A friend of mine recently obtained a 10-yr Uk visa for his Thai wife.. allowing unlimited entries of up to 6 months stay each time.. and he told me he paid around £1,000 for it.. and it didn't take anything like 12+ months to process the application.. if all the correct documentation is prepared and ready to submit it should take several weeks rather than several months.. but of course, every situation is different and will have it's own peculiarities.. so timescales will potentially differ between applicants.. I'm considering doing something similar shortly.. no immediate plans to travel back to the Uk, but I'd rather have it in place ready for when it's needed 😉

Consider porting your established number to Expatfone.. it's a digital VoIP mobile phone service that works through an app called Devyce.. you don't need a sim in your phone to use it.. so you keep your Thai sim in your handset for every day use and revert to the Devyce app to use your UK number.. the big benefit is that the app shields your location when using it.. meaning anyone you call or message receives it as if you were still in the UK.. and when you call the UK they will just see your mobile number as they would if you were making the call locally.. which is great for communicating with your UK bank if you're not ready to inform them of your overseas domicile.. which could help you avoid the risk of having your UK bank account cancelled.. which many banks appear to be doing if you no longer have a registered UK address.. and i forgot to mention that calls to UK landlines and mobiles and sms's are completely free.. you just pay a fixed monthly subscription to keep it active.. and if you return to live in the UK and want a conventional UK sim again.. you can simply port your number out again and retain the number.. it was a no brainer for me!

Our original KR22 was accepted by CM immigration at the last renewal without any query whatsoever.

I'd suggest that having a Thai bank account is very relevant.. since you can only be taxed (or assessed for tax) on the income you bring into Thailand.. and the only way that can be assessed is via your bank deposits.. meaning if you self declare your income on a tax return they will ask to see your bank statements to verify it.. your overseas bank account is irrelevant.. so if you don't have a Thai bank account you will never pay tax.. unless you volunteer to do so.. however the reality is that you can't stay here on a long term visa (eg. married or retirement visa) without having a Thai bank account.. and these are the majority of people that will be caught by the 180 day ruling.. very few people will live in Thailand for 6 months without a bone-fide visa.. so it's nonsensical to suggest a Thai bank account is not going to be part of the tax equation!

@Raymond *******

Then you simply take your Thai marriage certificate to the local Amphur and register it with them.. they will issue a Kor Ror 2 certificate (instead of a KR22) which is needed to support your married visa application 👍

@Dave ***********

Good advice.. if currently in the Uk then getting the 90-day 'visiting family' visa in advance circumvents the need to get the initial 90-day marriage visa when he reaches Thailand.. and will speed up the process.. but if already in Thailand and applying locally then an unnecessary step.. but if married in a country outside of Thailand then they will need a copy of the original marriage certificate certified (ie. authenticated) by the embassy of said country.. and a copy translated into Thai and duly certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand.. before registering the marriage at the local Amphur in their district.. registration gives them a Kor Ror 22 certificate which is needed for the marriage visa application.. along with embassy and MoFA documents 👍

@THAI *****************************

I believe agents have a valid role to play in helping foreigners with their visa needs.. that is provided their assistance is on a legitimate basis.. meaning they are not making fraudulent statements to obtain visas for applicants that would not otherwise qualify.. your agency looks very respectable to me.. however there are many unscrupulous agents out there that will happily bribe immigration officials to turn a blind eye to irregularities.. or to simply overlook a deficiency that would normally get an application rejected.. they are the 'bad apple' that tarnishes your industry.. an agent that earns their money by helping a client to present the truth is a bone-fide business in my book.. those that are willing to help clients by creating fraudulent documents to present to immigration are effectively breaking the law.. and are encouraging the foreigner applicant to do so.. which puts their right to stay in Thailand at risk.. if an investigation ensues and a foreigner is found to have obtained their visa illegally then their visa will be cancelled and they could be fined.. or worse, they could be deported and may be banned from re-entering the country.. saying i didn't know the agent 'did this' or 'did that' is not going to be an acceptable defence.. these agents know the risks they are taking to earn their living.. whereas many applicants do not.. they should be weighing up the cost of their time and energy and the opportunity cost of depositing funds here.. against the cost of having their dream taken away from them.. but very few appear to factor this in!

If you are considering using an agent because you want to avoid putting the required monies into a Thai bank account.. then you will be locked in to using them forever.. not only expensive but comes with the added risk of your visa being rescinded one day.. should the Thai govt ever decide to clean up the immigration practices that currently make this feasible.. not only that.. but if you ever move provinces and are faced with extending your visa at another immigration office.. then you won't be able to use the same agent who was smoothing the process for you.. and the deal with a new agent could be vastly different a few years down the road.. you are also assuming the initial agent is not going to increase his fees over time.. and if the 'friendly IO' gets greedy next year then that inflation will be passed on to you.. and should you decide you want to start handling the extensions yourself in the future.. the only way to do this will be to exit the country without a re-entry permit so as to invalidate your visa.. then begin the application process from scratch upon your return to Thailand.. ie. make a brand new application directly which isn't linked to the old visa paperwork.. whilst you opine that the cost of an agent is offset by interest on your, savings.. this assumes interest rates continue at the same level and that the agent fees don't escalate wildly.. neither of which are within your control.. and i believe there is minimal political risk in having monies on deposit with a Thai bank.. and anyway, after the first year when you come to extending the visa.. you can switch to the income method instead of using the capital method.. and the money can be withdrawn from the bank.. so it can be considered a temporary requirement in that respect.. and if you get the initial non-o visa in your home country before coming to Thailand.. then you won't need to have the money in a Thai bank until you come to renew it in-country so to speak.. so you get 12-months grace.. and can defer any agents' fees for a year!

If you enable roaming and connect to a UK network then your wife should receive all standard text messages.. whether they originate from Thailand or anywhere else.. which includes her bank OTP's.. it's completely irrelevant which country your wife (the handset) is in.. the only restriction is having the phone in 'plane mode' or having 'roaming' turned off.. but be aware that connecting to a UK network using the roaming function could incur a connection fee with the Thai network.. and she will usually be charged a premium rate for making calls or sending messages.. but if you only intend to turn it on to collect a text and then turn it off again and don't actively use the phone it should cost nothing.. i do this all the time when travelling overseas and have no problem receiving texts from my bank.. and this also applies in reverse.. meaning if you have an overseas bank account and an overseas sim in your phone and need to collect an OTP whilst in Thailand.

Ps. The Thai bank doesn't need to use the international code at all.. their system does not differentiate based upon geo-location.. it assumes the receiver will be connected to a Thai network of course.. and when you 'roam' you are bridging networks to your home network.. the originator of the SMS is unaware of this and has no control over your ability to receive the message.. which is controlled by your phone's tech and your home network's ability to connect to an overseas network.. so whilst your Thai provider's system knows you are roaming and can identify your geo-location.. this information is not conveyed to your bank!

If you contact the office holding the new passport and explain your predicament.. maybe they will agree to deliver the new passport to you by courier (eg. signed for secure package) upon payment of a small fee.. which would resolve your dilemma