Hi guys and gals .... 2 things . . . . .

1st thing.

We've just been on the phone to the Thai Embassy in London who say that it's not illegal

to work at home in Thailand as 'self employed' if the work has not originated in Thailand.

2nd thing: I've scoured the British consular site and also emailed them regarding a letter

to authenticate my income in order to get a spouse visa extension...with no success.

Is this something to be done through British consular services once in Thailand,

or is it possible to do in advance whilst still in the UK.... and if so how and where and

what documentation is required?

Many thanks again!!!!!

David

David, the embassies are in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the Ministry of Labour. Embassy officers often give out erroneous info, or info that is easily interpreted as it was not meant. Why don't you ask an officer of the Min. of Labour of Thailand?

As for your letter that is done at your Embassy here and will have to meet there requirements for supporting documents (which I do not believe is a problem for most people but don't know the exact requirements).

David, the embassies are in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, not the Ministry of Labour. Embassy officers often give out erroneous info, or info that is easily interpreted as it was not meant. Why don't you ask an officer of the Min. of Labour of Thailand?

PB is right.

It is the Labour Dept who give out Work Permits

and will deport you if they catch you working without one...........

I think you have been wrongly advised on two counts, firstly there was a thread on the forum earleir this year debating whether those who live in Thailand but provide a service via the internet could be deemed to work in Thailand, after some research it was reported that such work is deemed to be in Thailand and as such you need a work permit and pay taxes etc.

The second part is the embassy letter, this is provided (at a cost) to confirm pension details for those requesting an extension of stay based on a UK pension, in these cases we have to provide the embassy with original letters from the pension provider which they then verify and issue a letter for immigration. To my knowledge they cannot verify someones income who is self emplyed as this would entail tax returns etc and they do not have the resources.

Your only option would be if you are over 50 then you need either a pension or cash or combination to meet the 800,000 baht rule. If under 50 then I guess its visa runs!

If anyone can elaborate on this I would be interested if only to store it away for future questions !!

I have income from rental and savings to meet the 40k baht/month

Would a statement from the letting agencey, and recent statements from a bank

showing monthly interest be enough documentation

to support the embassy letter?

david

I believe it most certainly should be acceptable. The ideal documentation for this type of income.

--

Maestro

I believe it most certainly should be acceptable. The ideal documentation for this type of income.

+1

properly arranged docs of external source of income - and you out of visa runs.

it took some time to arrange them, but after - all problems gone. Folk at Labor Dept are nice and helping.

We are talking about overseas income - the "Labor Dept" has nothing to do with it.

Im sorry to be slow on the uptake here, but can someone clarify something for me?

I have been going for back to back TV runs every 3 months and will be applying for my 4th soon. I am in my 30's and have savings as well as meeting the 40k per month which goes into my UK bank account.

Are you saying there is an alternative visa I can apply for within Thailand? (or a neighbouring country?) That is longer term than the TV's?

If so, that would be a great relief.

Edit: I just re-read and noted the "spouse" part. I realise that im probably way off the mark.

Spouse is the operative phrase. If you were married to a Thai national and had 40k family income per month then you could extend your stay one year at a time at a cost of 1,900 baht at an Immigration office.

Without that the best you can obtain is a multi entry non immigrant O visa from some Consulates to visit friends in Thailand - that visa allows stays of 90 days for up to almost 15 months so is much better than repeat tourist visas. These visas seem to only be issued by a few honorary Consulates so you might want to contact some and see if that might be a possibility.

In hindsight I wish I had applied for just that very visa from Hull before I left the UK. Then again I was even more clueless about visas than i am now!

Thank you for the advice.