Marriage Visa

[glalt]

Would someone share their recent experience(s) in obtaining a Visa because of marriage to a Thai. I am currently on an O-A retirement visa and have been for the last 12 years. I am considering changes to a marriage Visa due to the recent clarification of the Immigration policies for both retirement and married Visas. I have always used the US Embassy Letter to certify verification of income. Now that is longer longer an option, I would rather put 400K or maintain 40K a month in a Thai bank than tie up 800K. I am a US citizen and was hoping not to file a FBAR but it looks as though which ever Visa I obtain, I will be required to do so.

I have been told by Udon Immigration that I have to go to the Bangkok Office to get a marriage Visa. I am hoping for some insight as to the process although, in many ways should be the same requirements for a Retirement Visa. Some tell me photos are required, a map to home etc. And because I have to use letter from bank and update bank book on the same day as my application, is there a Bangkok Bank near the immigration office in Bangkok. I had to go a building near by to get my documents for a marriage license but I do not recall see a Bangkok Bank in the area.

Thank you in advance

I think you'll find that most immigration offices don't like to do the marriage visas. It is a lot of extra work for them, so they tell you that you have to go to Bangkok. As I understand it, all marriage visas do have to be approved by Bangkok immigration regardless of the office you use. That doesn't mean that you have to go to Bangkok.

[Lone Star]

I think you'll find that most immigration offices don't like to do the marriage visas. It is a lot of extra work for them, so they tell you that you have to go to Bangkok. As I understand it, all marriage visas do have to be approved by Bangkok immigration regardless of the office you use. That doesn't mean that you have to go to Bangkok.

You might be right about LT's IO reasons in all this, glalt.

All of what you say has happened in my experience. Every year they would ask me to go regular retirement instead of marriage route because of all the paperwork. Finally did so after about 5 or so years. Glad I did. And yes, all that paperwork has been sent to BKK in the past for final approval, which is why I always had to come back a few weeks later for final stamps.

Maybe all of that is why LT's IO is sending him to BKK -- so they don't have to fool with any of it. You might be onto something.

[Hoopoe]

It would seem the political brigade are in ,
A visa extension ,is the common term used by most , when in actual fact it's an extension of permission to stay (365 days ,) ,but at the first one ,your are actually getting permission to stay (most 365 days ) on your expiring non O visa etc ,

Hoopoe wrote: ↑January 9, 2019, 4:35 pm
This is a translation simplified from theirs , it's one i wrote last year , hope it helps ,i will have to amend number 3 due to the changes in income letter ,

AFIK The certification of embassy letters has been dropped
Also it isn't a visa extension
It is an extension of stay.

why bother replying with the above AFIK , it states that number 3 will be amended ,TIT , the exact reason it has not yet been amended is due to the fact ,it changes like the wind here , so i'm waiting till the dust settles before re-writing to suit the evidence in the bank ,ie , 1 years proof on income ,monthly etc ,if that doesn't change again

ANd P/C again can't resist putting in , "Also it isn't a visa extension
It is an extension of stay."

And just for the he said they said ,the permission to stay based on marriage as far as Udonthani Immigration are concerned the paperwork is sent to Khon Kaen , i have asked twice and got the same answer (even that in it's self is unusual )Never has it been mentioned :it has to go to BKK , ,so for me it's anyone's guess , and does it really matter where it goes ,

[sometimewoodworker]

It would seem the political brigade are in ,
A visa extension ,is the common term used by most , when in actual fact it's an extension of permission to stay (365 days ,) ,but at the first one ,your are actually getting permission to stay (most 365 days ) on your expiring non O visa etc ,

Hoopoe wrote: ↑January 9, 2019, 4:35 pm
This is a translation simplified from theirs , it's one i wrote last year , hope it helps ,i will have to amend number 3 due to the changes in income letter ,

AFIK The certification of embassy letters has been dropped
Also it isn't a visa extension
It is an extension of stay.

why bother replying with the above AFIK , it states that number 3 will be amended ,

You are not staying on an expiring Non-O visa as for a single entry visa it is used/finished/dead the moment you are stamped into the country,

You are on a permission to stay (to be accurate and pedantic) that has been given due to entering with a Non-O visa, that permission to stay can be extended.

