JB300

Er  you said Davos not Davao, I was thinking why does this git with a Swiss lady with a big house want to come here. 

Lol... Sorry mate, slip of the fingers... I was wondering how Switzerland came up...

Davao (or Dabao as the gf says), Kapalong (approx 2 hrs drive north) to be precise...

Lol.. Davos!!! I'm no where near rich enough to retire there, besides, it's far too cold..

There are other ways they could have met the requirement; such as remortgaging their UK property to provide a cash sum; but, again, why should they have to do so?

Sorry to snip your post but this particular part is of interest to me.

The >£62,500 in savings I have is in an "Offset" mortgage account basically cancelling out any money I owe on my mortgage (I.e. they pay me pennies in interest per year instead of me paying them £1000s).

This is with "One Account" (was Virgin now RBS) which unlike Barclays/Woolwich where the monies are held in a separate account, its in "virtual pots".

Anybody know if this would count as savings (have an ATM & Credit card I can spend/withdraw cash from the account) or would it be considered part of my mortgage & be considered as the £500 or so above the mortgage owed that I keep in it?

Another crazy example of somebody being rejected for a UK Visa... http://links.info2.news.co.uk/ctt?kn=4&ms=MTM4MTI2NQS2&r=Mjg5Njg3NjcyODQS1&b=0&j=NzMwODMwODMxS0&mt=1&rt=0

Our reasoning for choosing Thailand is as simple as we fell in love with the place many many years ago. We have friends there. We speak basic Thai. The infrastructure is better than some other regions in SE Asia. It feels,like home every time we land there. :)
Financially we're fortunate that living costs aren't the epitome of concern. That said, no one finds pleasure in paying 3x what you otherwise could be. It's a balancing act. Hence why we're dipping a toe in, so to speak.
 
HK will be our first 'run'. Thank you for the advice guys.
 
Out of interest, with all things considered, where would you seriously consider as a less costly but semi-equal in terms of ex-pat life in the region on a 1-3 scale?

No the first line is untrue. "Why retire to Thailand" was a question "other places are cheaper and have hotter women" was a statement. But if you are in a relationship and considering an Elite Visa why would those points concern you at all. 

 

I broadly agree with blorg, having experience of neighbouring states and Southern Europe. I was thinking of giving South America a try at one time but reports of the high crime rate brought me here instead. Beer here is not the best but I doubt that it is the worst and it is certainly not the most expensive. Presumably these SML's are cheap from a retailer not a bar, so how much for a bottle of 250ml or 330ml? And how much from an "average" bar. Compared with say 70 baht in a Pattaya bar and 100/120 in downtown Bangkok.

 

Like others on TVF I have been here on and off for pushing 20 years and have always kept an eye out for somewhere better/cheaper but not found a place suitable. Vietnam does come very close though.

 

Beer is typically cheaper in Philippines (ex Manila / AC), bottle of SML would usually cost 100-110php (70-75 THB ) in a decent bar with live music or a restaurant, cheaper than that elsewhere, but despite it's many charms (beautiful beaches) I just don't fancy moving there.

Blorg above sums up a lot of what I was originally thinking since deciding I wanted to retire to Thailand in 2008, TSFsums up my more recent thinking.

Nb I love Thailand, always have a massive smile on my face when flying into Bangkok, but can't help feeling it's quickly becoming much less Farang Immigrant friendly (malarkey with TM30s being the latest), maybe it will swing back but if you were retiring soon would you choose Thailand again?

Oh, can I add Malaysia (Langkawi, Penang, Mallacca not KL) to my list :)

Such as?

It was a question... Not a statement

But FWIW, I'm rapidly coming around to...

- Vietnam

- Southern Europe

- South America

- Hybrid (3-6 months per place)

Or just give up & live in my (gf's) very nice house in Davos, kick back, lots of very cheap SMLs (that's San Miguel Lights in case you're wondering)

Offers of accommodation from family or friends is still allowable.

