My daughter has Thai citizenship. She is over 30, fully employed as a teacher in Bangkok, owns a home. I plan to retire to Thailand in about 2 years - can commit 800k, but don’t want to if there is an alternative. I have heard that I can use my family connection to my daughter to get a long-term visa (similar to the compassionate grounds visa here in NZ), but can’t find any details. Has anyone heard of this?

 

Other salient points: I worked in Thailand for 28 years on a legal work permit. I am now 70.

 

(Note: Please don’t confuse the issue by referring to a dependent child – as I said above, my daughter is over 30, and therefore this does not apply to me.)

 

Be nice to clear this point up, so any help would be appreciated. Muchos.

There are extension of stay based upon being the parent of a Thai but many offices will not do one if they are over 20. If you could get one you would only need 400k baht in the bank or proof of 40 baht income.

There is a line in the clause in the immigration order for the extensions that states this.

"In case the father of mother requests to be under maintenance of children, the age of father or mother must be 50 years of age or over."

I have always wondered what documents immigration might ask for an extension "to be under the  maintenance of a child" as per clause 2.18(5) of Police Order 327/2557 (2014) (highlighting in bold is mine)

 

Quote

(5) In the case of parents, the father or mother must maintain an average annual income of no less than Baht 40,000 per month throughout the year or must have deposited funds of no less than Baht 400,000 to cover expenses for one year.
In case the father of mother requests to be under maintenance of children, the age of father or mother must be 50 years of age or over.
For other necessary cases, the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Immigration Bureau is granted the authority to make decisions regarding approval on a case-by-case basis.

 

 

Immigration Bureau Order 138/2557 (2014) gives full information about the required documents only for the first paragraph of clause 2.18(5) but indicates the requirement for an affidavit from the the child to confirm the parental relationship of the foreigner with the child.

 

Quote

5. Only for Criteria (5) paragraph 1 and (6), the applicant must attach a funds deposit certificate issued by a bank in Thailand and a copy of a bankbook, or attach documents proving that the parents or alien husband earns an average monthly income of no less than Baht 40,000 throughout the year, such as any particular individual income tax return together with payment receipt, evidence of receiving retirement pension, evidence of receiving interest from funds deposit, or evidence of having other funds issued by the relevant agency. An affidavit must also be submitted confirming the alien’s marital or parental status with a Thai national.

 

 

There is no harm in your inquiring from your local immigration office what else, if anything, they would require. Theoretically, there should be nothing else but they probably never had a case like this and if they want to make it difficult they can dream up anything they like. It would be interesting to hear how it goes, if you try that route.

 

Thank you ubonjoe and maestro for your replies - as usual, nothing is cut and dried in Thailand, especially when it comes to the interpretation of the rules. Oh well! I shall pass on my experience of this procedure when it comes about. Muchos.

Removed an off-topic post.

Thanks for the informative posts, this is something I've wondered about from time to time.

 

I have to say though that I'm somewhat surprised that the applicant is still expected to show money in the bank as being "under the  maintenance of a child" would imply that the child is responsible for the cost?

That's what a few here say.

Oh, that's my adult daughter but in fact, it's the young GF.

7 minutes ago, nahkit said:

I have to say though that I'm somewhat surprised that the applicant is still expected to show money in the bank as being "under the  maintenance of a child" would imply that the child is responsible for the cost?

That is what is meant by the "maintenance of a child". When immigration put that line in the order they did not go into details about it. The following line is also under the being the parent of a Thai part the clause 2.18.

"For other necessary cases, the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Immigration Bureau is granted the authority to make decisions regarding approval on a case-by-case basis."