Presnock

yeah, I was just reading about Polio - just about totally eradicated in the world except for some middle east/central Asia types, now there are outbreaks in 31 countries including several in Europe. Once infected, you get the disease and it can ruin one's life for sure. Same with measles in the US, just about eradicated and now thousands infected in last and this year. i have a shot record that is several looooong pages from my pre-school years, school years, military and civilian living in many areas of the world so numerous vaccines for those places too, an never had any disease in my life. I only got two shots of COVID and luckily, only had two days of a slight sore throat. My daughters got all their recommended shots too. I do worry today about vaccines especially seeing the heads of US govt agencies today who know absolutely nothing about their agency and just have to keep praising their boss to continue to milk the system IMHO anyway. BTW that immune system usually get stronger as germs attack the body and most times we never realize it from all that I read, Even almost 80- this year and I still get flu shots.

Yeah when I first heard about it on this forum they mentioned 100K, I don't remember the exact wording, only that after that I began reading how few people were even thinking of getting it then I saw it had changed to 50K so immediately contacted BOI and a couple of weeks later I now set...as I am approaching 80 years of age this year, likely won't need to extend but then who knows....I just like the depart and return with no problems, once a year notify address, no taxes on foreign income. Immigration folks have always treated me but just didn't like the wait in the AM but that had improved after a few years too but then began to be lots of folks waiting. Best one for me!

not only portions, usually healthy plus even oldsters exercise regularly but now the cease to have babies so the retirees have to go back to work...can only survive a short time on that type of sked...but loved living there too.

In DC the capital, there is a restaurant called Armand's I think that was the name and their specialties were submarine sandwiches but they advertise one 4 feet in length but i forget all the weights of meats, cheeses, veggies sauces etc but any 4 people that could eat that 4 footer in a sitting got it for free - it was done by 4 professional foodball players. Lyeah, like I said if I had not spent most of my adult life away from the US then I too might have ended up obese instead of just under 150 pounds but I also have always since high school exercised regularly. My friends and family that did and do live full time in the US of course fit into that obese category. There might be some particular areas that preach healthy eating but more than most are ultra-processed foods and humongous servings of those too. Too many "all you eat" restaurants of all types, pizza parlors, smorgasbord, steaks, whatever in every city.

yeah, if you see a lot of smoke you can bet there is a fire somewhere. When hundreds of women testify to the FBI about how they had sex with the old guys and then many of the old guys start to crumble with their defense. I myself do not believe that all these women are testifying that they had sex at a very young age even when they might have been receiving money or favors of some sort. Even if they did get something, it is still against our laws and the rich and powerful do not deserve to escape punishment IMHO. i also fault the parents of some of these girls too as they should have been watching a lot closer. Now we hear stories from some government officials not just the US but that Epstein was running a "honey pot" scheme and used cameras hidden throughout his abodes and even some claims of blackmail and lots of contact with Russian intel officials as well as with Putin. When DJT says "hoax" IMHO it definitely happened!! Listening to the Congressional committee members about the cover up not only in this administration but previous administrations too. Of course there are enough OLD farts as well as youngsters that come to this area for sex and seem to look for the younger ones versus the old ones so I don't think they even think that DJT did anything wrong, no matter what he did do.IMHO

Obviously you must not have lived in the US. If healthy food had been available the past 40-60 years, then there would not be over 180+ million obese or way too fat adults! IMHO - I read the books about eating healthy foods by Dr. William Li and he talks about processes and ultra-processed foods being so bd for us.

I agree, there might be a need for higher income for the wealthy retiree but IAW all I have seen and heard is that the 5-year is going to insure that the holder of that visa has met and still meets the criteria for the original issue which is basically the same for any visa when you need to extend it for another period. I personally like this visa.

has been around for a couple of years now...not as many obtain it before as it was 100K then two years ago they dropped it to 50K...foreign income tax exempt, no 90-day reports, out and back into country with no need for additional permit to re-enter. If one meets any of the 4 criteria, it can be a great visa, IMHO perfect for me.

I have been listening to the US Congressional hearings. They regularly indicate that DJT is in the "redacted files now unredacted for the Congress hearings" "millions of times. Other findings within those files indicate quite a bit of contact between Epstein and Russian intel officers and Putin even. Poland the congressman said has even opened an investigation about those intel collusions as well as others calling Epstein's quarters a regular honeypot where there were hidden cameras in every room. Amazing what now is being revealed and some of these revelations were obvious during DJT's first term and Rubio was head of the investigating committee which agreed with the Mueller findings of Russian influence in the 2016 elections. Now I guess the next to fall with be Bondi and wonder if she will ever be allowed to practice law again IMHO.

why surprised, I am not sure of statistics in other countries but I regular see that in the US today, 70% of adults are listed as obese and/or have diabetes. 70%! Need to lock up the food producers there as they have led the public astray IMHO. I an American adult am nowhere near fat or obese, but lived most of my adult life in foreign countries obviously with a healthier diet. That too is MHO

I think your problem may be that the check would go to a US address for YOU. I thought that they indicated that they needed a bank as they were going to cease issuing checks but I could be wrong on that as I just skimmed over it since it didn't apply to my situation. I assume your wife has an ITIN but I really think it has to do with our mailing address as that is how they consider where on resides "officially" but this is all IMHO only as I have never had any problems, just got my wife an ITIN after marriage and filed jointly with our Thai address.