 

 Prior to July 2012, financial support from family, or even friends, was allowable.

 

This was particularly useful for ex pats returning to the UK, for example at the end of their contract, with their foreign partner as they could use this support until they found suitable work in the UK.

 

If the sponsor's family are willing and able to financially support the couple, and any children, until they are able to support themselves, what is wrong with that? When it was allowable it didn't cost the taxpayer anything. Still wouldn't.

But I don't see anywhere where it says my parents offering to board us (at no cost) reduces the income or savings limit.

No skin of my nose [pass the financial tests on both (passive) income & having >£62,500 in the bank] just pointing out that the rules are pretty binary & don't take into consideration factors that actually make a major difference in people's living expenses.

But that's already been done, there was a guy (think he was Australian) earning £250k equivalent in Dubai, had a £3.5Million house in the UK but couldn't get a Visa to live there as his wife didn't (& woukdnt) work so had no salary

I restrict my comments to considerations of most interest to retirees. (For younger people, I do not think Thailand is now a great place to settle long term.)  Away from the tourist ghettos, most areas of Thailand are safe and friendly. Goof healthcare is available. Food of all kinds is available, good and relatively cheap. General living costs, while not the lowest in the world, are affordable, and the overall infrastructure pretty good in most of the country.

As a "Retiree" (albeit "only 51), I agree with you.

Spent the past 7-8 years planning to move to Thailand, now I'm not so sure...

Course not being budget or "Pussy" restricted gives a different perspective... But to repeat the question... Why retire to Thailand when (nowadays) there are far better places to retire for less money, with "hotter" (to each his own) women & less drama

I agree 100% with what your saying, but where does it stop?

For instance, if my Ms (Filipina) wanted to move to the UK & I couldn't "afford" it, my Parents would welcome her with open arms (no rent, not taxes, no grocery bills) she wouldn't need any money at all to get by.

So do we add something in there about other Family/Non-Family support??? Impossible, government has to draw a manageable line somewhere...

I can understand why you would hold this viewpoint. My own is more nuanced:

This is irritating, but not a show stopper for those who really want to stay and have enough money. Those with compelling reasons to stay (children, for instance) but very limited financial resources are in a difficult situation, and I sympathize with them.  

Thailand is less attractive today for those seeking young women to settle down with, or a very low cost place to live. For married retired people, it is a better place than ever to settle.

So as somebody who doesn't want to move to Thailand for young women to settle down with (I.e. bringing Sand to the Beach) what are the benefits/advantages of moving to Thailand?

[Edit: Let's assume Budget isn't the problem]

Bully for you and your friends!
 
There are many people, approx. 40% according to some figures, who earn less than £18,600 p.a. but are perfectly capable of supporting themselves and their partner without state aid.
 
Yes, savings, whether the sponsor's, applicant's or held jointly, can be used either alone or in combination with most, but not all, sources of income to reduce the amount of each required.
 
But you need at least £16,000 of savings, and if relying on savings alone at least £62,500; and it has to be in cash and immediately available.
 
I am not saying that there should be no financial requirement; just that it should be fair and logical. The one prior to July 2012 was; this one, for many reasons, some which I explained earlier, is neither.

With the exception of Hong Kong (love to visit) we have travelled fairly extensively in the other places mentioned. All lovely and unique, although didn't think much of Vientiane tbh. :-/
 
We have leased a condo with an option to buy in Jomtien, but before I commit to an Elite Visa we want to be certain we have made the right choice. So it's more about 'living' there rather than holidaying. Hence a normal TV would be sufficient as we would not need to jump around except for visa needs.
 
It's all about simplicity at this stage. Cheers for the input. :)
 
So maybe HK or HCM... or Sydney?

