Kenny202

Neither does replying to a post you have no clue about or trolling though posts on a country you are not from

Thanks for that. Given that it will probably be difficult to find work at 65yo, how easy is it to get benefits and how much per month are they these days? I don't have squillions in the bank but have some. Last time I checked you had to be virtually skint to get the dole

I did actually do a little more digging and to be eligible for the pension only goes on residency, but there is a 35 year working life rule on portability. I did a quick calculation and I am right on 35 years, but maybe be a month or 2 short depending on how they calculate it. Not sure what happens if you are just shy of the 35 years...they don't actually say if it is pro rata if you are below 35 or it disqualifies you. Looks like I will have to call them

I was always under the impression it was 35 years working which I would be in months of + or - but not sure if that is still the case. Their website only states you need to have been a resident in Australia for at least 10 years and a citizen to qualify

Weighing up a few options ATM whether to move back to Australia permanently or go and do the 2 year stint of living there so I can bring my pension over here. I am a ways off atm...my pension age is 67 yo so I would move back at 65, wait out the 2 years and come back at 67yo, hopefully with pension available to me living in Thailand. Just wondering what my options are in those 2 years leading up to receiving the pension. It would seem unlikely I would find work at 65yo. Is the dole a livable allowance and would it in fact be available to me? I am quite happy to live modestly for a couple of years. I have money in the bank but will have a family here in Thailand to support while I am away so the less I need to draw from savings the better position I will be able to leave them in when I eventually croak. Anyone have any insights, experience or suggestions?

No, no kids and not even married. Only de facto ????

I have had a chance to read a bit more through the application after confirming with a friend it is actually the 309 defacto application. I was surprised to see the additional cost for a child was only around $2000AUD. I am sure a few years ago when I looked at it was going to be a total of $18k. I also read the child receives the same vis rights / benefits as the mother. My friend told me his GF received PR status only 10 days after arriving! And as you say normally 1-2 years. The only thing the agent could tell him was maybe it was approved earlier as it was during covid and immigration had very little to do. My main concern is paying the visa fee then not getting approval. She has a solid work history and we have been together around 6 years. No blemishes on either of us here or Australia. Only thing is I am older and have no property etc in Australia though do have a reasonable nest egg.

Exactly the sort of motherly advice / reply I didn't want. I am sure you mean well. I wont make a costly decision based on only the opinions of AN users however be nice to here some first hand experience or issues. It is virtually impossible to discuss anything with them these days as the Aus govt now use a third party agency to process immigration visas. Gone are the days of sitting down face to face for an interview and discussing options, eligibility etc. In fact if you apply (10k AUD +) and it is rejected you lose your application fee. If I can get some first hand advice / experience I will troll through the applications and see what's what.

Currently living in Thailand 10 years. I have a 7yo child (Australian citizen) and she has a 7yo Thai boy. We been living together in Thailand as a family around 6 years. Looking at the possibility of moving back to Australia. I am pretty sure she will qualify for the defacto visa which will give her certain rights to work, medicare etc...but what about her child? Will that give him the same rights as her or will he have to come on a tourist visa? How does it work for the woman? I believe they can work pretty much immediately and after a year they get permanent residence or something? What sort of rights as a citizen does that give them Has anyone gone through the process lately? I believe around $18000AUS for mother and child. Prefer to hear from Australians that have enquired or been through the process recently / last few years. What happens in UK / US will have no relevance

You would need to ask them...

Yet another inane post with someone taking a poll pondering the most inane subject. Must be 20 per day now. There are clearly some very bored people out there trolling for attention.

We have tried a couple of businesses here and its tough. We're up country so will be a different set of dynamics to a tourist area, and our customers were mainly Thai in the restaurant we had. We were doing well for the couple of years leading up to covid.....made money from day one...not a lot but enough to be worth while. Even during Covid we seemed to be still doing ok as that's when the home delivery companies really started kicking in up here. About 18 months into Covid things started to slow down. We had no staff and small overheads so never lost money but we shut the business recently, got tired of waiting for things to come back, which I don't believe it will in the near future. Even when things were going well I couldn't tell you what was our best day / days of the week. it was all so random. No rhyme or reason. I was a business coach back home and involved in business all my life but there never seemed to be any logic to it. Our customers were more middle / middle upper income type people. I couldn't work it out as many were govt workers, teachers etc and their income shouldn't have been greatly effected by covid. But thinking on it a little more even Thai people with a reliable income stream are usually in debt up to their necks....and the small amount of disposable income they would have had would have been eaten up by inflation of the past 2 years. All over the city we live whole streets that had busy restaurants and businesses have shut up shop. It is really dire and I can't believe it isn't more widely reported...unless ours is the only large Isaan city with economic problems. Home deliveries seem to have dwindled away....I can remember when the Grab / Food Panda riders where like swarms of locusts on the road, and by the looks of it with business dropping and the delivery companies squeezing the drivers, many of the drivers I assume have gone back to work in factories or a more reliable income stream. Apart from that money is very seasonal here. We started a little online thing a couple of months before Songkrahn and was going like a house on fire, then just dead in the water a month after. Apparently before Sonkrahn that's when people are getting bonuses etc and by the looks that's long gone. I pity some of the restaurants still hanging on, particularly when they have to prep a certain amount of food everyday, much of which somedays must go in the bin. I have stopped going to some of our favorite Thai restaurants and its quite obvious sometimes the food is old / not fresh....obviously not turning over as it used to. Don't know what the answer is. I pity some of these poor Thai people where if they don't sell they don't eat. Or people put money into businesses / franchises only to sit there looking at each other twiddling their thumbs night after night. So I guess my friend you are not on your own. best of luck but I wouldn't hang on to long paying staff etc waiting for the good times to return. I think there are a few more years pain to go before things get back to anything like they were

