is non O dased on marriage still valid if getting divorced?

[thaibeachlovers]

I have 10 months still to go on a multiple entry non O based on marriage. If I get divorced next month, is the visa still valid if I leave Thailand and try to re enter on that visa? I always get an extension based on retirement, but I suppose that would not be valid either if I am required to still be married, and in that case, what would happen if I got the extension before getting divorced?

 

Please, no sniping about being foolish to get married etc, and I'd appreciate it if facts given, not opinions. This is important to me.

 

I tried to do a search, but it's not working for me.

[elviajero]

• Yes you can still use the visa after getting divorced. You can enter as often as you want until on or before the 'enter before' date printed on the visa.
• You can apply for an extension of stay based on retirement within the last 30 (maybe 45) days of any 90 day entry. It can be done before you divorce.

[thaibeachlovers]

Thank you for your reply. I'd like to use the original as it cost a lot and would be a shame to waste that, plus I'd like to only do the extension once. I'll have to go home at some stage as hitting the insurance problem in two years, so one extension would be good.

 

There is nothing on the visa itself to say based on marriage, but that must be in the computer, which is why I am concerned.

[Eclipse]

Your Visa is valid until it expires.

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thank you for your reply. I'd like to use the original as it cost a lot and would be a shame to waste that, plus I'd like to only do the extension once. I'll have to go home at some stage as hitting the insurance problem in two years, so one extension would be good.

 

There is nothing on the visa itself to say based on marriage, but that must be in the computer, which is why I am concerned.

Immigration have no way of knowing the reason the visa was issued. Once you are divorced, if you're asked for the reason for your visit, you can rightfully say retirement (assuming you are over 50).

[thaibeachlovers]

Thanks for replies and no sarky comments about being foolish to marry a Thai ( though I suspect some of those may be coming, as is usual on TV ).

[LPCustom69]

I had always heard that divorce ended the extension, and you got 7 days to leave or change it.

 

Glad to know that I was wrong!

 

Sorry, man.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, LPCustom69 said:

I had always heard that divorce ended the extension, and you got 7 days to leave or change it.

 

Glad to know that I was wrong!

 

Sorry, man.

He has a visa issued by an embassy or consulate not an extension of stay based upon marriage. A visa does not end with divorce but an extension of stay does end.

There is no 7 days to leave. You need to leave or change the reason for the extension on the date of divorce.

Since a divorce is not something that happens overnight I would think most people would make arrangements before the date it is finalized. One suggestion I have made before is to go out for a multiple entry non-o visa prior to getting divorced since it will not end.

[LPCustom69]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

He has a visa issued by an embassy or consulate not an extension of stay based upon marriage. A visa does not end with divorce but an extension of stay does end.

There is no 7 days to leave. You need to leave or change the reason for the extension on the date of divorce.

Since a divorce is not something that happens overnight I would think most people would make arrangements before the date it is finalized. One suggestion I have made before is to go out for a multiple entry non-o visa prior to getting divorced since it will not end.

Thanks for the clarification.

[StraightTalk]

10 hours ago, elviajero said:

Immigration have no way of knowing the reason the visa was issued. Once you are divorced, if you're asked for the reason for your visit, you can rightfully say retirement (assuming you are over 50).

I obtained my Non-Immigrant Visa, Category 'O' very recently in Vientiane, Laos; It indicates: ใช้ชีวิตบั้นปลาย which according to my Thai partner translates "Retirement" but Google translates the characters to "Statewide"...

[IMA_FARANG]

Thanks joe for pointing out the difference between a non O VISA which is isuued outside of Thailand and may be a multi entry 1 year VISA with an experation date stamped on it when it is issued, and an extension of such a visa that is obtained at an immigratio office in Thailand.

The important thing is that the VISA is not ended by a divorce, but an extension obtained in  Thailand is based on marriage to a Thai and therefore can be ended when either partner gets a legal divorce in Thailand.

And yes, there is usually a legal court procesure and some time before the divorce is legally finalized when it bcomes legal.

That is why, if a U.S. citizen is once married to a Thai and later legally divorced the U.S. embessy asks for a declaration of prof  to remarry, to be sure a divorce is legal before they allow another marriage to be accepted as the U.S nationals legal dependent.

