Staying In Thailand

[raven0099]

Hello , Could anyone answer my questions regarding this ? This is the situation i may be in couple of years or so

Im 33 and i am married to a thai girl , i want to take a year out from my work and live in Thailand with my wife ,

Can i get a year visa ? Do you get this after you marry ?

How much funds will i need in my bank ? Im planning to have £12000 , £1000 per month enough ?

Is there a requirement for me to speak thai ? I cant speak any thai but id like to teach english if i stay there

At the end of the visa could i apply to stay longer ? If i rented my house and had some work i could stay longer or not ?

The other option i have is to continue building my property portfolio and move there when im 45

How much funds would i need to show in my account to stay there ?

And could someone tell me whats the easiest way to stay there long term ? And what happens with the 90 day visa ?

Cheers

[Tropicalevo]

Wow - a lot of questions.

I cannot answer the 'Thai wife' ones, but in general -

A one year visa is fairly easy to get - especially at a consulate.

hard to extend unless the wifey bit cuts in. (That's the bit I do not know.)

teaching English - minimum is a degree or a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification.

If you wait until you are 50 - get a one year 'O' visa and convert it to a retirement visa. (800,00 baht in the bank - report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave the country. Your 12k plus 1k per month will work a long as you can get documented proof.)

If less than 50 and you work - you must have a work permit. (Get a one year 'B' visa first.) If you have enough staff (4 - 6 depends on immigration and where you are) you can get an extension to stay and report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave.

No staff - get a one year visa, but you have to do a 1 day visa run to your nearest border every 90 days. (Even if you have a work permit- you do the border runs)

I believe that the speaking Thai bit is only for permanent residents. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Hope this helps in some way.

[mallyrd]

Wow - a lot of questions.

I cannot answer the 'Thai wife' ones, but in general -

A one year visa is fairly easy to get - especially at a consulate.

hard to extend unless the wifey bit cuts in. (That's the bit I do not know.)

teaching English - minimum is a degree or a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification.

If you wait until you are 50 - get a one year 'O' visa and convert it to a retirement visa. (800,00 baht in the bank - report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave the country. Your 12k plus 1k per month will work a long as you can get documented proof.)

If less than 50 and you work - you must have a work permit. (Get a one year 'B' visa first.) If you have enough staff (4 - 6 depends on immigration and where you are) you can get an extension to stay and report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave.

No staff - get a one year visa, but you have to do a 1 day visa run to your nearest border every 90 days. (Even if you have a work permit- you do the border runs)

I believe that the speaking Thai bit is only for permanent residents. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Hope this helps in some way.

I have never heard of anyone having to do 90 day border runs when they are in possession of a Work Permit. The worse scenario here is doing 90 day reporting which is a whole lot different than border runs.

[schmutzie]

With regards to finances, it depends where and how you live.

Assuming you'll be covering a lot of her expenses, it's a decent amount for a Thai lifestyle, but it leaves little room for extras or surprise expenses. Of which there inevitably always are a few. I would have some backup to the tune of 4-6k extra for a year at least.

But it really depends on a lot of things.

I would just get a one year multi entry non-immigration type "o" visa from Hull, even though you're married to a Thai (or plan to be?). Others would probably disagree.

You can extend this to almost 15 months total by doing a last visa run a few days before it expires. You could then consider other visa options thereafter.

PS:

Your questions relate to the future, eg. 2 years from now or 12 years respectively. I guess it's worth considering that quite a few things could be different by then and some of our answers will become invalid by then. I would simply try and save as much money as possible for now.

Edited September 4, 2010 by schmutzie

[Xonax]

I agree that you should just get a 1 year non "o" immigration visa based on marriage (spending time with your wife). The amounts mentioned will give you a decent living in Thailand, and your wife probably also takes home a small salary. If the wife is not working, I would definitely care seriously about how she is spending her time. There are many temptations (and "easy" ways to make money) for a young woman, who have too much time and is getting bored with her daily life.

About your property portfolio, I would strongly advise you to save the money for now, and not start building untill you are able to relocate here permanently. I am sure that you are both very much in love now, and wish you a happy and long lasting marriage. I though cannot help thinking of my dear friend, in a very remote part of Isaan, who have built a very nice house there. Now his lovely wife is no longer satisfied with anything he say or do and she has become lazy and often like to sleep the day away. I am quite sure that his marriage is only still lasting, to protect the property investment he made, as he is not the type, that just leaves everything to the ex-wife and moves on with his life. If you, God forbid it, in a few years should find yourself in the same situation, please be prepared to take a loss, as no others in the village can possibly afford to buy the house, and only locals would ever consider living in this village. At least be wise and build your house in a larger city, or in the close suburbs, as this will make it a lot easier to find a potential buyer..

[beechguy]

Wow - a lot of questions.

I cannot answer the 'Thai wife' ones, but in general -

A one year visa is fairly easy to get - especially at a consulate.

hard to extend unless the wifey bit cuts in. (That's the bit I do not know.)

teaching English - minimum is a degree or a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) qualification.

If you wait until you are 50 - get a one year 'O' visa and convert it to a retirement visa. (800,00 baht in the bank - report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave the country. Your 12k plus 1k per month will work a long as you can get documented proof.)

