Mario2008

Working as a tourist is not allowed. On a retirement visa, it seems to depend pretty much on the labor department you are working with. That is what Sunbelt is telling at least. So it might be possible, just check with the local labor office.

If you have to change a non-immigrant based on retirement to volunteer work, that is indeed something to consider. Especially if you are under a "grandfather clause"

And the current rules about leaving the country when you lose your WP are indeed harsh, to say the least. But do realize that you can change your visa back from volunteer to retirement.

Postal service I find pretty reliable in Thailand. And sure is if you send by EMS or registered mail.

Make sure you make a copy of your passport before you send it, to show immigration/police if need be while you are out of a passport.

Immigration will transfer the stamps for free. Just fill in the right form.

Tyke, there is no problem in getting a WP for volunteer work. They only problem lies with some of the the charities themselves, as they don't know how to go about the paperwork. Charities with international volunteers in general know and have no problems.

Correct. If you don't have your income from within Thailand itself you have to go to your embassy and have your income certified by them. What your embassy accepts as evidence is up to your embassy.

You don't need to have it translated and legalized, but your embassy can also tell you if you need or not.

If your husband is 50 he can apply for a non-immigrant visa. If you want to come with him as dependent you would need to be married. (You could also do that in Thailand of course).

He would first get a 3 month visa, which he can extend at an immigration office in Thailand to one year, and after that every year again with one year. Same goes for yourself, as dependent.

The visa you can apply for in Vientiane.

Regarding point 3.Every foreigner living in Thailand has to report his address to immigration every 90 days. That means you and your husband. But you don't have to go in person, you can also do it by mail. it doesn't mean you have to do visa runs.

As for the 800,000 I expect it need to be in the account of your future husband. He is the one who applies for a visa based on retirement and needs to meet all requirements for that.

If someone were required to convert from retirement to volunteer status, what difficulties might that present ?

Can't see any difficulties, as there is no age limit on getting a WP. For a non-O on volunteer base you don't need to show any income. But the important thing is that you do need to do volunteer work with a registered charity or a government organization. An important disadvantage will be that loosing the volunteer work will mean losing the WP and with that you would have to leave the country in 1 day. Which you can extent with 7 days by paying 1,900 baht.

I am retired from law enforcement is US where I worked as an investigator for a state agency and also I have worked 15 years as a private investigator.Although I am retired I have much experience dealing with cases involving child abuse,pedophiles and human trafficking and am more than willing to work on volunteer basis for any NGO or group who is involved in fighting these evil crimes.There are many many NGOs involved in this according to the internet but I figured maybe there are people on this forum who are either doing volunteer work in this area or know someone who is.I am of course willing to go through any background checks or obtain work permits as required.

Not doing volunteer work in this area myself, but you could contact ecpat:

http://www.ecpat.com/EI/main/front/index.asp

If they are not interested they should at least be able to give you some directions. Good luck!

About when it will come in effect I understand it is still uncertain. But that they provide the information to all the labor offices already would suggest within a month or 5. But Sunbelt will know best.

Dauu. I understand that the tour leader will come with the group end will leave with the group, so doesn't life in Thailand permanently. But the definition of labor still aplies and one need a workpermit to work in Thailand as a foreigner.

I don't beleive one can get a job as a tour leader, as foreigners are banned from working in specified jobs. But I'm not sure of the definition of a "tour conductor".

Have a look at

http://www.boi.go.th/english/download/busi...stment-laws.pdf

You want to have a look at appendix 2, page 18 and 19, nr. 34.

Yes, any immigration office can do. Had mine transferred in Mae Sod.

I'm in no way an expert on this, but section 4 doesn't mean tour leaders don't need a WP. Just as a teacher still needs a WP. The important words here are "duty or mission".

The new rules don't change anything on this point.

There is no way around this. The Thai government leaves it up to the German embassy to check if your allowed to marry, since the Thai government can't check if you have been married before outside of Thailand. The embassy also check the i.d. of the future wife or husband by agreement with Thailand.

As for the name change, I'm not sure. Prepare your name in Thai, as they will register your name in Thai. I know the wife can make use of the husbands name, but I'm not sure the husband can make use of the wife's name.