Thanks for all your detailed replies. Appreciated. Got my head around it all now for all the good its worth as the ME no longer available lol. I have been on the parental visa for 5 years now and apart from the multiple hoops you need to jump through on the initial application, I have found consecutive years pretty much a formality. Never any dramas. The only quirk is they ask for the 400k in the bank 2 months before which I believe in their own rules is only required on the day of application. I bring my child along, three photos of him inside and outside the house and all the paperwork and away we go. One year they did ask for a copy of every single page of my passport (90% are blank) which I think was a request from their HO for reasons best known to themselves. I have always had full time care of my son, his mother disappeared long ago. Always wondered what would happen in a share care situation if ever she tried that. They indicated to me sometime ago parental visas were only available to foreigners whom had full time care which seemed ridiculous. I asked how does a father get on that does the right thing and wants to see and support his children even if he doesn't have full time care....rather than simply does a runner? Blank open mouthed stare. Anyone here doing the parental visa that doesn't have full time care, or has very little actual contact with their children?

Yeah I think you will find many things written into Immigration rules and reality are not the same. IO seem to make up their own rules. But I think you will find things have changed. I think the first time I enquired maybe 3 years ago they had changed the rules at Savanakhet to say the mother of the child had to be present and the only other available office was Malaysia. About a year ago pretty sure Ubon Joe told me even Malaysia had stopped issuing them

With all due respect, are saying you are on the ME Non O now? or used to be. "Apparently" seems a bit oblique. Would really appreciate knowing which consulate / embassy also. I am sure I read somewhere last 2 or 3 years things had changed. If you could be so kind to send me a PM if you would rather not discuss in an open forum.

No DNA test required unless judge requests it, which maybe happens 30% of the time. What the judge wants to see is proof of a long history with the mother. This could include letters of sponsorship her coming to your country over the years, photos notated with dates and places etc, any documents with you and your GF name on them, transfers of money to her over a few years. Anything you can think of

Following up from another post in a different group, several years ago I looked into getting a Non O ME parent visa as I have a Thai child (legitimized) here. Back then I believe they were available from Savanakhet (Laos) and maybe Malaysia. All you needed was a signed copy of the mother's ID and your name on the birth certificate and I assume you needed to show 400k in the bank? I have heard people comment a few times Savanakhet not doing them anymore or not doing them if the mother isn't present. Or maybe not doing them at all anymore. Is anyone currently using this visa or have more information? If so how does it work? You have to leave and re enter Thailand every three months? Do you need the 400k in the bank? I am separated from my son's mother for some years and he has been in my full time care since. Lost contact with her several years ago. I am currently on a proper parent visa extension and have been for some years but would be handy to know should my situation change

Can you clarify for me.... Embassies outside Thailand no longer issue Non O Family visa's? Or they do but not ME. In that case what does it mean having a non ME parental visa? Its only good for 3 months or you can't leave the country during the year or ?? I think with the ME one people used to get you had to do a border bounce every 3 months (which in itself is an expense) I think last I heard Savanakhet (Laos) stopped doing them unless the mother was present. And maybe Malaysia was the only close embassy issuing them now. But Malaysia may have ceased issuing them also. I assume you need to show 400k funds in the bank? I have never gotten my head around this and would really appreciate some more info incase my situation changes in the future.

I think he still needs to legitimize his child. Has other implications also where in my country (Australia) I was able to make him an Australian citizen by decent. It would be a tragedy to lose all rights to your child if the mother remarried. I have found our IO to be very decent over the years. The first application was a pain in the a$$ but once you have it renewing your visa every year just a formality. Bit of paperwork, a few photos and 400k in the bank. Bear in mind of you will be coming and going you need to report every 90 day. I don't know how that works if you are out of the country. For example if you were out of the country for 6-9 months of the year would they query your need for a 12 month visa?

