Can I Change My NON-OA Visa to a Marriage Visa Without Leaving Thailand?

May 21, 2020
5 years ago
Toni ************
ORIGINAL POSTER
Can I change my NON-OA visa to a marriage visa without leaving Thailand? I have been married to a Thai woman for 42 years. The reason why I want to switch to the marriage visa is because my international health insurance is not recognized by Thai immigration and I have heard that no health insurance is required for the marriage visa.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
Yes, you can change from a yearly extension of stay based on a NON-OA (retirement) visa to a yearly extension based on marriage to a Thai national without leaving Thailand. This involves changing the reason for your extension but not obtaining a new visa. Health insurance is not required when switching to the marriage extension.
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Tod *********
Okay, let's look at the stamps Guy was gracious enough to post and see if we can't all learn something;

In the first stamp you can see he changed the reason for his extension and applied for a NEW yearly extension based on marriage on April 30th and his current extension based on retirement would have expired on May 10th

AND

In the second stamp you can see that he got a 30 day under consideration stamp based on marriage to a thai (ภรรยาไทย) and it was his FIRST time applying for an extension based on that reason (ปีที่ 1).

AND

He has to go back to the immigration office on the 29th of May this month to get the rest of the year extension inked into his passport (that's what the word "result" means)

Thanx go to
@G**
(y) Don't forget to go back on the 29th for the rest of your year extension :)

These stamps are "living proof" that you can do it
@To**
:)
Tod *********
Okay and after we beat that topic nearly to death, we come to find out that
@Guy *******
did NOT change from an O-A visa/extension to an O visa at all but simply changed the reason for his yearly extension from one based on retirement to one based on marriage

AND

This is exactly what the immigration office that
@To**
uses said he can do when it becomes time to get a new yearly extension.

AGAIN; it's the mis-use and mis-understanding of terminology (by foreigners and immigration offices/officers alike :O ) that made this into the near train wreck post that it is

So in summary, YES
@To**
, you can go from an extension from an O-A based on retirement to an extension based on marriage.

Good Luck, Take Care, Stay Safe..
Peter ****************
So and than you do not need the health insurance
@Tod ********
? (with extension on base of marriage). Thx !
Peter ****************
Ah, well that can be a nice alternative for some of us who are over 75 (almost not possible for a Thai insurance), yearly extended based on retirement and came on Non imm. O-A, long time ago. Thanks for explanation 👍
Tod *********
there is some confusion on this (depending on what immigration office you talk to).

In THEORY, you got an O-A visa in your country before you can here and since Oct 31 2019 yearly extensions based on being over 50/retirement (clause 2.22 in the immigration rules) state you need to carry the mandatory health insurance

BUT

If you are changing the reason for your yearly extension from retirement to one based on marriage to a thai (clause 2.18 in the immigration rules) there is no insurance requirement.

Meaning even though you had an O-A visa and had been getting yearly extensions based on being over 50/retirement (which do require the insurance after Oct 31st 2019) changing the reason to being married to a thai should get you out of the requirement because you're getting the extension under a different category in the immigration rules.
Tod *********
So lets answer your question now that we know you're on a yearly EXTENSION OF STAY.

The answer to the real question; can I go from a yearly extension of stay based on being over 50 (retirement) from an original O-A visa to a yearly extension based on marriage to a thai without leaving the country is YES, you can.

All you are doing is changing the REASON for your yearly extension from one based on being over 50 (retirement) to one based on marriage to a thai. You don't need a new Non-O visa to do that..

When your current extension is running out you use the documentation required to get a yearly extension based on marriage to a thai national and you show only the 400K baht the proof of funds required for that extension (not the 800K baht required for a retirement extension)
Tod *********
That "extension" versus "visa" terminology mix up throws people off the rails many times
Tod *********
@To**
, this is what happens when people don't use the correct terminology :O You said you had an O-A visa <- you clearly don't.. ;)

At one point in time you DID have an O-A VISA and used it to enter thailand on BUT you've been getting yearly extensions of stays from the immigration office based on being over 50 (retirement) and those are NOT visas ;)
Rolf *********
Same question on 4 April
Toni ************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Rolf ********
You are right, but I went to immigration with this question last week, and the man at the front desk told me I can switch to a marriage visa without leaving. He even gave me the documents of what is needed. But I'm not sure he really understood the situation.
Tod *********
NO you can't change an O-A VISA to an O visa without leaving thailand.

Are you on an O-A visa entry or are you on a yearly extension of stay from the immigration office? (meaning when did you get your O-A visa?)
Ellie *******
Thanks. very clear. You didn't change or get new the visa at all. You changed your reason of extension from retirement to marriage. Visa didn't involve at all...

If you really changed the visa, you would have "visa" stamp issued in-country, not extension stamp.
Guy ********
@Tod ********
Yes you can I did it, without leaving Thailand (Uthai thani immigration, just ask your IO) before I got a OA visa and I change for O based on marriage.
Marty *********
@Tod ********
If you have been living in a Thailand then it sounds like you are on a 1 year extension of stay. Did you apply for your current extension of stay based on retirement or marriage? If you did it by marriage then I think you don’t need to have insurance.
Toni ************
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Tod ********
I came to Thailand with the OA visa in March 2013 and have renewed it every year since then.
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