If have have retire in Chiang Mai and are now wanting to get married then you need to know a few things when you compare the marriage visa and retirement visa in Thailand. Each comes with its benefits and downsides. This is a basic look at the visas compared and also what remains the same with both of these visas.
- Financial Requirements: the financial requirements for a marriage visa is lower than that of a retirement visa. The marriage visa needs 40,000 Baht per month in income and the retirement visa needs 65,000 Baht per month.
- Documentation: The documentation for a marriage visa is easier to obtain that those for a retirement visa. The retirement visa requires more financial documents than the marriage visa. All you need to show is the lower income and evidence of a real relationship between the parties for the marriage visa.
Getting married in Chiang Mai / Isaan
Note however that not one of these visas give you the right to work in Thailand and both still require that you report to immigration every 90 days. Both still need to be renewed each year and also before you leave the country you need to obtain a re-entry permit or you will invalidate your visa status and would have to start the process again for a 1 year retirement visa or 1 year marriage visa. Many expats who do retire do get married in the end. Many settle in Chiang Mai or the Isaan region and it is very rural and isolated but also very cheap. The 
quality of the air is much better than Bangkok and the people are far more friendly than in the cities of Bangkok or Pattaya.
When you get married you need to obtain a letter from your embassy that you are single and can get married in Thailand. If you are divorced you need a copy of your divorce decree from your home country as the embassies do not have it. Or if your spouse passed away then a death certificate is needed. Once you get this letter you need to take this letter to the department of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok to have the letter certified. This then goes to the Amphur’s office in Thailand where you wait for your marriage certificate. You can go to any Amphur’s office in Thailand for this. All in all it should not take you more than 5 days in Bangkok if you are living in Chiang Mai. Speak to us online and allow our law office in Chiang Mai to forward it to our Bangkok office for attention. You might not even need to leave Chiang Mai for this as Law Firm in Thailand will take care of the paperwork and registration for you.
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