The Thai Marriage Visa is intended for those who are married to Thai nationals but are not Thai citizens themselves. This visa allows these non-Thai spouses to stay in the Kingdom for a year without the need for them to exit the country in between.
This visa is renewable every year and that foreigners with this visa type can even renew it within Thailand provided that they meet the requirements set.
Furthermore, the Thai Marriage Visa allows its holder to work although the need for him to secure a work permit first before working is still a standard requirement. Nonetheless, this is particularly attractive for employers as they only need to secure the work permit to employ the individual.
Thai Marriage Visa Qualifications
Marriage to a Thai National
A foreigner with Thai fiancée is not qualified for this visa type as “marriage”, as evidenced by a marriage certificate, must be in existence before the actual application. It may also be that the immigration office will also ask for a copy of the Affirmation of Freedom to Marry that the foreign individual must obtain from his respective embassy.
Financial Requirement
The applicant must be financially-sound in order to qualify for this visa type.
The applicant must have a substantial amount on a Thai Bank Account at 400,000 Baht deposited at least 2 months before he applies for the visa.
Police Certificate and Medical Certificate are required if the applicant filed his application outside of Thailand but he applies for the marriage visa within the Kingdom, these two certificates are not required anymore.
90-day Visa Application Process
A foreigner with a Thai spouse cannot simply apply for a “marriage visa” directly. What he can do is gather all the required documents and apply for a 90-day or a non-immigrant “O” visa at the Thai Embassy in his home country.
Once granted, he will then have to travel to Thailand where he will need another set of documents and then apply for the extension of his current non-immigrant visa to a one year marriage visa.
If granted, the extension will take effect on the last 30 days of the 90-day permitted stay in Thailand or that the current visa should at least have 21 days of permit to stay.
The applicant must take note that qualification is the key that even a foreigner on a visa exemption stamp or tourist visa can even apply for a marriage visa provided that he is qualified for a non-immigrant “O” visa and one year extension visa.
(See the list of countries with Thai visa exemption here.)
What the holder of a Marriage Visa must keep in mind
Reporting every 90 days
While it is true that when granted with a marriage visa, the foreign individual does not need to exit Thailand from time to time, still, he needs to notify the immigration office nearest to his present residence once every 90 days.
Re-entry Permit
The foreign individual does not need to obtain the multiple re-entry permit if he intends to stay in Thailand the whole validity period of the marriage visa but it is highly advisable that he prefer the multiple re-entry permit so that in case he has to exit Thailand all of a sudden, he does not need to apply for one shortly before his intended travel across Thai border.
Account
Although renewal of the said visa is possible by using the same set of documents used during the initial application, the deposited amount in his Thai Bank Account should be deposited at least 3 months prior to the application for renewal of the said visa.
In case that the marriage has resorted to a divorce, the marriage visa holder will then need to exit the country as soon as possible. This is because the marriage visa is tied with the couple’s marriage and so if such marriage has been terminated by divorce, the marriage visa will also be terminated too because there is no more marriage to speak off where the marriage visa has been based.
