# Marriage (Non-Immigrant O) visa



## awais_666 (Nov 18, 2012)

hello i have come from australia and i am pakistani citizen i came to thailand on tourist visa and wanted to marry my thai gf and in documentation process my tourist visa have expired 3 days ago but lawyer said to me you not need to worry what you guys suggest should i wait or exit or what is its solution and can i apply without lawyer for marriage visa whats its process

thanks


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

out of my depth here . . help me someone!

Firstly - what a lawyer!
Being an illegal overstayer is a great start, and rectifying that should be your first concern. 
Did he charge you for that advice?
Unclear how you got a Tourist Visa (do you? or a permit to stay?) without proof of departure/return air ticket?

The 'marriage visa' is a *Non-Immigrant O (Thai Spouse)*

Do you hold an Australian passport/citizenship?

With Visas there are variations between applicants' country of origin.

see:



> Passport holders of . . . .Pakistan . . . are requested to file for application at the Thai Embassy / Consulate-General where they have their permanent residence
> source


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## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

*Careful*



awais_666 said:


> hello i have come from australia and i am pakistani citizen i came to thailand on tourist visa and wanted to marry my thai gf and in documentation process my tourist visa have expired 3 days ago but lawyer said to me you not need to worry what you guys suggest should i wait or exit or what is its solution and can i apply without lawyer for marriage visa whats its process
> 
> thanks


awais 666:

First, if your tourist visa expired three days ago you are an illegal immigrant subject to detention, imprisonment, fine and deportation. Fix this "overstay" problem immediately and get a new lawyer. (Perhaps your explanation of what the lawyer advised you was flawed) 

I am not an immigration lawyer. I did marry a Thai citizen. Every step of the process was scrutinized and many "roadblocks" were put in place to test our resolve. Most of the process is designed to be difficult to discourage fake marriages to circumvent immigration laws.

In my case 15+ years ago, I had to formally ask permission from both governments for the marriage. I/we also had to undergo several interviews proving that the marriage was legit. At every step of the process you may be denied. Both you and your girlfriend will be investigated.

Visit your embassy in Thailand and ask how you proceed in marrying a foreign national. Get your paperwork in order. Follow your embassy's instructions in the proper legal procedures to follow.

You can marry a Thai without a lawyer. However, you open yourself up to making mistakes that may hinder or possibly void the process. You will need an interpreter to register the marriage unless you speak fluent Thai. 

*First thing - Get your visa in order - immediately.* An overstay may well be enough of a reason for a denial of request.

Good luck.


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## awais_666 (Nov 18, 2012)

Thanks for the reply
I am a pakistani citizen and student in australia my embassy have asked to wait for the affirnation to marry for which i am waiting
And lawyer hasnt charge me yet he said when i go to immigiratio he will assist that my marriage was underway that is why i couldnt leave and then i have to pay fine of 500 bath per day and they will issue me non immigirant visa for three months problem is that i want to go back but my gf parents have fixed weddint date without discussing with me and my gf which is in january and if i go they think i will not come back that is why i am waiting for marriage papers to be ready so i can process it 
But i think going back is better what you guys say


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## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

awais 666:

Your girlfriends parents "have fixed" the wedding date. This probably means they have scheduled the Buddhist wedding ceremony for that specific date, as determined to be an auspicious date for a wedding, by the resident or ceremony performing Monks.

For clarification purposes. The legal date of your marriage is the date that you register it at the local city center.

My official (registered) wedding date and the date of my Buddhist wedding ceremony were three months apart. 

Your girlfriends family, neighbors, etc. will recognize the Buddhist Ceremony date as your wedding date. The legal date of the wedding for immigration purposes is the marriage registration date. 

You can have the Buddhist wedding Ceremony. If you do not register the marriage - it will not be recognized on a legal basis.


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## awais_666 (Nov 18, 2012)

Yes dear but my official marriage is this week from the day i have come here i am trying to prepare the documents which couldnt complete yet only the affirmation from embassy is remaining which isdue tomorrow but any how my official marriage will be done this week


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## cooked (Jan 30, 2011)

The official marriage is no big deal, if you don't have all the documents you need you can go again. However the visa extension based on support of a Thai spouse that you are looking for applies to an 'O' (Ordinary) visa. You must get one of these before extending it! I believe that you have to go to Bangkok to change a tourist visa into an 'O' visa, and that this requires a lot of paper work, most people do this at a Thai embassy or consulate in their home country. Why not telephone your local immigration office or better still, go there in person? Better to stay legal at all costs in your situation. You won't be deported. Good luck


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## awais_666 (Nov 18, 2012)

Yes dear i have done all the paperwork frommy country but pak embassy needs to attest it for which they ask me to wait so i am waiting for it the only issue is my visa issue i dont know they will allow me to stay or not


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

cooked said:


> Why not telephone your local immigration office or better still, go there in person? Better to stay legal at all costs in your situation. You won't be deported. Good luck


Not something i have any experience in - but what _would_ they do?

Scenario - person goes in to Immigration, identifies self as illegal immigrant/overstayer with no ouward/ongoing ticket.

Quite different to paying up the 500 baht at the airport on the way out.

I don't expect they would take and receipt the 500 per day for the days already overstayed, and say '_see you next week for another 3500 baht'_? They - police and/or immigration would have no choice but to detain that person as I see it.

This from the Siam Legal website



> It is illegal to overstay your visa as it is a violation of immigration rules.
> Needless to say, you are also breaking the Thai law.
> ****
> However, just avoid getting yourself caught by the immigration police at all means.
> ...


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## cooked (Jan 30, 2011)

Song_Si said:


> Not something i have any experience in - but what _would_ they do?
> 
> Scenario - person goes in to Immigration, identifies self as illegal immigrant/overstayer with no ouward/ongoing ticket.
> 
> ...


This kind of stuff happens all the time. I saw on another forum just now that a guy on over stay went to immigration, wanting a marriage extension, and he was told to go to Vientiane to get an 'O' visa. I really don't think that he will be deported although by law, this is a possibility. If you go voluntarily and not because a police officer stopped you somewhere, it should be ok. No way you can get around this legally.


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## stednick (Oct 16, 2011)

*Freedom - your most valuable possession*

Freedom is your most valuable possession, just ask anyone who has spend time in jail.

Why would anyone in their right mind risk incarceration for any reason?

Play by the rules. Don't try to bend them. Protect yourself. Rely on absolutely no one else as you are the one who will pay the price. What leniency that has happened in the past is no guarantee or indication of what your situation may evolve into. Just your luck to be the first in line when a crackdown on immigration rules take place. Nothing like being the example held up for the newspapers and the publics scrutiny. 

The jails are full of optimistic fools. "It only happens to others, the real criminals, it could never happen to me." 

What benefit is so great that you would risk the unknown of incarceration in a foreign country?


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