Emigrating in August. Travel requirements

[Yanto]

Hi all
i appreciate that there is sticky thread re visas etc but it doesn’t look like it’s been updated recently.
My wife and I are emigrating to Thailand in August. I intend doing a Marriage visa once there. But can anyone please give me a definitive guide on what I need to do before leaving Uk as regards Certificateof Entry and 90 day visa? What exactly are the requirements please? And how are they obtained?
Also does anyone know if flying with Emirates which Covid testing labs I have to use to obtain my negative test before departure please? I’ve had both jabs now too.
Id be really grateful for any help
Thanks

[Wayne & Ohm]

By emigrating do you mean you are binning the UK altogether and moving lock, stock and barrel to Thailand? Are you both UK citizens? By saying that you intend on doing a marraige visa once in Thailand I assume your wife is Thai?

Have you looked on the Thai Embassy Site in the UK? There should be a lot of information on the site about visas and what you need to do and prove for you to get that visa and do your CoE. I am not sure about a 90 day visa! You can get a 45 day visa/exemption stamp (a friend of mine has just gone to see his partner on one using the Jordan Thai Embassy). This will give you your 2 weeks quarantine and then 30 days in country. There is also the STV which you might be able to get, which gives you 90 days per time and be extended in country twice I believe, giving you 9 months give or take.

At the moment wether or not you are both fully vaccinated then I believe theat you will still need to do the 14 days quarantine before you are let loose. This may change further down the line, it used to be 7 days for fully vaccinated people but they changed it sometime in April back to 14 days. Ain't got a clue why, stupidity probably!

I am on a 1 year multi entry visa based on marriage and for the first upload on the CoE site I had to send them, scan of my visa, passport, marriage certificate, Ohms ID card, her change of name certificate and a Covid insurance policy for the length of stay my visa allows (which is 90 days per visit). Once approved I then uploaded the booking confirmation for quarantiine hotel and flight details. Again this for Jordan Thai Embassy but I would assume they are all similar as the site for uploading is the Thai Govenrment site. Oncee you have uploaded the first lot of Docs and its approved, they say within 3 working days. Then you have 14 days to upload the remainder of the Docs otherwise you have to start again. Approval may take another up to 3 working days. However it may take longer or you might get it aproved within a couple of hours like I did.

If you enter on an 45 day Exemption stamp you can go straight to whichever immigration place you will using to try and get an in-country NON O Visa, this will then allow you 90 days and within the last 30 days of that you can apply for your one year extension based on marraige. I believe that 400,000 baht must be in your bank on the day you apply for the in-country NON O. Then you will follow the rules for the 1 year extension based on marriage.

As for Emirates, you are better offf emailing them or ringing the Emitates desk in the UK. I know that for Iraq (where I work) they are not accepting the NHS PCR Tests results as rumour has it there were some stolen or forged.

[Yanto]

Hi Wayne. First of all thanks very much indeed for your reply and the information. Appreciate it.
Yes we are leaving the UK for good. My wife and I married in Roi Et in 2010. Lampao came over to the UK 6 months later. She has dual citizenship now. Obviously I just have UK.
So would you recommend that I enter Thailand on a 45 day exemption, and then do Non O in country? This is done at the local immigration office?
Im definitely doing the extension based on marriage after that.
So to start with I’d need to do COE online?
Thanks again
Ian

[Tim161]

Apply for COE here

https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/

You will have to upload -

ASQ booking

Flight booking

Insurance details

Your Visa -Apply here - https://www.thaievisa.go.th/

(If you go 45 day visa exempt you will have to show an onward or return flight details within that 45 days)

I suggest you apply for a NON - O visa based on marriage, gives you 90 days when you arrive.

Thai nationals don't require insurance

Thai nationals used to get free Quarantine if they travelled on Thai airways repatriation flights, not sure if this still applies?

You will both have to show negative PCR covid test taken within 72 hours of departure.

[Wayne & Ohm]

Hi Wayne. First of all thanks very much indeed for your reply and the information. Appreciate it.
Yes we are leaving the UK for good. My wife and I married in Roi Et in 2010. Lampao came over to the UK 6 months later. She has dual citizenship now. Obviously I just have UK.
So would you recommend that I enter Thailand on a 45 day exemption, and then do Non O in country? This is done at the local immigration office?
Im definitely doing the extension based on marriage after that.
So to start with I’d need to do COE online?
Thanks again
Ian

Hi Ian
Your visa type is up to you mate, you will need to look at your options and get which you think is the best, as Tim stated above, you will need to possibly show an outward flight, to show you will be leaving Thailand at the end of the 45 days...this can be solved with a 1200 baht (give or take) flight to Vietnam, then dont go, I have done this before.
The Non O in-country I believe should be enquired about/done at the Immigration Office you will be using for your long term stay in Thailand. This I have not tried for myself but have seen snippets about it. It was something I was looking at doing.

Yes the CoE online, the link is in the message from Tim

Wayne

[Yanto]

Apply for COE here

https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/

You will have to upload -

ASQ booking

Flight booking

Insurance details

Your Visa -Apply here - https://www.thaievisa.go.th/

(If you go 45 day visa exempt you will have to show an onward or return flight details within that 45 days)

I suggest you apply for a NON - O visa based on marriage, gives you 90 days when you arrive.

Thai nationals don't require insurance

Thai nationals used to get free Quarantine if they travelled on Thai airways repatriation flights, not sure if this still applies?

You will both have to show negative PCR covid test taken within 72 hours of departure.

