If you have Thai children, you might qualify for a Thai family visa instead of a marriage visa. It’s easier to get and has lower financial requirements, making it a practical option for expats raising kids in Thailand.
Not many expats who have Thai children know this, but you can apply for a Thai family visa instead of a Thai marriage visa in Thailand.
The process of getting a Thai family is generally the same as the marriage visa, but the financial requirements aren’t as strict.
In this guide, I’ll go over what requirements you need to meet and which documents you must submit to successfully get a one-year Thai family visa. Plus I’ll cover the associated costs and offer some advice on how to keep your visa in good standing.
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Contents
- What is the Thai Family Visa?
- Family Visa Vs. Marriage Visa
- Family Visa Vs. Guardian Visa
- Requirements
- Thai Family Visa Documents
- Application Process
- Thai Family Visa Costs
- Re-Entry Permit
- Renewing Your Thai Family Visa
- Alternative Visas
- Overstaying Your Visa
- 90-Day Check-Ins
- Thai Family Visa And Permanent Residency
- Now, on to You
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What is the Thai Family Visa?
The Thai family visa, which is technically the non-immigrant “O” visa for family of Thai nationals, is for expats who are raising Thai children in Thailand, whether alone or with their spouses. It gets you one year in the country, and you can renew it every year thereafter as long as you meet the requirements and submit the right documents.
I never knew the Thai family visa option existed until a few years after I moved to Thailand in 2014. One year, I miscalculated my Thai marriage visa expiration date. When I showed up at the immigration office for a routine 90-day check-in, the officer told me my visa had expired.
That meant I had to apply for a new visa that same day or pay the THB500 per day fine and leave the country. Unprepared, I didn’t have the required THB400,000 in my Thai bank account seasoning for three months. But they said if I could show the money the next day, I can apply for a Thai family visa, which only requires you to have the 400K in your account the day before you apply, not months in advance.
So I transferred the money from the States using Wise and applied for my very first Thai family visa. I’ve been renewing this visa ever since.
Family Visa Vs. Marriage Visa
It’s worth noting that the Thai family visa isn’t the same as the non-immigrant “O” visa based on marriage to a Thai spouse. You can get a visa based on marriage as long as you’re married to a Thai citizen, whether you and your spouse have Thai children or not. In other words, having kids isn’t a qualifying factor.
That said, you can get a marriage visa instead of a family visa if you have Thai kids. The choice is up to you. The only real difference is that you must have THB400,000 seasoning in your bank account for three months before applying for the marriage visa.
Family Visa Vs. Guardian Visa
A Thai family visa is also not a Thai guardian visa. The Thai guardian visa, also a “non-immigrant “O” visa, lets you accompany your non-Thai children to Thailand if they’re studying at an approved school here in the country. What’s different about this visa is that you need to show THB500,000 in a bank account and letter from your children’s school stating that they are studying there.
With that out of the way, let’s look at the requirements you need to meet in order to apply for a Thai family visa.
Requirements
To apply for the Thai family visa, you must have Thai children (mixed-race, luk khrueng) and currently support them financially. Financial support can come in the way of paying for school tuition, clothes, housing, food, or other general costs of living in Thailand.
Despite the name, you don’t have to be married to a Thai citizen to apply for the Thai family visa. That is, you don’t need a complete family with mother, father, and children. In fact, I know one divorced expat who has sole custody of his Thai children and applies for this visa every year. Another expat I know never got married to the mother of his Thai daughter, but he can apply for the Thai family visa every year.
One of them did have to hire a Thai lawyer and go to Thai court to get sole custody of his children, as his Thai wife left Thailand, never returned, and wasn’t around to sign any papers for their children. So he became the sole guardian and was even allowed to apply for Thai passports on his Thai children’s behalf.
To apply for this visa, you do have to prove that you’re the parent of the children, which you’ll do by providing the right documents. I cover this in the section below.
Thai Family Visa Documents
The documents needed to apply for a Thai family visa are almost the same as those needed to apply for a Thai marriage visa. The financial requirements are a bit different though.
Instead of having to keep THB400,000 in your Thai bank account for three months before applying, you can deposit that money the day before you apply for your family visa.
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the documents you need to apply for a non-immigrant O visa, which the Thai family visa falls under. But keep in mind that it’s always best to visit your local Thai immigration office and talk to an officer in person to get their list of documents. After all, each provincial immigration office operates slightly differently.
That said, let’s look at all the documents you must submit. Keep in mind that you need two copies of each of the items below, in addition to the originals.
