Visa options and property buying options for an English couple

[FrancesL]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but we are an English married couple who are making plans to spend approx 6 months in the UK and 6 months in Thailand per year as we get closer to our retirement. Ideally we would like to buy a villa not condo in Thailand and when we are not staying there rent it out for either 6 months to local people or short lets for holidays. 

1. Our questions are what is the best visa to apply for? A non-immigration O-X for 5 years? or a yearly multi entry visa?
2. As a couple do we need to get 2 O-X Visas and pay 3 million thai bahts each into a Thai bank account or does 1 visa cover 1 applicant and spouse and only 3 million Thai Bahts?
3. Has anyone bought a property on a long lease or is it not recommended? Or purchase through a Limited company, which would be recommended?

Any advice would be greatly received.

 

[BritTim]

1. I think O-A visas will be easier. The way these work, you should only need to get one every second year (you get a one-year permission to stay if you enter just before the visa expires).
2. You have the option of only one of you getting a long-term visa, with the other getting an extension of stay based on being the spouse. However, I believe it would be simpler for each of you to have independent visas with your own financial proof (which at around 25,000 pounds in a UK account is not too onerous).
3. There are various approaches to property purchase in Thailand. However, it is a reality that legal protections are limited when the property is not covered by the Condominium Act. Bear in mind that a few condominium projects are not the typical tall building model. In theory, other kinds of developments are possible. If your property purchase is not based on a condominium project, you cannot own the land on which the property is built. You can have what may seem a cast iron ownership of the property itself, but this would not be enforceable against any future purchaser of the land. Laches are a weak form of protection in Thailand.

[chainarong]

I would thoroughly look into the aspect of owning your own bungalow or land in Thailand  before setting out from the UK ,  reality and dreaming are two different items, you are dreaming if you think you can own land in Thailand, so I don't know what your going to put a bungalow on , in reality you can own a condo, when it comes to Thailand there are so many hidden traps,  curves and dead ends that it can become a nightmare, do your research. 

[UKresonant]

On the property front, I think it's still safer to keep the money invested, and use the dividends to help pay for a lease/rental of a Bungalow/Villa.

Even when married to a Thai (buying a property), the foreign spouse generally has to declare no interest in ownership of the property.

Thinking of property as we do in the UK, could result in a costly mistake. 

[ubonjoe]

Any questions and discussion about buying/owning a home should be done in this forum Real Estate, housing, house and land ownership .

Please do not post comments about it in this topic about visas.

[Langsuan Man]

38 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Please do not post comments about it in this topic about visas.

If you are not discouraged on the idea of buying property , which you will find over at the forum Ubonjoe suggested, your visas should preferably be a non Immigrant Visa, like an O-A.   Which will make it easier to open bank accounts, obtain Drivers licenses, etc.  Not saying that you can't do the same with a tourist visa but it will be a lot more difficult without a long stay type of Visa

 

I do six and six in Thailand like you propose and having an O-A is the best for me since I have to deal with Immigration in Thailand only for my 90 day reports.  All my funds remain in the US and I certainly don't have to deal with 800,000 THB sitting in a Thai bank

 

And don't forget you are going to be here during high season and gone during low season, a major concern for renting anything out

[FrancesL]

Thank you all for your speedy replies.

BritTim, can I just confirm, That if we decide to apply for 1 of us on an O-X visa, we still need to apply for an O-A Visa for the 2nd person? The benefit being that we only have to put £25,000 into a Thai bank account, the other funds can stay in a UK bank account?

 

Sorry for posting about property ownership in the wrong thread, I will post in the correct place going forwards, but they are both linked as to which type of Visa to apply for.

[BritTim]

43 minutes ago, FrancesL said:

Thank you all for your speedy replies.

BritTim, can I just confirm, That if we decide to apply for 1 of us on an O-X visa, we still need to apply for an O-A Visa for the 2nd person? The benefit being that we only have to put £25,000 into a Thai bank account, the other funds can stay in a UK bank account?

 

Sorry for posting about property ownership in the wrong thread, I will post in the correct place going forwards, but they are both linked as to which type of Visa to apply for.

If you decide to go for an O-X visa rather than an O-A visa, the requirements are more complex. For an O-A visa, there is no need (for visa purposes) to transfer any money to Thailand (though you would obviously do so to cover living costs, and eventually property purchase).

Regardless of whether you go for O-X or O-A visas, there is the option of one of you piggybacking off the other's long stay visa. Briefly, you get a single entry Non O visa (which has minimal requirements) from the UK based on the spouse's long stay visa. The single entry Non O allows a 90-day stay. Towards the end of the 90-day stay, you then apply for a one-year extension of stay based on the spouse's permission to stay on a long term visa. If independently meeting the requirements for long stay visas is problematic, the extension route is doable but lacks the flexibility of each having long stay visas.

[ubonjoe]

8 hours ago, FrancesL said:

The benefit being that we only have to put £25,000 into a Thai bank account, the other funds can stay in a UK bank account?

i think are confusing the non-ox visa with a non-oa long stay visa.

This from the requirements for the 10 year OX visa. (http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/84508-Non-Immigrant-visas.html#8)

"Applicants must have money deposited in Thai bank located in Thai bank located in Thailand with the amount of not less than 3 million Baht; or

Applicants must have money deposited in Thai bank located in Thailand with the amount of not less than 1.8 million Baht and have income with the amount of not less than 1.2 million Baht per year. Once the applicants enter Thailand, they must have accumulated money deposited in Thai bank located in Thailand not less than 3 million Baht within 1 year.

The money in (a) and (b) must be kept in bank account at least 1 year before withdrawing and, within another next year, the money must be left in the account with the amount of not less than 1.5 million Baht and can only be spent in Thailand."

 

This for the OA visa that is valid for one year from the date of issue and allows unlimited 1 year entries. (http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/84508-Non-Immigrant-visas.html#7)

"Bank statement or evidence of adequate finance for the past 3 months showing a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht (approximately £20,000.00) or an income certificate for the past 6 months with monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht (approximately £1,625.00), or a deposit account plus a monthly income totalling not less than 800,000 Baht. If you send a copy of bank statement, the original reference letter from the banking concerned is necessary."

If you got a OA visa your wife could get a single entry non-o visa that would allow a 90 day entry that could be extended at immigration. The extension would be valid to the end of the one year entry allowed by your OA visa. She would not need to show any financial proof.

You can get a total stay of almost 2 years from the OA visa by doing an entry just before the visa expires to get a new 1 year entry and then a re-entry permit to keep that last entry valid if you want to travel.