Does the 400,000 baht requirement for a marriage visa in Thailand apply to both the original application and renewals?

@Craig ******

the point is, this marriage must be registered and acknowledged inside Thailand, for you to be able to apply for the 1-year Extension of Stay on Immigration. You can get a 90-days Marriage Non-Imm-O Visa from the Thai embassy in Australia with only AUS marriage document, but you can't use them for the application to the 1-year extension inside Thailand. you will need to take those original AUS documents to the AUS embassy in Bangkok, get them legalized, then take them to the Thai MfA in Bangok to get them "over-legalized" (a process I am not exactly sure about, but your embassy wil tell you)

@Greg **********

what’s he do when it’s time for the extension???

@Bob *********

You entered Thailand with a 90-days Non-Imm-O family visa, received a 90-days stay permit, and wish to apply for the “1-year Extension Of Stay Permit”

Immigration will simply call it “visa extension”, but actually they don’t extend a visa, they are extending a stay permit. The visa itself becomes invalid upon entry!

You can apply for a “1-year extension of stay based on marriage with a Thai wife” 30 days (45 days on some immigrations such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai) before the end of the 90-day stay permit you got stamped upon entry.

To do this, your marriage must be recognized and registered in Thailand. Because immigration will ask you to present a freshly printed Thai marriage registry document from the Amphoe.

In addition to other documents to be provided, financial evidence must be provided:

Either

You have a Thai bank account in your sole name and a deposit of a minimum of 400,000 Baht. The money must have seasoned for 2 months on the day of application,

or

You got a legalized statement of your country’s embassy in Bangkok/or of a honorary consul, about a regular monthly income of at least 40,000 Baht (an income affidavit)

Some embassies don’t issue affidavits of income any more. In this case, Immigration will ask you for a bank statement proof of 12 months consecutive money transfers coming in from abroad over a minimum of 40,000.- THB. So, in the first year, you won’t get around the deposit method

The combination method as with a “retirement extension”, a mix of a deposit plus income, is not possible for an extension based on being married to a Thai wife.

You will need to present (this list might not be accurate nor complete, as some things are Immigration specific)

*** a copy of your passport detail page

*** a copy of the entry stamp

*** a copy of the pdf. visa document

*** a filled out TM7 form (can be had on Immigration)

*** two signed memorandi of understanding (which you get on immigration

*** photos showing your wife and you in front of your house, with house number visible

*** Hand-drawn map of the location of your house. Some Immigrations accept a printout of google maps and geo-data

*** 1900.- THB application fee

If you meet all the requirements, immigration will stamp your passport or clip a paper into it, stating “application under consideration. Please visit us” . . . and a date, in most cases 4 weeks away

Within these 4 weeks, Immigration will visit you and your wife at home, they might ask your neighbors whether you are really married and live there.

As soon as the “under consideration” period has expired, you can pick up the passport from immigration with the completed and stamped one-year extension of stay permit.

It is recommended to buy at least one single re-entry permit for 1000.- THB (you need to bring two passport pics for that) because should you exit Thailand during the one year period, the permit keeps your Extension alive