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Posted

I have been here for five years on a Thai wife visa, but my wife has just passed away. Although I am over 60 years old, I'm not sure I would qualify for a retirement visa on financial grounds.

Do I have any choice but to leave Thailand?

Posted

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. It would only be putting salt on the wound if Thailand forced you to leave. I'm not sure about the visa laws. I would visit an attorney that specializes in visas to see what your options might be.

Posted

Sorry to hear that Bill. That's awful.

I really do think that you are stuck with Retirement Extensions or Tourist Visas.

Sorry to say.

But I hope that I am wrong.

Posted

My condolences, William.

If you have children of Thai nationality you can extend on that basis without evidence of income or money in the bank.

If you have any kind of income (pension, interest, dividends) you only need the difference between the income and 800k in a bank account for the retirement extension.

--

Maestro

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. — George Bernard Shaw

 

Posted

I would like to add my condolences, William. You state that you have been in Thailand for 5 years. If you have been staying in Thailand for at least 3 consecutive years and are reasonably fluent in Thai, you may be able to apply for a residency permit - see

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/do...tion4extend.doc

But, lest I may be raising your hopes unduly, I would strongly recommend you to seek legal advice as suggested by mrt273nva. And I would also defer to Lite Beer and Maestro who are, in my eyes at least, acknowledged experts in visa/residency matters on Thaivisa.

Posted

Thank you all for your condolences and your advice.

We had no children together, and I am not sure I wish to pursue permanent residence, so I guess I am stuck, as Lite Beer says. I will however enquire of the Immigration Dept to see if there are any special provisions for such circumstances.

Posted

William, you need to act quickly with Immigration. My friend lost his wife a few years ago and when he got around to visiting Immigration regarding another type of extension he had become an overstayer. I believe you have less than 30 days to action this matter.

Posted

One option, which might give you some 'breathing space' to sort out a more permanent solution, would be to sign up to study Thai language at a school such as Walen in Bangkok or Pattaya. (There are also similar courses offered in Phuket). There is no age limit for this type of study and if you sign up for about 180 hours of study (that is about 4 hours per week or 1 day per week), then you would qualify either for a 1-year sudent visa or 90 day 'remewable' visas. The cost is about 30,000 baht for 180 hours of study.

This is hardly an ideal solution, especially if you do not live near these cities. At your time of live, the thought of sitting in a classroom 1 day per week might be rather daunting! But it might hep to give you time to try to resolve the problem of your retirement income.

The only other option that I could think of is to work as a volunteer for a government school or registered charity. I think that government schools require teachers to retire at 60 years old, (I might be wrong here..). So why not investigate working unpaid for a registered charity? That would give you 90 day renewable visas or a 1 year visa if a senior officlal can support your visa application.

Good luck

Simon

Posted
...I will however enquire of the Immigration Dept to see if there are any special provisions for such circumstances.

Please keep us posted how things go.

--

Maestro

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. — George Bernard Shaw

 

Posted

Also sorry to hear of your recent loss. Simon43's suggestion of a registered charity is certainly a good idea and well worth looking into, especially if you have any skills that they might be looking for.

Posted
I have been here for five years on a Thai wife visa, but my wife has just passed away. Although I am over 60 years old, I'm not sure I would qualify for a retirement visa on financial grounds.

Do I have any choice but to leave Thailand?

Ok, here’s the bottom line:

My English friend living in Lamphun lost his Thai wife from cancer 6 years ago.

He was also over 60 at the time and on a non-immigrant visa as married to a Thai wife.

My friend failed to inform Immigration within seven days about the death of his Thai wife.

3 months later his yearly non immigrant visa was due for extension and after explaining to the immigration officer that his wife died 3 months previous, was told to leave the Kingdom within seven days because on the death of his wife he was in Thailand illegally.

It cost him 200000 baht in payoffs and including getting a lawyer to plead on his behalf with immigration in Bangkok. Luckily Immigration agreed to let my friend stay, he was extremely fortunate, but still had to find 800000 baht for the retirement status non o visa.

You should report the death of your wife and change in immigration status within 7 days to Immigration, after that you are classified as residing in Thailand illegally. There are no policies in place for extended stay in the Kingdom on compassionate grounds and no lawyer would be able to make this happen, the ultimate decision is with immigration.

You require 800000 baht investment in a Thai bank or about 65000 baht per month pension income or make up the 800000 baht amount with both.

If you are unable to fulfill these requirements you could do visa runs for a while, borrow the extra 400000 baht to total 800000 baht for your retirement non-immigrant visa or return back to your home country.

I am truly sorry that you have all these worries at this tragic time, but please act now to save yourself even more stress.

Posted

Here's a little more detail.

My current Non-O Thai wife visa expires on September 30, and I have (more or less) decided to leave Thailand anyway, rather than suffer any of the various indignities described above.

I presume I can just leave on or before September 30 with no consequences.

Any thoughts?

Posted

My condolences too.

I believe the retirement visa will be your only practical option.

Please keep us updated.

Astral

Posted
Here's a little more detail.

My current Non-O Thai wife visa expires on September 30, and I have (more or less) decided to leave Thailand anyway, rather than suffer any of the various indignities described above.

I presume I can just leave on or before September 30 with no consequences.

Any thoughts?

Do you have a Thai friend who speaks good English who you can explain the situation to, or western friend who speaks Thai, if you do I would have then ring Immigration in Suan Plu and get an official ruling on your status - as unfortunately I think with the passing of your wife your visa is probably now cancelled - as tough and as unfair as it might be this is Thailand and rules are rules -

Posted

My wife passed away last Friday, the cremation was yesterday, and we had the scattering of the ashes ceremony today (Tuesday).

I'll go to Suan Phlu on Thursday to check out my official options, and let you all know the results (I live in Nakhon Pathom).

Posted

My heartfelt condolences go out to you.

Even on marriage you get 60 days extension at immigration but whilst I think this may not happen to many of us, it is extremely sad and the first case I have come across on this board or any other.

I suspect the Thai thinking, if there is any, is that once the wife has died, the foreigner will no longer wish to remain in Thailand. Of course this gives no thought to how the couple structured their life or the assets they purchased in Thailand.

Once again William my deepest sympathy and I hope you find a solution which gives you the right to dictate where you live rather than being dictated to.

Posted

Lite Beer, you were not wrong.

The ruling was that I can apply for a retirement extension, but otherwise I have to leave Thailand by September 30 when my visa expires.

If I want a tourist visa, I have to leave and return; the Thai Wife visa cannot be "converted" to a tourist visa.

I shall be leaving soon, but who knows? -- I may come back in a few years.

Posted
Lite Beer, you were not wrong.

The ruling was that I can apply for a retirement extension, but otherwise I have to leave Thailand by September 30 when my visa expires.

If I want a tourist visa, I have to leave and return; the Thai Wife visa cannot be "converted" to a tourist visa.

I shall be leaving soon, but who knows? -- I may come back in a few years.

Sorry Bill.

At least they did not cancel your stay as of now.

Good luck in whatever you do.

Keep in touch.

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