My Options?

[nixone]

Hello Everybody,

This is my first post here and hope to get some good advice. Let me start with a short introduction. I am a citizen of Nepal and my wife is a Thai Citizen. We both live in the US and we have two kids. I came to the US for college. After receiving my BS, MA, and MS, I am currently working as a Business Systems Analyst (work visa, no green card yet).

My wife and I are thinking about moving to Thailand. She needs to take care of her ailing mother and we also want our kids to learn Thai language and culture. I have never been to Thailand too, so I need to learn a lot about Thailand as well.

As being married to a Thai Citizen, what are my options in Thailand as far as getting a long term visa that allows me to work or start a small business? Our kids do not have Thai passports yet (only US passports).

How hard is it to find a job in IT industry? How much do they pay for Systems/Business Analyst type of jobs? I would be happy to teach, but not sure if they would offer me a teaching job as I am not a native English speaker.

Thank you so much for your time and advice.

[Maestro]

The first thing you should do is get your children Thai passports, unless you want them to live in Thailand as Nepalese nationals. Talk to the consular section of the Thai embassy in Washington about the procedure, which is quite simple.

For yourself, you should get a multiple-entry non-immigrant visa type O and once you are in Thailand and have a family income of minimum 40,000 Baht per month you can get annual extensions of stay on that basis. Paragraph 7.17(6) of Royal Thai Police Order No. 606/2549 applies.

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Maestro

[Thanyaburi Mac]

The first thing you should do is get your children Thai passports, unless you want them to live in Thailand as Nepalese nationals. Talk to the consular section of the Thai embassy in Washington about the procedure, which is quite simple.

For yourself, you should get a multiple-entry non-immigrant visa type O and once you are in Thailand and have a family income of minimum 40,000 Baht per month you can get annual extensions of stay on that basis. Paragraph 7.17(6) of Royal Thai Police Order No. 606/2549 applies.

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Maestro

Maestro

Even more fun, tri-citizenship! Nepalese, Thai, and U.S. since probably born there. But, yes, for sure get Thai passports for the kids so then can stay here without the Thai visa mini-hassles.

Mac

[ubonjoe]

The first thing you should do is get your children Thai passports, unless you want them to live in Thailand as Nepalese nationals. Talk to the consular section of the Thai embassy in Washington about the procedure, which is quite simple.

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Maestro

Use the following link to get contact info for all Thai consulates in the US, use the pull down menu at top of page to get info. Website also has info about getting passports and non-o visas.

http://www2.thaiembdc.org/AboutEmb/EmbDirect.aspx

[nixone]

Thanks Maestro, thanyaburimac, ubonjoe for your time and advice. Nepal does not allow dual citizenships. If my kids want Nepali citizenships, they would have to give up their US citizenships and I would not think that would be a very good idea. I will try to get Thai citizenships for them.

Once I get O visa, would I be able to find a job and start working or do I need to apply for a work permit? How hard is it to get a work permit?

My wife and I were married in the US (6 years ago) and we have a marriage certificate from the local city government, but when we went to renew her passport to Washington DC few months ago, they told us that they do not recognize marriage that is not registered in Thailand. They also wrote MISS in front of my wife's name and told us to register in Thailand. So my question is, based on our marriage certificate in the US, will I be able to apply for O visa from here?

Any ideas on where to start my job search? Any forums or websites? Thanks.

[ubonjoe]

Once I get O visa, would I be able to find a job and start working or do I need to apply for a work permit? How hard is it to get a work permit?

My wife and I were married in the US (6 years ago) and we have a marriage certificate from the local city government, but when we went to renew her passport to Washington DC few months ago, they told us that they do not recognize marriage that is not registered in Thailand. They also wrote MISS in front of my wife's name and told us to register in Thailand. So my question is, based on our marriage certificate in the US, will I be able to apply for O visa from here?

Any ideas on where to start my job search? Any forums or websites? Thanks.

Getting a job and then work permit is normal. Employer needs to start the paperwork. With employers assitance it can be easy. Having a non-o helps because you already have a visa that you can get a work permit on plus you are not dependent on work permit for visa. Also a company only needs 2 employes verses 4 if married to a Thai.

For your multiple non-o visa marriage certificate shouldn't be a problem. Suggest though that you use an honarary consulate for the visa (see list on website) they are normally more friendly. For kids passports though I think you may have to use an official conulate (DC,NY,LA or Chicago) but you could call or email an honarary and check.

You should go to a district office (Amphor) here and register your marriage after arrival. She then could get a new passport and Thai ID with correct maritial status. Also her house registration book will need to be updated. All this will be needed for one year extension application (except passport).

For job search you could start with www.bangkokpost.com or www.nationmultimedia.com they both have job ads.

[PoorSucker]

For work start here:

You'll also get some idea of salaries.

One thing you should know though, when stating that your are from Nepal all Thai will assume you are a tailor.

Loads of Nepalese tailors here...

Good luck.

[KamnanT]

Business Analyst is a broad role description and salary would depend on industry, length of experience, applicability to local business, etc. The MA and MS will help - advanced degrees, particularly from the US, will carry some weight. "Real" IT skills are surprisingly rare in Thailand and there is a persistent shortage of capable developers and managers. Much of each year's local graduating class is woefully unprepared for work in a real business and recruiting involves sifting through several tonnes of tailings looking for the one tiny piece of gold.

