I need to change my non-o visa from a retirement visa to a marriage visa.  Can I do this in Yangon?

You can't change a visa anywhere.

 

You could get a new non 'O' visa from Yangon, if you meet their requirements, based on marriage.

 

Why do you want to change your visa?

is it not possible/easyer to get one year extention of stay based on mariage (in the nearest imm office)?

 

Welcome to the forums!

In order to advise you, we need to be rather pedantic, and determine exactly what you have right now.

• First question: do you have an unexpired visa in your passport? By "visa", we mean a full page sticker put in your passport at a Thai consulate outside Thailand. By unexpired, we mean that number of entries is "M" (multiple entry) and the enter before date is 23 March 2017 or later. If so, what is the "visa class"?
• When you last entered Thailand, what kind of visa was used for the entry? Was it a "tourist entry" (you entered using a tourist visa or visa exempt) or a non immigrant entry (you entered using a Non Immigrant O or O-A (long stay) visa)?
• Was your permission to stay from your most recent entry extended at an immigration office inside Thailand? If so, what was the basis for the extension, and what is the new "permitted to stay until" date?
• Do you have an unused re-entry permit associated with your current permission to stay? That is: if you were to leave Thailand right now, would you be able to re-enter with the permission to stay intact?
• What is your nationality? I already assume from your question that your are aged over 50, and officially married to a Thai. Correct?

I should have said that I've already got my papers prepared by thaivisaassist in chiangmai.  So I'm assuming that everything is in order. 

Basically, I just want to know if Yangon can give me a non O marriage visa. And if it's an easy place to get it.  It's by far the closest in respect to flight time.

I have a retirement visa. I've lived in Thailand for many years and have renewed or extended  (or whatever the technical term for this is) this visa many times.

Now I'm going to change it to a marriage visa.  I'm doing this so I can get a work permit to help my wife, to whom I am officially married in Thailand,  in her business.

I did get a 2 month extension of my non-O visa which now expires on April 7.

I'm an American.

 

26 minutes ago, portofinoinmyvino said:

I should have said that I've already got my papers prepared by thaivisaassist in chiangmai.  So I'm assuming that everything is in order. 

Basically, I just want to know if Yangon can give me a non O marriage visa. And if it's an easy place to get it.  It's by far the closest in respect to flight time.

I have a retirement visa. I've lived in Thailand for many years and have renewed or extended  (or whatever the technical term for this is) this visa many times.

Now I'm going to change it to a marriage visa.  I'm doing this so I can get a work permit to help my wife, to whom I am officially married in Thailand,  in her business.

I did get a 2 month extension of my non-O visa which now expires on April 7.

I'm an American.

 

OK ... it appears that you previously had an extension of stay on the basis of retirement arranged by an agent in Chiang Mai. You now have a 60-day extension to visit your wife.

If you can meet the financial proof, you should be able to get a 12-month extension to stay with your wife. I would expect your agent would already have suggested this, although Chiang Mai immigration are likely not keen because it is a fair bit of work for them. Make sure you show enough financial proof for the marriage extension, but not enough for retirement.

If you visit a consulate outside Thailand to get a single entry Non O visa to visit your wife, this will only solve the problem for 90 days (plus another 60 days with the simple 60-day extension). If you do not want to get the 12-month extension, your best bet is probably to go to Savannakhet Laos for a 12-month multiple entry Non O to visit your wife. You probably cannot get the multiple entry visa in Yangon.

25 minutes ago, BritTim said:

OK ... it appears that you previously had an extension of stay on the basis of retirement arranged by an agent in Chiang Mai. You now have a 60-day extension to visit your wife.

If you can meet the financial proof, you should be able to get a 12-month extension to stay with your wife. I would expect your agent would already have suggested this, although Chiang Mai immigration are likely not keen because it is a fair bit of work for them. Make sure you show enough financial proof for the marriage extension, but not enough for retirement.