But I am getting away from the original topic, so I' will just dop it here.

 

[Autonuaq]

as you say by yourself non-o based on marriage

all visa's are linked to a status.

work, take care of Thai national,

Study and so on.

 

you are getting a divorce. The moment you have your divorce your visa is not valid.

Arrange another visa to prevent overstay inform if you can apply for the 7-day extension visa to prevent problems and then come back with the correct visa.

 

your immigration offices at the immigration office can help you out and prevent you have problems.

 

.

[Suradit69]

Quote

 I always get an extension based on retirement, but I suppose that would not be valid either if I am required to still be married,

 

If you are talking about an extension of stay based on retirement, it's validity is not dependent on you being married.

 

Since you would still be in Thailand on a valid non-imm O entry (the reason you gave when applying for it at an embassy is irrelevant), during the last 30 days of any entry you could apply for an extension of stay based on retirement, either before or after the divorce, without a problem.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Autonuaq said:

as you say by yourself non-o based on marriage

all visa's are linked to a status.

work, take care of Thai national,

Study and so on.

 

you are getting a divorce. The moment you have your divorce your visa is not valid.

Arrange another visa to prevent overstay inform if you can apply for the 7-day extension visa to prevent problems and then come back with the correct visa.

 

your immigration offices at the immigration office can help you out and prevent you have problems.

You are confusing extensions and visas. Go back and read the earlier posts to understand the difference between the two.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, LPCustom69 said:

I had always heard that divorce ended the extension, and you got 7 days to leave or change it.

 

Glad to know that I was wrong!

 

Sorry, man.

An extension based on retirement would not end as long as the VISA remained valid, hence my asking if the VISA would remain valid. You are referring to an extension based on marriage.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

He has a visa issued by an embassy or consulate not an extension of stay based upon marriage. A visa does not end with divorce but an extension of stay does end.

There is no 7 days to leave. You need to leave or change the reason for the extension on the date of divorce.

Since a divorce is not something that happens overnight I would think most people would make arrangements before the date it is finalized. One suggestion I have made before is to go out for a multiple entry non-o visa prior to getting divorced since it will not end.

Thank you for replying. I am asking because when I got the visa in NZ at the Auckland consulate it had to be for reason of marriage as they are not permitted to give visas based on retirement. For that I would have had to go to the embassy in Wellington, far, far away.

Can you please confirm that my VISA will still be valid if I get a divorce. I don't want to be leaving the country to get another visa, when the one I have is valid for another 10 months.

I understand that you and others say it will be valid, but I am still worried about the fact that it was obtained on the basis of marriage, and that might be on the computer. I hope I'm worrying about nothing, but obviously a lot is riding on this. My marriage may be over, but I have no wish to leave Thailand till I have to.

 

We are not in a hostile situation and will just go to the office and sign the divorce papers. There will be no lawyers and no court case.

 

Thanks to all that replied.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thank you for replying. I am asking because when I got the visa in NZ at the Auckland consulate it had to be for reason of marriage as they are not permitted to give visas based on retirement. For that I would have had to go to the embassy in Wellington, far, far away.

Can you please confirm that my VISA will still be valid if I get a divorce. I don't want to be leaving the country to get another visa, when the one I have is valid for another 10 months.

I understand that you and others say it will be valid, but I am still worried about the fact that it was obtained on the basis of marriage, and that might be on the computer. I hope I'm worrying about nothing, but obviously a lot is riding on this. My marriage may be over, but I have no wish to leave Thailand till I have to.

 

We are not in a hostile situation and will just go to the office and sign the divorce papers. There will be no lawyers and no court case.

 

Thanks to all that replied.

You visa will remain valid. For a visa issued by an embassy or consulate to be canceled would require a very high level officer to do it. They are not easily canceled.

The only way immigration would know you got divorced would be if you told them. The Amphoe certainly would not and their is no computer link between them and immigration.

[thaibeachlovers]

Thank you for your reply. Your help is certainly appreciated by all that use this forum.

 

However, I'm surprised that the amphoe is not on a national computer base.

