Hi I need some helpful info on the mess I seem to be in, to cut a long story short came here last year from the uk with my Thai wife & 2 kids to live and run a palm tree plantation anyway things have not gone to plan as we was supposed to get the land a lot sooner but one thing after another has left us on the verge of going back to the uk but we can get the land this June which is great.Now the problem my type o 1 year visa runs out in July 18 I cannot show 400,000 in my account or the 40,000 a month how can I show this as I am not supposed to work ? Failing that can I apply for a 90 visa show 400,000 for that 3 months then apply for a type o again and carry on living here or have I totally ballsed things up please help

You can get another Multi Entry Non Imm O Visa from Savanakhet in Laos.

If applying for a 12 month extension at Immigration in Thailand you need 400,000 Baht in a Thai bank for a period of 2 months.

Or

40,000 Monthly income. You need a letter from the UK Embassy as proof of income.

Just to add, Savanakhet do not ask for proof of funds, so this would be an ideal option for you.

Where are you living ? I'm thinking - Palm oil - southern Thailand ??

If you only need a 3 month O you can get one from Kota Baru without showing funds, you can then extend this a further 2 months at immigration.

There is no limits to the number of consecutive 3 month non-o from the KB consulate, but some immigration offices will not keep giving the 2 month extension.

Obviously, if you are going to do this a few times it's worth going to Savanakhet to get a multi-entry based on your marriage.

Hi thanks for the advise,I may sound daft but do I travel over the border at savanaket and apply for my extension or what,as I am totally nieve to what I have to do,really need your advise so I do not make an arse of myself thank you very much for your replies.

Hi thanks for the advise,I may sound daft but do I travel over the border at savanaket and apply for my extension or what,as I am totally nieve to what I have to do,really need your advise so I do not make an arse of myself thank you very much for your replies.

You go to the Thai consulate in Savannakhet to apply for a multiple entry non-o visa that will give unlimited 90 day entries for a year. You will have to leave the country every 90 days for a new entry.

I assume you are on a one year extension of stay you applied for at immigration in July of last year it is not a visa. You could apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife before it expires to give you a bit more time.

Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

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Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Savannakhet .................http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savannakhet

If you have 400,000 Bht in a thai bank account you can apply for an extension of stay. I am unsure what is meant by "proof"

It is across the Mekong river from Mukdahan in the North East part of the country.

It seem you already have a multiple entry non-o visa. You could of applied for the one year extension during the last 30 days of any of the 90 day entries it gives you.

Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Hi Kev,

A 1 year extension has to be applied from your local immigration office.

Sounds like the 400k is an issue. But because you have kids there may be a way around the 2 month rule if thats the problem.

If someone applies for an extension as a parent the 2 month rule doesn't apply. Which means as long as you have 400k in your account on the day you apply you satisfy the rule. I have been told here on TV that there is an unwritten rule that says married parents still have to show the money in an account for 2 months. This is not my experience, and goes against advice I was given at two different immigration offices. For my last two extensions I've topped up my account to 400k on the day I applied and the applications sailed through. So I know for a fact that it's possible.

However, different offices do sometimes apply the rules differently and it is possible that your office will insist on 2 months. If you have access to 400k then you should ask your local office, before you apply, if they will waive the 2 month rule based on you being a parent. If they say no then you can go to plan B and get another 1 year multi entry 'O' visa from Savannakhet, Laos, which is really easy and requires no proof of income or the 400k.

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Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Hi Kev,

A 1 year extension has to be applied from your local immigration office.

Sounds like the 400k is an issue. But because you have kids there may be a way around the 2 month rule if thats the problem.

If someone applies for an extension as a parent the 2 month rule doesn't apply. Which means as long as you have 400k in your account on the day you apply you satisfy the rule. I have been told here on TV that there is an unwritten rule that says married parents still have to show the money in an account for 2 months. This is not my experience, and goes against advice I was given at two different immigration offices. For my last two extensions I've topped up my account to 400k on the day I applied and the applications sailed through. So I know for a fact that it's possible.

However, different offices do sometimes apply the rules differently and it is possible that your office will insist on 2 months. If you have access to 400k then you should ask your local office, before you apply, if they will waive the 2 month rule based on you being a parent. If they say no then you can go to plan B and get another 1 year multi entry 'O' visa from Savannakhet, Laos, which is really easy and requires no proof of income or the 400k.

We note that you seem to have forgotten to mention exactly where the financial requirements are waived !

Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Hi Kev,

A 1 year extension has to be applied from your local immigration office.

Sounds like the 400k is an issue. But because you have kids there may be a way around the 2 month rule if thats the problem.

If someone applies for an extension as a parent the 2 month rule doesn't apply. Which means as long as you have 400k in your account on the day you apply you satisfy the rule. I have been told here on TV that there is an unwritten rule that says married parents still have to show the money in an account for 2 months. This is not my experience, and goes against advice I was given at two different immigration offices. For my last two extensions I've topped up my account to 400k on the day I applied and the applications sailed through. So I know for a fact that it's possible.

However, different offices do sometimes apply the rules differently and it is possible that your office will insist on 2 months. If you have access to 400k then you should ask your local office, before you apply, if they will waive the 2 month rule based on you being a parent. If they say no then you can go to plan B and get another 1 year multi entry 'O' visa from Savannakhet, Laos, which is really easy and requires no proof of income or the 400k.

What Immigration office allowed this. Not in Bangkok for sure. Any exemption from this requirement would be a very rare case, if at all.

Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Hi Kev,

A 1 year extension has to be applied from your local immigration office.

Sounds like the 400k is an issue. But because you have kids there may be a way around the 2 month rule if thats the problem.

