the paperwork required is easier and less paperwork is needed to get a retirement than a marriage extension. So, from immigrations point of view, they have less work to do for a retirement extension than a marriage one. That's why they like retirement extensions over marriage extensions. Edited October 23, 2014 by IMA_FARANG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggg88 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Can you get a work permit on a marriage extension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Can you get a work permit on a marriage extension? You can get a work permit and work on an extension of stay based upon marriage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketrichard Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. NOTE for phuket they have made it 60 day wait now for the marriage extension, friend of mine went in last week for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laceman1 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. I went to Udon Thani to apply for my extension based on retirement on October 14th. It would have been my 4th retirement extension and second one at Udon Thani Immigration. This one had expiration date of 19th October, but like to go a few days early. Took the usual document and copies, but this time asked for copy of ID from apartment owner and and a letter from them stating I lived there, and I had the apartment owners add how long I've lived there. They also asked my gf for her house book. Since we didn't have this, returned with requested info on the 15th. IO checked documents on our return, letter and apartment owner ID sufficient and did not bother with looking at her house book, which doesn't involve me anyway. Stamped passport with a permit to stay until November 14th and told to come back then and bring passport. GF asked why different and answered only "new rule". Not sure if same happened to anyone else. Lucky only about 45 minute drive from my apartment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. NOTE for phuket they have made it 60 day wait now for the marriage extension, friend of mine went in last week for one. Was that total days from when he applied? They probably did his stamp 30 days from when his permit to stay ended. Many offices have been doing this for some time. My most recent report back date was 45 days from when I applied. The longest they can do the under consideration period is 30 days beyond the existing permit to stay date according to the immigration order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketrichard Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 yes total days, his visa was up in 2 weeks, he went in an they told him to come back in 60 days an his stamp is 60 days out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. I went to Udon Thani to apply for my extension based on retirement on October 14th. It would have been my 4th retirement extension and second one at Udon Thani Immigration. This one had expiration date of 19th October, but like to go a few days early. Took the usual document and copies, but this time asked for copy of ID from apartment owner and and a letter from them stating I lived there, and I had the apartment owners add how long I've lived there. They also asked my gf for her house book. Since we didn't have this, returned with requested info on the 15th. IO checked documents on our return, letter and apartment owner ID sufficient and did not bother with looking at her house book, which doesn't involve me anyway. Stamped passport with a permit to stay until November 14th and told to come back then and bring passport. GF asked why different and answered only "new rule". Not sure if same happened to anyone else. Lucky only about 45 minute drive from my apartment. There have been some reports of Udon doing a under consideration stamp because they didn't have a high enough ranking officer to sign off the on the extension. But those were for only a week. There are no new rules that I know of. It could be some new local policy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evilbaz Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) I registered with Phuket Immi my partner's tabien baan, ID and certification that I lived there in my house on the tabien baan copy some four years ago on my first extension based on retirement . I always carry a freshly certified and dated copy of this. Do I now need to fill out some new forms at Phuket Immi come renewal time in December? Can I obtain the forms prior to the visit as due to writing difficulties it would cause a big delay to complete them "on the spot"? Can I please get the form numbers to collect them and complete them prior to my dreaded visit? Why on earth is this a logical procedure when you have to report your address every 90 days and on that day of application ...? Edited October 23, 2014 by Evilbaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ace of Pop Posted October 23, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2014 A Visa Extension based on Marriage is for Married People.If You loose Your Wife or dont have one a Retirement Visa is needed. Why Folks find simple English hard is beyond me.Or is it just Rule Bending.Now in my 26th Year,and never had an issue with Immigration. .All My Friends here that have Probs, have probs with everything they do here... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Maybe immigration will also pony up the extra 400,000 baht needed for a retirement visa. Good post Mike, my like button not working again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soiyamoto Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) A Visa Extension based on Marriage is for Married People.If You loose Your Wife or dont have one a Retirement Visa is needed. Why Folks find simple English hard is beyond me.Or is it just Rule Bending.Now in my 26th Year,and never had an issue with Immigration. .All My Friends here that have Probs, have probs with everything they do here... Simple english not so simple on thai embassey website.. It clearly states need 65k baht in bank every month for 3month to qualify for 0 visa based on marraige, and the consulate in Hull tell you the same if you call them but on calling london yesterday i was told no need for 65k pr month as im married to a thai ? Edited October 23, 2014 by ubonjoe moved reply from quoted text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. NOTE for phuket they have made it 60 day wait now for the marriage extension, friend of mine went in last week for one. Different Immigration offices have different rules. This is Thailand. They all make up their own rules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Maybe immigration will also pony up the extra 400,000 baht needed for a retirement visa. Immigrations doesn't issue retirement or marriage visas, in part because they don't exist. The O/P has been here on an extension of stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Suradit69 Posted October 23, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. NOTE for phuket they have made it 60 day wait now for the marriage extension, friend of mine went in last week for one. Different Immigration offices have different rules. This is Thailand. They all make up their own rules. "This is Thailand. They all make up their own rules." Not nearly as often as TV posters make up their own terms and experiences when attempting to blame Immigrations for misunderstandings that they, the posters, have made. The "under consideration period" is not a rule. As the name implies, it allows the office to consider and investigate the validity of the application, which is understandably going to take longer at busy offices and because of all the scams being practiced by farangs pretending to be married. