A year has gone by so I am updating my post about the documents required for a 1 year visa extension based on mariage to a Thai citizen in Koh Samui.
You can find in the pictures of this post the list of documents required at Samui Immigration, this list is not available online, is only available at the immigration office and is only in Thai.
The list mentions a TM38 form that is most probably a typo for TM30.
The list I am typing below may not exactly apply to you, it applied to us, foreigner husband and Thai wife, with 400k THB in bank for 2 months before applying at the immigration office, who rent a house from a private individual where we live.
Note that everything has to be done in 2 copies and EVERY COPY NEEDS TO BE SIGNED BY THE PERSON IT CONCERNS (all passport copies signed by me, id card and blue book of wife, map and Google map print signed by my wife etc.). If you give originals in your file, no need to sign them (bank statement for example).
Orientation of photocopies is important, general rule is that the file will be made of A4 papers held vertically by the immigration officer, all copies and pictures should be able to be read that way without turning the page 90° (only TM30 had to be printed differently for us, we were asked to do other copies of our weird format house rental contract reduced to A4 when we got there).
Most importantly, this year, the proof of financial means had to be dated from the day of the application (day before wasn't enough). Had to go to a branch of my bank, do an operation (deposit or withdrawal) and have a bank statement from the counter, along with a warranty of the bank the funds were in the account (100thb each at bank). The bank book copies might be enough but mine had a bunch of operations stuck together as i hadn't updated it regularly.
So to show the money was here all along, a bank statement + the bank warranty was the answer.
Make your life easier by going to your bank for these 2 documents the day of your application.
So here is the list of documents that we needed to apply for the extension (once again, 2 sets of all that).
I am putting the list in the order that was expected by the immigration office for their file (might be bit jumbled but close), make your files in that order.
- TM7 form you can find online or they will give you 2 to fill up + 1 recent picture immigration format (list says picture taken that day but did not matter)
- TM30 registration print : the foreigner has to be registered on the immigration website, to the house you live in, just print the page once your passport and name appear on the extranet immigration page
- passport first page copy
- passport last proper visa page (sticker) copy
- passport last entry stamp page copy
- passport last 1 year extension page copy
- TM6 entry paper copies recto verso
- khor ror 2 paper, dated copy of the marriage registration, recent one, obtained from your local municipal office
- original khor ror 3 copy (the color marriage certificate you got on your wedding day)
- ID CARD of spouse, copy recto verso
- Blue book copy of spouse (because my spouse ID is registered to a different house)
- Rental contract reduced to A4
- Blue book page copy of rented house
- ID card copy recto verso of owner of the rented house, signed by that person
- Blue book page copy of owner of rented house and registration, signed by that person
- 2 different photos from spouses together inside the house, ideally, horizontal oriented pictures so you can print 2 on the A4 page on top of one another
- 2 different pictures from spouses together outside the house, WITH THE NUMBER OF THE HOUSE VISIBLE, AND ONE OF THE PICTURE MUST HAVE THE WIDEST POSSIBLE VIEW OF THE HOUSE AND ITS NUMBER (ideally should be the whole front of the house) - this is important and the file won't be accepted without one, the house needs to be recognizable for the people who will come visit
- manually drawn map to the house you live in, in Thai
- print of satellite view of the house you live in with latitude and longitude (Google maps prints from a computer includes those) - so your house can be found (page orientation did not matter)
- proof of financial means, for us was 400.000 THB in bank for 2 months, as said before, you can do copies of your bank book if updated regularly and it shows the account never goes under 400.000. HAS TO HAVE ONE OPERATION ON THE SAME DAY YOU APPLY AND UPDATED TO SHOW THE DAY'S COUNT.
Or better : the day you apply, go to a branch of your bank, and pay 100thb to get a bank statement with all the operations all the way to today, AND a bank warranty of the presence of the funds on your account (100thb for each document). I would recommend doing both the bank book and the statement + warranty, you never know.
We filled a last form guaranteeing we were truthful in our application and that was done.
We needed quite a few more documents compared to the official generic list with my wife being registered to a different house, and needing the owner of the house we live in signed ID card and blue book copies.
The list of documents is non negotiable, meaning there is no point to argue with the officer checking your documents. They do not decide to accept your visa extension or not. They just check all the documents for the file to be accepted and your application taken under consideration.
Let your wife do the talking patiently if you do not speak Thai yourself.
In Koh Samui, a small office outside does prints and copies, so bring all originals with you and have your pictures stored on your phone along with pictures of your documents etc., should you need to print something again.
I have to get the approval stamp in September ... Which sucks when living in Koh Tao (means 2 nights in Samui). This year was easier than the last as we knew of the non listed documents nowhere available online for Koh Samui. We were already in the system and once the documents were checked, things went quickly.
The person doing the initial reception at immigration was also the one processing the file after. She was probably not too happy doing the general reception and you could tell.
Be patient, try not to let your stress with all this paperwork influence your actions and reactions when in contact with the immigration administration who also deals with their own thing.
Once you have all your files in order, things will be smooth.
