How can I obtain a Non-O visa based on marriage or parenthood in Thailand?

Duncan, if you can, please report back and let the group know how it went.

Thanx :)

The reason I ask is that for children born out of wedlock parental rights are 100% the mother's automatically.

It doesn't matter if you have your name on the birth certificate or of your child has a passport from your country. Unfortunately, you have no legal standing as the father in thailand without going thru the family court system..

That means, if you haven't gotten parental rights granted you cannot use the child to get a yearly extension of stay because only your name on the birth certificate isn't enough to do that. You'd need the court decree granting you parental rights AND the financial requirements to get the extension of stay inside the country at the immigration office.

You can only get 90 day single entry Non-O visas in Vientiane or Savannakhet based on being the father listed on the birth certificate. You could get 60 day extensions on that at the immigration office for 1900baht again without financial requirements. I know people who have been doing Non-O's and 60 day extensions for years and years like that.

Another option is to get someone to put 400K in your bank account and go to Penang to get a year-long, multi-entry Non-O visa. They don't require the money be in there any amount of time, and that visa would give you almost 15 months of stay in 90 day stamps for the validity of the visa.

Sorry, but that's about all I know about it.

If you had your child out of wedlock, have you gone thru family court and been recognized as the legal father and granted parental right?