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The big difference is the financial requirements. For retirement it is 800k baht in the bank for 3 months or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. There is less paperwork needed. No need for anything to do your marriage or your wife and no photos of the house. You get the extension on the same day applied for instead of the 30 day wait. Immigration cannot force you to change. But some people have had theirs changed without their consent because they showed enough financial proof for retirement. NOTE for phuket they have made it 60 day wait now for the marriage extension, friend of mine went in last week for one. Different Immigration offices have different rules. This is Thailand. They all make up their own rules. "This is Thailand. They all make up their own rules." Not nearly as often as TV posters make up their own terms and experiences when attempting to blame Immigrations for misunderstandings that they, the posters, have made. The "under consideration period" is not a rule. As the name implies, it allows the office to consider and investigate the validity of the application, which is understandably going to take longer at busy offices and because of all the scams being practiced by farangs pretending to be married. Your second paragraph, true, but in IM offices all over Thailand it's a case of some will allow this, and some won't. If you have read a lot of TV posters experiences at IM offices, you will see what I am getting at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketrichard Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 i thought marriage extensions were not all done at the local level? he had to provide all the same papers ( an more this time) he has had to supply for the past 10 years!! How much time "do they need to consider and investigate the validity of the application" if its the same wife? Seems like a waste of time to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFishman1 Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I never had a problem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estrada Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Maybe immigration will also pony up the extra 400,000 baht needed for a retirement visa. Immigrations doesn't issue retirement or marriage visas, in part because they don't exist. The O/P has been here on an extension of stay. Normally Visas are issued outside the Country by the Thai Embassies, retirement visas are often also issued by Immigration in Bangkok. I came in on a 30day tourist permit to stay, went to immigration at Chaengwattana, got an official Non-immigrant Visa Category "O" then a 3 month permit to stay based on retirement. After 3 months they checked that my B800,000 was still untouched in ny Time Deposit account and then they extended my permit to stay for a further 9 months. I used to have a marriage visa with extensions of stay as I was working in Thailand but it was so much hassle that when I retired I changed to retirement. I can extend the retirement permit to stay and get my re-entry permit in one short visit to immigration. I also do my 90 day reporting by post. This is the easiest way to stay in Thailand other than becoming a Thai Citizen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWPattaya Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 An Immigration officer I know always advises people who already have an extension of stay based on retirement to continue on that when getting married. Saves a lot of time reverting back to it after the divorce, and it is easier to renew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) i thought marriage extensions were not all done at the local level? he had to provide all the same papers ( an more this time) he has had to supply for the past 10 years!! How much time "do they need to consider and investigate the validity of the application" if its the same wife? Seems like a waste of time to me Final approval is done a the division headquarters for the region of the country you live in. How long it can take depends upon how busy that office is. For Phuket it is division 6 in Hat Yai that is for all of south Thailand. My applications go to division 4 in Korat that takes care of the northeast region. Edited October 23, 2014 by ubonjoe changed to Hat Yai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMo Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Basically, an extension based on retirement is far more simple to prepare for and to get and far less stressful than an extension based on marriage to a Thai. (I'm referring to the visit to immigration, not the other 364 days in the year.) That applies both for you and for the immigration officer. He has more work to do on a marriage extension. Retirement extension needs more money in the bank or pension income but requires just single trip to the immigration office which you can do on your own. Marriage extension needs less money in the bank or pension income but two trips to the immigration office with your misses at least on the first one plus the possibility that immigration will want to visit your matrimonial home. I have heard that the money for a matrimonial extension of stay must be either money in the bank OR pension income while for a retirement extension it can be a pro-rata combination of the two. Not seen this in print though. Of course, there's always the possibility that the officer thinks he is doing you a favour because he "knows" something. In the 12 years I've been here on mainly a retirement extensions but for a couple of years on a guardian basis (which is almost identical to marriage) the immigration officers have always been very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurkster Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) how much does one have to put up for the "elite'' card? Edited October 23, 2014 by Smurkster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigSchuler Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Too bad you are not female.....Then you don't have to do squat!....Discrimination....Plain and simple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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