I'm new here! Which Visa do I need please? Accessing cash?

[Mr Happynesss]

Hello everyone this is my first post, here are our details (myself and girlfriend): Both English nationality and currently living in UK, no children. Ages 34 and 26. I own a few houses which brings in a small income of approx. £15K PA. As we both live a very, very simple lifestyle I believe this would be enough to support us both in Thailand. I also have small savings of around £25K. We have visited a couple of times before and would like to move to permanently (if possible) in December. Ideally we would like to travel the country for 6 months and then settle down in the north near CM most likely. We don't have a problem working part-time or volunteering if it would help us have the option to stay in Thailand permanently.

We are in our early planning stage but I'm very confused with all the VISA jargon. I understand Thailand have now recently stopped the 'visa-exempt' runs and that continually doing that would have been illegal or frowned upon anyhow. Would we initially be eligible for a 'Non O one year visa'? It looks like that could be extended for around 15 months? Can we apply for another back-to-back and indefinitely or would we have to leave Thailand for a set number of weeks/months?

We are both very keen to learn some more Thai so the 'ED visa' looks ideal for a few years or more, but what then? We are keen to genuinely learn (and attend) other courses too, could we study something else after? Would the Thai authorities object to this over a long period? Are there other visa options for us? Would we be eligible for residency?

Lastly I was wondering what is the cheapest (or free) way to access cash from an English bank account. Transferwise-dot-com perhaps? I was thinking to maybe open a Thai account jointly with my girlfriend, so if the authorities need to see proof from both of us that we can support ourselves then we will have statements in both of our names showing regular international transfers. So much confusing info out there, I would be very grateful for any expert advice/suggestions.

[ubonjoe]

You should get try to get 3 entry tourist visas before traveling. It is possible to get almost 9 months of stay from one by doing 30 day extensions of each 60 day entry. Do not apply for them until about 2 weeks before your planned departure because the validity of them starts from the date of issue.

You do not qualify to for non-o visas.

Attending a Thai language school would would be a good option to start with because it would help later if want to find work which is the only viable option to stay long term. Working is the only way to obtain residency here.

Opening a bank account here would be a good idea. Doing transfers trough Bangkok Bank's London branch to a local account would be a good lower cost option than doing Swift transfers. See: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

[seasia]

Hi

A fairly cheap way to transfer cash would be to open an account with the Halifax in the UK, their charge for SWIFT transfers is only 9.50 GBP.

You may be able to get the first 2 done for just 7.50 GBP, either through an offer on their website or searching for a discount code.

Obviously you would need a Thai bank account open first, I`ve found Kasikorn to be quite good.

Decent exchange rate/efficient service, I`ve used that method for a few years, you will have an electronic paper trail of where your money is coming from, a positive IMO.

Strictly speaking you need to remain UK resident officially to have that Halifax account

Enjoy & Good Luck

[Mr Happynesss]

Opening a bank account here would be a good idea. Doing transfers trough Bangkok Bank's London branch to a local account would be a good lower cost option than doing Swift transfers. See: http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

Thank you for the advice ubonjoe, so transfers from Bangkok Bank's London branch to a local Thai account would cost £15? Is there nothing cheaper? I don't require fast transfers I can wait a few days or more if there are cheaper options.

[ubonjoe]

You would have to check what banks in the UK charge for SWIFT transfers to do a comparison of the costs. I have no idea what the charges would be for them.

[Mr Happynesss]

Hi

A fairly cheap way to transfer cash would be to open an account with the Halifax in the UK, their charge for SWIFT transfers is only 9.50 GBP.

You may be able to get the first 2 done for just 7.50 GBP, either through an offer on their website or searching for a discount code.

Obviously you would need a Thai bank account open first, I`ve found Kasikorn to be quite good.

Decent exchange rate/efficient service, I`ve used that method for a few years, you will have an electronic paper trail of where your money is coming from, a positive IMO.

