Non-Immigrant "O" by marriage extension Kor Ro Song documen

[Geoffrey]

Yesterday, for the 22nd consecutive year, I submitted my paperwork for an extension of my non-immigrant "O" visa (to support my family). There is a new requirement; the Kor Ror 2 or Kor Ror Song document. To the best of my understanding this is the notations page of my marriage registration. I believe that it should show if I've divorced my wife. On my extension application I say I want an extension "to support my family." So, I must show that I am currently married to a Thai national.

Where did I find the Kor Ror 2 document: at the district office where I registered my marriage. In my case they photocopied and certified a couple pages out of their register. This tome has a beautifully handwritten page for my wife and I that says that we freely chose to be married. It's interesting that the notation reflects the Thai custom of registering a marriage after a traditional ceremony and some time of living together; it says that we had lived together for 1 day. I was following the more foreign custom of obtaining a marriage "license" before the wedding; we had our wedding the day after we registered.

There is an alternative to going to the district office where you were married. If you were married after 1996 (I could be incorrect on the year; if someone has some more certain information please post it) then your registration is on-line and can be printed out and certified at any district office in your province (or perhaps the whole country).

This is also true for birth certificates. I gave our eldest son his original when he went overseas. The immigration office still wanted a certified birth certificate; his was on-line and could be had from the capitol district office even though we did not register his birth their..

Here is another post with similar information:
http://www.udonmap.com/udonthaniforum/p ... or#p323319

[Chriss]

Geoffrey, do you know the url for the website to download The "Kor Ro Song"? I have mine but a friend in the village is about to book flights to Phuket to visit the office there..

[Geoffrey]

A certified Kor Ro Song cannot be downloaded. The district office will issue it. If your friend has been married with in the last 17 years he should be able to get his Kor Ro Song at any District Office (e.g., the district office of the capitol district of Udon Thani located to the West of the Provincial capitol building.

[Chriss]

OK thanks, he's been married for only 4 years. I'll pass on this information, maybe save him the trip to Phuket.

[douglas]

Hi,
I must admit i got fed up with a P. to Stay due to being married to a Thai National. I went back to a retirement extention. The marriage one, the last time i applied, took a couple of hours to get. also had to bring a Thai, who had known you for 12 months, and not a relative of wife, with you. They had to fill out a form, the wife and i also had forms to fill out. You got a 28 day stamp in P.P. and had to go back 3 or 4 weeks later when P. to Stay came through. The retirement one took about 10mins and was done in house. All that was required was a letter from my Embassy stating my pensions. They would not accept the tax form from my goverment.
If you meet the requirement IMO ret. is the best way to go.
Also i have heard, but not confirmed, that the P. to Stay, due to marriage, the ammount of monies required is to go up to 800KB same as ret. TIT.

[trubrit]

Went to renew my annual visa by.marriage yesterday. Having done this over several years I took everything needed. Well in the previous years anyway .Not this year though. A new requirement was my wife had to produce her late husbands death certificate, he died 12 years ago. Of course we didn't have this with us, fortunately the chief registrar in Udon is known to her and a quick phone call brought us a copy by messenger forth with .The officer also mentioned in the case of divorce they now need to see this paper too .Be prepared.

[BobHelm]

Glad you got it sorted TB. =D>

It certainly does appear that to obtain an extension based on Marriage is gradually becoming an increasingly difficult task.
It looks to me like there is a deliberate & concerted effort to discourage people from following this route.

I have no idea why that should be the case although there have been media claims in the past that people are obtaining an extension while not in a true marriage.
I have never seen a single reported case of any of these 'bogus claimants' being caught & expelled from the Kingdom though.
That is a surprise if it is that prevalent..

[merchant seaman]

I have heard a rumor that the 400,000 baht needed for a marriage extension is going to be increased to 800,000 baht, same a a retirement extension. Any truth to this?

[WBU ALUM]

I have heard a rumor that the 400,000 baht needed for a marriage extension is going to be increased to 800,000 baht, same a a retirement extension. Any truth to this?

Haven't heard a word about it, but I think it would be a huge mistake unless the powers want us all -- including those supporting Thai nationals -- out of the country. It would negatively affect a lot more than just the foreigners.

They've already discounted the income of the Thai wife over the years, so nothing would really surprise me.

[parrot]

"I have heard a rumor that the 400,000 baht needed for a marriage extension"

Who'd you hear the rumor from?

[merchant seaman]

Never made much sense to me, among many things here in Thailand, why someone married, with children to support needs to show income of 400,000baht but someone single needs to show twice as much for a retirement extension. You would think it would just be the opposite. Someone on another forum mentioned a possible increase for marriage.

[trubrit]

Glad you got it sorted TB. =D>

It certainly does appear that to obtain an extension based on Marriage is gradually becoming an increasingly difficult task.
It looks to me like there is a deliberate & concerted effort to discourage people from following this route.

I have no idea why that should be the case although there have been media claims in the past that people are obtaining an extension while not in a true marriage.
I have never seen a single reported case of any of these 'bogus claimants' being caught & expelled from the Kingdom though.
That is a surprise if it is that prevalent..

Well from the officers point of view I can well understand their reluctance . Mountains of paperwork and getting more each year. My visit took over two hours yesterday and she was working all the time, plus having to send the documents away for further approval, needing another visit, interviewing my witness, possibly a visit to my home , this has never happened yet although I have been warned it might .Its a mighty daunting task compared to the simplicity involved in a retirement visa .But its their regulations causing it not ours. I produce an income statement to verify my financial status rather than give details of my bank accounts, which I don't keep much in , in this country , anyway.This year the amount was marginally lower than that required for retirement, which I don't want anyway , because of my involvement in community work. She did everything except offer to lend me the money to make it up herself, to get me off the marriage and onto retirement to avoid the extra work.Most of the work is self inflicted anyway Take this latest about the death certificate. As the registrar pointed out, the marriage wouldn't have taken place had the death or divorce of either partner not been proven first .In conversation after the Imm officer did say , with the easy ability to make almost genuine looking copies on any computer these days, they have to introduce more and more ways to sort out the genuine applicants .So it looks like we are stuck with it .