As far as I know the 30 days is granted for Airport crossing but 14 for Land.
That opens Vietnam as another possible option for home base coz the visa is a little cheaper again, and flying in has benefits. Or you could just circulate.
Of course this type of activity is what the Thais are trying to regulate around by the 14 day rule or trying to get higher flying expats to commit to a long term stay with upfront elite card fees.

Sounds really expensive for the sake of mostly convenience, really not much value in the scheme, especially with ongoing fees.

A bid to cash in on those with either loads of cash or not so smart.

It also is good for those with cash to hide or launder who otherwise might not be able to pass the income test.

 

Most of the options don't have any ongoing fees & convenience is exactly what you're paying for.

Have you never paid extra to use a Fast Track / Expedited service? I hate queuing/waiting so do it at every opportunity.

Biggest problem with the Visa for me is whether I really want to commit to 5-20 years in Thailand, especially as I have a partner/house in the Philippines & she's not too keen on the idea of living there, but I have 1 year until I finish this Project to work on that :)

Ok. We just completed a visa run: Phuket - Singapore - Phuket.

We used the lowcoster JetStar.

 

1. At the Phuket airport the JetStar Airline lady at the counter asked us how long we're going to stay in Singapore (1 day) and which country we're flying to next (Thailand).
2. Then she asked for our Singapore Visa. Which we obtained through a online agent earlier that day. I assume she wouldn't let us board without it.
3. We arrived to Singapore and had absolutely no problems at the border.
4. Since we had no luggage, we checked in online and simply printed our boarding tickets at the kiosk in the Singapore airport the next day. No need to go to check-in desk (and possibly be questioned about a thailand visa / onward flight from Thailand).

Our whole visa run took less than 24 hours. 

 

Where are you from (passport?) Singapore only issues Visas for approx 30 countries, the vast majority of people get an SVP (Social Visit Pass) on Arrival so I can't see any airline asking to see a Visa.

Some do ask to see your flight out, have had a couple of incidents where I've had to explain to them that I don't need a flight out as I'm returning home #i bl@@dy live there# but less than 0.1% of people need a Visa to enter Singapore

I would normally agree, except several of the links on the Thai Embassy Website in Singapore are broken [emoji14]

similar topic:

 

Has anyone tried their new online visa application? Supposedly mandatory starting in March 2017.

 

I'm concerned you file online then told to wait until it changes application state but due to bugs may not do so [emoji14]

 

also curious if can fill online before arriving in Singapore or not

 

 

I've no experience of filing for a Visa online (Sg only has Tourist Visas for approx 30 countries, where are you from?) but my gf has used the "Extend" online application a couple of times & it's always given an answer the next day.

Singapore online stuff is very efficient & reliable so I'd be very surprised if it doesn't do what it says on the tin :)

How quickly this devolved into a PI v. LOS row. Chinese run on group tour. NAIA CEB and potentially CRK can handle big planes. BLL/DMK is the same place, leaving HKT and CMX as alternate destinations. Palawan can handle smaller planes. The ferry system is far bettwer in PI than in LOS. And Filipinos are far more adaptable. I would say pollution and corruption are about equals. PI has far, far better beaches. Public transpo in PI is much better, although it wouldn't matter because Chinese would be taking charter busses. But I would dare anyone to compare public transportation in Cebu versus Phuket. 

 

Chinese group tourism, much like Korean group tourism before them, is not so much about repeat performance, but more about bragging their experience once back home. Thailand is willing to suffer the group tour in hopes of capturing the mature FIP later on. I am not anti-Thai by any means, but a VOA might just change the dynamic. There will be winners and losers, for sure.

Agree with most of what your saying & whilst the airport cabbies in Manila are a bit shady, never had any problems with a Taxi in Cebu or Davao.

But the transfer between the terminals at NAIA is a nightmare, takes an hour & is something that you only need to do a couple of times before you plan your trips to avoid NAIA (although my last experience was transferring to a flight to Coron in Palawan & would grudgingly go through it again to go back there, wonderful place).