What visa are you actually talking about and how / where did you get it? If its the visa you get outside Thailand I believe all you needed was a birth certificate and a letter from the mother? You still had to show 400k in the bank right?

Previous post incorrect. A birth certificate with the fathers name is the equivalent of zero in Thailand. And you need to produce more than that if applying for a parental visa. As far as Thailand law is concerned if you are not married to the mother you are not the child's legal father, and in fact if she were to remarry that man would have more parental rights than you. I have a child here and like you wasn't married to the mother and we were in the process of breaking up (she left the child with me). I had to go through the legitimization process through the courts, using a lawyer. It's not really a big deal but will take around three months involving interviews at child welfare where you need people to vouch for you etc....all finalized in a brief court hearing where the judge says yay or nay. In my case the mother was helpful and her and her mother vouched for the length of our relationship etc. It also helped my son is the spitting of me lol. Apparently if the judge isn't convinced he can ask for a DNA test....which not 100% sure or not if that is at the discretion of the mother...ie maybe she will not allow the child to take a DNA test or submit samples? Your Lawyer may advise you on this. A lot will depend on the mothers willingness to help you. Even if she is not probably still possible but I imagine the process will be lengthier and more difficult. Once you jump through all the hoops and get the judgement you need to lodge it at the Amphur (Govt office), which we had more trouble doing than the actual court order. Initially it was clear they had no clue so rather than find out about the process it was easier for them to try and save face....say their office didn't do it and please go somewhere else. Had to take my lawyer up there to talk with them and explain to them their own procedures. On the Visa thing, I believe to get a proper parental visa you have to how more than you are financially supporting the child. The child is meant to live with you....the initial visa you have to take sponsors....witnesses from you Moo Baan (estate where you live) .....show photos where the child will be sleeping etc and actually take the child with you. And take the child with you on yearly applications for parental visa's. Khun LA may be talking about another type of Visa that I believe may only have been available from Malaysia at one point. Family support visa or something? Was a visa that you had to enter / re enter every three months I believe. Looked right into it at one stage but I seem to remember someone said it had been stopped. Bit unclear on all that Ubon Joe (RIP) was the man for all that. I remember at the time, maybe 5 years ago there were a few guys on here replied to a post I made and they were doing it. Best of luck with it all.

I found that out first hand when I realised Paypal were draining my credit card for a few hundred dollars every couple of days for 2 weeks. Someone had got in and changed the password and locked me out of the account. Try contacting them without logging on! Just robotic / nonsense auto replies. Only by a miracle I found an Australian admin phone number a few days later and the girl there told me it was an "internal issue" and refunded my money immediately. Internal issue I took to mean I was being hacked from someone within Paypal. Did a google search at the time and many similar cases. Disgusting how such a huge company in trust of peoples money can not be contacted. Mind you many banks etc these days arent much better

I think it is inevitable the country will change over time irrespective of the leader. It has changed so much in the 10 years I have been here. Education is slowly but surely improving and the people are becoming more aware of what's what. As for a mass round up / boot out of expats I just don't see any reason for it. I think generally the average expat, even a guy with on a pension income would put around 40k per month into the community. And I don't think we are generally regarded as troublesome. If they tighten up immigration / visa's etc it may put people using agents etc under pressure but man, that is a huge culture change........Whomever is in charge may want to overhaul corruption etc and have the best of intentions but in the short term (5 -10 years) will be like moving a mountain. We (including myself sometimes) bag out Thailand and it's processes etc but on the whole it is a very tolerant, cheap, easy to live country. Even with all the complaints about visas and IO's I am sure it would be 200% easier to obtain / maintain a visa in Thailand than most of our own countries. As far as the cost of living going up here under a new government it has increased dramatically under the previous government...in most cases due to monopolies or seemingly just because they can (recent electricity hikes without any apparent reason). There is a huge percentage of the population here in serious debt and on very low incomes. The government would be very aware of this and an honest caring government would want to do anything to prevent worsening the situation. Imagine the loan defaults alone. The country would go into immediate depression. I see the new government as a huge positive improvement should they be allowed to govern but any change here is going to come slowly and it will have to start with education of the people. Any real change will take many years

Maybe should start by cleaning up their own backyards. Foreigners tarnishing Pkukets reputation lol. Was it a foreigner meth head that drove the speedboat into the pier injuring 30 tourists? Are forigners paricipating in the taxi wars? Is it foreigners doing home invasions robbing Chinese tourists? You have to laugh at the childlike mentallity

I have had one for 5 years, don't use it often but never let me down. Only about 800 baht from Big C, halogen elements. very very good but hate cleaning the glass etc