See the conditions for the marriage visa for Thailand. If you are married to a Thai then you can apply for a Thai “O” visa or what is also called a marriage visa. The “O” stands for ‘other’ and it can be used for a number of circumstances. Married to a Thai or having a Thai national as a child. If you have a child in Thailand that you are responsible for then you can also use this visa to stay in Thailand to look after you Thai son or daughter. The visa is however mainly used as a marriage visa.
Marriage Visa for Thailand
The process for the Thai marriage visa starts at the Embassy in your home country or anywhere in Asia. The Thai Embassies in Asia tend to be very strict about the marriage visa rules. As an example at the Cambodian Embassy they will only issue the visa to you twice in a row and then tell you to extend the visa in Thailand for 12 months.
You can also wait up to 4 days for the visa. In Malaysia it is an overnight process however they will also limit the amount of times you can apply for a visa. Malaysia at one point in time did offer multiple entry visas however you had to show 400,000THB in your name in a Thai bank account. This is the same as a 12 month extended visa. Thailand over the last 5 years have cracked down on visa abuse.
The documents needed:
- 1. Completed application form;
- 2. Copy of your passport;
- 3. Signed copy of your marriage certificate (both versions);
- 4. Signed copy of your Thai wife’s ID document;
- 5. Signed copy of your Thai wife’s Tabian Baan;
- 6. Signed copies of any Thai children you might have;
These documents need to be handed in at the Thai Embassy. Once they issue you a visa it will only be for 3 months or 90 days. Once you enter Thailand you have 90 days to extend the visa. Don’t wait until the last week for the extension application.
The applications process needs all the documents again as at the Embassy plus additional documents. Note that at immigration they now also take a photo of you and your wife together at immigration itself. The documents are as follows:
The documents needed:
- 1. Completed application form;
- 2. Copy of your passport;
- 3. Signed copy of your marriage certificate (both versions);
- 4. Signed copy of your Thai wife’s ID document;
- 5. Signed copy of your Thai wife’s Tabian Baan;
- 6. Signed copies of any Thai children you might have;
- 7. PLUS – Copy of your Thai bank account showing 400,000 THB or
- 8. PLUS – Copy of your Thai bank account showing an income of 40,000THB a month;
- 9. PLUS – Photos of you and your wife together in front of your home/apartment in Thailand;
- 10. PLUS – You need a map to where you home/apartment is located in Thailand.
These are the documents that are needed. The process takes about 1 month to complete after which you still need to report to immigration every 90 days to tell them where you live. Note that the visa does not allow you to work in Thailand. You will need a work permit for that so speak to an attorney in Thailand if you are planning on working. The marriage visa for Thailand starts with your marriage registration in Thailand or abroad.
