GL, these are quite important new developments so I have taken the liberty of reproducing the new text in full. Although this post refers to Hull, I believe that all embassies/consuls will be given the same instructions.
Quite simply it largely brings the financial requirements for the issue of Non Immigrant O visas into line with those required for extensions.
Frankly, you cannot argue with the logic of that.
Only one obvious anomaly that I can see and that is UK pensioners only need to show receipt of the state pension - no minimum requirement. A friend obtained an O visa on this basis a few months ago and his monthly pension was under 25,000 Baht.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED WITH VISA APPLICATION
NON-IMMIGRANT CATEGORY “O”
FOR PERSON MARRIED TO THAI NATIONAL
SINGLE ENTRY “O” VISA:-
1. Passport with minimum 6 months validity at time of entering Thailand.
2. Visa Application Form fully completed and with two photographs attached.
3. Copy of Thai marriage certificate (front and back).
4. Copy of either spouse’s Thai passport or Thai ID card (front and back).
showing their family name to be the same as that of visa applicant.
5. Copy of Thai Bank Book or UK “Current Account” bank statements for last
3 months showing monthly income equivalent to THB65k or lump-sum
amount of THB800k.
MULTIPLE ENTRY “O” VISA (First visa of this type):-
1. Passport with minimum 6 months validity at time of entering Thailand.
2. Visa Application Form fully completed and with two photographs attached.
3. Copy of Thai marriage certificate (front and back).
4. Copy of either spouse’s Thai passport or Thai ID card (front and back).
showing their family name to be the same as that of visa applicant.
5. Copy of UK “Current Account” bank statements for last 3 months
showing monthly income equivalent to THB65k or lump-sum amount of
THB800k.
MULTIPLE ENTRY “O” VISA (All subsequent visas of this type):-
1. Passport with minimum 6 months validity at time of entering Thailand.
2. Visa Application Form fully completed and with two photographs attached.
3. Copy of Thai marriage certificate (front and back).
4. Copy of either spouse’s Thai passport or Thai ID card (front and back).
showing their family name to be the same as that of visa applicant.
5. Copy of Thai Bank Book or UK “Current Account” bank statements for last
3 months showing monthly income equivalent to THB65k or lump-sum
amount of THB800k.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED WITH VISA APPLICATION
NON-IMMIGRANT CATEGORY “O” FOR
PERSONS AGED 50 TO 64 AND PERSONS AGED 65 AND OVER
SINGLE or MULTIPLE ENTRY “O” VISA FOR PERSONS AGED 50 TO 64:-
1. Passport with minimum 6 months validity at time of entering Thailand.
2. Visa Application Form fully completed and with two photographs attached.
3. Copy of UK “Current Account” Bank Statements for last three (3) months
showing monthly income equivalent to THB65k or lump-sum amount of
THB800k.
SINGLE or MULTIPLE ENTRY “O” VISA FOR PERSON AGED 65 AND OVER:-
1. Passport with minimum 6 months validity at time of entering Thailand.
2. Visa Application Form fully completed and with two photographs attached.
5. Copy of UK “Current Account” bank statements for last 3 months showing
receipt of UK State Pension (no minimum required).