However, it wouldn't take much for them to get their act together & run some airside transfers between the terminals (gf did it on the way back from Coron as she only had 40 minutes to make her connection to Davao), would make a massive difference to the experience.

No arguments about the beaches or the waters (Chin deep in the sea off Cebu & you can see your toes)...

Plus the women there are much hotter (NB my MS #made# me say that but joking aside, I think they probably are more attractive to the Chinese than the Thai girls given their knowledge of English & the fact that they tend to be a little "Fuller", certainly most of the weddings I've been to involving a local Singaporean Chinese guy has been to a Filipina...)

Was told by Cebu Pacific that I could only clear Singapore Immigration at Changi Airport once per day.

Situation was quite different though as I live in Singapore, their flight was delayed by 5 hours & I was already airside so wanted to go back into Singapore & check-in for a flight with somebody else thus clearing immigration &  leaving the country twice in the same day.

Have flown into Singapore with my Filipina gf one evening & we've caught a flight out early the next morning (less than 10 hrs later) with no problems save the immigration officer asking her why she was only staying for 1 day & wanted to see her exit ticket & he did write the Date & Time of her flight on the stamp in her passport, she was only on an SVP (Social Visitors Pass) which is what any visitor to Singapore gets, so no additional privileges of entry though I think it helped me being with her & being able to show my EP & same flights booked for the following day

Lets hope so..    almost a thousand Chinese tourists on a single beach here in south Thailand..  they have 7700  islands in the Phillies, hope they can divide and spread out a bit better.

7107 (I've got the T-Shirt )

But in all seriousness the real problem for the Chinese to visit most of them will be they'd have to change flights in Manila which is always a nightmare.

Exception maybe being Cebu which has some really nice beaches (away from Cebu City) & has Bahol next door (one of my Favourite islands in PI).

So if I go to Bangkok (from Singapore) for the weekend & stay at my mates Condo who's supposed to do the TM30?

Me? Him or his Landlord?

Just a quick note I recently travelled to Singapore with my Thai GF and she was treated very well by the Elite Staff including fast track immgration service...

Sent from my SM-N915G using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

3 hours ago, Flustered said:

The only ???? I have on this, is paying out 1 million baht before being given a visa. The visa is stamped in on the first visit to Thailand as a paid up member.

 

Plenty of time to clarify this.

 

Drop them an email and they'll explain everything to you but yes, in a nutshell they'll meet you at the airport and handle the process with immigration for you OR if you're already in Thailand you can get it done in Bangkok (not sure about the other offices). 

One small point about the 5 year Visa, permission to stay is only 1 year at a time (you get a new 1 year stamp every time you enter the country assuming passport & Visa is valid for the full year) so you need to get re-stamped every full year spent in Thailand...  but again, TE will handle all of this for you.

From other threads, I know you're looking to purchase property as well so will just mention that the TE Property Partnership option includes 2 x 20 year TE membership which could save you the 2Million BUT would seriously limit your property choices & no doubt the price of the property has been inflated to include a good chunk of the TE costs.

Let's face it. If it was possible to do what the OP suggested, we would all be doing it.

 

Good challange though, if you read the bumf it does sound like you should be able to do it, full marks to 7by7 for spotting the "gotcha".

4. EUN2.4 What are the requirements for issuing an EEA family permit?

In assessing an application from an EEA national’s direct family member, the entry clearance officer(ECO) should be satisfied that:

1. the applicant is the family member of the EEA national (marriage certificate, birth certificate or other evidence of family link)                  WE can supply a Marriage certificate
2. the EEA national is residing in the UK in accordance with the EEA Regulations (as qualified person (exercising treaty rights) if more than 3 months) and the non-EEA national is joining them; or the EEA national intends to travel to the UK within 6 months and will have a right to reside under the Regulations on arrival, and the non-EEA national will be accompanying or joining the EEA national;            I am a British citizen which is an EU national by definition and I am normally resident  in the UK with a home in the UK