Strictly speaking you need to remain UK resident officially to have that Halifax account

Enjoy & Good Luck

Thanks seasia, I bank with First Direct (HSBC) and if I open a Thai HSBC account and do SWIFT the fee is £10 per transaction. After digging a little further it looks like CITIBANK do FEE-FREE transfers between their accounts! What do you think? http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/international/globtransfer.htm#table

[talisman01]

In the UK the Daily Telegraph are currently running a promotion in conjunction with Moneycorp http://www.telegraph.co.uk/financialservices/money-transfer-and-expat/foreign-ex-and-money-transfer/ offering easy cash transfers to various countries including Thailand. I opened a free account online with Moneycorp recently which was a straightforward process. The Telegraph offer includes the first money transfer with no fees added, thereafter for a non-express transfer the fee is £8. I have made two transfers already to my Thai bank account with no problems at all.

I should say that I have no gainful interest in Moneycorp or the Telegraph whatsoever.

[Mr Happynesss]

Apologies the link I posted above for CITIBANK FEE-FREE transfers should be this one: http://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/banking/international/deposits.htm

What does everyone else think, anyone here use Citibank?

[Mr Happynesss]

Hi

A fairly cheap way to transfer cash would be to open an account with the Halifax in the UK, their charge for SWIFT transfers is only 9.50 GBP.

You may be able to get the first 2 done for just 7.50 GBP, either through an offer on their website or searching for a discount code.

Obviously you would need a Thai bank account open first, I`ve found Kasikorn to be quite good.

Decent exchange rate/efficient service, I`ve used that method for a few years, you will have an electronic paper trail of where your money is coming from, a positive IMO.

Strictly speaking you need to remain UK resident officially to have that Halifax account

Enjoy & Good Luck

Hey seasia, I've just found some info that may interest you...

"Halifax, like all banks, offers a range of transfer services, one of which it simply calls International Payments. Other banks use this too, although it's probably part of the standard SWIFT system of international transfers.

Halifax claims to cost you just £9.50, but this is deeply disingenuous, since the bank will take a large extra slice of your cash by giving you a bad exchange rate, on top of that fee. What's worse, the bank doesn't even tell you what amount of currency you'll get until after the transfer has gone ahead, unless you call one of its long-winded automated lines first.

I would expect that a £1,500 transfer from Halifax and most other banks costs, with the exchange-rate spread and fees added together, something between £40 and £60 – or three to 33 times more than Currency Fair. This is typical for banks, although they can be even more expensive, as I have seen costs in excess of £120 before.

Halifax's fee is also £10 higher – so £19.50 – if you do the transfer by telephone or in branch instead of online."

SEE MORE HERE http://www.lovemoney.com/news/money-saving-tips-bargains-and-freebies/money-saving-tips/651/five-ways-to-transfer-money-abroad

[RJDuncan]

Hi Mr Happynesss,

As you stated you would like to stay in Thailand for an extened period of time. In order to achieve this, your best option is to obtain a Multiple-Entry Tourist-Visa, as someone else suggested above.

To apply for this I would recommend visiting the Thai Consulates in Hull's website, download the application, complete all the necessary requirements, and use thier express-postal service. You should receive your passport back with visa inside within a few days. With this visa its possible to achieve approximately 270 days in totality.

Due to your current status you aren't eligible for any other type of visa. But as you say, you have contemplated studying, so if you can meet the requirements for a student Visa, this is certainly you best option for further permission to reside.

If you intended to stay indefinitely, your only option would be to find work (legally), aquire an Non-O immigrant Visa along with a work permit from employer. At this point your partner could obtain the same visa based on being your spouse, but you would have yo be married for that to be possible.

Obviously people do/have spent years crossing boarders every 30 days (Visa exempt), visiting Thai consulates in neighbouring countries to obtain further Tourist Visa's or simply staying here Visa-free (illegally of course), and paying a moderate overstay fine once they finally leave, or spend time in jail if caught.

So you do have various options, and I'm sure you will enjoy your stay in Thailand. I wish you all the best.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app