News rules introduced in September have now trickled down to Phuket.
The ThaiVisa forum this morning put up a post quoting the Immigration Bureau as its source, and explaining the new rule for foreign couples.
“In the past,” ThaiVisa explained, “wives [in foreign retired couples] have been able to ‘join’ their husband’s visa simply by showing a marriage certificate and a current non-immigrant visa in their passport. It was not necessary for both partners to show their own income or cash.
“Under the revised guidelines, both foreign partners in a marriage will separately need to demonstrate annual income in their home country of at least B800,000 equivalent or maintain separate bank accounts in Thailand with deposits of the same minimum amount, or a combination of both.
“Letters from an embassy are still required as proof of the income whilst the B800,000 baht in a Thai bank must have been there for at least three months before the application (two months for the first application) and be supported by a letter from that financial institution.”
ThaiVisa says that the more stringent rules on personal finance are believed to have been sparked by concerns that some foreigner-foreigner marriages are not genuine or may have broken up.
“The requirement for each partner to show evidence of B800,000 in cash or income … is seen as the best guarantee from an Immigration Bureau viewpoint. Nor is it possible for a married couple to present a joint bank account. Each partner is now treated as a separate entity.”
Meanwhile, foreign volunteers working for charitable foundations or for NGOs may no longer get one-year extensions to their permits to stay, Immigration Police in Phuket have confirmed. Instead, they must apply for extension every 90 days.
One such volunteer complained to The Phuket News that, apart from the red tape involved, this will increase his costs considerably.
“We hold non-immigrant B visas and work permits. We used to be able to get a one-year visa extension when we renewed our work permits and just reported to Immigration every 90 days.
“But this is no longer the case. Now we have to hand in all the usual mountain of documents, stamped and signed, and apply afresh every 90 days for an extension of stay, and pay B1,900 each every time.
“So our visa expenses have gone from B3,800 to B15,200 for my wife and I every year.”