Do I need to increase my Thai bank account balance to 800,000 baht before applying for a marriage visa as a trailing spouse?

September 7, 2023
a year ago
Lisa ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Hello,

My fiance and I are US citizens and we both have Non-O retirement visa with the 1 year extension

We plan to be married before we have to renew our current visas and will apply for marriage visa

I understand that my husband will be the main person on the visa and I will be trailing spouse

I know that I must maintain at least 400,000 baht in my thai bank account (have already passed the initial 90 day period)for the entire time prior to applying for the marriage visa but do I have to bring my account back up to the 800,000 baht 2 months prior?

Thanks very much
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A user inquired about the financial requirements for switching from a Non-O retirement visa to a marriage visa as a trailing spouse in Thailand. They currently maintain 400,000 baht in their Thai bank account and wanted to know if they need to increase it to 800,000 baht two months before applying for the marriage visa. Responses clarified that they do not need to raise the funds to 800,000 baht prior to switching the extension reason, but it may be wise to ensure the funds remain above 400,000 baht until the application is made.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
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Graham ******
You may wish to top up your account from 400k to 800k at least two monts before your current extension expires as insurance in case your switch to a trailing spouse is rejected for some unforeseen reason.
Lisa ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Graham *****
Thank you for this advice!
Lisa ******
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thank you very much!
J ******************
For the marriage visa / extension does not one party need to be Thai?
Tod *********
You are correct
@J *****************
There is no "marriage visa" for two foreigners here ๐Ÿ™‚

they are both on retirement extensions right now and are talking about having one of them drop off the retirement extension and go on to the "trailing spouse" extension based on being married to a foreigner on a retirement visa/extension.
J ******************
@Tod ********
my point was they were talking of getting "marriage visa" in their narrative hence my comment and my only reason for it .
Tod *********
You won't be applying for ANY visas ๐Ÿ™ you both have year extensions <- which are NOT visas at all and you're not getting a new visa, you're changing the REASON for your extension (from retirement to trailing spouse)

Until you actually "change the reason" for your extension from retirement to trailing spouse you need to meet the seasoning requirements for the extension you're on <- which is not let the balance in your account go below 400K baht until you apply for the new extension.

You do NOT need to get the funds up to 800k baht 2 months before you change the reason because you're not applying for an extension based on retirement but changing the reason to having an extension based on marriage to a foreigner on a retirement extension
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