Retirement extension and dependent over 50.

[stuurman]

Last year I got my first extension of stay based on retirement in Chiang Mai. My wife, who was at that point 49, got an extension of stay as my dependent.

In the mean time she has turned 50. When we renew our extensions in a few months will she be able to get another extension as my dependent or would she need to apply for her own extension based on retirement?

We would rather have her piggyback on my extension because the later would mean we have to meet 2 times the financial qualification, one for her and one for me.

Edited April 9, 2016 by stuurman

[KhunBENQ]

There is no obligation/rule to do her own extension depending on age.

She could but she is not forced to.

She can do extension as dependent as last year.

Remains valid as long as you are legally married.

Edited April 9, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[stuurman]

There is no obligation/rule to do her own extension depending on age.

She could but she is not forced to.

She can do extension as dependent as last year.

Remains valid as long as you are legally married.

Thanks for the reply and confirming what I already thought.

Somebody in one of the Chiang Mai facebook groups claimed otherwise hence my question here.

Edited April 9, 2016 by stuurman

[Eclipse]

Just to confirm that she can carry on as before.

[elviajero]

She can continue to get an extension of stay as your wife.

[tomdfc]

We are ahead of you in terms of having been here for some time but have now found ourselves looking even further ahead.

I am on a "retirement visa" and my Brit wife has a "dependent visa". Besides the financial advantage of sharing only the one prerequisite 800k there are possibly other factors such as respective ages and health. In short, from an actuarial perspective it might have been better for my wife to have been the retiree with myself the dependent. Of course, it's still a guessing game and who knows what's coming down the line ...

But in case of interest, there were some interesting thoughts on this question -

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/882402-future-retired-dependent-visa-issues-for-married-foreign-couples/

[NancyL]

I'm surprised I didn't catch the thread mentioned above to weigh in. Having assisted several widows in Chiang Mai, I'd recommend that if it's absolutely necessary for someone in a couple to have a dependent visa status, that the older, less healthy person be the one carried as the dependent. People falsely assume that the surviving spouse will have immediate access to the 800,000 baht bank account and that simply isn't true. Even with a Thai Final Will and the best relationship with the local bank manager, the request the release the account still has to go thru the bank's home office in Bangkok and that approval takes about a month. Local bank managers aren't authorized to transfer that much money instantly.