The reason for correction /question of the term visa is that it certainly is possible for someone to stay long term using a visa ( for example by going back to their home country every couple of years,) so and any answers are different for that than and an extension of stay. They are different beasts. The difference is important. It is not being pedantic or politically correct. It is being able to give accurate answers, without assuming that someone means extension of stay when they say Visa when they certainly could mean visa when they say visa

As to number 3 (certification requirements) that was a point that you may not have been aware of.

The simplified English Gide is a good idea but the title leads to misunderstanding. That immigration uses the mistaken term is understandable as they are not native English users, it doesn't excuse our usage.

As far as I know Thailand is unique in having such a pronounced disconnect between the Visa limits and permission to stay and the 2 have subtle, and not so subtle but important differences.
Most countries have the 2 linked so the distinction is not important and the terms are interchangeable with no problems or confusion, many people have experienced the visa/Stay system in other countries and mistakenly think Thailand is similar, some, only to discover too late that it isn't and being bitten by the difference.

[glalt]

Concerning the visa based on marriage, I first applied in Loei immigration. The officer there tried his best to discourage me from going that route. He told me that would require a lot of paperwork and that I would have to supply pictures of us together, our clothes closet and a map to our house. An immigration officer would then come to question the village chief and neighbors and also inspect our house to make sure that we did live together there. I would also have to make a number of trips to the immigration office which is a two hundred kilometer round trip. Even after all that, it isn't a sure thing that it would be approved because Bangkok immigration would have to give the final approval. I then decided that the visa based on retirement with the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.was indeed the easiest way to go. It's entirely possible that the officer tried to over complicate the process to discourage me.

[sometimewoodworker]

Concerning the visa based on marriage, I first applied in Loei immigration. The officer there tried his best to discourage me from going that route. He told me that would require a lot of paperwork and that I would have to supply pictures of us together, our clothes closet and a map to our house. An immigration officer would then come to question the village chief and neighbors and also inspect our house to make sure that we did live together there. I would also have to make a number of trips to the immigration office which is a two hundred kilometer round trip. Even after all that, it isn't a sure thing that it would be approved because Bangkok immigration would have to give the final approval. I then decided that the visa based on retirement with the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.was indeed the easiest way to go. It's entirely possible that the officer tried to over complicate the process to discourage me.

He certainly did over complicate the process to discourage you, I have never heard of the approval being refused, very occasionally additional documents yes, refusal of a genuine marriage no. For sure the retirement is faster and preferred by some offices as it's much less work for them.
The number of trips should be 2, 1 to apply the second to collect the extension, they could make it 3 by submitting it late making a 3rd trip needed.

[Wide Awake]

Hi, I have been married here in Thailand over 8 yrs now. may be looking at a divorce soon and am wondering , can you just do the Thai marriage cerimony at the local Ompur and will this be accepted for the marriage Visa, instead of having to go though your home country and all the paper work, like I did in the beginning? Thanks for any help.

[semperfiguy]

Hi, I have been married here in Thailand over 8 yrs now. may be looking at a divorce soon and am wondering , can you just do the Thai marriage cerimony at the local Ompur and will this be accepted for the marriage Visa, instead of having to go though your home country and all the paper work, like I did in the beginning? Thanks for any help.

Wide Awake, it has to be a legal marriage complete with a Freedom To Marry Affidavit and Affidavit of Acknowledgment of Final Divorce from your embassy, Marriage Registration at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok and a proper Marriage Certificate from the Amphur. Immigration will ask you for the Marriage Registration and Marriage Certificate when you go for your extension of stay.

[sometimewoodworker]

Hi, I have been married here in Thailand over 8 yrs now. may be looking at a divorce soon and am wondering , can you just do the Thai marriage cerimony at the local Ompur and will this be accepted for the marriage Visa, instead of having to go though your home country and all the paper work, like I did in the beginning? Thanks for any help.

Wide Awake, it has to be a legal marriage complete with a Freedom To Marry Affidavit and Affidavit of Acknowledgment of Final Divorce from your embassy, Marriage Registration at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok and a proper Marriage Certificate from the Amphur. Immigration will ask you for the Marriage Registration and Marriage Certificate when you go for your extension of stay.

First step is a fully legal divorce, depending on where you can get divorced has an enormous effect on the documents needed to re-marry

[glalt]

Hi, I have been married here in Thailand over 8 yrs now. may be looking at a divorce soon and am wondering , can you just do the Thai marriage cerimony at the local Ompur and will this be accepted for the marriage Visa, instead of having to go though your home country and all the paper work, like I did in the beginning? Thanks for any help.

