Permanent Residence Guide For Dummies

[Wasp]

I have read many postings over time and there are clearly very helpful people out there .  And so maybe I have missed someone doing this --- but can someone publish a simple , up-to-date list --- a very clear simple list of the steps you need to take if you are at retirement age ... you are married to a Thai lady .... and you want to retire to Thailand.   I recognise that this will have been covered many times   but in just 10 minutes reading I see one person saying you need to keep 400 000 Baht in the bank and another saying it's 800 000 .  A writer says you need to do a Border run starting 30 days before your 12 month visa expires -- another says you don't need to leave the country -- another says he pays 10 000 Baht under the country and another asks why .

  Dummies like me need an easy , bullet-point list .  

     1 )   Open a Thai bank Account .     2)   Deposit 500 000 Baht and leave it there .  3)  Now get this visa  MXYW 15a using this form .

 4 ) Go and live in Thailand . 5)  After 11 months get this form      6) Take the form to an office ( I want to live near Nakhon Ratchasima )                         et cetera    et cetera and et cetera .          PLEASE !!!!!     Everything else that I read - though well-meant and generous  -  gives me a headache !       And if it has already been done and it's right up to date   then I apologise for asking someone to point me there .                           My Best Wishes .                Wasp

[lopburi3]

Read police order 777/2551 for extension of stay rules. You can find link in useful information pinned at top of forum or just use Google.

But details vary from place to place - time to time and officer to officer. Which makes a universal cheat sheet so full of if/and/buts to be unusable.

[metisdead]

You appear to be confused, the Permanent Residence is a completely different process as opposed to getting an extension based on marriage or retirement.

Here's the link for Police order 777/2551:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/temporarystay/policy777-2551_en.pdf

Edit: add link

[Wasp]

Thank you for the replies . How unutterably frustrating that it seems to vary from time to time , place to place , officer to officer . So presumably even the officers don't have a straightforward clear list to read down !!! I may have said the wrong visa --- but all I'm saying is that I have a Thai wife and I want to go to Nakhon Ratchasima and stay there . Thank you for taking the time . Wasp.

[lopburi3]

You need a non immigrant O visa for entry and then extend your stay one year at a time using 400k in bank account 2 months (maybe 3 after first time) or proof of 40k per month income (from your Embassy if from home or tax records if from Thailand). Money or income must be yours alone.

[Wasp]

So with this information can I construct my own basic instruction sheet ?

  1 }    Open a Thai Bank Account .

  2 )   Put 500 000 Baht into the account and leave it there for 3 months just to be safe .

  3 ) Get a non-immigrant visa  ( NON-IM ).  But there are 10 types . You need type " O " .

    You'll need the usual ..... Application Form , Passport Photos , Birth Certificate , Evidence of Funds , Passports , IDs .

  It's a Downloadable Standard Application Form plus an extra page for the O-A application .

  4 ) After 11 months apply for renewal .   You don't need to leave the country .  You do need to leave the money in the Bank .

 5 ) After 3 years of renewing your visa within Thailand you can apply for Permanent Residence .

   Would that be about it ?

        Wasp .

[lopburi3]

The requirement for marriage is 400k for two months the first time.

You can use any non immigrant visa entry but O is the type proof of marriage allows to be issued. You would not need a birth certificate but would need marriage certificate and either obtain from a Consulate or convert your current entry at Immigration. You would then, during last 30 days of the 90 day entry extend using the bank deposit and full paperwork with wife at Immigration for 1,900 baht.

Unless you are working here there is very little chance of PR as in addition to having to have 3 years on extensions of stay you are expected to have tax payments for 3 years as one of many issues given points. See the PR thread in the pinned items.

In the last three years we have not seen anyone obtaining PR status although applications have been accepted.

[Wasp]

I'll repeat my thanks .... especially to lopburi13 ....... but I'm still getting the tension yet again .  

Lopburi you say in clear tones    " during last 30 days of the 90 day entry extend using the bank deposit and full paperwork with wife at Immigration for 1,900 baht."

     Which is saying I don't have to leave the country .        But on the Thai Embassy HULL webpage I read

     " the regulations state that at the end of each 90 days the visitor must leave Thailand. " 

   I said originally that I acknowledge I am a dummy in this stuff .    And you certainly all know your stuff .    But my head wants to explode with the frustration !!!!

[samran]

I'll repeat my thanks .... especially to lopburi13 ....... but I'm still getting the tension yet again .

Lopburi you say in clear tones " during last 30 days of the 90 day entry extend using the bank deposit and full paperwork with wife at Immigration for 1,900 baht."

Which is saying I don't have to leave the country . But on the Thai Embassy HULL webpage I read

the regulations state that at the end of each 90 days the visitor must leave Thailand.

I said originally that I acknowledge I am a dummy in this stuff . And you certainly all know your stuff . But my head wants to explode with the frustration !!!!

Think of it this way.

- You have a visa which lets you stay for 90 days upon entry.

- If you did nothing else, as Hull said, you would have to leave.

However...

- If you qualified (eg by having a Thai spouse and the right amount of money in the bank) then that initial 90 day entry can be extended so that you can stay for 12 months from when you first entered.

