@Dave ********

as a few others have mentioned, you will need a residence certificate. Go to immigration with your partner and their house book and Id, they will have to basically say the same thing that the TM30 says, that you are connected to that address in the province you are applying in. You will need that for many things, bank accounts, driving license, etc. Different immigration offices may have different rules. Khon Kaen was a pleasure to deal with, relatively speaking. It may seem obvious but dress appropriately when you go; I’ve seen people in shorts or skirts have a harder time than people dressed more conservatively.

For more info see:

Sadly it seems to be very difficult to get tourist visas for Thai nationals to western countries, if not impossible. Had hoped to do it for my wife, before we got married but unless there is ample reason to believe that their ties to Thailand would guarantee their return, it’s really a roll of the dice.

@Chan *****

my wife said it is ใบรับรอง which translates to testimonial or guarantee. It is basically my wife (or whatever Thai person is making the testimonial) saying where they live and they they know the person. Requesting it lets immigration know that the foreigner wants to open a bank account. Presumably an anti money laundering precaution.

I opened mine on a 45 day visa exempt with just a passport, and a letter from immigration confirming my information and a Thai address that I was staying at. Also needed a Thai phone to set up online banking, and having a Thai spouse who already banked at that Bangkok Bank branch probably helped. They offered me the insurance which I politely declined.

@Jeff ********

reminded me of this

Everyone’s learning approach is different, so check out a few different teachers and methods. I’m just starting and trying out Stuart Jay Raj “Cracking Thai Fundamentals.” Theres a book and also online content, can check him out on YouTube and see what you think, or at jcademy.com

Unless you look like a broke ass foreigner that is going to overstay and beg for money to cover their $5 hostel, should be ok.

If you cannot easily access 20k baht or about $700 us, you may run into issues if they do question you. In the past 4 trips in 3 years, never came ups.

@Ross *******

exactly my point. Someone who has a good job or their own small business, owns land and has family ties and other reasons to come back they still tend to refuse. I don’t actually have first hand knowledge of anyone getting approved. I’d love to see the financials and other info of someone who did.

We were just trying to get her here for a visit to meet my family before we got married; unfortunately that wasn’t possible, and we started the K1. By the time that was approved it was already too late for her to meet my father, who passed a few months before her arrival.

Unfortunately people abuse the system, and the people who pay for that are the people who try to work within it.

From my looking into it in the past (for a USA visit), I can say the approval statistics are so bad that it sometimes seems like more of a money grab than a visa. Unless the Thai national has significant assets in and ties to Thailand, they are very unlikely to get approved. If they own a home and some land and have a good mid level job, that’s rarely enough to make the powers that be believe they will not overstay or otherwise violate the intent of the visa. The visa agents know this and make a fair amount of money off the fact that it’s so difficult to get approved. It’s almost like it exists to generate income and not provide a means of traveling to other places.

@Paulo ********

#14 should be #1 🙂