Don't let the non-native English discourage you, but teaching would not be as well-paid as working in the industry.

At the risk of raising a sensitive issue (and I'm sure there will be dissenting views on the forum), one aspect of Thai culture you will experience is their tendency to hold some discriminatory views of persons from the Sub-Continent. Thais like to stratify their own society and similarly, they apply a hierarchy to foreigners based primarily on ethnicity (with skin colour being the principal determinant of position within that hierarchy).

It tends to be more of a problem with Thais of modest background and education than it is with the more educated and well-travelled, but I have heard racist rubbish uttered by Thais at all levels of society. I don't mean to discourage, but it is something you should be prepared for.

[astral]

Whilst I understand the reasons for the move, are you sure it is a good idea for you?

You probably earn more in the US than you ever will in Thailand, and you will loose the foothold that you

have in the US, with your work visa, and a path to a green card.

I do not envy you that decision.

[torrenova]

I understand the need to take care of the Thai family but sorry, your immediate family must come first. This means protecting their long term future and the safest and probably only way to do that is to stay in the USA and get your green card. For sure get the kids Thai passports and Nepalese ones if you want.

Going to Thailand most likely means Bangkok for your work and you would be going local, so no assistance as an expat package. Salaries are nothing compared to the western world and can be below what you will need for basic living.

I suggest you think about your wife going to visit Thailand, perhaps with the kids or you all going over for a holiday and then you coming back whilst the kids stay for a longer vacation. The problem you face here is that your wife will not want to leave her mother. She has to be re educated that her priority is to her kids and not to her mother. Very hard to do, I am still trying.

Could someone else help ? perhaps with some financial assistance from you ?

Seriously, if you want to go then try to engineer a move within your company or look for a job in another company which will allow you to move at least to SE Asia (Singapore perhaps) as an expat and protect your benefits. Don't lose your path to a green card.

[torrenova]

The first thing you should do is get your children Thai passports, unless you want them to live in Thailand as Nepalese nationals. Talk to the consular section of the Thai embassy in Washington about the procedure, which is quite simple.

For yourself, you should get a multiple-entry non-immigrant visa type O and once you are in Thailand and have a family income of minimum 40,000 Baht per month you can get annual extensions of stay on that basis. Paragraph 7.17(6) of Royal Thai Police Order No. 606/2549 applies.

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Maestro

Sorry to take this off topic Maestro but has this police order been updated or amended with a new one or with some other documentation which shows the parts which are not valid, such as the Bt3m investment visa ?

Or perhaps the fact that married couples cannot now just show Bt400,000 in a bank for an extension ?

Apologies but it would be nice to know if a new order or something which is 100% valid has been issued.

[digitalchromakey]

Sorry to take this off topic Maestro but has this police order been updated or amended with a new one or with some other documentation which shows the parts which are not valid, such as the Bt3m investment visa ?

Or perhaps the fact that married couples cannot now just show Bt400,000 in a bank for an extension ?

Apologies but it would be nice to know if a new order or something which is 100% valid has been issued.

No new order issued.

The 400,000 THB for married couples was only grandfathered in for those already on extensions in 606/2549 itself (check the Sunbelt Translation)

[nixone]

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who took the time to answer my post. Thanks for the advice, encouragements and some warnings as well. I have been thinking a lot about this plan. The salary I saw so far was not very encouraging. I am worried that I may not even able to make enough money (40K baht per month) to get the 1 year extension of visa. I could show 400K or even 800K baht in the bank, but looks like that rule has already changed.

My wife has her older brother with her mother to take care of her, but he is not very reliable. We do provide financial assistant to her mother every month.

I should get my US green card in about 6 to 12 months, but the problem with the US green card is that you cannot stay away from the country more than 6 months. That is one of the reasons I have applied for Canadian PR too and I hope to get that in about 6 to 12 months as well. Canadian PR will let me stay away from Canada for about 3 years before we have to move their permanently.

We are reconsidering our plan to move to Thailand. If we move there, it would be in about 6 months and we will either have our US GC or Canadian PR by then. May be we can all go together for few months and leave my wife and kids there for few more months and I can come back to the US. If it is Canadian PR, we can hang out in Thailand for a couple of years before we have to come back.

Thanks again.

[torrenova]

Best of luck to you and I applaud your decision to rethink. I would investigate he green card rules and look for some provisions, perhaps for sick relatives etc.

I am from the UK and my ex wife is Japanese and she got he UK equivalent of the US GC a long time ago and whilst the limit then was 2 years I think, there were a number of ways to get around it. Look also at how many days you would have to come back to the US to reactivate the 6 months rule (if you cannot get around it).

As I said earlier, salaries, as you have now seen, are very low. As a medium term objective, look at the ability of an employer (not necessarily your current one) to move you to Thailand as an expat, even without the full expat package.

Look seriously also at your medical coverage. Thailand is cheap but getting back into a scheme in the US may not be easy or financially prohibitive later on.

Once again, all the best.

[astral]

I should get my US green card in about 6 to 12 months, but the problem with the US green card is that you cannot stay away from the country more than 6 months. That is one of the reasons I have applied for Canadian PR too and I hope to get that in about 6 to 12 months as well. Canadian PR will let me stay away from Canada for about 3 years before we have to move their permanently.

As long as you visit the US for a few days every six months you will not loose your Green Card.

I have a close friend who has been doing this for several years.