Yesterday my application for a Non O (based on marriage to a Thai) 1 year extension was refused at CW. It appears that my understanding of the visa extension options was incorrect, however I’m interested to confirm whether this is indeed the case or perhaps did the immigration officer make a mistake.
I’m currently on a 1 year Non B extension which is due to expire in about 2 weeks time. I’m currently still employed but my work contract will expire at the end of June this year, and due to a change in my life plans I won’t be renewing my work contract. As such, I decided to request a 1 year extension based on marriage instead of an extension based on work. My understanding was that it’s possible to request an extension based on a different category to my current extension (Non O instead of Non B) providing that I meet the requirements of the new extension and have all of the required evidence/documents. I seem to remember hearing about other people who have done similar in the past. Anyway, in spite of me having all the required documents listed in the Non O extension check list, the immigration officer wouldn’t accept my application.
The immigration officer advised me to request Non B extension documents from my employer, return to CW and apply for a Non B extension, then at the end of June when my work contract expires I should request documents from my employer to cancel my Non B extension, then return to CW to cancel the extension, then leave Thailand and visit an embassy in a nearby country, obtain a 3 month Non O visa, return to Thailand, and finally towards the end of the 3 month Non O visa I can return to CW again and apply for the 1 year Non O extension using all of the same documents that I already had with me yesterday when I went to CW.
Obviously I’m going to need to do whatever I need to do, but I’m somewhat surprised by the immigration officer’s advice as I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of other people being allowed to apply for extensions based on a different category to their current extension.
