calbts2

Yes I agree, I lived in Japan for over 6 years and never had any problems getting my work visas. As The WalkingMan said - they just changed work/marriage visas from 3 to 5 years and no need to get a re-entry permit anymore if you are out of the country for less than a year. And the visa fees are very cheap - about 5000 yen(1500 baht) now every 5 years. There is no such thing as a "work permit" / green card as your work visa is all you need.

If you have a spouse visa - you can work any type of job no restrictions. Likewise Perm. Residency is obtainable only after 5 years to spouses and 10 for others.

Compare all this to what one has to deal with down here and the costs. I have to renew my visa every year and spend 1900 baht + 3800 baht for the mult. re-entry + $50 at the US embassy for the affidavit = about 6500 baht every year + the hassle of 90 day reporting + work permits for every job + restrictions on type of work I can do - none of this is necessary in Japan.

Also Perm. Residence here is a joke and hardly worth getting - not that you can even get it now.

Yes it is what happens when you combine Thai and Japanese bureaucracy - double the nightmares.

Funny though in my many years of dealing with Japanese visas and immigration - I found them to be very straightforward and reasonable with the lowest costs - especially when compared to Thai or US immigrations.

Good Luck. I used to get tourist visas for Thailand when I lived in Japan at that embassy and it is a real PITA.

They wanted a business registration document from my employer at the time plus a bunch of other paperwork. Seems ridiculous for a 60 day tourist visa.

For self employed - i do not know.

My advice -if still valid - Last time I got a visa was in 2007 - I remember one of the counter persons at the visa office was a Thai man in his late 30's or so wearing glasses. AVOID this guy if at all possible as he is a real stickler for paperwork and a total jerk. Try to deal with the ladies that work there instead as they were more flexible with the paperwork and much nicer.

Thia draconian law is called FATCA and many international financial institutions are resisting its imperial overreach.

Read more about it here;

http;//www.aca.ch

"In the USA almost all office supply stores have hard plastic chair pads, many with anti-static connections to enable grounding. These come in various sizes, I preferred a 4x6 ft version. Have been trying to find similar in the LOS but no luck (Office Depot, HomePro, etc).

Will try the cut-to-size version suggested by poster above, need something for my lovely wood floor. "

I have been looking all over Thailand and Japan for these for the last 8 years and have yet to see them anywhere.

I am resigned to ordering one from the USA and having it shipped over.

Yes I also get the option of cash back for my accumulated miles with my Capital One Card. My annual with the card fee is only $39.

The cash rewards card only gives cash back and no miles/rewards option.

Nevertheless, Capital One is the way to go for overseas use.

Chase is a horrible-awful-ripoff bank. I had a free account with Washington Mutual then when Chase took em over they instituted fees and other higher charges -- I promptly closed the account. Living in Thailand your best bet is with Schwab for banking - reimbursed/no ATM fees, good exchange rate, no account fees, and excellent customer service. They are even fedex-ing my new atm card to me in Thailand for free.

For my US credit card I use Capital One Mastercard which has no foreign currency conversion fees like many other cards do. And the exchange rate is close to the daily rate. And it has a rewards program for airlines and other stuff. There is an annual fee of around $50 but I think it is very much worth it for all the foreign fees I save.

Get away from Chase!!!

There are two in Robinson's- One on the ground floor around the corner from the office depot entrance across from the Western Bar entrance, Another I think on the 2nd floor next to the Aeon bank branch near the garage entrance next to elevators.

Another In Carrefour in the corner with the ATMS near the bathrooms.

And another in Tesco 1 st floor at Praham 9 in the entrance near the bread and shopping carts.

I use these all the time to avoid the ripoff 150 baht fees.

Jusco is no more.

There is no AEON ATM in Esplanade.

The scam stops( actually it never started with me) when you do the following:

1. Use AEON ATMS exclusively - they do not charge the 150 baht ripoff fee.

2. Use a Capital One Credit Mastercard and/or Capital One ATM card - with the credit card - no ripoff 1-3% FOREIGN FEE that just about all other US credit cards charge for foreign purchases. The exchange rate is decent too. I use it all the time and actually love this card. Their ATM card from what I understand also does not charge foreign fees but I don't have one of those.

