If you were married overseas.. meaning not in Thailand.. then the first step is to get a copy of the original marriage certificate certified by the Embassy of the country where your marriage took place.. for most people that's their home country.. but you could have had a vacation style wedding of course.. so, if you're British and got married in England the British Embassy in Bangkok would need to authenticate it in this manner.. the second step is to take this, along with a translated copy (in Thai) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok for certification by them.. but you need to complete the first step before you can move on to the second step.. and given the complexities and inconvenience involved it's best to use an agent who knows the ropes and can expedite this for you.. we are in CM and didn't want to waste our time and energy traveling to Bangkok in person either.. so found an agent that could do everything and produce the requisite documents..which took around 2 weeks from start to finish and needed us to attend the final document collection at the International Convention Center in CM to reduce the wait by a few days.. the fee was just over 5k baht in total.. and they threw in a translated copy of my passport for good measure.. which wasn't needed by the Amphur to register the marriage but i guess it might come in useful sometime.. but be aware that the Amphur may try to retain the original certified copies.. ie. instead of simply taking copies of them for their records.. which is outrageous imo since you may need to use them elsewhere in the future.. and don't want to have a repeat of the hassle and further expense.. i pushed back hard and told our Amphur they could only keep them if they gave me a legal undertaking to return them if i needed them.. or alternatively, agree to pay an agent the necessary fee to produce another set for me.. and after deliberation and consultation with superiors they backed down and took copies for themselves!

@Pierre ********

You need to check with the immigration office in your location.. or the location where you will be residing if you are not already in Thailand.. since it can vary in terms of the finer detail 👍

Immigration should absolutely demand to see the bank book for the account.. at least if they are doing their job properly.. because they will check back to see that the terms of the previous visa application were actually met.. meaning not just the original seasoning period but the post issuance period as well.. and this will not necessarily be visible from bank statements alone.. at least my personal experience in CM has been that they still want to see the bank book if you try to present them with just bank statements.. although i accept that a different IO on a different day may think differently!

I'm assuming you are going to apply for an extension based on retirement.. but your original thread did not actually say this.. the process is slightly different if it's based on marriage.. so it's pretty essential to specify the type of non-o when seeking advice in the forum😉

You didn't mention your nationalities.. it appears that at least one of you has a U.S. passport.. but there's a suggestion that one spouse might be a Thai citizen.. given your reference to it 'being easier if a dependent'.. it's certainly an easier ride if you are married to a Thai and apply for the non-o based on marriage.. not necessarily in terms of the bureaucracy involved but in terms of the systems welcome-ness.. but please note if you get married in the U.S. before you travel to Thailand you are going to need a copy of your marriage certificate stamped and certified by the U.S. Consulate.. or the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok if it's done in Thailand.. as well as a translated copy (into Thai) which needs to be certified by the Thai Embassy in your home country.. or by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok if it's done in Thailand.. whereas if you get married in Thailand you will get a Thai marriage certificate.. which removes all of these hoops from the process.. but there will be more bureaucracy involved in getting married here compared to marrying in the U.S.. especially if the foreigner has been married previously or if either party has existing children.. so you need to research this well.. to ensure that when you reach Thailand you have all the documentation you are possibly going to need!

If you are in CM you can get one at Immigration at Central Festival.. assuming you have time before you go.. you have to be there in the morning (before 11am from memory) and it's a really fast process.. never crowded like the main office near the airport.. personally I'd never knowingly roll up at the airport without already having my re-entry permit done and dusted.. there may be a million to one chance of the desk at the airport being closed.. but that's still too much of a risk for me.. not to mention the added stress attached to it!

Whether it's a 30-yr lease over the land or a usufruct.. the key to making it a 'safe' option is to ensure it is assignable and extendable.. meaning if the relationship breaks down you can sell the house (which you built and legally own) AND assign the lease over the land to the buyer of the house.. this allows you to move away from your partner's village to 'start again' so to speak.. whilst getting a return on your investment.. bear in mind if the lease on the land is not extendable then the market value of the house will diminish as the years roll by!

They will accept the bank balance certification dated the day prior to you attending at CM immigration.. meaning if you update your book and get the letter on Monday you can still use it on Tuesday morning.. and it's kinda necessary if you are going to immigration at 8:30-9:00 am in the morning when the bank won't be open 😉 Ps. And if you bank with BB you can download your statements as pdf docs and then print them off yourself.. without having to pay a fee!

@Andrew *******

You are so darn rude.. and just to let you know that your conceited tone is not a good look! Especially when you are wrong about being right! The OA wanted a 1-yr tourist visa and Stuart is absolutely right when he says it doesn't exist. There are numerous visa's that may allow you to stay in country for a year.. but not as a tourist.. the immigration website is clear on this fact.. so please refrain from your playground antics and show some respect to a guy that regularly goes out of his way to help people.. enuff said!

You should be able to file your tm30 online.. as far as I'm aware, it's only your first 90-day report that needs to be done in person.. just set up an account on the tm30 system and upload digital copies of your gf's blue book and Thai ID.. and you should be good to go.. it saves the documents so when you go back in to do another tm30 after traveling it's even easier 😉