Hi Tim
Thank you very much for the reply and information. Excellent. I looked at the link to the Non O Visa. Presumably I do that online from Thailand once I’m there? Do I also need an outward flight for this?
Sorry for so many questions. Just want to make sure that I do it correctly.

[-Keith-]

Hi Tim
Thank you very much for the reply and information. Excellent. I looked at the link to the Non O Visa. Presumably I do that online from Thailand once I’m there? Do I also need an outward flight for this?
Sorry for so many questions. Just want to make sure that I do it correctly.

No, you apply for it here, from the Thai Embassy, before you go.

[Yanto]

Hi Ian
Your visa type is up to you mate, you will need to look at your options and get which you think is the best, as Tim stated above, you will need to possibly show an outward flight, to show you will be leaving Thailand at the end of the 45 days...this can be solved with a 1200 baht (give or take) flight to Vietnam, then dont go, I have done this before.
The Non O in-country I believe should be enquired about/done at the Immigration Office you will be using for your long term stay in Thailand. This I have not tried for myself but have seen snippets about it. It was something I was looking at doing.

Yes the CoE online, the link is in the message from Tim

Wayne

Hi Wayne
Thank you again. So the outbound flight only applies to the 45 day exemption visa? With Non O there’s no need to show that. And that is applied for before I leave the UK? That would give me 90 days to sort out the one year extension based on marriage I assume?
Ian

[Yanto]

No, you apply for it here, from the Thai Embassy, before you go.

Thanks Keith. I reread it and realised that I do it from UK. Appreciate the reply
Ian

[Wayne & Ohm]

You can get a Non O before you go from the Embassy in London...if you meet all the critera!! All the info is on the website. You can also get a Non O once you get into Thailand if you entered on a exemption, harder to do but it is a legal process. But you can only ask for a Non O in country if its for the purpose of then doing your one year extension based on marraige or if getting a retirement visa i believe. Some people have got them, others have been refused, you take the chance as its Thai Immigration you are dealing with!!

If you do the 45 day exemption you may need to show an outward flight. I have never been asked, but normal just book a flight to Vietnam anyway. Even when I went home this January gone I booked a cheap flight out and my 1yr multi entry gives me 90 days, but at least if they asked I had it

The choice is yours

[sisaket]

''There is also the STV which you might be able to get'' Currently the last day for entry with this Visa is 30 SEPT 2021 (Royal Thai Government Gazette).
''I believe that 400,000 baht must be in your bank on the day you apply for the in-country NON O'' Must be in applicants Own Thai Bank Account (not joint) minimum Two months prior to application, Three months prior for any subsequent extensions.
Extensions must be done at the appropriate office location as per the applicants registered address IE if in Samut Prakan Province - Pak Nam, Bangkok City - Chaengwattana Immigration Complex, etc.
With a 12 months extension (NON IMM O) need to report to immigration each 90 days, but do not have to leave Thailand, if leaving Thailand the extension will become expired unless have a Valid Re-Entry Permit.

[Yanto]

''There is also the STV which you might be able to get'' Currently the last day for entry with this Visa is 30 SEPT 2021 (Royal Thai Government Gazette).
''I believe that 400,000 baht must be in your bank on the day you apply for the in-country NON O'' Must be in applicants Own Thai Bank Account (not joint) minimum Two months prior to application, Three months prior for any subsequent extensions.
Extensions must be done at the appropriate office location as per the applicants registered address IE if in Samut Prakan Province - Pak Nam, Bangkok City - Chaengwattana Immigration Complex, etc.
With a 12 months extension (NON IMM O) need to report to immigration each 90 days, but do not have to leave Thailand, if leaving Thailand the extension will become expired unless have a Valid Re-Entry Permit.

Great information. So I need to open a Thai bank account in my name almost immediately once out of quarantine then and transfer the 400,000 thb
Thanks

[Tim161]

The STV is ending soon and will be of no use to you,you can not convert the STV to a NON -O in Thailand. You need a NON -O visa to get the one year extension based on marriage.( you need 400,000 baht in your bank for 3 months before your application for extension based on marriage.

If you intend to emigrate in August you don't have much time. I suggest

1. your first step is to apply on line for a NON-O visa
2. Arrange insurance.
3. when you get visa you can apply for your COE pre- approval
   
   Apply for wife's COE pre- approval

4. when you get pre- approval you have 15 days to book ASQ,and flghts and upload this information, once approved you can then print the COE

[Yanto]

The STV is ending soon and will be of no use to you,you can not convert the STV to a NON -O in Thailand. You need a NON -O visa to get the one year extension based on marriage.( you need 400,000 baht in your bank for 3 months before your application for extension based on marriage.

If you intend to emigrate in August you don't have much time. I suggest

1. your first step is to apply on line for a NON-O visa
2. Arrange insurance.
3. when you get visa you can apply for your COE pre- approval
   
   Apply for wife's COE pre- approval

4. when you get pre- approval you have 15 days to book ASQ,and flghts and upload this information, once approved you can then print the COE

Hi Tim
Thanks. Quick question. If I enter on a 90 day exemption, I can’t arrange the bank account and suitable funds three months before applying for my one year extension based on marriage? Not enough time

[caller]

Hi Tim
Thanks. Quick question. If I enter on a 90 day exemption, I can’t arrange the bank account and suitable funds three months before applying for my one year extension based on marriage? Not enough time

If you apply for your O visa in the UK, you don't have to worry about a bank account or funds in Thailand. You can sort that out when you get there.