moving to Thailand, best option

[brianj1964]

I am a 51 year old Brit who is married to a Thai since 2004 ( and yes I can prove marriage) We want to move to Thailand when I am 55, now things will probably change in the next 4 years so advice on current visa rules for arguments sake and advice must be applied. What route should I take to originally move there, marriage or retirement? I want the least hassle, and does showing money in a Thai account only apply at extension or original application, as I was under the impression that tourists cant open Thai bank accounts. Bangkok Bank has a branch in London, tho do they do account services in there and if they did would the deposits be shown in Thai baht or Sterling, by then my cash assets would be worth about £200k any sensible advice would be appreciated.

[ubonjoe]

You don't need a visa of any type to open a bank account. Your wife can help you open an account by being your reference.

You would first get a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage at the embassy or one of the consulates. The visa would give you a 90 day entry.

Then you could apply for a one year extension of stay based upon marriage or retirement.

For marriage you would need 400k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months or proof of 40k baht income.

For retirement you would need 800k baht in the bank for 60 days or 65k baht income or a combination of the two totaling 800k baht.

The extension of stay based upon marriage requires a bit more paperwork and you have to go back after 30 days to get your extension stamp.

[Lite Beer]

Retirement is the least hassle:

800,000 Baht in the bank or 65,000 monthly income or a combination of both.

Marriage is a little more paperwork but still quite easy:

400,000 Baht in the bank or 40,000 monthly income.

[nzexpat]

The Bangk.ok Bank in London is not a retail bank and you will not be able to open an account there

[KhunBENQ]

With 200 k GBP (close to 10 million THB) its an absolute nobrainer:

use retirement extension, showing at least 800 k on a Thai bank account in your sole name.

Opening a savings (!) account is doable, though some bank branches will make you a headache.

Move on to the next.

Pattaya and Bangkok are easiest.

Save yourself from any hassle with marriage extension, money abroad, foreign currency account etc.

The 800 k can be used after receiving extension.

Just make sure the account is filled up again at 3 months before extension,

And what is in four years? Who knows.

Tell me the exchange rate then and I would become a rich man

Edited March 28, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[SpokaneAl]

If possible why not consider obtaining a non imm o-a multi entry visa for the purpose of retirement before leaving England. That would give you one year with only the 90 day check in requirement.

If you take a day trip and leave Thailand before the one year anniversary of the issue date of the visa, you can get an additional year before you will be required to jump through the local immigration office extension of stay hoops.

You would also postpone the money in a Thai bank requirement for that same period as well.

Edited March 28, 2015 by SpokaneAl

[keithsimmonds]

If possible why not consider obtaining a non imm o-a multi entry visa for the purpose of retirement before leaving England. That would give you one year with only the 90 day check in requirement.

If you take a day trip and leave Thailand before the one year anniversary of the issue date of the visa, you can get an additional year before you will be required to jump through the local immigration office extension of stay hoops.

You would also postpone the money in a Thai bank requirement for that same period a

Your second paragraph 'taking a day trip.......get an additional year ' How does that work?

[Expattaff1308]

If possible why not consider obtaining a non imm o-a multi entry visa for the purpose of retirement before leaving England. That would give you one year with only the 90 day check in requirement.

If you take a day trip and leave Thailand before the one year anniversary of the issue date of the visa, you can get an additional year before you will be required to jump through the local immigration office extension of stay hoops.

You would also postpone the money in a Thai bank requirement for that same period a

Your second paragraph 'taking a day trip.......get an additional year ' How does that work?

On a Multi Entry Non OA you would be stamped in for 12 mths and you would be required to report your address to Immigration every 90 days.

During that first 12mths up until the expiry date on the visa each time you left Thaialnd and re entered you would be stamped in for a further 12mths.

So in effect a trip out across the border and return a day before the expiry date on the visa would give you a further 12mths therby getting almost 2 yrs for the same visa before having to show funds in the country.

Any exit in the 2nd yr after the expiry date of the visa would require a re-entry permit which would keep it 'alive'.

At the end of the 2nd year you would need to apply for an extension of stay at immigration where proof of funds/income amongst other papers would be required.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Expattaff1308

[Suradit69]

The Bangk.ok Bank in London is not a retail bank and you will not be able to open an account there

But if you open an account at a Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand you can then direct deposits to your account via their international branches. A domestic bank transfer, in your case in pounds to the London branch of Bangkok Bank (using exactly the same name used when opening the account in Thailand and that same account number) will appear as a deposit in baht in your Thai account in a few days. Additionally it will be designated as a foreign sourced deposit which may be useful when applying for an extension of stay at Immigrations.

