Marriage Visa or Child Visa Service for Thailand

Why use a Thai family visa instead of tourist visas

If your partner or children are Thai citizens, you do not need to live on tourist stamps or risky border runs. Thailand has specific Non Immigrant O family visas that recognise your Thai spouse or Thai child and give you a more stable way to live here. With the correct family visa you can stay up to one year at a time, renew it each year inside Thailand, and stop worrying that the officer at the airport will suddenly refuse you entry.

A clean family visa record also protects your Thai family. Immigration sees you as someone with a real reason to be in Thailand, not a permanent tourist. It also gives you a strong base if you later want to add a work permit, so you can work legally in Thailand while still keeping your visa linked to your Thai spouse through a Marriage Visa, or to your Thai child. Thai Kru’s role is to pick the right family category for your real situation and then do the heavy lifting on documents and timing.

Types of Thai family visas and who they are for

Here are the main real-world scenarios we see and which family visas they usually use.

1. Living in Thailand on a Marriage Visa or Thai child visa (long stay)

This is the core long-stay family route. It applies if:

• You are legally married to a Thai citizen (the classic Marriage Visa route), or
• You are a parent of a Thai child, usually under 20, and can prove the legal relationship.

You first obtain a Non Immigrant O visa (normally giving 90 days on entry) and then extend inside Thailand for one year at a time, based on a Marriage Visa (Thai spouse) or Thai child status. As long as you keep meeting the Marriage Visa or child-visa requirements and apply on time, this one-year permission can be renewed every year so you can continue living with your Thai family in Thailand.

2. Visiting your Thai spouse or Thai child for shorter periods

Some embassies issue a Non Immigrant O “visiting family” visa for people who live and work overseas but want to visit or travel with their Thai spouse or Thai child in Thailand. It normally gives 90 days on entry, and once you are in Thailand you can extend that stay up to one year at immigration if you meet the financial and relationship requirements and remain in the country. This is ideal if you want to come for an extended visit, travel around Thailand with your family, and then return overseas later, using this as a flexible Marriage Visa / family-visit option.

3. Staying as a dependant of someone who works or holds long-stay status

If your Thai spouse or your Thai child’s other parent is a foreigner working in Thailand on a Non B or LTR visa, you and the children can often hold a Non O dependant visa. This lets the whole family stay in Thailand legally while one person is the main worker or long-stay holder. For this Thai-family service we mainly focus on the first two scenarios, but we can coordinate with work or LTR cases when needed.

Financial and documentary requirements

The exact paperwork varies by embassy and province. These are the patterns we work from and then adjust to your specific office.

For Marriage Visa (Thai spouse of a Thai citizen)

To extend your stay in Thailand for one year (renewable each year) based on a Marriage Visa linked to your Thai spouse, you normally need:

• Registered Thai marriage certificate and family record. If married overseas, it must be legalised and registered in Thailand.
• Your Thai spouse’s ID card and house registration.
• Photos of you together, a simple map to your house, and sometimes a short home-visit report.
• Financial proof in your name of either:
  • 400,000 THB in a Thai bank account, deposited for the required period before application, or
  • 40,000 THB per month in income, confirmed by embassy letter or Thai tax records, or
  • A combination that totals 400,000 THB per year where the local office allows it.

For parent of a Thai child

To extend for one year at a time based on being the parent of a Thai child you usually need:

• Child’s Thai birth certificate showing you as the parent, or legal adoption papers.
• You do not need to be married to the other parent. This route works for separated, divorced or never-married parents as long as you are the legal parent and you genuinely support the child.
• Child’s Thai ID or house registration and often a letter from school confirming enrolment.
• Photos of you and the child together and evidence that you play a real role in care and support (financial transfers, school contact, medical visits, messages).
• Financial proof very similar to the Marriage Visa route – many offices use the same 400,000 THB / 40,000 THB thresholds.

For visiting family

For shorter Non O “visiting family” visas from embassies you typically need:

• Proof of relationship (marriage certificate or birth certificate).
• Copies of your Thai spouse or child’s ID and passport.
• Basic financial proof such as bank statements or income showing you can support your stay.

Thai Kru turns all of this into one clear checklist for your case and makes sure your financial story is believable and consistent.

Applying before you come to Thailand

If you are still outside Thailand, it is usually cleaner to start from there.

1. We confirm your scenario.
   You tell us about your relationship, children, income and where you live. We say directly whether you should start with a long-stay Marriage Visa / family Non O, a “visiting family” Non O, or arrive on a different visa and convert later.

2. We prepare the embassy file.
   You will normally need:

   • Completed Non Immigrant O application form.
   • Passport with at least 6 months validity.
   • Recent photos.
   • Marriage or birth certificates, plus translations and legalisation where required.
   • Thai spouse or child’s ID, passport and house registration.
   • Bank statements and income proof at the required levels.

   We structure this into a clean bundle and match the exact upload rules for your embassy’s e-Visa system.

3. You submit once, correctly.
   You lodge the application online or at the consulate. If they ask for extra documents, we prepare them. When the visa is approved, you arrive in Thailand with a clear Marriage Visa / family Non O instead of a tourist visa, ready to extend up to one year at a time.

Applying inside Thailand

Many people already live in Thailand with a Thai family but are still on tourist visas, exemptions or old work visas. In that case, we help you convert and extend inside Thailand.

