Questioner: Frank van Saase
My wife and I have been to Thailand many times and have lived in Bangkok for half a year. In a few months we will take pre-retirement and want to live in Thailand for a longer period of time. Since we do not want to do too many visa runs, we want to apply for a visa for a longer period of time. Now I'm running into the following problem and can't find anything on the internet. I myself am 57 and have sufficient financial means to apply for a visa, but my wife is also Dutch and is 43 so I do not qualify.
I can't read anything about couples so here's the question. Is it possible to get a retire visa as a couple or does she have to do a run every month? Seems a bit cumbersome and cumbersome to me.
Thanks.
Reaction RonnyLatYa
If you are married, your wife can obtain a Non-immigrant O as your “Dependent”. She does not then have to meet the age of 50 years. You can read that in, for example, the Non-immigrant OA requirements and normally this should also apply to a Non-immigrant O Retired.
“In the case where the accompanying spouse is not eligible for the Category 'O-A' (Long Stay) visa, he or she will be considered for temporary stay under Category 'O' visa. A marriage certificate must be provided as evidence and must be legalized by MinBuZa and the Embassy.”
Non-immigrant Visa OA (long stay) – สถานเอกอัครราชทูต ณ กรุงเฮก (thaiembassy.org)
It used to be simple because you just went to the embassy together and submitted the application as a couple. I don't know how to fill this in online and make it clear that you belong together, so you might want to ask the embassy how to solve this. Or maybe there are readers who have recently requested this as headlines online as well and can tell you how it is with your wife to enter.
For a year extension, your wife can also obtain a year extension as your “Dependent”. You should visit your immigration office and then you know exactly what they want to see there because that may differ from the standard requirements.
It also goes without saying that you will have to provide proof of your marriage.
20. In the case of being a family member of an alien permitted a temporary stay in the Kingdom
For foreigner – Immigration Division1 | 1
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Great, thanks. We live in Amsterdam so visit the consulate this week
I don't know if you will be able to achieve anything there in that regard, because they no longer issue visas.
But maybe you can still get info there and since you live in Amsterdam ... who knows
The embassy may be a better solution as they also handle the application.
Better by phone or possibly by email.
The retirement visa is in my husband's name and therefore only have to have 1x 800.000 Baht on the Bank. I then have to fill in the form: I have to follow my husband. With my signature of course. ………. I honestly had to laugh at this, but hey, rules are rules.
Never had any problems with an extension or stay for my wife. She had her own visa, but I always submitted an extract of the marriage register, legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also had his signature legalized by the Thai Consulate. Was accepted through immigration without any problems
Just to clarify…..
The problem is not the extension in Thailand, because then you are together at immigration as a couple and that is clear. You only have to provide additional proof that you are married if someone wants to go as a Dependent.
And yes, each must have its Non-immigrant status, otherwise you cannot obtain an annual extension. You cannot use your husband's or wife's Non-immigrant visa for this purpose. Only the financial part is about being a Dependent, not the Non-immigrant status that remains personal.
The problem here is when applying for the visa online in the Netherlands.
How to apply online as a couple when one is Dependent of the others.
In the past you could go to the embassy together and then that was clear. Proof married and done.
But how do you make it clear online that you are together and that one wants to be Dependent of the other?
Does anyone have online experience with this?
Perhaps useful for other people who read along: you will not get a dependent Non-O if you apply for it in Thailand. Only at the embassy of your home country.
Could be. This always depends on what your immigration office wants to allow.
But you can then take the detour.
Convert your Tourist to Non-O in Thailand with your own resources and then switch to Dependent for the extension. A 3 month detour.
We tried that two months ago in BKK (Chaeng Wattana). The extension (1st extension based on a non-O retirement obtained in TH) was denied as a dependent.
Maybe at the next renewal?
In the period before Covid, we were in BKK based on a non-OA (from 2015) that we obtained in Belgium. The annual renewal for my wife as a dependent was never a problem.
I do believe you.
Of course, it often depends on who you have in front of you and how they interpret the rules and also where you apply for it. As in many circumstances…