Can my Thai wife be a witness for my visa extension application?

If you have any queries then get your wife to call them as each office has its own requirements

What documents and forms do you need?

You should visit the immigration office immediately after arriving in the country to pick up a checklist—a list of the documents required for your annual extension application. This allows you to prepare perfectly.

Immigration will require photos showing you in front of your house, as well as inside the house (in the living room, kitchen, etc.).

*** If you are using the bank balance method for proof of funds: withdraw a small amount from the ATM outside your bank and request a receipt; then, enter the bank and apply for a "bank letter of guarantee" (in Thai: *rab roong thanakan*), which certifies that the minimum sum of 400,000 THB has been held in the account for the required two-month period. This letter usually costs 200 Baht.

*** Some immigration offices may want to see a recently updated bank book in addition to a certified proof-of-income statement, in order to verify that you are transferring funds from abroad to cover your living expenses.

*** You can obtain the application form for the "1-year extension of stay" at the immigration office.

*** Always sign documents and copies using blue ink, not black ink!

*** You need your passport and copies of the page with your entry stamp and the personal details page.

*** A printout of the original 90-day visa.

*** The 1,900 THB application fee.

*** A current "Kor Ror 22" or "Kor Ror 2" document from the local district office (*Amphur*).

(It costs 20 Baht to obtain a current marriage registry extract from the district office. The prerequisite is that your marriage is recognized in Thailand and—most importantly—that it is still valid and current.)

*** Sign forms STM2, STM10, and STM11 at the immigration office (depending on which ones they present to you).

*** Find out how many color photos they require showing both of you at various locations on your property, and bring these photos with you.

*** Visit the immigration office responsible for your area of residence together with your wife. Your wife should bring her blue house registration book, her Thai ID card, and/or her passport.

*** Several passport-sized photos are usually also required (e.g., for a re-entry permit), as well as current proof of TM30 registration (registered residence).

The 90-day single entry Non-Imm-O "family" visa and how to obtain a one-year extension of your stay permit based on being married to a Thai wife.

There is the "90-day single entry Non-Imm-O Family visa" option, which you can apply by the e-visa online system before you fly to Thailand.

You must provide a financial proof for both the 90-day visa and later at immigration for the application for a "one-year extension of the temporary stay permit based on being married to a Thai wife."

For the application to the initial visa, you EITHER have at least 400,000 THB (approximately $ 12,000) in a bank account in your sole name. In most countries, the e-visa application requires the upload of three months of account statements

(It is irrelevant for the visa application where the account is located – as long as there is a proof that the account is in your sole name)

However, when applying for the "1-year extension" from out of the 90-days stay permit you get stamped in upon entering Thailand, the 400,000 THB must have been in your Thai bank account for 2 months, and this “seasoning” must be proven with a "bank letter of guarantee" (in Thai: rab roong thanakan).

OR you use the income affidavit of your embassy in Thailand (only if applicable - as many embassies do not issue it any more. These are the embassies of the UK, the USA, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and a few others).

In case your embassy issues an income affidavit, you need to provide evidence of an income/pension of at least 40,000 THB (approximately $1200 USD).

For the application to the initial 90-days visa in your home country, you can use your original marriage documents.

However, for the application to the “1-year extension”, Immigration requires a Thai marriage registry printout - the Kor Ror 22 or 2 (whichever applies). This printout must be current, printed freshly by an Amphur office.

This is possible only if your marriage has already officially been acknowledged in Thailand. If you married outside of Thailand and your marriage has not been registered in Thailand, yet, you need to take action. It would require a legalization of your original marriage documents by the Thai embassy in your country, and this has to be co-legalized by the MfA in Bangkok, before you can register your marriage at an Amphur office.

The requirements may vary slightly between every one of the 85 Immigration offices in Thailand, this is why it is recommended to visit them right after you entered and ask for the list of requirements for the "extension of the temporary stay permit based on being married to a Thai wife."

What almost all immigration offices have in common is that they will only serve you if you have been properly registered at your place of accommodation via a TM30 registration.

Immigration normally will issue the "1-year extension of the stay permit" for 4 weeks "under consideration." They will ask for photos of the two of you together in front of your house, with the house number visible, a photo of you in the living room, in the bedroom, etc.

They will ask for a hand-drawn map of the route from your house to the Immigration office, or the Google Maps coordinates.

Some offices require not only the presence of your wife, but also of one witness.

Immigration will pay a visit at your home during these four weeks (with prior notice) and will question your neighbours about whether your marriage is "real."

After this visit, you visit Immigration and collect the stamp with your one-year extension of the temporary stay permit. (EOS)

NOTE: keep the 400,000 THB deposit in your bank account at least until you have gathered up the 1-year Marriage Extension stamp. You are free to spend the deposit, however the 400,000 THB need to be back in your account 2 months prior (some Immigrations ask for 3 months) to your next application for the 1-year extended stay permit.

NOTE: Always purchase a re-entry permit for your EOS.

A single re-entry costs 1000 THB, a multiple re-entry will be 3,800 THB.

The re-entry permit keeps your stay permit valid in case you leave the country. If you leave without a re-entry permit, your EOS will become invalid.

PLEASE use the correct terminology:

Technically spoken, there is no "visa extension", and the 1-year extension is not a “marriage visa”. Immigration does not extend any visa. That's technically not possible.

The use of this wording is improper English. You use the “90-days marriage visa” for entering Thailand, the visa becomes invalid. You will get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. You then apply for a one-year extension of this stay permit. A stay permit is not a visa.

It can't be your wife