Going Fro, None-b To None-o, Married Extension

[stevehaigh]

i have a none-B and a WP. i just applied for a marriage extension. i have easily enough money in the bank to qualify for marriage ext. without the WP.

i plan to close my company and stop my WP soon. i think i have to wait until my 1 year marriage extension is approved first.

the question is, what's next? when i'm on a 1 year married extension and i close the co and WP will that kill my none-B? can i change to none-O in BKK? (I read you can do that at the main immigration office).

will i have to start over for a marroage extension if i change to none-O?

what happens when my extension expires? how to extend again?

thanks, steve

[Maestro]

i have a none-B and a WP. i just applied for a marriage extension. i have easily enough money in the bank to qualify for marriage ext. without the WP.

i plan to close my company and stop my WP soon. i think i have to wait until my 1 year marriage extension is approved first.

the question is, what's next? when i'm on a 1 year married extension and i close the co and WP will that kill my none-B? can i change to none-O in BKK? (I read you can do that at the main immigration office).

will i have to start over for a marroage extension if i change to none-O?

what happens when my extension expires? how to extend again?

If I understand you correctly, you entered Thailand on a non-B visa and recently applied with form TM.7 for an extension of stay for “support Thai wife”.

When your application for extension of stay is approved it will be valid for one year from the date of your last entry into Thailand.

During the last 30 days of your first extended permission to stay, you go to Immigration and apply again for a one-year extension.

There is no change of visa from non-B to non-O; as both are non-immigrant visas you do not need to change your visa, you already have the correct type of visa for an annual extension of stay. What you do, what you have in fact already done, is an application for extension of your stay, for the reason to “support Thai wife”, and you then make a new application again every year for the same reason.

You see, it is not your visa that gets extended, but your permission to stay.

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Maestro

[rishi]

Can one actually extend a non-B visa on the "support Thai wife" grounds? --- I thought those grounds were only relevant for non-O visas ...

If one (much to my surprize) can --- then how is it the other way around: can one extend a non-O visa on grounds of being properly employed and paying a sufficient amount of income tax?

[lopburi3]

Yes

Yes; unless the O visa is issued for retirement. You can not work on retirement visa.

[stevehaigh]

i have a none-B and a WP. i just applied for a marriage extension. i have easily enough money in the bank to qualify for marriage ext. without the WP.

i plan to close my company and stop my WP soon. i think i have to wait until my 1 year marriage extension is approved first.

the question is, what's next? when i'm on a 1 year married extension and i close the co and WP will that kill my none-B? can i change to none-O in BKK? (I read you can do that at the main immigration office).

will i have to start over for a marroage extension if i change to none-O?

what happens when my extension expires? how to extend again?

If I understand you correctly, you entered Thailand on a non-B visa and recently applied with form TM.7 for an extension of stay for “support Thai wife”.

When your application for extension of stay is approved it will be valid for one year from the date of your last entry into Thailand.

During the last 30 days of your first extended permission to stay, you go to Immigration and apply again for a one-year extension.

There is no change of visa from non-B to non-O; as both are non-immigrant visas you do not need to change your visa, you already have the correct type of visa for an annual extension of stay. What you do, what you have in fact already done, is an application for extension of your stay, for the reason to “support Thai wife”, and you then make a new application again every year for the same reason.

You see, it is not your visa that gets extended, but your permission to stay.

--------------

Maestro

ok, thanks. so i guess you are saying that closing the company and cancelling the WP will have no effect on my non-B visa or the extension. is that correct?

and so long as i keep extending, i never need apply for another visa again. is that also correct?

thanks, steve

[Maestro]

This brings us back to one of the questions in your original post:

when i'm on a 1 year married extension and i close the co and WP will that kill my none-B?

First, let us be clear abut visas and extensions:

– The non-B visa gave you permission to travel to Thailand (note: not to enter Thailand)

– The stamp put into your passport by the Immigration Officer when you presented yourself at the Immigration desk gave you permission to enter Thailand and to stay in Thailand until the date shown in that stamp

– The extension of stay for which you have now applied for “support Thai wife” will extend the period you are permitted to stay in Thailand, until the date shown in the extension stamp.

i have a none-B and a WP. i just applied for a marriage extension.

You don’t say whether

– your non-B visa was single-entry, in which case it got “killed” when you entered Thailand

– your non-B visa was multiple-entry, in which case it will get “killed” on the date shown on the visa as the “must be utilized by” date (at any rate, once your extension of stay for “support Thai wife” is approved you should not re-use such multiple-entry non-B visa as it would invalidate your extension of stay and you would have to start all over again)

– you had an extension of stay based on your non-B visa, in which case that extension of stay becomes obsolete and your new legal basis for staying in Thailand will be the new extension of stay for “support Thai wife”

The cancellation of your work permit will not affect your extension of stay for “support Thai wife”

If at any later time you wish to take up employment, your new extension status for “support Thai wife” permits you to apply for a new work permit.

and so long as i keep extending, i never need apply for another visa again. is that also correct?

Correct, but if you wish to travel abroad you must obtain, at the Immigration Office, a re-entry permit before you leave Thailand, as otherwise your extension of stay would be invalidated when you re-enter Thailand.

---------------

Maestro

Edited July 30, 2006 by maestro

[stevehaigh]

The cancellation of your work permit will not affect your extension of stay for “support Thai wife”

If at any later time you wish to take up employment, your new extension status for “support Thai wife” permits you to apply for a new work permit.

ok, thanks, this is good news. my lawyer said i had to leave thailand, go to penang, get a non-O and start all over again. i didn't believe her, sounds like she was wrong (as usual!).

this is a different subject, but since you mensioned it, if i do want to get a new WP in future based on my “support Thai wife” extension, can i do that without a company sponsor? if so, what is the process?

thanks again, steve

[Axel]

The work permit is always connected to a specified work and a named employer. So the WP does not need a 'sponsor' but a qualified employer.