1. Move to the correct base visa.
   If you do not already have a Non O, we help you convert your current permission to stay at immigration or exit to a nearby consulate and return with a Non O. We schedule this so there is no overstay or gap before your Marriage Visa or child-based family extension.
2. Prepare relationship proof and home visit.
   For Marriage Visa and child-based extensions, immigration often inspects your living situation. We prepare photos, household information, and simple answers for you and your Thai family so any interview or home visit feels routine rather than stressful.
3. File the one-year extension (and plan renewals).
   Once your bank deposit or income proof has met the time rule, we file your one-year extension based on your Marriage Visa (Thai spouse) or Thai child. We also set up a renewal calendar so you know exactly when we will prepare the next year’s extension and what your finances must look like before that date.

Applying inside Thailand has more moving parts – bank timing, conversion rules, home visit – so it is exactly the sort of process where a professional team prevents expensive mistakes.

Long-term benefits – work, permanent residence and citizenship

A family-based Non O is more than a nicer stamp.

• You can usually work in Thailand later if a company sponsors a work permit, or if you start your own Thai company and get a work permit through that business. Your base visa stays “family” (Marriage Visa or child-based) but your work permit sits on top, giving you flexibility if your job changes and making it easier to prove income for future renewals.
• After several years of continuous one-year extensions and proper tax payments, foreign Marriage Visa holders (spouses of Thai citizens) and parents of Thai children can apply for Thai permanent residence under the “supporting a Thai family / humanitarian” category, depending on current rules.
• Permanent residence then becomes a strong platform for Thai citizenship through marriage or long-term residence if you meet language, income and time requirements.

In short, the family Non O – especially the Marriage Visa – is the most natural long-term base if your life in Thailand is built around your Thai spouse or children.

Our process

1. Case review.
   You send us photos of your passport stamps, marriage or birth certificates, and a short description of your income and living situation. We tell you plainly what is realistic, which route fits, and what problems we see in advance.
2. Document clean-up.
   We fix messy paperwork: missing registrations, foreign marriages that need legalisation, wrongly recorded births, address issues, and weak photo evidence. We prepare Thai and English explanations that immigration can read in minutes, not hours.
3. Financial planning.
   We tell you exactly how much money must sit in which account, for how long, or which income proof your embassy or local office will accept. Then we calendar the earliest safe date for application and keep you away from last-minute panic.
4. Submission and follow-up.
   We fill out all forms, create photo sets, copy and label every document, and either go with you to immigration or guide you step by step. If there is a home visit, we prep you and your Thai family. If the embassy or immigration wants clarification, we draft the reply.
5. Maintenance and yearly renewals.
   Once you are approved, we track:
   • Your new expiry date and when we must start the next yearly renewal.
   • Your 90-day reporting schedule.
   • When your bank balance can be safely reduced, and when it must be back at the required level for the next extension.

You get a stable family visa and a team whose job is to keep it that way, year after year.

FAQ

1. Do I need to be legally married to my Thai partner?

For a long-stay extension based on a Marriage Visa, yes. You need a registered marriage in Thailand or a foreign marriage that has been legalised and registered in the Thai system. For visas based on your Thai child, legal parentage or adoption is the key, not marriage.

2. I am divorced from my Thai partner but we have a Thai child. Can I still use the child route?

Often yes. If you are the legal parent of a Thai child and you genuinely support the child, you can usually apply for a Non O based on being the parent of a Thai child even after divorce. The focus is on the child’s welfare and your real involvement.

3. Do I have to keep 400,000 THB in the bank forever?

You must keep the required balance for the period set by your local immigration office before and after applying each year. After that, you can usually reduce it for part of the year, but you must top it back up again before the next renewal window. We give you a safe pattern based on your local office’s practice.

4. Can my Thai spouse’s income count instead of mine?

Some offices accept household income where the Thai spouse’s salary is included; others focus on money in your own account. We check your specific office and structure your finances accordingly so the officer sees exactly what they expect.

5. Can I work on a Marriage Visa or child visa?

You can work if you have a valid work permit from the Ministry of Labour. The Marriage Visa or child-based family Non O itself does not block you from holding a work permit, but working without a permit is still illegal even if you have a family visa.

6. How is this different from a guardian visa for parents of foreign school children?

A guardian visa is for parents whose children are foreign nationals studying in Thailand. The family visas we focus on here – especially the Marriage Visa and Thai-child routes – are for spouses and parents of Thai citizens. The rules and benefits are different; we will point you to the right track.

7. Does a family visa help with permanent residence?

Yes. For permanent residence, having a Thai spouse or Thai child places you in the “family/humanitarian” category. Continuous yearly Marriage Visa or child-based family extensions, clean tax history and strong relationship evidence make that application much stronger.

8. Do I still need to do 90-day reports?

Yes. Any time you stay in Thailand longer than 90 days in one stretch, you must do 90-day address reporting, even on a Marriage Visa or child-based family visa. We can handle those reports for you so you do not miss a date.

9. What if immigration thinks my marriage is fake?

We prepare honest, detailed relationship evidence and coach you and your spouse for interviews and home visits. If your relationship is genuine, we help immigration see that clearly through documents, photos and financial support records.

10. Can I start with a 90-day family visa and extend it?

Yes. Many clients start with a 90-day family Non O from an embassy (often used as a first step to a Marriage Visa or child-based extension), enter Thailand, then extend that stay up to one year at a time based on Marriage Visa or Thai child while they remain in Thailand. We manage that entire sequence so your stay is continuous and legal.

With Thai Kru, your Thai family relationship is not just something you mention at the counter. It becomes a structured, documented Marriage Visa or child-based case that officers can approve without drama, giving you and your Thai spouse or children a stable, renewable life in Thailand.