Answered5 years ago

Can I convert my NON O-A VISA to a Married Visa without leaving Thailand?

NON O-A Visa Married Visa Visa Extension Thailand Immigration Visa Conversion Retirement Visa

Tod *********

asked Oct 8, 2021

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Marty Lavens

On my latest visa question:

I am currenty on my NON O-A VISA acquired before I arrived in Thailand last year and have received a 1 year extension as of February 2021.

I want now to get married to my lady maybe in November or December but the information I am receiving tells me I must leave the country and come back in on a NON-O VISA that will allow me to convert it to a ‘Married Visa’. 

I am 100% DISABLED and on 24 hour OXYGEN and a wheechair so that would be a challenge to leave and comeback, unless I can drive my car there and back as the wheelchair travels with me.

 I have continuously transferred PENSION MONEY from my U.S. banks to my established Thai bank account always above the requisite 65,000 baht per month.

Some advice would be helpful!

Thank you

I am having trouble believing that this is the only way to do this

Answer summary

Marty Lavens is seeking advice on converting his NON O-A visa to a Married Visa in Thailand. He has a 1-year extension on his NON O-A visa obtained before arriving in Thailand and desires to marry his partner. He expresses concerns about possibly needing to leave the country to switch visas, especially given his disability and reliance on medical equipment. A commenter clarifies that as long as Marty has met the condition of maintaining a steady income above the required threshold for at least 12 months, he should be able to apply to change the reason for his visa extension from retirement to marriage without needing to leave Thailand.

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Tod *********

@Marty *******

IF you are indeed on a yearly extension of stay from your immigration office (from that O-A visa entry before) there is no problem changing the reason for the extension from retirement to marriage when your next extension is due.

The requirement is you need to get at least ONE extension for the reason the visa was issued <- which in your case seeing as it was an O-A it was issued based on you being over 50 (retirement). SO you would have needed one yearly extension for that reason from the immigration office before you could change the reason for the extension the next time that you applied for an extension.

As long as you met the requirement and brought in a minimum of 40K baht a month each month, every month for the previous 12 months before you apply for the new extension based on marriage you should be able to change the reason from retirement to marriage and there is no reason you would have to leave the country.

What immigration office do you deal with?

5 years ago

Walter *******

Your question and

@Tod ********

answer saves me the trouble of asking. I will be doing the same thing but from Hua Hin. Thank you both.

5 years ago

Marty ********

@Tod ********

, thank you for your information, knowledge, and taking the time to answer. It is much appreciated!

5 years ago

Marty ********

Not an immigration office giving me grief.

5 years ago

Marty ********

@Tod ********

Chiang Mai, near the airport.

5 years ago

Tod *********

@Marty *******

The immigration office in Chiang Mai knows that you can go from an extension based on being over 50 (retirement) to one based on marriage to a thai without any issues off an O-A visa. Many people have done this because they don't want to carry the mandatory insurance for the O-A.

I don't know why the office is giving you grief over it.

5 years ago

Marty ********

@Tod ********

yes, that insurance issue is one item on my ‘hit list’. Of course, love must also be a good reason for accomplishing this.

5 years ago

Tod *********

You do not need to get a Non-O visa, or anything like that, you just need to change the reason for your extension from one based on retirement to one based on marriage by meeting the requirements

5 years ago