 

Anyway, I've decided that it's pointless stressing about it anymore.

IF I had a problem at the border in the future, I would still be able to enter on a 15 day visa exempt stamp, then I could go to Penang and get a new non O based on retirement, or a tourist visa which I could change in Bkk to a non O. Correct?

 

If I have learned nothing else in life, it's that s**t happens despite everything you do to avoid it, and worrying too much just gives one high blood pressure.

[thaibeachlovers]

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You visa will remain valid. For a visa issued by an embassy or consulate to be canceled would require a very high level officer to do it. They are not easily canceled.

The only way immigration would know you got divorced would be if you told them. The Amphoe certainly would not and their is no computer link between them and immigration.

Not wishing to nit pick, but surely the imm would know that you were divorced because the details given on the new snooper form would indicate that, or do they just throw them in the bin?

[ubonjoe]

24 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not wishing to nit pick, but surely the imm would know that you were divorced because the details given on the new snooper form would indicate that, or do they just throw them in the bin?

I don't recall the personal information form asking about your marital status. As far as I know they are just filing the forms and are dining no date entry from them.

Since you likely won't be doing anything at an immigration office you probably will never be asked to complete one.

[Suradit69]

Once again a good deal of the confusion generated in this thread is caused by those  unable to distinguish between a visa and an extension of stay.

 

An extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai would cease to be valid if the marriage ended since the marriage was the basis for the extension being granted.

 

A non-imm O visa issued by a consulate or embassy for whatever reason would remain valid until its expiration. Immigrations do not issue non-imm O visas. And except in extraordinary situations they do not cancel a valid unexpired visa. They sometimes change your entry to a non-imm O entry to facilitate an application for an extension, but they do not give you a non-imm O visa that can be used to enter Thailand.

 

They grant permission to stay when you enter the country and they may grant an extension of that permission to stay. They do not renew or extend non-imm O visas. If you are here on a long term extension of stay, that is the basis for your legal presence in the country, not the visa you used sometime in the past to enter the country.

[elviajero]

6 hours ago, SouthernDelight said:

I obtained my Non-Immigrant Visa, Category 'O' very recently in Vientiane, Laos; It indicates: ใช้ชีวิตบั้นปลาย which according to my Thai partner translates "Retirement" but Google translates the characters to "Statewide"...

Some Embassies/Consulates do notate the reason the visa was issued. Although that is a rare occurrence I should have been more specific in my comment. As long as the consular service don't write the reason on the visa, which most don't, immigration have no way of knowing the reason the visa was issued.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 23 สิงหาคม 2559 at 4:32 PM, elviajero said:

Some Embassies/Consulates do notate the reason the visa was issued. Although that is a rare occurrence I should have been more specific in my comment. As long as the consular service don't write the reason on the visa, which most don't, immigration have no way of knowing the reason the visa was issued.

I do not see that on my visa, so fingers crossed then.

 

Thanks everybody.

[mesterm]

Sorry to hear about the divorce.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 26 สิงหาคม 2559 at 0:00 AM, mesterm said:

Sorry to hear about the divorce.

Thank you for your sympathy. Like most, I'm sure, I never thought it would happen to me, but people change, especially when the family are poisoning the well. I guess in the end the family pressure was too great and she just gave up. We were happiest when we lived far, far away from them.

 

So far she isn't demanding any money, so I don't think she was in it just for a farang atm, but who knows what the family will be doing behind my back now, so I am using the forum to prepare, as much as I can.

[mesterm]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

We were happiest when we lived far, far away from them.

 

Good advice for many here.

[4evermaat]

.... , but I have no wish to leave Thailand till I have to.

We are not in a hostile situation and will just go to the office and sign the divorce papers. There will be no lawyers and no court case.

Thanks to all that replied.

I have heard that UNcontested divorce is quite easy to execute in Thailand. Right at the amphur or something like that.

With all these recent reports about extensions becoming a little (or a lot) more difficult to process at certain immigration office, kind of glad to have a Non-O multiple Visa instead of extension.

Yes, you have to hop border every 90 days, but that's it. For the younger crowd, its a minor sacrifice and allows me to visit my thai son and pursue other thai interests