Using visa on arrival to marry Thai boyfriend

[ElleyS]

I am currently in my home country, South Africa. I came here a few months ago for the birth of my now 2 month old son and I am planning on going back to Thailand beginning 2015 on a 'visa on arrival' tourist visa to marry my Thai boyfriend, my sons father.

I wont be coming back to my country again anytime soon so Im trying to save money on my flight by going one way instead of buying a return i wont even use. I read somewhere that people buy one way tickets and then just book the cheapest flight to a neighbouring country, can i do that?

Also, is 30days enough to get married and get a visa based on marriage?

[thaibreaker]

Gratulations with your son.

If you don`t apply for a tourist visa in Pretoria, you will get a 30 days exempt when arriving Thailand as a South African. There is no tourist visa on arrival.

But new rules will give you an additional 30 days of extension, so you will have a total of 60 days to marry and get your papers in order. That should be enough.

But if you need more time, you can apply for a tourist visa, that gives you 60 days, and a 30 days extension, a total of 90 days.

Then you can apply for a multiple non-O visa in Savanakhet (Laos) or somewhere else, based upon your marriage.

That gives you entries for up to 90 days during the time the visa is valid (1 year).

And yes, you can buy a cheap flight to a neighboring country, why not do it to near the place you will apply for your non-O visa

Best of luck!

Edited December 14, 2014 by thaibreaker

[Mario2008]

Without a visa or proof of onward travel the airline might not let you board the plane.

I presume your boy friends father is named on the birth certificate, in that case apply for a non-O visa based on the child. If that is not possible to obtain, get a tourist visa.

Once in thailand, apply with the father for a Thai birth cerificate for the child. This will confirm that the child also has Thai nationality. You will have to apply for it together with the fater at the Thai embassy in South-Africe, but can do so through the Thai consular department in Bangkok.

[SABloke]

Don't forget to take your "Letter of no impediment" from Home Affairs - I had to apply for mine from here (Thailand) and it took 4 months.

You will as others of said receive 30days exempt, but if I were you, I would apply for a toursit visa (60 days). The marriage process can be completed within the same day and you can then take your documents to Immigration and change your visa type to a non-o, without having to leave the country (last I checked you were allowed to change it as long as you did so earlier than 45 days before the expiration of your visa)

[ubonjoe]

To do a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry you must have 15 days remaining on your entry. The conversion based upon qualifying for an extensions of stay based upon marriage can only be done in Bangkok.

Then 45 days (60 at some offices) after getting the visa entry you can apply for the extension.

[build6]

save money on my flight by going one way instead of buying a return i wont even use

Be aware that one way tickets can cost MORE than return tickets - airlines like to price their tickets in order to "capture maximum profit", based on all sorts of algorithms the bean counters work out, and although it's logical to think that a one way ticket should cost around half of what a return ticket costs, this is NOT normally the case.

Be sure to check if you spend less money buying a return ticket and then having the unused portion refunded (even with the "administrative fees" they'll charge for sure).

[ElleyS]

Thanks for all the replies. I just decided today that im going sooner. build6 i saw what you mean with the flights being more expensive, found a cheaper one though. One way flight is booked to bkk and then Yangon 12days later. I also have a hotel booked for the entire time between the two flights. I hope all goes as planned.

I will start the marriage process as soon as I get there. Thanks SAbloke i didnt even think about that. Im going to home affairs again on wednesday so ill get the letter then.

[Jay Sata]

One point worth making is that as a wife with a Thai husband you have a lot more rights than a man in a similar situation.