Penang : Non-O ME / Child - Not Married : failure

[christophe75]

Me : 47 years old, french, a thai child born in 2016, 10 visa exemptions (30 days) trips since end 2015 to see the mother and my son.

 

Other info : since 2010... I had a total of 35 visa exemptions trips. But those trips where most of the time short (1 or 2 weeks, a few times a full month).

 

Last few trips, arriving at Suva, immigration officers started to ask me questions : "what do you do ? How long will you stay" and then in march : "show me you return ticket" (first time).

 

I was in premium lane.

 

Anyway. I thought : I can't continue like that, time to find a plan... B ! Or O. ;-)

 

I don't want to get married, and at 50 years old, I will apply for retirement visa.

 

So I was very happy when I read on TV that it was possible to ask a O visa 1 year multiple entries at Penang consulate as father of a thai child.

 

I went there... . With all the papers (house book, mother's ID, birth certificate, bank book [with more than 400 000 THB] etc.)

 

Failure : the guy told me : "3 month single entry... you can try to extend it 1 year in Thailand... 300 RMB...."

 

I tried to argue (very gently: "oh i thought it was possible 1 year... do you want to see the original of birth certificate ? etc...".  Didn't work.

 

Anyway. At this point, i'm looking for advice. What would be the best strategy now for me ?

 

-try to extend the visa in Thailand.. but being not married, it's virtually impossible isn't it?

 

-go back to Penang to reapply for a O, this time 1 year ? And if yes, when ?

 

-return to 30 days visa exemptions regime, praying each time I will arrive at Suva (and securing 20 000 THB in cash, and copy of return ticket) ?

 

-apply for O visa 1 year in a another consulate ?

 

-or... try the METV solution (6 months, tourist) ? If yes, from where ? Paris ? Another embassies / consulate ?

 

Thanks for your help

Edited March 28, 2017 by christophe75

[ubonjoe]

There have been reports of Penang only issuing a single entry non-o visa for the first application. When you apply next time they should do the multiple entry visa.

You can extend the 90 day entry from the visa for 60 days to visit your child.

If you need to travel during the 90 days or the 60 day extension you could get a re-entry permit.

You would have to apply for a METV at the embassy in Paris.

[Mark123456]

No, it's not virtually impossible to extend a non-imm 'o' visa in Thailand on the basis of having a Thai child.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Mark123456

[BritTim]

As @ubonjoe says, odd as it may seem, Penang wants to issue a single entry Non O initially, but they will issue a multiple entry Non O subsequently. I assume their twisted logic is that the repeat trips out of Thailand while on the Non O proves a multiple entry visa is more appropriate than an extension of stay. Who knows?

[Anthony Loh]

The OP may can only get the extension of non O visa in the local immigration office if he can proof that he is the only person taking care of his Thai born child and his child must not reach the age of 20 at this moment. 

[ubonjoe]

33 minutes ago, Anthony Loh said:

The OP may can only get the extension of non O visa in the local immigration office if he can proof that he is the only person taking care of his Thai born child and his child must not reach the age of 20 at this moment. 

Not to get the 60 day extension.

To get a one year extension he would need to be the legal father of his child by way of marriage. He would need custody of his child unless living with the mother of the child. There is no maximum age for the child when applying for an extension based upon being the parent of a Thai.

[christophe75]

On 28/03/2017 at 4:28 AM, ubonjoe said:

There have been reports of Penang only issuing a single entry non-o visa for the first application. When you apply next time they should do the multiple entry visa.

You can extend the 90 day entry from the visa for 60 days to visit your child.

If you need to travel during the 90 days or the 60 day extension you could get a re-entry permit.

You would have to apply for a METV at the embassy in Paris.

 

OK, so I guess my title is wrong. I should have said : "work in progress" instead of "failure".

;-)

 

So, I'm going to follow your advice : i will return to Penang, end of june, to apply for a new O visa, 1 year, multiple entries.

 

I might this time use an agent.

 

I will of course post an update on the forum.

 

Thanks.

[christophe75]

and... success. 

 

This is a follow up to my message posted in march.

I went back  to Penang.

 

I followed the advice of a few members and this time I asked Jim to take care.

 

Everything went smoothly. And I got the 1 year O visa.

Thanks for your help.
 

[Briggsy]

A man of his word.

 

3 months ago, an update was promised.

 

3 months later, an update came.

[IMA_FARANG]

Your name on a Birth certificate in Thailand  does NOT automatically make you the father of that child.

It is usually the MOTHER who enters the supposed father on the birt certificate in the hospital as the child is born.

There is no legal requirement that she has to state the correct father's name.

However, if you are legally married to the mother (with a valid Thai marriage license) then the mother's birth certificate is generally accepted.

under Thai law a legal Thai marriage license is accepted as a valid marriage  "De Jure" and "De Facto", or under law and in fact.

In Thailand the mother's birth certificate is not necessarily legal, but if there is a legal Thai marriage license, as I said before, that is often accepted as legal.

This is different from many European countries.

There are ways here in Thailand to PROVE you are the father, such  as DNA testing if you want to go that route.

But the best chance is  if you can show that you are or were legally married to the Thai mother at the time of the child's  birth.

[Maestro]

Thank you for the update,  Christophe.  It will reassure other members who are in the same situation.

[4evermaat]

12 hours ago, Maestro said:

Thank you for the update,  Christophe.  It will reassure other members who are in the same situation.

Can you or mod update the title of the thread?  "Penang : Non-O ME / Child - Not Married : failure" to...

 

"Penang : Non-O ME / Child - Not Married : updated" ... or

"Penang : Non-O ME / Child - Not Married : failure and success"

 

 

Maybe also an edit the first post with a link to the post that shows a subsequent success.