What visa options are available?

[Bangkok Barry]

 

A Dutchman who has recently reached retirement age is living with my sister-in-law and supporting her and her two sons. He has so far been surviving on 30-day tourist visas as well as making a trip or two to KL, but he's now running out of visa options. He does not want to marry as then he loses a large percentage of his Dutch pension.

 

What are his options, please?

[paul18620]

Thai Elite visa it depends how much money he has to spend or willing to pay for it as there is many options.

[Bangkok Barry]

Just now, paul18620 said:

Thai Elite visa it depends how much money he has to spend or willing to pay for it as there is many options.

 

Thanks. But I doubt that he has the money up-front for that.

[paul18620]

if this is what you are saying then I guess the retirement visa is also a no go as he needs 800,000 that in a bank account for 3 months before he applies for it.

but if you know the right people there is ways around this as many people don't have this kind of money to qualify for this visa and they can get it but there is a fee for this kind of service.

[ubonjoe]

I think he has been getting 30 day visa exempt entries. A tourist visa allows a 60 day entry.

If he is 50 or over he could get a one year extension based upon retirement. He would need 800k baht in a Thai bank or proof of 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht.

If he cannot qualify for the extension he should be getting single entry tourist visas which would allow him a stay of 90 days by extending the 60 day entry for 30 days.

[Bangkok Barry]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

 

If he cannot qualify for the extension he should be getting single entry tourist visas which would allow him a stay of 90 days by extending the 60 day entry for 30 days.

 

 

I think that's what he's been doing, but isn't there a limit on how many tourist visas he can have?

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I think that's what he's been doing, but isn't there a limit on how many tourist visas he can have?

You wrote 30 days which is not a entry from a tourist visa.

The only limit on getting tourist visas is how many you can get at one embassy or consulate.

[Bangkok Barry]

I think I need to check further on what he has been getting and I'll get back on here. 

[Bangkok Barry]

Okay. His problem recently was that he looked on the Thai government website to check what was required but when he got to Savannakhet there were new rules posted on the window re the 20,000 baht & ticket out stuff that was introduced at the beginning of this year. The website hasn't yet been updated, or so he told me. He printed out the page that is now on the website but it makes no mention of the above. The girl he spoke with there was very pleasant about saying no, though.

 

He is getting 60 day tourist entries and goes to Sakon Nakon to get another 30 days added, and is content to do that for now. So ubonjoe #5 above nailed it. Thanks. The way the rules are constantly revised though makes him nervous.

I wonder how many people there are in Thailand who, like him, support a Thai family but there is no visa that is properly relevant to them. I guess maybe not many, as most are willing and able to marry a local. It seems silly to me that he has to rely on tourist visas when he isn't a tourist. In a year or two, when he's cleared some debts in Europe, he'll go for the retirement visa.

[BritTim]

If all else fails, a marriage in Thailand, not registered with the Dutch authorities, would give him more options.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, BritTim said:

If all else fails, a marriage in Thailand, not registered with the Dutch authorities, would give him more options.

Interesting thought.

[stevenl]

"A Dutchman who has recently reached retirement age is living with my sister-in-law and supporting her and her two sons. He has so far been surviving on 30-day tourist visas as well as making a trip or two to KL, but he's now running out of visa options. He does not want to marry as then he loses a large percentage of his Dutch pension.

 

What are his options, please?"

 

Marrying or not has no bearing on his pension, it is the living situation that counts. That means he is in violation already, and would officially have lost a part of his pension when he started to live with her.

Marrying would be a good idea, since that would help his visa situation here, and as long as he does not tell Dutch authorities the practical situation has not changed (so he would still be cheating the Dutch system, same as he is now).

 

Edit: just noticed BritTim is giving the same suggestion.

[jeab1980]

Tell him to go chat with a visa agent and see what they come up with.

 

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Tell him to go chat with a visa agent and see what they come up with.

 

No many of them up here in Isaan.

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

He is getting 60 day tourist entries and goes to Sakon Nakon to get another 30 days added

 

[jeab1980]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No many of them up here in Isaan.

 

Doesnt need to be a agent in issan (there are a few) Skype one in pattaya. Join Kk expat comunity on FB  a good few advertising on there.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, jeab1980 said:

Doesnt need to be a agent in issan (there are a few) Skype one in pattaya. Join Kk expat comunity on FB  a good few advertising on there.

The problem is that the agents arrange the extension and etc with the local immigration office where they are located. That means that it is where the 90 day reports have to be done. That can cause problems to do a address change to do the reports to a local office. Some are wise to the facts and suspect that the extension was done under the table and will refuse to accept the 90 day reports. I can recall one person having to do border runs every 90 days instead of doing the reports.

[jeab1980]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

The problem is that the agents arrange the extension and etc with the local immigration office where they are located. That means that it is where the 90 day reports have to be done. That can cause problems to do a address change to do the reports to a local office. Some are wise to the facts and suspect that the extension was done under the table and will refuse to accept the 90 day reports. I can recall one person having to do border runs every 90 days instead of doing the reports.

