Questions about the extension of stay based on marriage

[c1samd]

Hi,

 

Have a few questions about the extension of stay based on marriage.  I will give you my background first though.

 

I am a UK citizen.  I am currently using an non o based on marriage multi entry visa and entering and exiting every 90 days.  My last exit was 13/05/2017 so I have my current stamp running until 10/08/2017.  My actual visa though expires on 15/06/2017.

 

I have decided that I would prefer not to leave every 90 days so am transferring this week the 400,000thb so as I can apply for the 1 year extension.  I understand this money needs to be in my thai bank account for 2 months so doing the maths that will be around the 22nd July.

 

I will be using the Immigration office in Petchabun

 

So questions based on this are, how long before my stamp expires do I need to make my application for the 1 year extension?

 

If I do not have enough time before my current stamp expires can I get the 60 day extension based on marriage to buy some time and then apply for the 1 year or can you not get 1 year extension on the back of a 60 day one? ( i have not so far extended any of my 90 stamps on this current non o).

 

Or do I need to exit again before my visa expires next month to grab a further 90 days giving me until mid September to complete the 1 year extension?

 

 

Advice will be greatly appreciated

 

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

You can apply for the extension on the last day of your current 90 day entry if you wanted to.

It appears you will have plenty of time to apply for the extension after the 400k baht has been in the bank for 2 months.

[c1samd]

Thank you Joe, that is good news.

[The Deerhunter]

FYI, a lot of us would prefer to be on marriage visas for very good financial reasons.  However many of us have been forced to continue doing Retired criteria long stay extensions.  The paperwork and hoops they want you to jump through for a marriage long stay extension seem to be greatly more difficult in some regions of Thailand, as if  to discourage foreigners and in some areas they do actively discourage this married extension option.  In our region they require both witnesses to come and be present with you on the day you lodge your application, (so they do not have to go out to your home and meet them). So you might have these two people sitting with you for hours waiting for your turn or waiting for them to be interviewed if they have time to process your application but are too busy to interview your witnesses at the same time.  We were told this. The criteria of the witnesses seem to vary from region to region and for example sometimes they specify that they must be not related in any immediate way to your wife or you and yet must have known you for over a year or two.  This may make it difficult to find witnesses that qualify.  

 

The financial reason to prefer Marriage extensions I am sure you know well. The marriage income is 40,000 a month but retired is 65,000 a month.  Or for deposit, not income, the money to be held in the Thai bank is also hugely different; 400,000 next to 800,000 baht.  So, the reasons for me and you to extend on marriage are very attractive.  But, I have heard that different regions seem to police how the money is handled from one year to the next to stop you borrowing it for the 3 months, and in others they do not care, etc etc.  I am not trying to discourage you and one of my friends recently got through in a different province from me for a marriage extension, with some problems, but not too many problems.  

 

Further examples:  A statutory declaration from your embassy about monthly income alone seems enough for retired if you do not have the 400k in a Thai bank but if you want a marriage extension of stay, some Immigration offices now are asking for that statutory declaration to be counter approved by Thai Foreign Affairs in Chiang Wattana, Bangkok, and apparently this can involve them wanting to see bank statements from home for a year or more.  Your office will ask for photos of you and your wife.  Some offices demand you be in different clothes in different rooms of your Thai house (so they do not look like they all were taken on the same day.) There are requirements of a hand drawn map from their office to your door, not required for retirement extension.  There are requirements about photos outside the house and with you by a letter box with a street number or Moo number on it.   The photos are asked for with no specifics stated but it seems they do want colour and also of a specific size.   Don't get it wrong or it means you are refused and if you do not have time or a plan B, you are in trouble.  My office told me last year (the first time I failed with a marriage extension) to come a month before I wanted it this year and get the current list of required documents.  I did exactly this and the list was badly photocopied in small type and in Thai; which means that a wife who may not speak English that well, is responsible with translating very detailed instructions for you, from the Thai and if you get one thing wrong the application might be refused.  I went through it all in detail this year and concluded that it seemed likely to be way too difficult for us.  When I told them we would have to do retired again, they were delighted. Immigration staff have even stated  to some people that Marriage visas "were OK for people who do not mind paying much more tax than retired extension people."    Having the marriage registered in your local Amphur, getting your own house book, and getting declarations and forms from your local Amphur for numerous details as we were going to have to do may have something to do with the tax angle, but how would one know?   But, none of this is necessary for a retirement extension.  

 

My advice is that you do not approach it lightly.  Take considerable care to confirm exactly what your local Immigration office wants or at the last minute you could conceivably be refused and be greatly inconvenienced.  Simply for me/us, it became much too hard for us two years straight now and I have had to stay on Retired.   I would much rather be on a marriage extension and we will look at it again in future years and see if it has changed an any way.   I only know what I have experienced and I also realize not all regions use the same rules.