I have read Camerats excellent guide

Im EUretiree with Wish to head to residency

Need to pay 3 yrs tax without a break

Apparently bank interest non acceptable nor overseas investment income!

Any experience advice warnings welcome

So whats hassle free mode?

Self employment

Work for my wife as translator tho doubt would generate enough guaranteed pcm to reach the 40k? tax threshold ,

Set up a new business preferably as asleeping partner

There are no opportunities where I live for my skills which is technical interpretation and translation.

I have tried to discuss this with the Labor Office who seem to feel I need 4 thais who know none of the languages to assist me ! some Thai

Went immi today new friendly oficer who didnt wantto send me Oz like his predecessotr andsay s after 400k in bank 2 months I can get married visa which allows application for work permit

I do not have a job nor want one

Your chances for residency are virtually non existent.

The biggest stumbling block you have is taxes. A big part in the decision making is based on how much tax you paid over the last 3 years, and how much tax you are likely to pay over the coming years.

In short, you should be 3 consecutive years on a work permit, and during those 3 years you should be paying taxes on at least an 80,000 Baht/month income, although preferably higher.

The basis for the residence permit is what you can bring/do for your host country, how much of an asset you can be for Thailand!

I don't know where the 80,000 baht income number comes from. I have seen it mentioned many times. But I havve never found any official document saying that.

The only thing that I have ever seen with the name of a goverment official and/or office on it was the document that was on the immigration website until this past December. Now whats on the website has nothing like that.

This from that document under the catagory of having a Thai spouse.

(2) One party or both parties must earn much enough to provide patronage or having annual income of at least Baht 30,000 per month in average, for at least 2 consecutive years before the date of application submission and evidence of tax return is required

Whats on the immigration website now in my opinion is a complete mess. For a one of the catagories that is for a child it even says a work permit is needed.

The way things are now (IMO) about the only way to even get an application accepted is to have a lawyer that has the right contacts to do it for you.

I don't know where the 80,000 baht income number comes from. I

Some places show it and some don't it seems. I don't know why the various Thai embassies/consulates don't link to a master rule set.

UK Embassy shows 80,000 > http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/res_permit.html

Siam Legal shows 80,000 (if single) > http://www.siam-legal.com/Foreign-Citizens...t-residence.php

etc....

But yes, a formal document from immigration showing it would be useful.

Both are stating 30,000 if you are married to a Thai not 80,000.

The embassy one is the exact same document I quoted.

Paying taxes is not enough. For the officers to accept your application, regardless of what category, you need to be working in Thailand for at least 3yrs. It doesn't matter if you have investments that generate much higher than the required amount for applying. Even if these investments are in thailand registered and you have record of taxes paid on them for any number of years. The current (unwritten) rule is all applicants must hold jobs in thailand and of course work permit.

Edited May 28, 200917 yr by Time Traveller

The docuemntsfrom immigration show that 30,000 is enough for residency beased on marriage. However, they use a points system and the higher your income the more points you get for that part of the requirements.

The docuemntsfrom immigration show that 30,000 is enough for residency beased on marriage. However, they use a points system and the higher your income the more points you get for that part of the requirements.

Very correct, so just not having a high income alone can be the reason for failing the application!

Although most applicants will do poorly on some of the other requirements, so having the extra points from the high enough income can be useful!

However, you do need to have an income and pay taxes, without this they will not accept your application in the first place!

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice

I had not heard of the POINTS system is this published anywhere?

While long and arduous PR seems the ideal solution for me

Like many here endless trips to immi in old age anfd the ever changing rules makes long term planning difficult.

30k a month is possible but can it be enough to pay tax

Willl work permit office give any guidance and will this always be sufficient to pay taxes

Sorry to have so many questions,but as we all know info is not tranparent,when you want to move toOZ the rules and points are all

I have never heard of the poing system either until mario's post.

But I don't think that matters all that much. It is not all that competitive because there is normally a lot less applicants from most countries than the allowed number.

The hard part is getting the application accepted.

I feel the same way about it not being transparent. At one time I think it may of been but now it is not.

I think the only way to get an application in now is if you hire a lawyer that has contacts that can make that part smoother.

You might be able to get some information if you went ot Bangkok and asked somebody in room 301. They seem to be the only ones that have the information.

You don't have to have a work permit to pay taxes. If you go to the revenue office and get a tas ID you can claim income and pay the taxes without a problem.

But now the information on the immigration website says work permit for every catagory of application (including for a child). The old information did not mention a work permit only taxes.

Everything (including some items not advertised or advised) is allocated points and from memory you need at least 50 /100 to get past immigration and onto the next step, if you just scrape thru with a low 50 score you chances are probably next to zero for PR.