Yes i hear what you say i should have said they advertise saying they can help all over thailand. I presume they have networks all over. Sorry for the confusion

[anon789561]

3 hours ago, BritTim said:

If all else fails, a marriage in Thailand, not registered with the Dutch authorities, would give him more options.

 

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Interesting thought.

might be worth him looking into

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, BritTim said:

If all else fails, a marriage in Thailand, not registered with the Dutch authorities, would give him more options.

My own wife has raised the point that a foreigner marrying in Thailand has to get confirmation from their embassy that they are free to marry. That would then alert them to the possibility of his status changing. I don't expect they would keep track and then follow up on if he did marry or not, but with the efficiency of the Europeans it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

As to the fact(?) that just living with someone overseas already breaks the Dutch rules (#12 above), that seems rather far-fetched as there is no way to prove that he is, especially from Holland. I'll mention it to him though.

[bkk6060]

Go to an agency and all problems will be solved within one day.  But it will probably cost 20,000 b +.

I think worth it but up to you....

[stevenl]

54 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

My own wife has raised the point that a foreigner marrying in Thailand has to get confirmation from their embassy that they are free to marry. That would then alert them to the possibility of his status changing. I don't expect they would keep track and then follow up on if he did marry or not, but with the efficiency of the Europeans it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

As to the fact(?) that just living with someone overseas already breaks the Dutch rules (#12 above), that seems rather far-fetched as there is no way to prove that he is, especially from Holland. I'll mention it to him though.

No, not far fetched. The rule is living together, not being married yes or no. They call it the toothbrush rule :)

 

The embassy doesn't know if he is married or not, only that he asked for the statement he is free to marry, so no worries there.

 

 

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I wonder how many people there are in Thailand who, like him, support a Thai family but there is no visa that is properly relevant to them. I guess maybe not many, as most are willing and able to marry a local.

If such a visa were available, you can be sure there would be a sudden rush of people claiming to support a Thai family in order to qualify for the visa. I expect there are a fair number who do support Thai families one way or another, but still manage to stay in Thailand without relying on tourist visas.

 

And to be fair, your friend would be eligible for either an extension of stay based on marriage or retirement except, apparently, for his personal financial situation/choices. So to say that "he has to rely on tourist visas" isn't accurate. Obviously the Thai authorities have set some fairly minimal requirements for someone like him to stay in Thailand. They can't be expected to tailor more ways to stay long term in order to cater to individual circumstances.

 

Quote

. It seems silly to me that he has to rely on tourist visas when he isn't a tourist

 

It seems silly to me that someone who chooses to marry would be penalized by his own government. Possibly they could be considered the cause of the problem rather than blaming it on Thai immigration policy.

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

If such a visa were available, you can be sure there would be a sudden rush of people claiming to support a Thai family in order to qualify for the visa. I expect there are a fair number who do support Thai families one way or another, but still manage to stay in Thailand without relying on tourist visas.

 

And to be fair, your friend would be eligible for either an extension of stay based on marriage or retirement except, apparently, for his personal financial situation/choices. So to say that "he has to rely on tourist visas" isn't accurate. Obviously the Thai authorities have set some fairly minimal requirements for someone like him to stay in Thailand. They can't be expected to tailor more ways to stay long term in order to cater to individual circumstances.

 

 

It seems silly to me that someone who chooses to marry would be penalized by his own government. Possibly they could be considered the cause of the problem rather than blaming it on Thai immigration policy.

"It seems silly to me that someone who chooses to marry would be penalized by his own government. Possibly they could be considered the cause of the problem rather than blaming it on Thai immigration policy."

As pointed out already, married or not has no bearing on the pensions.

[mikecha]

Question why is his Dutch pension less if he marries a thai woman

[mikecha]

7 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks. But I doubt that he has the money up-front for that.

Barry  why does he loose a big percentage of his Dutch  pension 

[bkk6060]

4 minutes ago, mikecha said:

Question why is his Dutch pension less if he marries a thai woman

Maybe it is "survivor benefits"  Especially if she is younger they will reduce his pension benefit.

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

 

I agree that it is odd that he is penalised for marrying. I believe the same rule applies in Australia and/or NZ too.

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

"It seems silly to me that someone who chooses to marry would be penalized by his own government. Possibly they could be considered the cause of the problem rather than blaming it on Thai immigration policy."

As pointed out already, married or not has no bearing on the pensions.

OK. Even sillier unless there's some logical reason for that which hasn't been given in this thread. It sounds  like they are penalizing someone for having a domestic companion however the relationship is described.

 

Anyway, it seems the problem for the  friend of O/P has to do with Dutch pension rules and (I guess) some personal debt he took on.  rather than for the O/P to blameThai immigrations.

[Bangkok Barry]

No-one on this thread, as far as I can see, has blamed Thai immigration. My question was what options he has within the rules. He has since told me he is okay for now to rely on a series of tourist visas and extensions.

[hawker9000]

11 hours ago, mikecha said:

Question why is his Dutch pension less if he marries a thai woman

Answer:  read the thread.  It's only 2 pages, and the answer to this has already been posted.