- At the end of the first 12 months, assuming you meet the requirements, you extend it again. No need to leave the country

It is the way that all long termers stay in Thailand. That is:

- enter on a 90 day non immigrant visa (like you have)

- have that extended because of reasons of marriage (like you) or retirement or work. NO NEED to leave the country to do this.

As for PR....best leave that for another discussion, but safe to say, unless you are working, it is tough to apply for.

[Wasp]

I've tried to not get on anyone's nerves about this by being thick .   I'm not at all dense but for a long time I've been bewildered by figures , opinions and contradictions .    Lopburi13 -- you are a very patient guy .     Samran --- my headache has evaporated as you've made the position crystal clear for me .          Thank you .       I almost moved to Wales instead .   I'm OK now .

[Lite Beer]

It is pretty straight forward.

(6) In case of marriage with a Thai lady, the husband who is an alien must have an average annual income of not less than 40,000 baht per month or a money deposit in a local Thai bank of not less than 400,000 baht for the past 2 months for expenses within a year.

[Artisi]

Maybe Wales is safer for you and less complicated.

[bushwacker]

For what it is worth. I have been here now for 2 years and i came over on a retirement visa. That is a non-immigration O (retirement visa). I got the visa in my home country. The advantage of that is you are approved for 1 year stay and do not have to worry about mucking around once you are in thailand. You still have to report every 90 days like everybody else but you do not need to leave the country.

I have been told and have seen for myself that it is easiest to get extension of stays (yearly extensions) with a retirement visa. Easier then a marriage visa. Now the money requirement is less with a marriage visa but less is required to obtain a retirement visa.

I have also read that to get a permanent residency, one of the requirements is to speak thai fluently. That is a deal breaker for me.

I think the original problem you had was that you combined in your question 1. Marriage Visa 2. Retirement Visa 3. Permanent Residency. These are all very different things and all have different requirements. And of course there is the other problem of different views among OPs and immigration officiers.

cheers

[lopburi3]

Actually if you did not extend your stay at Immigration you obtained a non immigrant O-A visa (long stay). The O visa only allows 90 day stay (but could easily be extended yearly by proof of financial conditions in Thailand.

There is no such thing as a marriage visa but what can be issued is the same non immigrant O visa and that can also be extended but more paperwork would be required for "Thai Wife" than for "retirement".

[Mario2008]

For what it is worth. I have been here now for 2 years and i came over on a retirement visa. That is a non-immigration O (retirement visa). I got the visa in my home country. The advantage of that is you are approved for 1 year stay and do not have to worry about mucking around once you are in thailand. You still have to report every 90 days like everybody else but you do not need to leave the country.

The non-O visa only allows you for 90 days, a multiple non-O for an unlimited entries of 90 days maximum each during the 1 year validity of the visa.

Seems you have an O-A visa, not a non-O visa, which does allow you to stay for 1 year, before you have to leave or get an extension of stay.

[Wasp]

Thought I'd look back at this to see if anybody had posted .  Wish I hadn't .   I have an IQ of 6million 8 hundred thousand and now I'm looking at NON-O visas , O-A visas , Retirement visas , marriage visas ...........  I'll have to take up drink .    Wales is looking good again !!! 

[tombkk]

Thought I'd look back at this to see if anybody had posted . Wish I hadn't . I have an IQ of 6million 8 hundred thousand and now I'm looking at NON-O visas , O-A visas , Retirement visas , marriage visas ........... I'll have to take up drink . Wales is looking good again !!!

Yes, this is what you are facing when you want to live here: Paperwork is complicated. Welcome to Thailand.

But in summary, two choices were recommended to you:

1. Non immigrant visa class O based on marriage (a.k.a. non-O)

2. Non-immigrant visa class OA based on retirement (a.k.a. O-A, or non-OA)

The latter is easier to obtain. The Thai consulate in Hull will have the list of documents you need for either visa type.

[Wasp]

  Thank you TOMBKK and others .   No good asking for advice and then ignoring it .  I'll go for the OA based on retirement as you've assured me it's a bit less difficult .    My thanks again .

[tombkk]

Thank you TOMBKK and others . No good asking for advice and then ignoring it . I'll go for the OA based on retirement as you've assured me it's a bit less difficult . My thanks again .

Make sure you apply for a "multiple".

That's not a multiple visa but a visa allowing multiple entries.

And I do understand your confusion expressed it the other post, as we tend to use different abbreviations instead of spelling out the full name of the visa.

[moe666]

Is it really that complicated, wasp is complcateing the issue by throwing it all into one pot. He needs to decide what visa works for him and just look at the requirements are for that visa.

[mxyzptlk]

Is it really that complicated, wasp is complcateing the issue by throwing it all into one pot. He needs to decide what visa works for him and just look at the requirements are for that visa.

You are exactly right moe666. It's not complicated at all, as you say, the OP just needs to focus on a single goal and concentrate on acheiving that goal.

[Wasp]

How do you say your name ? Wasp

Is it really that complicated, wasp is complcateing the issue by throwing it all into one pot. He needs to decide what visa works for him and just look at the requirements are for that visa.

You are exactly right moe666. It's not complicated at all, as you say, the OP just needs to focus on a single goal and concentrate on acheiving that goal.