[trubrit]

Never made much sense to me, among many things here in Thailand, why someone married, with children to support needs to show income of 400,000baht but someone single needs to show twice as much for a retirement extension. You would think it would just be the opposite. Someone on another forum mentioned a possible increase for marriage.

MS . You seem to have missed the point that those on retirement visa are totally forbidden to earn extra income from any source, neither do they have a wife who may be earning to supplement their stay . Whereas those on marriage can if qualified, get a work permit, possibly have a spouses income as well. Plus living as a married man is much cheaper for many things, such as meals at home, possibly no hotel bills and certainly , almost free nookie.

[WBU ALUM]

"I have heard a rumor that the 400,000 baht needed for a marriage extension"

Who'd you hear the rumor from?

I wondered the same.

That said, I think a couple of things will happen.

First, we'll hear about it from reliable sources before it actually goes into effect (even though I haven't heard a valid word about it to this point).

Second, if the marriage visa requirement for income goes up, you can certainly expect the retirement visa amount to go up, too. If they're going after money, they'll go after everyone.

As tb and others have described, their own regulations and requirements make this a daunting task for them. I always show up with four copies of everything. Everything. Even stuff they never required before. There have been great ideas and suggestions made to streamline it and make the process easier for the IO by letting them focus more on those married less than five years, but the beat goes on ...

[Khun Paul]

Firstly it has always been a requirement for 400,000 Thb for a marriage Visa so nowt has changed there in 10 years. The other requirements for a witness etc are being more strictly monitered and needed as i fear some have slipped through the net, as those who were married but there spouse has moved on, still renew a marriage visa and the spouse duly turns up to assist her now EX.
Other instances have been brought to my attention so it would appear that there have been some fraudelent opccasions even here in udon. We are of course forgetting thet the Immigration dept knee jerks to all and any problems, even though they may never have happened here it is just one of many places where foreigners skillfully hoodwink the IO's and in some cases very succe3sfully for a long time, so loop-holes where obvious are being closed.

For many years I truied to get a marriage Visa but in the end gave up as it proved to be a bloody shambles even when I went to bangkok it proverd to be not only a costly exercise but useless, so I plumpewd for the |retirement Visa renewal easier quiker and far less stressful.
There was an inciodent told to me about a Thai lady who had been married to an American some 25 years and had lived in the main in the USA. Upon them both returning to Thailand to live out their respective lives together, they went to the Immigration in a city not too far from here and applied for the renewal of the marriage visa initially granted in the USA. When the request was made for a witness the lady proceeded to lambast the IO's accusing them of calling her a liar as they had no-one here who could prove that they had been married and living together. The IO's boss was somewhat red-faced and granted it immediately, she then vented her fury at the local police Officer in charge of the nearest RTP Station as the direct boss of the Immigration dept, now they just show up and it is granted with little or no docs.
The story does prove that even the Thais resent much of the paperwork, and that as stated in todays press opinion, a complete overhaul of visas and renewals and immigration in general needs to be looked at, especially in the light of the AEC accord late 2015. Thailand is falling behind and it will I am sure cost them , maybe not money but credibility .

[Flo]

Stricter rules for obtaining an extension for the "non -o-" on basis of being married to a Thai woman? These are the official reasons:

All foreigners who wish to live and work here in Udon are welcome. Due to various events in the past there are now often additional papers, documents or certificates required. There are also more frequent home visits to foreign residents. Here the focus is on unofficial workers, and on marriage certificate or address abuse. Those who have done nothing wrong will understand these reasons.

[BobHelm]

Then it would have been extremely helpful if he could have actually stated what "events in the past" he is referring to Flo. I have lived in Udon itself for 7 years & cannot remember even a single event reported in Udon that would suggest any additional paperwork was necessary...

Specifically I cannot recall a single reported incident of a Falang being expelled from the Udon Thani district for fraudulently claiming to be married to a Thai national...

[Flo]

Then it would have been extremely helpful if he could have actually stated what "events in the past" he is referring to Flo. ....

Why should he? He clearly points out that the Immigration in Udon Thani (they)

do not want a mafia-like society to emerge, as in Pattaya or Phuket

and this seems to be reason enough for them to tighten up the rules! Nip it in the bud!

[pompui]

Hope he is not suggesting that mafia types are here only on extensions based on marriage,must be a few that are on extensions based on retirement :-"
The Kor Ro Song document was requested from me when I renewed my visa in June 2012 so is not a new request,They also took a copy of the 'Affirmation for freedom to marry' letter from my Embassy.
Not heard anything about the proposed increase in cash deposits based on marriage,would hope at some stage,sooner rather than later,that they propose to increase the cost from 1900 to 2000 baht to avoid the 'would you like any change sir or a kind donation to the IAS (Immigration Appreciation Society)

[Khun Paul]

I agree , why would the head of the Immigration even begin to explain what if any instances that have occurred. Surely it is enough that he has told us all the reasons and why those reasons are now underscored by visits and more diligent paperwork shuffling.
As I said there may or may not have been any instances in Udon province but I am sure there were in other provinces so the reins have been adjusted accordingly.
The disparity between married and Single visas still bemuse me, but then as they say 'This Is Thailand' and oft times their rules beggar belief.