So, I take it that your house and spouse's abode was in the US for more than half the year since she is treated as you claim on your taxes unless I am obviously missing something.

Says uote: "if spouse is a says if your house or non-resident spouse"s is IN THE USA then yes you check the box but as i mentioned, I and my spouse both live in Thailand and from here I file my taxes so ignore that box altogether and my spouse is here with me and has never been to the states at all.

yeah I get my 1099SR from OPM so the govt has already chopped off those taxes that I then have to file to get a refund.

good luck..yeah I wasn't able to use the free IRS electronic file either but e-file has been great so far.

Benjamin Franklin 250+ years ago or close to that number mentioned that the only things certain in this world are taxes and death so if you are a US citizen, wish to remain so then legally you must file you taxes yearly and if you have control of an overseas bank acct that has a certain amount of funds then you will need to report that too though I have heard that some folks that leave the US and don't plan to ever return I guess, claim that they do not file US taxes but if you have a US govt pension, then I think that the IRS is well aware of your status.

to each their own whether one follows the laws or not. As for visa changes, there have been several forum notes of Bangkok Post mentioning that the govt plans to cut 15 visas to 7 visa though they did not specify yet. Since this new govt is the same as the temporary govt, they probably will do the same.

Well, since I have been filing as married, with my wife having an ITIN, plus my mailing address is Thailand, the RS and e-file folks provide me with the latest IRS requirements and I never checked any box saying my wife was non-resident.. sounds to me like that would be for one filing within the US or its territories but I had no problems and received my refund in less than 2 weeks after filing. If whoever processed my 1040 and can't recognize that then I will wait to see an error filed next year.

If one is an American unless renouncing of course, then one must file income tax returns, depending on his wife's additional income if they file jointly, he would still have to pay income tax and in addition if he has a foreign bank account then he would also be required to file a FBAR (foreign bank account report) which I found was very easy to file. Visa status also affects obtaining a bank account and other immigration requirements so particular visas can make life easier here. The new government is reportedly going to change some visas but when and if true we wait to see what they might be.

e-file will enable you to quickly do your taxes online, I have done so with them for 4 years, the last two my refund was deposited by the IRS in less than two weeks after I filed! that is "e-file.com" if interested.

IAW the DTA agreement with Thailand, US government pensions are exempt. So I assume that is a Veterans Administration which is a government pension then it would be exempt. You can google "Double Taxation Agreement Between US and Thailand" and it clearly states exactly what is and what is not included. Some visas also provide exemptions on foreign income too.

If he is an American citizen, then he can only avoid taxes on earned income by renouncing his citizenship. If they live in Thailand after the marriage, then he will probably become a tax resident here and should become aware of the tax situation, various visas, even some with exemptions to overseas income and there is a double taxation treaty between Thailand and the US so he should become aware of the tax situation. There are numerous messages on this forum in the past but best to google the tax situation to better understand without getting a wrong info. BTW what kind of visa do you plan to obtain to live here in Thailand?

All of the process can be made a lot easier (i.e. green card documentation through an agency, not over costly) the ITIN for filing as a couple is very easy, just fill in the form, copy of p/p and marriage certificate if I recall properly. The actual getting married was fairly simple, My first wife had died of breast cancer so I needed to provide to the Embassy the death certificate and then had a free to marry paper and went to the district office and they filed our marriage. The necessary documentation can be found from earlier replies from some other people. I retired here over 20 years ago and still feel that it is paradise. Great food, good people who accept foreigners as neighbors. Cost of living here is much cheaper than many other countries. No snow, no cold weather and only storms are those during the hot season. I spent a couple of years in Japan too, loved it but didn't feel it fit me for retirement Best of luck to you.

I mentioned b4, I married a Thai, if your are filing US taxes as a joint couple then she needs to apply for a ITN as mentioned above, as for the green card as she wants to immigrate to the US I guess and live there, then you should in my opinion (as I did) get a local agent who can gather all the paperwork and forward it to the US immigration folks who will deciide if she merits that green card. depending on waiting list it can sometimes take a long time.

I keep my bank informed of official documentation that they might need for the FATCA report to the US of my foreign bank account