The Thai Marriage Visa or what is more formally known as the One Year Extension of Stay Based on Marriage is one of Thailand’s visas that allow its holder to stay in the country for an extended amount of time. It is similar to a Retirement Visa in the sense that a marriage visa holder can stay in Thailand for up to a year and subsequent renewal each year is also possible. Yet, unlike the aforementioned visa, the marriage visa provides an option for its holder to be employed while staying in the Kingdom as long as he accompanies such with a work permit.
However, the said visa is restrictive to foreign individuals who are legally married with Thai citizens and when “legal marriage” is mentioned, aside from having a fully registered marriage with a certificate as support, it also meant a marriage between opposite sexes as currently Thailand does not recognize same sex marriages.
Aside from being married with a Thai, an applicant still has to prove that he is eligible for the said visa basing on the following:
- Financial Requirement
The applicant has three options to fulfill the financial requirement. Firstly, he must have a security deposit of at least 400,000 THB at a Thai Bank Account deposited at least 2 months prior to the submission of his application. Secondly, he may also choose to prove to have a monthly income of at least 40,000 THB which he can substantiate with a letter from his embassy. Thirdly, he may also choose to address the financial requirement by combining his Thai Bank Account and income totalling 400,000 THB.
His security deposit at a Thai Bank Account can be supported by an updated passbook or bank book of his plus a bank letter certifying that the funds has been in the said account for more than 2 months.
- Other Documents
He may also be required to submit a police clearance to ascertain his character of having no police or criminal record in his home country and so with a medical certificate to prove that he is of good health and not a carrier of certain diseases as prescribed by Ministerial Regulations. However, these documents may not be required from him if he so chooses to submit his application within the borders of Thailand.
Additional documents may also be required from the applicant. In cases like this, the applicant is obliged to submit these accordingly in support of his application for marriage visa.
Direct application for a marriage visa is not possible and so what an applicant must do is to first apply for a 90 Day Visa or a One Year Non-immigrant “O” Visa in his home country. When granted, he then has to travel to the Kingdom to activate his visa. Once in Thailand, he must then submit the necessary documents to convert his current visa to a marriage visa.
If granted, the person holding a marriage visa can stay in Thailand for a year without the need for him to exit the country within the visa validity period but he still has the responsibility to report his place of residence with the Immigration Office every 90 days. Traveling outside of Thailand within the year will also require him to apply for a re-entry permit before his date of travel otherwise his marriage visa will get cancelled.
