Phnom Penh(Cambodia), Non-O based on Child/Marriage

[friendofthai]

Report. From my recent experience.

Day 1. In Thailand.
Went to A** Insurance office near my house and told them that I wanted to buy an insurance for Thailand Pass for 2 months. Price = 4750 baht (today it is much more cheaper). Had to wait for 2 days. They made a copy of my passport and a copy of the first page of my Thai bank book (I have no idea why they wanted this).

Day 2. In Thailand. Kodak shop.
Make 2 Photos 3.5x4.5 (White background), save JPEG to USB Flash.
Scan passport 1st page as JPEG.
Scan Vaccine yellow book page with the 2 most recent jabs as JPEG.
Made a copy of my 
Buy airline tickets.

Day 3. In Thailand.
The insurance company gave me a set of papers and told that I should scan only one specific page for the Thailand pass submission.
So I went to the Kodak shop to make a copy of this specific page.
Submitted my scanned insurance along with the JPEGs that I made on Day 2 to the Thai Pass system. They approved my Thai Pass very quickly (6 hours).
Submitted the same JPEGs to the Cambodia e-visa system. Paid about 1500 baht. It is recommended to submit vaccination document, which is optional, not mandatory. Once submitted, they will not ask for it on your arrival to Cambodia. They approved my submission very quickly (27 hours) and I got visa as a PDF file which should be printed.
Bought hotel near Thai Embassy, 7 days.

Day 4. In Thailand.
Print Thailand pass as an A4, colored, 2 copies.
Print Cambodian e-visa, A4, black and white (although original image was colored).
Print my hotel reservation page.
Received email that my budget airline flight to Cambodia is cancelled (be careful, it happens quite often these days, and they will refund you only after 6 months). Bought another flight.

Day 5. In Bangkok, Thailand.
Cambodia`s currency is USD. So I bought 500USD in Don Mueang airport. IMHO, It is the best place to buy dollars. A lot of new banknotes of all kinds. For my Thai visa fee I needed an additional 80$ (4 x 20$).
Went to "Terminal 21"`s SCB office to buy bank statement for the last 6 months. 100 baht, 10 minutes.
Went to Suvarnabhumi Airport. The lady in the check-in counter told me that she refused me from check-in because I did not have RT-PCR test result. I had to discuss it with her for a long time. I told that RT-PCR was no longer necessary. But she did not believe me. I told that I had Visa already and during my submission I had to submit my vaccine passport also. I lied that the visa issuer also told me that RT-PCR was no longer necessary. Finally, I was allowed to check-in.
On arriving to Phnom Penh I passed the immigration very quickly. Passport, filled arrival card (which airline staff gave to me) and printed visa were the only documents required. When I reached the "Customs" counter, I leave filled customs declaration (which airline staff gave to me) there in a small open box.
Paid 15$ in USD for a taxi to my hotel near Thai embassy. Checked-in to my hotel.

Day 6. In Phnom Penh.
Went to Thai embassy at 8:30 AM. Before I entered, they wanted me to show the return flight from Thailand. I had to explain that this is not necessary for Non-O visa and demonstrated the full list of documents:

- copy of my passport page 1, signed by me only

- a letter from my wife that she want them to give visa to me to live together and take care the family
- filled visa form that I downloaded from the embassy website and printed + glued photo 3.5x4x5
- bank statement made on the previous day
- marriage cert copy signed by me and my wife
- copies of tabien baan of my wife and my baby, signed by me and my wife
- copy of baby's birth cert signed by me and my wife

I was allowed to enter. Waited until 9:00, made an application, paid 80$. Got a small piece of paper to use during visa collection(had to wait 3 working days + 2 holidays).

Day 7-10. Vacation in Phnom Penh.
Restaurants. Swimming pool. A lot of thieves there, especially near the riverside. Be very careful. One second and a motorbiker or a "cheetah" could steal your money very professionally. On the end of my vacation I saw a fake 100$ in my pocket. I had no idea who, how and when.

Day 11. In Phnom Penh.
Got Thai visa at about 3:00 PM.

Day 12. In Phnom Penh airport.
Thai Airline stuff examined all my documents very thoroughly and allowed to check-in. No RT-PCR nonsense.
Suvarnabhumi Airport`s immigration examined every single stamp in my passport, asked questions, told me to show my marriage cert. Finally, I was stamped.

Edited May 24, 2022 by friendofthai

[Highlandman]

Strange that the Cambodian authorites weren't asking for vax proof given that the unvaccinated have to do a 7-day quarantine and if they're not checking vax documentation, anyone could get in even without being vaccinated. While that would be good, I thought they were stricter than this.

I realize they checked it for visa issuance, but isn't this something normally done at the check-in counter and again at the health desk upon arrival?

[friendofthai]

9 minutes ago, Highlandman said:

[...] I realize they checked it for visa issuance, but isn't this something normally done at the check-in counter and again at the health desk upon arrival?

I had not seen any "health desk" there. I saw only "visa on arrival" counter and the immigration checkpoint. Maybe "health desk" is a history already.

[Faz]

Mind if I ask why you didn't apply for the Non O at your local immigration office if you were already in Thailand.

