Marriage Visa new rules- Have to take wife too?

[MiKT]

I always have my wife with me when applying for a new O visa abroad, although before when I worked for a large company everything was handled by an agent and neither my wife nor myself ever had to attend to get work permits and B visa's over the years.

When I left we had the immigration from One-Stop come round to our apartment and take pictures of the kids with us in the home and also visited the kid schools, but no problem to get the o visa.

Relatively recently I obtained a new B and work permit at One-Stop on my own with the agent, but now back on an O (from Penang) after working abroad I was quite surprised when I went to ask for a 60 day extension in Pattaya (never done that before) and was sent home like a naughty boy to get my wife.

When I queried this, the very ugly man(ish) thing at the door in Pattaya got so angry he threatened to have my visa canceled and "I would never be allowed to live in Thailand any more". My wife was so pissed we went to Chang Wattana and made a complaint. No problem with the extension and very pleasant helpful staff who were genuinely shocked to hear about Pattaya.

I think he was just looking to make some money.

[elviajero]

Going to immigration for the annual extension of stay has always required the wife to accompany her husband , at least in the last 9 years .

in chiang mai you always had to bring your wife, i guess it was always the law just not being enforeced at other locations. 5 marrige visa renewnals.photo with family and wife present at all ,otherwise go home no visa

That's always been like that for many years. She always has to go...

The OP is asking about applying for a Non 'O' visa in Savannakhet not applying for an extension of stay from immigration.

A wife does not need to be present to apply for a Non 'O' visa. They only need to be present for extensions of stay.

[biplanebluey]

damn, will have to think the next visit through then, have a wife and stepson with no passport, and a 1 year old infant who need looking after.

What on earth has the wife's and stepson's lack of passport got to do with it ------- Me and my wife have been going together for the last 9 yrs.She has got to know the immigration officers in Udon Thani and talks freely with them and it is fun with her

and me.Maybe Udon Thani is different to some offices but I tend to think the problems that Farang get into

are brought on by the farang himself. For heavens sake matey,take her along and let her introduce herself to the Officers.

That is of course if you are not trying to hide anything.If that is the case------ best of luck------Dougal the happy Kiwi

Edited December 3, 2015 by biplanebluey

[maanoi]

Impressive level of reading comprehension in this thread.

Or perhaps people genuinely don't know the difference between applying for a new visa and applying for an extension.

Edited December 3, 2015 by maanoi

[Red Parrot Fish]

Impressive level of reading comprehension in this thread.

Or perhaps people genuinely don't know the difference between applying for a new visa and applying for an extension.

Correct. They don't

[BestBitterPhuket]

Well my friend was in Singapore yesterday applying for a marriage visa, without his wife. There was no objections from the embassy staff.

[kiddeemak]

damn, will have to think the next visit through then, have a wife and stepson with no passport, and a 1 year old infant who need looking after.

What on earth has the wife's and stepson's lack of passport got to do with it ------- Me and my wife have been going together for the last 9 yrs.She has got to know the immigration officers in Udon Thani and talks freely with them and it is fun with her

and me.Maybe Udon Thani is different to some offices but I tend to think the problems that Farang get into

are brought on by the farang himself. For heavens sake matey,take her along and let her introduce herself to the Officers.

That is of course if you are not trying to hide anything.If that is the case------ best of luck------Dougal the happy Kiwi

You generally need a passport to leave one country and enter another, unless you and your wife just wade through the Mekong in the middle of the night?

To the people who DID actually read my post correctly (thankyou for the replies), I believe you have to show 800k in a Thai bank for the extensions? I'm loathe to leaving that much just sat in a Thai bank account for the purposes of saving a few hundred quid on the 3 flights a year I need to take doing border runs... 800k can be put to much better use imo...

Edited December 3, 2015 by kiddeemak

[expatbrit]

damn, will have to think the next visit through then, have a wife and stepson with no passport, and a 1 year old infant who need looking after.

What on earth has the wife's and stepson's lack of passport got to do with it ------- Me and my wife have been going together for the last 9 yrs.She has got to know the immigration officers in Udon Thani and talks freely with them and it is fun with her

and me.Maybe Udon Thani is different to some offices but I tend to think the problems that Farang get into

are brought on by the farang himself. For heavens sake matey,take her along and let her introduce herself to the Officers.

That is of course if you are not trying to hide anything.If that is the case------ best of luck------Dougal the happy Kiwi

You generally need a passport to leave one country and enter another, unless you and your wife just wade through the Mekong in the middle of the night?

To the people who DID actually read my post correctly (thankyou for the replies), I believe you have to show 800k in a Thai bank for the extensions? I'm loathe to leaving that much just sat in a Thai bank account for the purposes of saving a few hundred quid on the 3 flights a year I need to take doing border runs... 800k can be put to much better use imo...

You have been badly misinformed !

Only 400,000 Bht OR a demonstrable income of 40,000 Bht/month is required for an extension of stay based on marriage.