If you visit a consulate outside Thailand to get a single entry Non O visa to visit your wife, this will only solve the problem for 90 days (plus another 60 days with the simple 60-day extension). If you do not want to get the 12-month extension, your best bet is probably to go to Savannakhet Laos for a 12-month multiple entry Non O to visit your wife. You probably cannot get the multiple entry visa in Yangon.

Our agent tried to get me the extension. Apparently, there are new people now at immigration and they nixed the local 12 month extension. I have to leave the country. The ultimate goal of all this is to get me a work permit.

1 hour ago, portofinoinmyvino said:

I should have said that I've already got my papers prepared by thaivisaassist in chiangmai.  So I'm assuming that everything is in order. 

Basically, I just want to know if Yangon can give me a non O marriage visa. And if it's an easy place to get it.  It's by far the closest in respect to flight time.

I have a retirement visa. I've lived in Thailand for many years and have renewed or extended  (or whatever the technical term for this is) this visa many times.

Now I'm going to change it to a marriage visa.  I'm doing this so I can get a work permit to help my wife, to whom I am officially married in Thailand,  in her business.

I did get a 2 month extension of my non-O visa which now expires on April 7.

I'm an American.

 

If you last entered using a non-immigrant visa you do not need to get a new visa from anywhere. Visas are only required to enter Thailand and you're already in the country. 

 

I assume you had a 1 year extension of stay based on retirement, which has expired, and that you subsequently extended by 60 days without leaving the country.

 

If so, anytime between now and April 7th you can apply for another 1 year extension of stay based on your marriage without leaving the country. You will need to show a certified income of 40K pm, or at least 400K in the bank for two months.

 

If your income or deposit in the bank is over 65K/800K the immigration office will always prefer to process the application based on retirement. To take that option away simply certify less income or reduce the bank deposit.

 

Even with an extension based on retirement some labour offices will still issue a work permit if you're married.

 

The only reason I can see that you need a new visa is if you are using the bank deposit method and haven't had 400K in the bank for the last two months. In which case a single entry non-immigrant visa should be available from all embassies/consulates in the countries neighbouring Thailand.

 

Edited March 23, 20179 yr by elviajero

2 minutes ago, portofinoinmyvino said:

Our agent tried to get me the extension. Apparently, there are new people now at immigration and they nixed the local 12 month extension. I have to leave the country. The ultimate goal of all this is to get me a work permit.

It seems you extension based upon retirement is still valid. You cannot change the reason for your extension until it expires. The only way to change in this case is to leave and re-enter the country with a new non-o visa.

You should be able to get a single entry non-o in Yangon.

Vientiane is another option from Chiang Mai. You can fly from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani and take a van from the airport there to the bridge in Nong Khai to cross over to Vientiane.

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It seems you extension based upon retirement is still valid. You cannot change the reason for your extension until it expires. The only way to change in this case is to leave and re-enter the country with a new non-o visa.

You should be able to get a single entry non-o in Yangon.

Vientiane is another option from Chiang Mai. You can fly from Chiang Mai to Udon Thani and take a van from the airport there to the bridge in Nong Khai to cross over to Vientiane.

The way I read his explanations is that his extensions based on retirement has expired, and he is now on a 60-day extension to visit his wife. On that basis, I cannot see how Chiang Mai can justify not granting him the marriage extension. What am I missing?

20 minutes ago, BritTim said:

The way I read his explanations is that his extensions based on retirement has expired, and he is now on a 60-day extension to visit his wife. On that basis, I cannot see how Chiang Mai can justify not granting him the marriage extension. What am I missing?

 I missed the 60 days. You are correct that they should allow him to change to an extension based upon marriage.

But since it is Chiang Mai immigration it is not hard to understand them not wanting to do it.

If he applied for a nonimmigrant visa at immigration to use for his first extension based upon retirement that is often a reason used not to allow the change to marriage.