If you meet the requirements, this is another good reason to go with the visa based on retirement. A divorce opens up a new can of worms.

[Wide Awake]

Thanks Guys..It gets very burdensome having to do all this paperwork over and over again, every years, making it "Legal", and knowing if your money got funny in the bank, or your paperwork had an error, you could be "kicked out"? I married a Thai lady who I met in the US in a Thai resturant, years ago. Found out she had over-stayed her Visa..had to pay to get that fixed. But after she got her Green card, and we got "legally" married, she didn't have to jump through any hoops, like we have to. Something needs to change here. If I had the money, I'd just go back to the Retirement visa and stop doing all this paper shuffleing.

[Stantheman]

Thanks Guys..It gets very burdensome having to do all this paperwork over and over again, every years, making it "Legal", and knowing if your money got funny in the bank, or your paperwork had an error, you could be "kicked out"? I married a Thai lady who I met in the US in a Thai resturant, years ago. Found out she had over-stayed her Visa..had to pay to get that fixed. But after she got her Green card, and we got "legally" married, she didn't have to jump through any hoops, like we have to. Something needs to change here. If I had the money, I'd just go back to the Retirement visa and stop doing all this paper shuffleing.

Wideawake, no hoops if you become a Citizen of Thailand since they don't have a Green Card option

[Giggle]

The only time US green card holders must notify US Immigration, throughout the 10-year validity of their legal residence, is if they change address.

[Essex]

As an Australian citizen my 'mr fixit''who has been very good has the advice, I suspect it will be similar for other nationalities.

1. Have an appropriate Visa upon entering Thailand, a visitors visa is not acceptable.
2. Have 400,000 THB in an account for 6 months (there are variations such as proof of income, but I do not have these details)
3. Get a certificate of being free to marry from your embassy and show divorce papers etc if this is your circumstances.
4. Have all documentation translated into Thai.
5. Lodge the documentation via the local Ampure to go to Dept of Interior.
6. Once all is approved, go to the Ampure with witnesses, proof of residency and the local Headman and have the marriage conducted.

In my case, I have been using a local guy who has been excellent so far in getting license, bank account etc. Hos fee is 5,000 for marriage. If you want his contact details, please send me a PM and I will provide number.

[rick]

As an Australian citizen my 'mr fixit''who has been very good has the advice, I suspect it will be similar for other nationalities.

1. Have an appropriate Visa upon entering Thailand, a visitors visa is not acceptable.
2. Have 400,000 THB in an account for 6 months (there are variations such as proof of income, but I do not have these details)
3. Get a certificate of being free to marry from your embassy and show divorce papers etc if this is your circumstances.
4. Have all documentation translated into Thai.
5. Lodge the documentation via the local Ampure to go to Dept of Interior.
6. Once all is approved, go to the Ampure with witnesses, proof of residency and the local Headman and have the marriage conducted.

In my case, I have been using a local guy who has been excellent so far in getting license, bank account etc. Hos fee is 5,000 for marriage. If you want his contact details, please send me a PM and I will provide number.

I think that list has a number of inaccuracies.

1. You can get married on any visa. Obviously you need to already be married to get a visa on grounds of marriage to a Thai, or an extension to that visa.
2. You only need 400,000 baht for an extension to a marriage visa. Money needs to be in bank for 2-3 months, not six months.
3. Correct. (Need to go to Embassy in person)
4. Correct.
5. Have to get documents validated in Bangkok by the Thai Department of Consular Affairs, MFA. Not usually done by Amphoe. When you get documents back, go to Amphoe.
6. Procedure may vary from Amphoe to Amphoe. Ijust needed wife, her documents, my passport and the validated documents from Bangkok.

Was your 5,000 baht fee including paying the Australian embassy, translation etc.? Once you have the docs rest is easy.

Once you have the marriage certificate, can then get a visa from a Thai embassy or consulate. There may be different requirements at different places, but some do not need to see money in the bank or income.

When you have a marriage visa, you can either apply for a new one (out of country) when it expires, or extend within Thailand (the extension is when you need the 400,000, and a lot of other documents).

Obviously, as with most interactions with government officials in Thailand, your experience may differ!