[kiddeemak]

ah sorry yeah, thats what I meant to say, 400k. So I would need to show that, ok thankyou

[mgjackson69]

so err.... do I have to take wife to Savannakhet next time?

Thanks

No

There is no requirement that your wife be with you.

Probably an agent giving info for doing an extension at immigration not a visa from the consulate.

But UJ,

wasn't that already always the case, that your wife had to be present when doing an extension of stay (based on marriage) at immigration ? Or was it just that if you let an agent handle it, the wife didn't have to present and they stopped that now ?

Extension in LOS YES, Sav NO....

To clarify, you cannot do an Extension of Stay in Savannakhet

[mgjackson69]

in chiang mai you always had to bring your wife, i guess it was always the law just not being enforeced at other locations. 5 marrige visa renewnals.photo with family and wife present at all ,otherwise go home no visa

Yet another example of why things need to be named properly.

In Chiang Mai you are not renewing a visa, you are getting an Extension of Stay based on marriage.

[Coyoti]

Besides some confusion about new visa vs. extension which Ubonjoe cleared up, a few posters here seem to confuse Non-Imm. O (Marriage) visa with Non-Imm. O-A (Retirement) visa. My Thai wife and I spend about half our time in Thailand and the rest in my home country. I always get a Marriage visa. My wife doesn't have to be present, but the Consulate does want proof of marriage. When here we frequently visit family in Cambodia, so leaving every 90 days is not a hassle (but it is an expense). I qualify for a retirement visa but haven't gotten one because of needing to secure a re-entry permit every time I leave. For me that means a 25km (one way) trip, the time and some hassle. Am I wrong in believing you can't get the re-entry permit at the border, which usually is Hat Lek for me?

[Liquorice]

Besides some confusion about new visa vs. extension which Ubonjoe cleared up, a few posters here seem to confuse Non-Imm. O (Marriage) visa with Non-Imm. O-A (Retirement) visa. My Thai wife and I spend about half our time in Thailand and the rest in my home country. I always get a Marriage visa. My wife doesn't have to be present, but the Consulate does want proof of marriage. When here we frequently visit family in Cambodia, so leaving every 90 days is not a hassle (but it is an expense). I qualify for a retirement visa but haven't gotten one because of needing to secure a re-entry permit every time I leave. For me that means a 25km (one way) trip, the time and some hassle. Am I wrong in believing you can't get the re-entry permit at the border, which usually is Hat Lek for me?

And you still appear to be confused. Marriage Visa? Retirement Visa?

[MJCM]

<snip>

To clarify, you cannot do an Extension of Stay in Savannakhet

You should also have said (to clarify even more) that you only can do an Extension of Stay at an Immigration in Thailand.

Edited December 4, 2015 by MJCM

[Coyoti]

Besides some confusion about new visa vs. extension which Ubonjoe cleared up, a few posters here seem to confuse Non-Imm. O (Marriage) visa with Non-Imm. O-A (Retirement) visa. My Thai wife and I spend about half our time in Thailand and the rest in my home country. I always get a Marriage visa. My wife doesn't have to be present, but the Consulate does want proof of marriage. When here we frequently visit family in Cambodia, so leaving every 90 days is not a hassle (but it is an expense). I qualify for a retirement visa but haven't gotten one because of needing to secure a re-entry permit every time I leave. For me that means a 25km (one way) trip, the time and some hassle. Am I wrong in believing you can't get the re-entry permit at the border, which usually is Hat Lek for me?

And you still appear to be confused. Marriage Visa? Retirement Visa?

No confusion, although there may be a semantic difference. The Royal Thai Embassy refers to the Non-Imm. O-A as "Long Stay". I called it "Retirement", which I would guess most people think of it as. The Non-Imm. O is a referred to as "Thai Family". Marriage is likely the most often reason for having a Thai family.

Check it out at http://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-visa-category-o/

[ubonjoe]

Besides some confusion about new visa vs. extension which Ubonjoe cleared up, a few posters here seem to confuse Non-Imm. O (Marriage) visa with Non-Imm. O-A (Retirement) visa. My Thai wife and I spend about half our time in Thailand and the rest in my home country. I always get a Marriage visa. My wife doesn't have to be present, but the Consulate does want proof of marriage. When here we frequently visit family in Cambodia, so leaving every 90 days is not a hassle (but it is an expense). I qualify for a retirement visa but haven't gotten one because of needing to secure a re-entry permit every time I leave. For me that means a 25km (one way) trip, the time and some hassle. Am I wrong in believing you can't get the re-entry permit at the border, which usually is Hat Lek for me?

There is no need to get a re-entry permit every time you leave the country if you get a multiple re-entry permit for a fee of 3800 baht.

You could get an extension of stay based upon marriage or retirement.

If you got an OA visa at an embassy or consulate you would not need a re-entry permit until the 2nd year you can get out of it.