New rules for farang fathers of Thai children wanting O Visa

[Takiap]

I take it if you're legally married, and your name is on the birth certificates, you are considered to have custody, or do you now need to get divorced first, and then fight for custody, and then apply for your extension?

Jokes aside, nothing surprises me here anymore. A while back, when applying for an extension, I was politely told that I could only submit one birth certificate, not all three. I guess you are only able to support on of your children, and then put the others out to beg.

Now, no matter how hard I tried to find some logic behind this, I couldn't, which unfortunately brings me to one conclusion, but of course I can't mention it because it wouldn't be politically correct, and certainly not the type of thing a grateful guest of Thailand should be saying.

I also realize that we cannot compare Thailand to countries in the first world, so I don't. However, I can't help comparing things here to things in the third world country I come from. For example, people in my country don't preach about the importance of family, but they hold it in higher regard than they do here, where apparently, family is everything. When my wife applied for a South African visa, there were no hoops to jump over, there was no show money required, etc, etc, etc.She filled out her application, paid the fees, submitted the necessary paperwork, and she got her one year visa - no 90 day reporting, no leaving the country every 90 days, and so on. If we had stayed, she would have been given yearly extensions for four years, and then she WOULD have been given permanent residence.

If we were to divorce and I moved back to SA with my kids, and later died, she would be allowed to either stay in SA with them, or take them back here to Thailand. Quite a strange set up for a country that doesn't constantly preach about high moral standards.

I agree with JG, things here can really wear you down. I'm not complaining, at least not yet, but sometimes I do wonder. Maybe I've just never learned how to cope with two faced situations where people say one thing, and then do another. Yes I could leave and return to SA or to GB, but then I will of course have to put up with other things which drive me up the wall. I guess we sometimes just have to count our blessing, and whenever I do that, Thailand still scores the most points, well, at least most times.......lol.

[JimmyGreaves]

BB thanks for your input. Yes if I do go for custody to support my daughter here then where does that leave my partner?

Takiap, Yes I'm really easy going and try to go with the flow doing everything that's asked but this has worn me out. Firstly spending alot of time going to British Embassy and Ministry Of Foreign affairs to get the appropriate documents to enable me to get the correct document from the Amphur here in HH that confirms that I am the father of my daughter. So now I have a yellow book, the parental document from the HH Ampur with all our photos on and her thai birth certificate, my 5 year old daughter also has a British and Thai passport and to cap it all her surname is mine. Now they want me to take custody to apply for extension of stay which I presume takes rights away from my partner and also allows me to get an O visa from the UK. Got no idea about how to go about Custody but as Advocate said it is done in the courts at Prachuap Kiri Khan and probably costs a lot of money. Arghhhhhhh

[advocate]

Jimmy Greaves.

Name on the birth certificate is only proof of fatherhood and not proof of custody. Fatherhood does not qualify for the visa, only custody will suffice, and seems the only way to get custody is to adopt your own children.

It took me 1 year and approx 8 trips to the courthouse. I used the lawyer from P+A Notary at a cost of 25,000 Bt. It will not be granted unless the mother consents or is completely unfit.

The qualifier is that I have not signed official marriage documents with the Thai Amphur, so I may be morally married, but not legally. But I don't think it matters if you are legally married or not as the presumption seems to be that the mother has custody, esp if married to a foreign national.

Perhaps someone else may have 1st hand experience on whether being married makes any difference, but as you have already been to immigration and don't seem to qualify under the new rules, it looks like the only options are adoption, legally marry your wife and claim her as the dependant, or qualify for a different type of visa.

[advocate]

I should add that during the adoption process you are subject to investigation by the office that handles youth protection services. You will have to be interviewed and provide character references who will also have to attend. They will want to know your finances, home life, fitness as a father, etc. They may demand a DNA test, but in my case they waived this bc my son is a copy of myself.

[JimmyGreaves]

Jimmy Greaves.

Name on the birth certificate is only proof of fatherhood and not proof of custody. Fatherhood does not qualify for the visa, only custody will suffice, and seems the only way to get custody is to adopt your own children.

It took me 1 year and approx 8 trips to the courthouse. I used the lawyer from P+A Notary at a cost of 25,000 Bt. It will not be granted unless the mother consents or is completely unfit.

Immigration tell me that this can be done in less than 3 months with paperwork given to a lawyer. Maybe things have speeded up.

So Custody means Adoption, seems odd but TIT



The qualifier is that I have not signed official marriage documents with the Thai Amphur, so I may be morally married, but not legally. But I don't think it matters if you are legally married or not as the presumption seems to be that the mother has custody, esp if married to a foreign national.

Yes I'm not legally married also, only Budda knows not the law

Perhaps someone else may have 1st hand experience on whether being married makes any difference, but as you have already been to immigration and don't seem to qualify under the new rules, it looks like the only options are adoption, legally marry your wife and claim her as the dependant, or qualify for a different type of visa.

See above

[advocate]

I would not rely on immigration officers suggested timeline for court ordered adoption. Many many times I showed up for court only to learn the judge had not bothered to show up for various reasons. I experienced delay after delay.

Perhaps they have shortened the process, but at the time the lawyer advised me it would take 6-12 months.

Perhaps immigration will grant temporary extensions based on pending adoption if you have the court paperwork.

Of course the easiest, fastest, cheapest option, at least in the short term, is to legally register the marriage at the Amphur. Some of us don't want to do so for various reasons.

For those who are under 50, and don't qualify for a retirement visa, the options seem to be to get married, adopt, or get an education visa and take language lessons.

You could get an education visa while waiting for the adoption order.

[hhfarang]

For those who are under 50, and don't qualify for a retirement visa, the options seem to be to get married, adopt, or get an education visa and take language lessons.

You forgot "Get out of this hell hole and go to a more hospitable country"...

[JimmyGreaves]

For those who are under 50, and don't qualify for a retirement visa, the options seem to be to get married, adopt, or get an education visa and take language lessons.

You forgot "Get out of this hell hole and go to a more hospitable country"...

That comment is exactly the way I am feeling today. However I just need to think of England to reverse that

[poosmate]

Maybe you should retire and take up some REGULAR sport activity