Can a UK citizen enter Thailand on a 45-day exemption, get married, and apply for a married visa?

Oct 5, 2022
2 years ago
Dean **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hi guys

Asking for a friend obviously but can you fly into Thailand from the UK on a 45 day exemption extend that for another 30 days in the meantime get married to a Thai lady and apply for a married visa is this all doable or is there a better way of doing it.

Thanks in advance
2,478
views
3
likes
53
all likes
14
replies
4
images
3
users
TLDR : Answer Summary
A UK citizen can enter Thailand on a 45-day visa exemption, extend it for 30 days, and then get married to a Thai citizen. After the marriage, they can apply for a Non-O visa based on marriage, which involves obtaining necessary documentation such as an affidavit of freedom to marry, which must be translated and certified. Alternatively, after marrying, they can obtain a year-long multi-entry Non-O visa from a Thai consulate in Savannakhet, Laos. This visa allows for unlimited entries and up to 17 months of stay with proper management of entry stamps and extensions.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
  • Go to the Retirement Visa Section for information on requirements, including age restrictions, financial requirements, and necessary documentation.
  • For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
  • Explore recent discussions by using the Non-O Retirement Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
  • Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
Tod *********
despite my best efforts it would appear that this topic has migrated from a "how do I get a marriage visa" topic to a "how do I get married in thailand as a brit" one

AND

As I said, seeing as this isn't the "how can I marry my thai significant other" group we are now done.
@Dean *********
you have more than enough info to get your friend pointed in the right direction (y)
James ********
James ********
James ********
James ********
Tod *********
another way to go about it would be to come in, jump thru the above mentioned hoops to register the marriage that I outlined in the above comment THEN rather than opening a bank account or anything like that just go to the thai consulate in Savannakhet Lao and buy a year long, multi-entry Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai for 5000baht.

That visa is good for unlimited entries for the year it's valid for, each entry gets you a 90 day entry stamp, when that 90 days runs out you go to the border, stamp out of thailand, stamp in and out of another country and right back into thailand to get a new 90 day stamp and you do that the whole year the visa is valid for.

If you do it right you can get 15 months of stay (in 90 day increments) out of a visa that's valid for a year. Actually you can get 17 months because you can extend that last 90 day stamp 60 days based on visiting thai family at the immigration office for 1900baht so it gives you 17 months of stay total ๐Ÿ™‚
Tod *********
Whether you can or can't pull that off is gonna come down to how fast you can get your act together, get the affidavit of freedom to marry from your UK embassy here, get it translated into thai, certified by the ministry of foreign affairs, THEN find an Amphur that will marry you and your thai bride to be, as well as get a bank account in your name open and transfer 400K baht into it

AND YET

still have enough time left on your 45 day visa exempt or the 30 day extension to go to the immigration office to apply for the 90 day Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai for 2000baht.
Dean **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
would my friend need an affidavit as he's never been married before
Michael *********
@Dean *********
I'm also from the UK and got married 18 months ago. He needs an affirmation of marriage and a certified copy of his passport. The affirmation can be completed on the embassy website and printed off but NOT signed, he must book an appointment online to visit the embassy and sign the affirmation in front of them and get his passport certified. There's not so many appointments available and when I booked it was a 3 week wait. I suggest going on the embassy website before he comes to Thailand to book the appointment first, then fill in the affirmation application online and print it off.
Dean **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Michael ********
thank you great advice.
Lewis ******
@Michael ********
Great advice, this. I had a very similar experience recently.
Tod *********
@Dean *********
your friend needs to do exactly the steps I said in that exact order to register a marriage here in thailand

BUT

Sadly, this isn't the "how do I get married" group ๐Ÿ˜ฎ it's the visa advice group SO post on a group related to where you live in thailand or the britz in thailand group and ask the steps to get married.

Believe me, you're not the first foreigner here from the UK to marry a thai ๐Ÿ˜›
Dean **********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
Thank you Tod ๐Ÿ‘
Lewis ******
@Dean *********
yes, you will need this and a certified copy of your passport from the UK embassy.
Thai Visa Advice
... members ยท 40% approval rate
The Thai Visa Advice group is a specialized Q&A forum for visa-related topics in Thailand, ensuring detailed responses.
Join the Group
Thai Visa Advice
View the Conversation
Thai Visa Advice