[friendofthai]

12 minutes ago, Faz said:

Mind if I ask why you didn't apply for the Non O at your local immigration office if you were already in Thailand.

I don't have 400k in a Thai bank.

[Chatogaster]

12 minutes ago, Faz said:

Mind if I ask why you didn't apply for the Non O at your local immigration office if you were already in Thailand.

As far as I know, Non-imm. O visa based on marriage can still only be requested abroad. A decade ago I did manage to upgrade a tourist visa to a N-O visa locally, but only after agreeing to a fairly pricy offer by a sufficiently connected immigration officer.

[Tod-Daniels]

37 minutes ago, Chatogaster said:

As far as I know, Non-imm. O visa based on marriage can still only be requested abroad.

that is 100% incorrect
you can indeed get a Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai or being over 50 (retirement) issued at MOST immigration offices in the country for 2000baht.
You meet the financial and document requirements and you have the required days left on your tourist visa or visa exempt entry stamp (as the application goes under review for 2 to 3 weeks depending on the office) then you go back and get the new Non-O  and a new 90 day stamp inked in 

[Faz]

1 hour ago, friendofthai said:

I don't have 400k in a Thai bank.

But you only applied for the single entry Non O which will only permit you a stay of 90 days + a 60-day extension to visit Thai wife = 150 days.
Why not go to Savannakhet or HCMC, where you could have obtained the ME Non O without any financial proof.

[Faz]

1 hour ago, Chatogaster said:

As far as I know, Non-imm. O visa based on marriage can still only be requested abroad. A decade ago I did manage to upgrade a tourist visa to a N-O visa locally, but only after agreeing to a fairly pricy offer by a sufficiently connected immigration officer.

1 hour ago, Tod-Daniels said:

that is 100% incorrect
you can indeed get a Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai or being over 50 (retirement) issued at MOST immigration offices in the country for 2000baht.
You meet the financial and document requirements and you have the required days left on your tourist visa or visa exempt entry stamp (as the application goes under review for 2 to 3 weeks depending on the office) then you go back and get the new Non-O  and a new 90 day stamp inked in 

 

Tod is 100% correct.
You can apply for the change of status to Non Immigrant (Non O) based on Thai spouse/family at your local Immigration office. VE-TV to Non O Spouse.pdf  

[friendofthai]

22 minutes ago, Faz said:

But you only applied for the single entry Non O which will only permit you a stay of 90 days + a 60-day extension to visit Thai wife = 150 days.
Why not go to Savannakhet or HCMC, where you could have obtained the ME Non O without any financial proof.

When I bought my insurance, I had to choose between Cambodia and Laos. And that time Laos was not opened yet. So my insurance docs were only valid for entry from Cambodia.
If I wanted visa today I would go to Savannakhet for sure.
Although nowadays ME visa is not such a perfect choice as in the pre-COVID era. Border bounces today have nearly the same price and require the same amount of stress as regular visa-runs.

Edited May 24, 2022 by friendofthai

[friendofthai]

23 minutes ago, Faz said:

Tod is 100% correct.
You can apply for the change of status to Non Immigrant (Non O) based on Thai spouse/family at your local Immigration office. VE-TV to Non O Spouse.pdf  

 

Quote from the document:
"If husband is foreigner, the following evidence of income must be submitted :

7.1 A letter of guarantee from the local or overseas Embassy or Consulate, proving the monthly pension of the Applicant not less than Baht 40,000/month and show source of Income

7.2 A letter of guarantee in Thai language from the commercial bank in Thailand (Attention: Immigration Commissioner) and copy of all entries of the applicant’s passbook showing that the applicant has a saving or fixed deposit account of not less than Baht 400,000 "

Yes, this is a perfect alternative for those foreigners who have 400k in a Thai bank. I don't have 400k.

 

[friendofthai]

1 hour ago, Faz said:

Why not go to Savannakhet or HCMC, where you could have obtained the ME Non O without any financial proof.

I remember the old good pre-COVID days when the Thai embassy in Vientiane offered SE Non-O without any financial proof. And one day in the past they said that from today they did need a financial proof. That time it was a huge problem for me because bank apps did not like my jailbroken iPhone and I could not go to a Thai bank to get a bank statement. Luckily they accepted my passbook.

So In the COVID era I would prefer to obtain a bank statement regardless an embassy require it or not.

Today Savannakhet and HCMC are the best choices for sure. But they also have disadvantages:

Savannakhet visa-runners usually use mini-van/bus to travel from Khon Kaen to Mukdahan. Stuck for 4+ hours in a very small box with 12 or even 40 people. if 1-2 of them cough, one could easily become COVID+. And this could become a huge problem at the border crossings and at the embassy. Alternative routes are tricky and expensive.

HCMC require insurance, which needs additional time (to investigate, to google) and money.

Edited May 24, 2022 by friendofthai

[Faz]

1 hour ago, friendofthai said:

Although nowadays ME visa is not such a perfect choice as in the pre-COVID era. Border bounces today have nearly the same price and require the same amount of stress as regular visa-runs.

The ME Non Imm O Visa requires only one visit, one application and one overnight stay in Savvanakhet or HCMC.
You can then stay for almost 17 months, just 3 border runs and 3 x 60 day extensions.