Can I apply for a marriage extension after obtaining a Non-O visa based on retirement?

And this is yet another instance of a person taking the advice from an immigration office and doing a visa/extension they didn't want initially..

Stand your ground, tell them the visa/extension you want to apply for, don't take their excuse that its "easier" for this or that, DO what YOU want. Keep in mind you're dealing with low/mid level paper pushing passport stamping gov't officials who will always try to get you to do the "path of least resistance" <- where they do the least work 😮

Good luck with it.

All you can do is TRY to see if you can get the 60 day visit family extension and after that the year based on the reason you want.

MOST all offices make you get the first yearly extension for the reason you got the visa <- that means IF you got the visa based on retirement you are shoe-horned in to having to do the first yearly extension for that reason.

No one on this group is gonna have the definite answer you want so when you go to the office on the 28th to get the Non-O visa and new 90 day stamp inked in talk to them.

I agree that retirement Visa is easier but more expensive as retirement visa requires 800,000 in the bank but marriage visa is only 400,000

The immigration office was correct in that the paperwork is much easier for retirement.

You need to keep in mind a couple of important things though:

1) With a marriage visa/extension you have the option of getting a work permit sponsored by an employer and working. On a retirement visa/extension you do not have this option.

2) With a marriage extension, once you have the extension you no longer need to show any funds in your bank account (if you used banked money) after you receive the extension and then just need to refill to 400,000 next year 2 months before you apply for your next extension. With a retirement visa the requirements are much more stringent (once again assuming you are using the banked money method and not the income method).

If you decide you actually want to go with the marriage visa and extension and not the retirement visa, you'll have to leave Thailand without a re-entry permit, thereby canceling your stamp, and then re-enter and start with a new visa application.

Go for the retirement visa less paperwork like you said

But do ask what that reason was

If you applied for Non-O based on retirement, no, you cannot apply for the first 1-year extension for a different reason from your initial visa. You have to apply for a 1-year extension based on retirement when your first 90 days from in-country Non-O visa remains less than 30 days. You can change the reason to based on marriage to a Thai national for a 1-year extension on or after the second extension application.