After divorce

[killblues]

Hi all,  I am a UK citizen currently married to a Thai lady and residing in the UK.  We intend to move to Thailand soon and I plan to get the 3 month visa and convert to a 12 month marriage visa once Ive been in Thailand for two months. If my wife and I were to divorce when Im on the  12 month visa would that vise cease to be valid immediately or would i be able to stay on that visa until the time came to renew ?

Thanks.

[Garzan]

That's an interesting question, and I'll readily admit I have no idea. I'd suspect you could carry on until renewal time, but honestly, that is only a guess. 

I am also legally married to a Thai national. In my own case, I prefer to do retirement extensions rather than marriage extensions. The required time and paperwork is less, though the financial requirements are more. (Unless you go to a Visa agent and then it's just a matter of paying the proper fee to the agent.) 

If you can show 65,000b in external income, or park 800,000b in the bank, retirement extensions are pretty easy and do not depend on your marriage lasting until you die or decide to leave Thailand. I hope I don't get divorce #3, but if I do, I prefer to have my current visa/extension based solely on me rather than us. (And I am well over 50 so qualify for a retirement extension(s).) 

[ex-pat]

Been a long time but IIRC technically the visa is for married to Thai, meaning not married = visa is invalid. However, it's extremely unlikely to come up during that 12 months, and as Garzan states, if you have the income or cash, there's the option to go with a retirement visa instead. Defo less paperwork and hassle. I "converted" decades ago - don't know if that is a problem now but I doubt it. 

[Breezeclimber]

Be also aware that when switching from extension based on marriage to extension based on retirement, the immigration officer may request a signed copy of wife's ID, proof of marriage and her house registration (presumably to confirm her address is the same as yours).  Not providing these documents would result in refusal to approve a _retirement_ visa extension.  I have personally seen this happen at the immigration office in Jomtien and have heard of it happening at other immigration offices as well.

[thainet]

49 minutes ago, Breezeclimber said:

Be also aware that when switching from extension based on marriage to extension based on retirement, the immigration officer may request a signed copy of wife's ID, proof of marriage and her house registration (presumably to confirm her address is the same as yours).  Not providing these documents would result in refusal to approve a _retirement_ visa extension.  I have personally seen this happen at the immigration office in Jomtien and have heard of it happening at other immigration offices as well.

Before the naysayers have their say...this is true at Jomtien, for the first time changing from Marriage to Retirement  (to reiterate--only the first time).