@Peter ********

Who's 'new rules' exactly.. and for what visa at what immigration office? Only in CM the rules read 'monthly income' and they are simply looking to see 12 deposits over a 12 month period.. and transfers from your overseas bank account to your Thai bank account are acceptable.. regardless of whether you are flipping the monthly pension you might receive into your overseas bank.. or whether it is coming from savings.. can you point me to the source of this requirement please.. and explain how you would evidence it.. thanks.

@Sam ******

This notice also ends by saying 'make sure it belongs to you personally' which is adding another condition for the certificate of balance.. immigration cover this by insisting that your deposit is reflected as an overseas transfer in relation to a retirement visa application.. however, this does not apply to married visa's.. so theoretically, you could transfer monies from your spouse's bank account into your own account to create the required deposit.. without this being a problem for immigration.. but Bangkok Bank are suggesting if they identify a situation where it looks like you've borrowed the money from someone else.. then they will also refuse to issue the certificate.. I'm getting the impression that they are acting in cahoots with immigration over this.. it's a sly way to make it difficult for people to use agents to front the money needed to season funds.. particularly for the married visa where there is no seasoning requirement before applying for the initial 90-day non-o.. this bank policy effectively introduces a 4-month seasoning period for this application.. which should not be necessary at all.. and to proceed with the 12-month extension upon expiry of your initial 90-days.. you'll need to keep the funds in the bank for a total of 7-months instead of 2 months.. that's 4-months before you apply for the initial non-o and then the whole 3-months after it's granted.. leading up to the application for the extension.. if you add in the requirement to maintain the balance for 2-months (post visa issue) with the retirement visa.. that's 9-months you're expected to leave the funds on deposit.. great idea to prevent an outflow of funds by the bank though !!

You also need to bear in mind that when you apply for said extension you will get an 'under consideration' stamp in your passport.. you will have to return 1-month later to get the full 12-month stamp.. which is in effect the extra 11-months of the full year.. during this under consideration period you need to be available at your home in Thailand.. because immigration undertake routine home visits to verify your information and satisfy themselves that you really do live there with your wife.. to the extent of getting you to invite neighbours into your home to 'vouch' for this reality.. it doesn't occur in every single case and you have no way of knowing if immigration will select you for a visit until you get a phone call.. however, it is usually limited to first time applicants.. meaning in future years it is highly unlikely though not impossible.. so in planning your travel schedule you will need to dance around this.. ideally you should stay in country between filing your extension application and getting the full stamp in your passport.. then I'd advise you to consider purchasing a multi re-entry permit since you clearly need to travel in and out of the country fairly regularly.. and it will save you a lot of time and energy 😉

Your funds need to have been on deposit in a Thai Bank account in your name for 2 months.. that is 2 months before the date of your application for the 'extension of stay' based on marriage.. so you need to work out the logistics depending upon your intent to file said application 😉

@Brandon ***********

My understanding was that funds only needed to be reflected as an overseas transfer if you were applying for a non-o based on retirement.. and it didn't matter for a non-o based on marriage.. or is this a very recent change.. only i used a bank account with funds that were already in Thailand when i got my non-o based on marriage.. and that was at CM.. so i don't understand why the OA here should have a problem.. unless he is looking at a checklist for retirement instead of marriage?

If you submit your application using a joint account that has double the minimum capital requirement that should suffice.. and if it doesn't get approved they will surely explain what you need to do to knock your application into shape.. that has to be quicker than waiting days or weeks for someone to reply to an email!

@Graham *****

Not in CM.. i applied early thinking I'd get my extension inked in early as a consequence.. but the extension was dated for the exact date my 90-day non-o was due to expire.. and the under consideration period took it forward exactly 1-month after that date.. i was told by immigration that if i had applied for it 1-week earlier or 1-week later these dates would not have changed.. the only real benefit of getting the paperwork filed early is to get any wrinkles ironed out in good time.. surely it's called an extension of stay because you are extending the date (or deadline) you already have.. it's not a new application with dates that run from your date of application.. which would be the case with a preliminary 90-day non-o application filed in country!

Seems like there are many conflicting and confusing opinions here.. he tells us he has a 90-day non-o already which expires 2 Sep 25.. and he's intending to exit the country just before said expiry date.. and whilst at first it would appear to be sensible to apply for the 12-month extension of stay before leaving Thailand.. then bolt on a re-entry permit so it is valid when he returns in 4-6 month's time.. this strategy wont work unfortunately.. because there is the small matter of the 'under consideration' period.. if the 12-month extension is granted it will run from 2 Sep 25 when the current 'visa' expires.. they will stamp the passport 'under consideration' and he will then need to return 1-month later to get it inked into his passport proper.. that date will be 2 October 25.. which is after he has flown back to the Uk.. so that plan is not feasible for him.. the only option will be to apply for another non-o visa when he's back in the UK and begin the process to get the 12-month extension when he returns to Thailand.. which should not be a problem.

You do not need to return to the UK to resolve this dilemma.. your Uk marriage certificate will need to be certified by the British Embassy in Bangkok.. and a copy will need to be translated into Thai and duly certified by the (Thai) Ministry of Foreign Affairs.. it's a mind numbing job to do yourself unless you happen to live in Bangkok.. we used an agent to do it so as to avoid travelling and to expedite the process.. and they included a translated and certified copy of my passport.. which i didn't know i was going to need for other things until much later.. so this was forethought on their part.. the cost was around 5,000 baht and the whole process took around 3-weeks.. so you really need to get this underway soonest.. bearing in mind it could take longer if you go the DIY route.. once you have it you can register your marriage at the local amphur and obtain a Kor Ror 22.. which is basically a certification of the marriage registration.. these documents will then enable you to obtain a 'Yellow Book' for your marital home (assuming your wife already has a Blue Book in her name) from the Municipality.. which in turn will enable you to get a 'Pink ID Card' from your local Amphur.. all valuable ID's and will serve as proof of identity and proof of address.. making your life here much easier moving forward.. and are (usually) necessary to open a bank account.. these were the requirements of Bangkok Bank at least.. and will no doubt be requested by most other banks too.. once your money is transferred into your Thai account you should obtain the confirmatory letter of your bank balance from your bank the day before you go to immigration.. and make sure your passbook has been updated to current day to mirror the figures quoted in the letter.. then get 2 copies of everything to support your non-o application.. though I'd personally recommend you get 6 copies of every document and keep the extra copies in readiness for your next renewal.. not to mention the many other situations that may arise once you settle into every day life.. it will save you time and money in the long run.. good luck with it my friend 🙂 Ps. I realise there can be minor variations in the process and / or the requirements across different provinces.. but this is the outline of the system we had to navigate ourselves in Chiang Mai.

@Kevin ******

I'm not sure i understand any of that my friend 🤔