Personal Documents
- Passport and copies of your photo page and every used page
- Two visa-sized photos
- Form TM7 (PDF download)
Proof of Relationship to Your Thai Children
- Copies of spouse’s Thai ID card (if married)
- Thai marriage certificate or overseas marriage certificate (if married)
- Form ค.ร. 22 (if married overseas)
- Forms ค.ร. 2 and 3 (if married in Thailand)
- Thai birth certificates (or foreign birth certificates translated to Thai if your Thai child was born outside of Thailand)
- Family photos of you, your spouse (if married), and Thai children at your house
- Photos must be taken in your kitchen, living room, bedrooms, front of the house/condo with house/room number clearly showing in photos
- Photos with you and your Thai children at school
- Copies of Thai Blue Book address page with spouse’s name (if married)
- Copies of Thai Blue Book address page with Thai children’s name
- Hand-drawn map showing how to get to your Thai residence from the immigration office
- Copies of your lease (if renting), rental property owner’s ID, property deed/title
- Tax stamps from the Thai Revenue Department calculated from your monthly rental cost
- Rent x 12 months/1,000 = the amount of tax stamps you have to buy and attach to your lease
Proof of Income (non-Thai men only)
- Thai Bank letter showing 400,000 baht in savings
- For the Thai family visa, the money doesn’t have to sit in your account for three months
- Copies of your bank book’s most recent updated page showing the THB400,000
- Copies of your bank book’s front page with your name and account number
Dive deeper: Opening a Thai Bank Account: A Guide for Expats and Tourists
Application Process
To apply for the Thai family visa, go to your local Thai immigration office. You’ll find a service desk at most offices. Here, staff will ask what your purpose of visiting is and then give you a queue number.
You’ll have to wait for your queue number to appear on the TV screen. Once it does, go to the respective window number that appears next to your queue number on the TV screen.
Hand all your documents to the immigration officer, who will then scrutinize each one. If your documents are correct, you’ll pay the visa fee and move on to the next station. If not, he or she may ask you to come back with the missing documents or ask you to send them through email.
At the next station, you’ll take a group photo with your Thai children (and spouse) and staff will then take your passport.
Finally, you’ll have to wait to get your passport back, which should be stamped with a date 30 days from the day you applied for your Thai family visa. That date is when you must return to immigration to get your visa results and new one-year stamp in your passport.
Thai Family Visa Costs
The Thai family visa costs THB1,900 plus any photocopy fees you have to pay while at immigration.
Re-Entry Permit
If you plan on traveling outside of Thailand during the year, you should apply for a single- or multiple-entry permit. This lets you come and go without losing your Thai visa. If you leave Thailand without a re-entry permit, and then return to Thailand, immigration officers at the airport will void your visa and you’ll have to enter as a tourist.
Dive deeper: Thailand Re-entry Permits: How NOT to Lose Your Thailand Visa
Renewing Your Thai Family Visa
Technically, you don’t “renew” your Thai visa. You have to reapply for an entirely new visa every year. The process is exactly the same as when first applying. The only difference I’ve noticed over the years is that Thai immigration officers never check my original documents anymore. That’s probably because they’ve seen that I’ve been going there since 2014 for the same visa.
Alternative Visas
If you have Thai children and you’re looking for an alternative to the Thai family visa, you can look into the Thai marriage visa if your spouse is Thai. You also have the Destination Thailand Visa and the Thailand Elite Visa, although the financial requirements tend to be higher.
Overstaying Your Visa
Once you have your Thai family visa, take note of the expiration date. You never want to overstay your visa because you’ll have to pay a fine and possibly be prohibited from entering Thailand again for a set number of years. I know one guy who overstayed his Thai visa and remained in Thailand for months. Thai Immigration came to his condo, arrested him, and deported him. He was prohibited from returning to Thailand for 10 years.
90-Day Check-Ins
When you have a Thai family visa, you have to keep up with your 90-day check-ins. The date of your first 90-day check-in is due 90 days after you arrive in Thailand, not 90 days after you get your visa. Be mindful of this because if you miss your check-in, you will be fined up to THB5,000. In fact, more than once I had to pay THB2,000 fines because I missed my 90-day check-in dates. Nowadays, you can do it online, and Thai immigration sends you an advanced two-week notification of when it’s due.
Dive deeper: How to Do Your 90-Day Reporting in Thailand
Thai Family Visa And Permanent Residency
If you have Thai children and apply for a Thai family visa, you can eventually use that visa as a pathway to applying for Thai permanent residency. You have to apply for the family visa for at least three years in a row and pay taxes on income earned within Thailand for three years. That is, you must have a job in Thailand. In some cases, though, you can use your Thai spouse’s income and tax filings as “proof” that you’ve been paying taxes.
Now, on to You
As long as you meet the requirements and submit all the necessary documents, applying for a Thai family visa is a straightforward process. I’ve found that immigration officers tend to work with you rather than against you, because they know you’re here for a good reason, which is to raise your Thai children.
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