If someone applies for an extension as a parent the 2 month rule doesn't apply. Which means as long as you have 400k in your account on the day you apply you satisfy the rule. I have been told here on TV that there is an unwritten rule that says married parents still have to show the money in an account for 2 months. This is not my experience, and goes against advice I was given at two different immigration offices. For my last two extensions I've topped up my account to 400k on the day I applied and the applications sailed through. So I know for a fact that it's possible.

However, different offices do sometimes apply the rules differently and it is possible that your office will insist on 2 months. If you have access to 400k then you should ask your local office, before you apply, if they will waive the 2 month rule based on you being a parent. If they say no then you can go to plan B and get another 1 year multi entry 'O' visa from Savannakhet, Laos, which is really easy and requires no proof of income or the 400k.

What Immigration office allowed this. Not in Bangkok for sure. Any exemption from this requirement would be a very rare case, if at all.

The first time was at Chaengwattana, Bangkok. For sure.

Exemption from what requirement? There is no specific rule pertaining to married parents. Theres one for parents, and theres one for being married. Some claim that marriage takes precedence over being a parent, but there is no such rule; therefore, I assume the IO can apply their interpretation either way and treat you as a parent or as a husband.

In my experience immigration aren't looking to block applications and if there is any wiggle room within the rule book they will help out. If you don't ask you don't get!

Edited April 23, 201511 yr by elviajero

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Hi Ubonjoe thanks for the reply,i am here on my first 1 year type o married visa which expires in July 18 2015,so will then be applying for my first 1yr extension,would be able to show money in my Thai account but with no proof.Where is Savannakhet if you dont mind ? Thanks Kev

Hi Kev,

A 1 year extension has to be applied from your local immigration office.

Sounds like the 400k is an issue. But because you have kids there may be a way around the 2 month rule if thats the problem.

If someone applies for an extension as a parent the 2 month rule doesn't apply. Which means as long as you have 400k in your account on the day you apply you satisfy the rule. I have been told here on TV that there is an unwritten rule that says married parents still have to show the money in an account for 2 months. This is not my experience, and goes against advice I was given at two different immigration offices. For my last two extensions I've topped up my account to 400k on the day I applied and the applications sailed through. So I know for a fact that it's possible.

However, different offices do sometimes apply the rules differently and it is possible that your office will insist on 2 months. If you have access to 400k then you should ask your local office, before you apply, if they will waive the 2 month rule based on you being a parent. If they say no then you can go to plan B and get another 1 year multi entry 'O' visa from Savannakhet, Laos, which is really easy and requires no proof of income or the 400k.

What Immigration office allowed this. Not in Bangkok for sure. Any exemption from this requirement would be a very rare case, if at all.

The first time was at Chaengwattana, Bangkok. For sure.

Exemption from what requirement? There is no specific rule pertaining to married parents. Theres one for parents, and theres one for being married. Some claim that marriage takes precedence over being a parent, but there is no such rule; therefore, I assume the IO can apply their interpretation either way and treat you as a parent or as a husband.

In my experience immigration aren't looking to block applications and if there is any wiggle room within the rule book they will help out. If you don't ask you don't get!

Are you attempting to claim there is some kind of "special" provision for "married parents" ?

A separate visa or extension of stay perhaps. ?

Exact detail would be appreciated.

Edited April 23, 201511 yr by nzexpat

The rules says that the foreign male married to a Thai wife must show 400,000 baht, seasoned for 2 months. The same rule say that if you apply based on being the parent of a Thai national the 400,000 baht does not need to be seasoned.

Immigration as a rule refuses to give an extension based on being the parent of a Thai national if you are married to a Thai national. I have seen 1 post in all these years where a person was allowed the extension based on a child while being married to a Thai. But that can also been information from the immigration hotline posted.

Are you attempting to claim there is some kind of "special" provision for "married parents" ?

A separate visa or extension of stay perhaps. ?

Exact detail would be appreciated.

I'm not sure if I can be any clearer than my previous explanation.

A non-immigration visa can be extended 'in the case of being a parent' or 'in the case of marriage' and specific criteria for consideration exists for each reason. If you are married or a single parent you have no choice but to comply with the relevant criteria.

But there is a third applicant who can be both married and a parent. The criteria for consideration does not have specific rules for this applicant. So the IO has to treat the person as married or a parent. Nothing in the rules dictates which that must be. IMO this creates both the possibility of inconsistency and flexibility for the IO.

I was first advised of this situation in Sept 2013 at CW immigration. On instruction from the IO I transferred funds in to my account on the day I applied, updated my passbook and got a letter from my banks branch at the government complex building, and the application sailed through.

I moved in 2014 and before my renewal was due I went to my new local office to check the criteria for my upcoming marriage extension, told them I was married and a parent, and asked if I needed the money in an account for 2 months. They said no. No argument, no drama. So I topped up my account before applying, updated my passbook on the morning I applied, got a letter form my bank confirming the balance, and the application was processed without question and approved 30 days later. At no time have I asked for special dispensation or had to fight for it. It seemed, on both occasions, to be normal practice.

I don't know if the applications were processed as a husband or parent. My passport stamp grants an extension, but doesn't specify the reason. In CW the IO did use the term "family" but something might have been lost in translation.

I'm not attempting anything or claiming a "special provision for married parents". I'm passing on personal experience, which proves that there is a chance that the 2 month rule will be waived if the applicant is a married parent. It is very possible that the intention of 'in the case of parent' is meant to apply to single parents but it doesn't specify single, thereby, IMO creating this grey area.

Well thanks to all of you for the great info you have provided it is very much appreciated and a whole load off my mind, Thankyou