3. Use a Charles Schwab ATM/Debit card - also like Cap One - no Foreign fee and the reimburse any ATM fees - domestic or foreign fee at the end of the month that you may have been charged. I like to use the no fee AEON ATMS to save me the hassle of keeping track of fees. I also find the foreign exchange rate almost identical to the real time rate on xe.com.

As far as National banks go, Capital One and Schwab are by far the best options when outside the US. I have used both in many other countries and have incurred no extra foreign fees and good exchange rates.

I also have accounts at Citibank USA and US Bank and a US Bank VISA. These ATM cards collect dust as their foreign fees are outrageous. Citibank used to be good until about 2006 when their ATM fees went from free to 1% and now 3%.

I just closed my account at CHASE. What a horrible bank. Used to be free checking WAMU with 1% foreign fee but now the liars and thieves at Chase want to charge me for checking and rip me off with high ATM fees. STAY AWAY FROM CHASE!!

A few more things-

I have a Savings account and a brokerage account. I get interest on the savings ( currently a pathetic .0055%) and daily $500 withdrawl limits. You are only allowed 6 monthly withdrawls from the savings account but that restriction does not apply to ATM withdrawls. When I do online transfer from Savings to brokerage - the money takes about 3 days to "clear" and be fully available in the brokerage account.

And like many here - I only use AEON ATMS to avoid the Thai bank Association extortion fee for me or Schwab.

As far as addresses go - I use my father's stateside address. Technically non US residents must open a different type of brokerage account for International clients that disallows investment in many US Mutual Funds that by law are only available to US residents. For the past 10 years I have been "traveling" in Schwab's view. There has always been a question in the back of my mind in that what is someone supposed to do when he has a domestic brokerage account with funds "only available to US residents" and moves abroad? Is he supposed to sell everything in these funds the day he moves,close his domestic account, and re-open an international one abroad? I did not do this and highly doubt many others would do this as well.

I have been using Schwab Brokerage and Savings accounts exclusively for a few years here. It is the real deal - no ATM fees and true exchange rates.

I prefer to use AEON atms since they charge no front end fees but I do believe you can use any ATM on Plus network and they reimburse fees.

Customer service is excellent and responsive. Important to notify them of you travel to a new country. All my other US bank account ATM cards collect dust since they all (Citibank, US Bank, Chase) all charge 3% of the withdrawl amount plus additional ATM charge - A rip off.

Funny I used to use Citibank which was also free until around 2006 when they went to 1% and then they went to 3%.

And I will close my Chase (formerly WAMU) account this week since it is going from free to fee.

It's better to get your Cambodian visa online in advance. You only pay $20 and you only get 2 small cambodian stamps (entry & exit) in your passport rather than using a full page.

Google "Cambodian evisa" for details

HTH

I agree. Much more convenient and once over the Thai border, you can ignore all the dirty scammers and crooks and check into the Cambodia immigration post on the right past the Grand Diamond Casino. The full price for e-visa is $25 but that is less than 1000 baht or $20+ 100 baht tea money + hassle of arguing with the Cambodian guards.

Get it here:

http://www.mfaic.gov.kh/evisa/

Best rate in town is at Super Rich main office. Better than all the banks.

http://www.superrich1965.com/app/our_rates.aspx

The US State Dept just published the final rule in effect July 13, 2010 raising passport fees again despite 98% of comments opposed. The worst of it is the new $82 charge to add pages which was previously free. I just scheduled my appointment this week to add more pages because I don't want to pay $82 when my passport gets full in a few years.

Also many of the US Citizen Service fees such as notary are going up ( almost 70-80%) as well.

By the way, the State Dept just published the final rule in effect July 13, 2010 raising passport fees again despite 98% of comments opposed. The worst of it is the new $82 charge to add pages which was previously free. I just scheduled my appointment this week to add more pages because I don't want to pay $82 when my passport gets full in a few years.