For anyone looking at applying for a 1 year ext of stay based on marriage this might prove useful.
having been told my ability to claim covid extensions was up last month I flew to Cambodia and back again, entering the country on a 30 day visa free stamp 5th January
I went today a few days earlier to apply for the ext of stay based on marriage. I have all my documents and everything and I put the 400k in my account last week as I have been told my numerous people, and the Thai immigration law says the same, that for you to apply for this extension, you don't need to have the money seasoned for 2 months, you just need to prove it's in the account. I was expecting to get a 90 day extension at which point the 2 months clock would start for the seasoning, so that when I returned in 90 days the money would have been seasoned for 2 months and I would get the 1 year ext.
As we know In thailand, the law may say one thing but your immigration office might say something else, which of course mine did
We were told I couldn't apply for it as my money hasn't been in the account for 2mths yet. I made a calmly worded protest at which point I then bit my tongue and let the wife take over. After a few minutes she went off with my passport and docs and about 10 mins later one of the bosses in the brown uniform came out.
She said what I will need to do is get my visa free stamp for another 30 days, but in two weeks I will need to come back once I have 15 days left on my visa free stamp and they will give me a 60 ext to visit Thai wife. That will be a total of 90 days and I'm to now leave the 400k in my account for the 90 day duration, at which point, when i have 15 days left on that extension, I will then be able to get the one year extension based on marriage. She said doing this will mean that there won't be any problems when it comes to the money as it will have been in for an extra month. This isn't an issue anyway as I have seen many people comment that an extra month may be required. quite why there would be any issues seeing as the law says 2 months is anyone's guess
The end result is the same I suppose but it will cost me an extra 1900thb due to the extra extension I'll have to get, but again, no biggie.
I'd suggest that anyone going to apply for this kind of visa extension that you go and check first exactly what they will want you to do before you go, so you can be sure of what you will need to do. They still went through all my paperwork for the marriage extension, of which there is a lot so I'd also make sure you don't leave that till the last minute either because it takes a fair amount of effort to make sure you have everything that you need.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A user shares their experience applying for a 1-year extension of stay based on marriage in Thailand. They were initially told about a requirement to have 400,000 THB seasoned in their bank account for two months, but after visiting the immigration office, they learned they could instead apply for a 90-day extension. After keeping the 400,000 THB in their account for an additional month, they would be eligible to apply for the 1-year extension. The post emphasizes the importance of checking specific requirements with local immigration offices and ensuring all necessary paperwork is prepared well in advance.
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