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I have nothing but good cooperation from both immigration and the labour department. Forgot a document? No problem, here is you visa. Just mail the document tomorrow. Director out of town for a few weeks, no problem. Let him sign it and send it to us wen he comes back. Here is you work permit.<br />As in every country there are a few exceptions, but by far both immigration and labour office are professional and will try to help you. And it will help if you are polite to them and prepare the documents you need. In no way can I say that they love to give me the run-around.

<br /><br /><br /> please tell me your secret...I never got this favour for myself nor for anybody that I could think of. Documents not complete = no process, in most cases application not even accepted.<br />

My secret is that I'm just a nice guy. (I was once even offered residency by immigration). But next to that I do volunteer work, for a government school. That might also help. Next to the fact that I make use of a small limmigration and labour office. The simplyy don't have the workload of Chiang Mai or BKK.

Correct, the 400,000 baht rule is only applies to people already on a non-immigrant before 2006.

But study the link carefully and look at your options. And I'm sure tomorrow some people wiser than me will also offer you some good advice.

Your marriage in the USA is no problem, as long as you have the legal documents of it to proof you are married for real.

I presume you will have income from the US. That means you have to go to your embassy in Bangkok with proof of your income and they will certify that. So the proof is whatever your embassy demands to see.

The following link will give you a summery of the type of visa's and it's requirements for one year extensions.

http://www.lawyer.th.com/National_Police_O...er_Oct_2006.pdf

As you can see there, in the past you could use a deposit of 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account to acquire a non-O based on marriage.

Given your savings of 150,000 US there might be a way to get a one year extension based on investment. With these visa's I'm not familiar.

The party is paid for by the family of the bride, not by the groom.

Based on your marriage you can get a non-O visa from the embassy or consulate in the US. This will allow you to enter for 3 months. Once in Thailand you can ask for an extension for 1 year and again every year. This requires however a family income of 40,000 baht a month. You state you won't have any income on a monthly basis, but will you have some income? If so if it is enough for 480,000 baht per year it should be fine.

Given your savings you can apply for a retirement visa if you are 50+.

If you don't meet the criteria you can apply for a non-O, multiple entry visa. With this visa you would need to leave the country every 90 day and come back again. After it expires you would need to go to a consulate or embassy to get a new visa. So this one is unpractical as you have to leave the country every 90 days, but it will still allow you to live here with your wife.

Sorry about the mistake with your name Lite beer. Must be because my Thai nick-name is big bear.

The one below is the form. Just indicate you want a triple entry and the consulate will do the rest. You can do that by writing 3X behind the tourist visa box in the right corner. But better call the consulate to see if you can get a 3x. The attached instructions suggest only 2X available.

Correct. Thanks for pointing out, Little Bear.

There is no limit to the times you can apply for a visa and you don't have to do it in Australia. A neighboring country, like Laos, will be fine. You could also make a border run and get 30 days without a visa. You can do this for 3 times in a 180 period. (The rule is 90 days in a 180 day period, but you can only have a maximum of 30 days per entry. 9 times 10 days is also possible.)

The visa exempt entree is free, but you will have to leave the country every 30 days.

Better check here again when you actually need another tourist visa to see which country is the best option for a new visa.

The 6 month validity a period of 6 months in which times you can activate the several entries you will get. Each time you use one visa, you activate one.

The first entry is on day 1, and you can extend that on day 60 with 30 days. After that you can make use of your second visa, for another for another 60 + 30 days and after that the 3rd visa.

They don't mean the visa is valid for 6 months, but you have to activate each visa within those 6 months, otherwise they are expired.

Thanks for the reply.

Are there any changes regarding volunteer work?

There are now marriage vows in a Thai wedding. Early in the morning the monks will come and pray to bless the wedding. At the end you offer the monks food.

Than at a later time that day you get married by the parents and both the bride and groom are connected together with a robe around their heads. Next every one will bless the couple by pouring water over your hands and it is party time.

I have nothing but good cooperation from both immigration and the labour department. Forgot a document? No problem, here is you visa. Just mail the document tomorrow. Director out of town for a few weeks, no problem. Let him sign it and send it to us wen he comes back. Here is you work permit.

As in every country there are a few exceptions, but by far both immigration and labour office are professional and will try to help you. And it will help if you are polite to them and prepare the documents you need. In no way can I say that they love to give me the run-around.

You are now in Thailand on a visa exempt entry of 30 days. This can be changed to a real visa, like non-B if you work or non-O if you go the marriage route, only if you have more than 21 days left. If not you need to do another border hop.