Marrying, Money And Visa

[lordsux]

Hi All,

I will shortly be marrying my long time gf, im pretty clued up on the procedure but am wondering about the 400k that has to be shown after the first 3 months to allow me the golden 1 year visa.

The money I have at the moment will be invested in a business venture and will be in my wife to be's name. The actual setup costs will take a big chunk of my capital which means I will fall short of the 400k figure needed for the visa. Funds apparently have to come from abroad, so is it simply a case of getting the cash transferred just for the purpose of the visa and once the visa is approved then I can transfer it back to my *friend*

The business will not be registered so therefore I will be seen as the provider for my wife.

Any tips or help will be greatly appreciated.

[lopburi3]

You need employment to support a Thai wife. If money from inside Thailand that will require a work permit. If you can show a source of income from outside Thailand and meet the 400k bank deposit you can use that. Remember that this is an ongoing requirement and bank books are often expected to be presented each year to show money coming in from outside the country if that is the claim you make.

I would be very careful investing everything you have and then depending on a support visa which may be in question.

[RDN]

....this is an ongoing requirement and bank books are often expected to be presented each year to show money coming in from outside the country if that is the claim you make.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...and do they not check to see that you use this money over a period of time - as living expenses? I think they would be suspicious next time (next year) if they saw the money leave the account a few days after it was deposited.

[lordsux]

Thanks for the advice, some more is needed though.

Ok, the marriage visa seems to be a dead end, unless of course I transfered the profits from the business each month to an oversea account and then transfered them back to my Thai account.

In theory this would work apart from the fact that I do not believe the business will be making enough profit, especially for the first year. The business is going to located in Phuket, and after being down there last week I know it is going to be very very hard the first year.

So, what do I do? What would be the best way to obtain a 1 year visa, doing 30 day runs whilst running a business obviously isnt the way to go. They are a big enough pain when you are just holidaying. (done 17 of them already).

What can I do??

[lordsux]

For some reason I couldnt edit my post.

I would like to know if anyone has had any experience obtaining multiple entry visas from the Thai Embassy in Denmark?

[jackr]

Could always go to Penang and get your multiple as they're still pretty lenient there, especially as it's your first time???. Border run every 90 days.

[hotshot]

Hmmmmm...... So you are from Denmark? Me too! Du er velkommen til at PM mig på dansk, hvis det er nemmere for dig??

Anyway.....my advice is NEVER invest in anything in another name than your own!!

Register a company and let your girlfriend/wife be your major shareholder, but remember to assure that YOU are the MD and has the power in the company if anything goes wrong!

Then you can apply for a 1 year multiple entry business visa from Denmark (non-immigrant B visa) or apply in Penang (but you will only get a 3 months visa from Penang, not a multiple entry! They are hard to deal with!)

Then you apply for a work permit valid for 3 months...it takes around 4 weeks to get a WP. And it is only valid untill your visa expire. Just before it expire you can apply for a 1 year visa and a 1 year WP.

To qualify for a 1 year visa you need 4 Thai employees ( can be on the papers only) and a paid up capital at 2 million Baht. No need to have these 2 million Baht in cash, you can register the money as paid up capital using a lawyer.

Also you need a minimum salary at 50,000 Baht from your company.....no need to pay yourself that amount but you must pay the tax as IF you earned the money. Tax is around 5,000 Baht/month.

IF you don't qualify for a 1 year visa, then you can do the visa runs every 3 months to Penang.

Hope this will help you!

I am willing to assit you setting up a company and apply for a work permit etc.

I live and work in Phuket myself!

Edited January 29, 2005 by hotshot