If less than 50 and you work - you must have a work permit. (Get a one year 'B' visa first.) If you have enough staff (4 - 6 depends on immigration and where you are) you can get an extension to stay and report to immigration every 90 days. Never have to leave.

No staff - get a one year visa, but you have to do a 1 day visa run to your nearest border every 90 days. (Even if you have a work permit- you do the border runs)

I believe that the speaking Thai bit is only for permanent residents. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong.

Hope this helps in some way.

I have never heard of anyone having to do 90 day border runs when they are in possession of a Work Permit. The worse scenario here is doing 90 day reporting which is a whole lot different than border runs.

It depends, a work permit has nothing to do with how long one remains in Thailand, to remain longer than 90 days, thay have to have applied and received a one year "Extension of Stay". That is based on immigration policies, not labor policies.

[steve187]

I would suggest getting a multi entry 'o' visa from hull, about £100.00 this will allow you to stay in Thailand for 15 months, but you will have to do a border run every 90 days, with no need to go to immigration whilst here,this will allow you 15 months in which to plan ahead. At any time you can get a 1 year extension of stay based on marriage.

From what i have read most teaching jobs here require a degree. In my opinion £1000.00 to £1,200.00 is enough to live here per month, but different lifestyles require differing amounts of money.

I would also suggest you obtain a international driving licence/permit from the AA, RAC or green flag, this will be easily exchanged for a Thai licence once here, this can be used in some places to obtain entry at the Thai price.

I moved here at very short notice earlier this year, due the shortage of available work in the construction industry in the UK,and have enjoyed it here immensely.

Good luck for the future.

Edited September 5, 2010 by steve187

[raven0099]

I agree that you should just get a 1 year non "o" immigration visa based on marriage (spending time with your wife). The amounts mentioned will give you a decent living in Thailand, and your wife probably also takes home a small salary. If the wife is not working, I would definitely care seriously about how she is spending her time. There are many temptations (and "easy" ways to make money) for a young woman, who have too much time and is getting bored with her daily life.

About your property portfolio, I would strongly advise you to save the money for now, and not start building untill you are able to relocate here permanently. I am sure that you are both very much in love now, and wish you a happy and long lasting marriage. I though cannot help thinking of my dear friend, in a very remote part of Isaan, who have built a very nice house there. Now his lovely wife is no longer satisfied with anything he say or do and she has become lazy and often like to sleep the day away. I am quite sure that his marriage is only still lasting, to protect the property investment he made, as he is not the type, that just leaves everything to the ex-wife and moves on with his life. If you, God forbid it, in a few years should find yourself in the same situation, please be prepared to take a loss, as no others in the village can possibly afford to buy the house, and only locals would ever consider living in this village. At least be wise and build your house in a larger city, or in the close suburbs, as this will make it a lot easier to find a potential buyer..

What are these easy ways of making money ? that you are suggesting ?

The properties are in the UK not Thailand and my partner already has her own small two bedroom house which is all paid for , thats where we will be living. Im not planning to build any house in Thailand at the moment.

And i do enjoy a good nap every day from 4pm to 6 or 7pm , We will have plenty to do and i doubt my girlfriend will be sleeping all day considering she gives me a hard time when i go for my nap " sleep sleep all day all day " she says.

[raven0099]

I would suggest getting a multi entry 'o' visa from hull, about £100.00 this will allow you to stay in Thailand for 15 months, but you will have to do a border run every 90 days, with no need to go to immigration whilst here,this will allow you 15 months in which to plan ahead. At any time you can get a 1 year extension of stay based on marriage.

From what i have read most teaching jobs here require a degree. In my opinion £1000.00 to £1,200.00 is enough to live here per month, but different lifestyles require differing amounts of money.

I would also suggest you obtain a international driving licence/permit from the AA, RAC or green flag, this will be easily exchanged for a Thai licence once here, this can be used in some places to obtain entry at the Thai price.

I moved here at very short notice earlier this year, due the shortage of available work in the construction industry in the UK,and have enjoyed it here immensely.

Good luck for the future.

So where in Hull did you apply for this visa ?

Is there a thai embassy there ?

That £1000-£1200 a month should be plenty i think , as our accomidation costs are low because my partners house is paid for already , so we would justy have our utility bills and food costs , plus the running of the motorbike

Are you working there Steve ?

[raven0099]

I would suggest getting a multi entry 'o' visa from hull, about £100.00 this will allow you to stay in Thailand for 15 months, but you will have to do a border run every 90 days, with no need to go to immigration whilst here,this will allow you 15 months in which to plan ahead. At any time you can get a 1 year extension of stay based on marriage.

From what i have read most teaching jobs here require a degree. In my opinion £1000.00 to £1,200.00 is enough to live here per month, but different lifestyles require differing amounts of money.

I would also suggest you obtain a international driving licence/permit from the AA, RAC or green flag, this will be easily exchanged for a Thai licence once here, this can be used in some places to obtain entry at the Thai price.

I moved here at very short notice earlier this year, due the shortage of available work in the construction industry in the UK,and have enjoyed it here immensely.

Good luck for the future.

So where in Hull did you apply for this visa ?

Is there a thai embassy there ?

So what is the procedure with these border runs ?

That £1000-£1200 a month should be plenty i think , as our accomidation costs are low because my partners house is paid for already , so we would justy have our utility bills and food costs , plus the running of the motorbike

Are you working there Steve ?

Edited September 5, 2010 by raven0099