Only one needs to be over 50 for the one year retirement visa and then the other spouse of any legal age can get a non-O one year marriage visa if you get a simple Thai marriage certificate.

Every year you will need to reapply for each visa and meet the requirements ie money in bank for retirment and simple document to show you are still married for the other.

It is simpler to use a thai lawyer to set it up but you should be able to sort it without having to leave Thailand.

Koh Tao yesterday was a success story.

Westerners registered their info a few days ago, then Surat Thani Immigration came over for the day.

Everyone was split into different appointment time slots for the day and local volunteers helped keep everything moving.

It still took a while but everyone was processed without any drama and it went very smoothly.

Why issue a one year WP but refuse to issue the matching visa.

This is the most frustrating point.

Yes I have checked this "1 year no visa run extension" before and I am not eligible because I don't have enough full time Thai staff to qualify for it.

I'm not asking for something new, just for the same visa I have already been approved for the last 4 years.

If the rules are supposed to be clear and standardised why do we need to chase which embassy or consulate is changing their position of issuing the same visa as another embassy?

@Robert ******

I keep hearing that the immigration office won't approve the extension of stay for small companies unless you have x number of Thai employees. Why approve a 1 year WP and then deny the visa that goes with it. The WP should be enough to get a matching visa not the other way round.

Latest case is confirmed as friends personally know who it has happened to and they have been in communication via social media from the detention room at the airport. Second case is third hand comments on forum saying the same thing happened to another person earlier this week.

2 people have been deported from Don Muang this week for not having the cash and they were not allowed to use ATM