O-visa extension for graduate student / researcher with monthly stipend.

[Leelas]

Hi all,

I'm currently on a non-imm O visa, and living with my wife in Bangkok. I'm here to be with family and to do fieldwork for my PhD, as I'm studying Thai history. I make about 2000 dollars a month from the university where I study / research in the United States. It's not officially a "salary" except in the odd months that I work as a TA, and I get a lump sum of 5000 dollars (sometimes more) without a monthly stipend during the summer months. I do not have a Thai bank account, as my wife and I prefer to keep our money in the United States.

My question is as follows, and has as much to do with the US embassy as with Thai immigration:

A. Will the US embassy accept the 2000 dollars a month figure (~70,000 THB), should I average out the amount I get annually, or should I just forget about it entirely?

and,

B. Will Thai immigration accept the US embassy letter? I noticed in an old topic that some US citizens have had trouble with this in the past.

[ubonjoe]

On what basis would you be applying for the extension. Is your wife Thai?

A. The embassy asks for nothing when you do an income affidavit,

B. immigration will accept an income affidavit. Some offices may ask for backup proof of your income,