It is an entirely safe and reliable process. I've been doing something similar via their New York branch for 15 years and it has always been done quickly and accurately.

[OJAS]

The Bangk.ok Bank in London is not a retail bank and you will not be able to open an account there

But if you open an account at a Bangkok Bank branch in Thailand you can then direct deposits to your account via their international branches. A domestic bank transfer, in your case in pounds to the London branch of Bangkok Bank (using exactly the same name used when opening the account in Thailand and that same account number) will appear as a deposit in baht in your Thai account in a few days. Additionally it will be designated as a foreign sourced deposit which may be useful when applying for an extension of stay at Immigrations.

It is an entirely safe and reliable process. I've been doing something similar via their New York branch for 15 years and it has always been done quickly and accurately.

I can definitely vouch for the facility for transferring funds to a Bangkok Bank account in Thailand via their London branch on the basis of personal experience. Such transfers are usually completed within 24 hours (except at weekends and over holidays). For further info click on http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

And if you decide to apply for an O-A visa please note that you can only obtain this from the Royal Thai Embassy in London. For further info click on http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/49

Edited March 28, 2015 by OJAS

[brianj1964]

All valuable ideas, thanks guys but to confirm, when i apply for the first retirement visa, in London, i would need the 800,000 in the thai account or is that only required when the extension is due at the 12 months

[IMA_FARANG]

First of all talk to the Thai embassy in London about your options.

You may be able to get what they refer to as an O-A "retirement" visa.

I believe it would only be issued at the Thai embassy in London in the U.K.

If you go for this visa they will require two things from you that another visa won't require for another visa type, but there are some advantages to getting this O-A retirement visa.

To get this visa you would need to be

• Over 50 years of age
• it requires a doctor"s certificate to get this visa (medical checkup)
• You need to have a police records check before they will issue this visa

The advantage of this visa is that you will get a one-year entry stay when you first enter Thailand. and you can then extend that visa for a second year by exiting Thailand and re-entering immediately.

So by getting this O-A retirement visa you effectively get a 2 year visa for your first 2 years in Thailand.

After the first two years, you then may extend your stay annually in Thailand as a retiree at your local immigration office in Thailand.

A disadvantage is that the it will cost 200 pounds for this visa at the Thai embassy n London

But, as I said, first talk to the Thai embassy in London about your options

As they say, get the real info straight from the horses mouth.

P.S. There are other options you can choose to retire and move to Thailand.

Edited March 29, 2015 by ubonjoe
Changed to default font

[ubonjoe]

All valuable ideas, thanks guys but to confirm, when i apply for the first retirement visa, in London, i would need the 800,000 in the thai account or is that only required when the extension is due at the 12 months

If you apply for OA long stay visa the funds can be in a bank in the UK. See here for info: http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/51

You would not need to do an extension here for about 2 years with the OA visa. It gives multiple one year entries for a year and by doing an entry just before it expires you would get another year from the visa.

When you apply for the extension here the money would need to be in the bank here for 2 months.

[Suradit69]

All valuable ideas, thanks guys but to confirm, when i apply for the first retirement visa, in London, i would need the 800,000 in the thai account or is that only required when the extension is due at the 12 months

If you apply for OA long stay visa the funds can be in a bank in the UK. See here for info: http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/51

You would not need to do an extension here for about 2 years with the OA visa. It gives multiple one year entries for a year and by doing an entry just before it expires you would get another year from the visa.

When you apply for the extension here the money would need to be in the bank here for 2 months.

'It gives multiple one year entries for a year and by doing an entry just before it expires you would get another year from the visa."

Just be aware that during the first year (from the date of issue at the embassy) of the O-A, you can exit and re-enter Thailand just using the visa. But once the actual visa expires you will still have up to another year's permission to stay IN Thailand shown on the entry stamp from immigrations ... even though the visa expired. From that point you will need a re-entry permit from immigrations if you want to exit and return to Thailand since you no longer have a valid visa. If you exit and return to Thailand after the visa expires and without a re-entry permit, your permission to stay will go up in smoke and you'll be back at square one with nothing but a 30 day visa exempt entry.

[SpokaneAl]

If I was moving to Thailand full time for the purpose of retirement, I would, if possible, obtain the multi entry non imm o-a, if, for no other reason, to give me some breathing room. With the initial 12 months, I can get settled in and figure things out a bit.

The 90 day non imm o means that one must immediately resolve the money issue re: getting the 800k (or a portion if one plans on the combination solution) into a Thai bank to ensure sufficient aging or else schedule a trip to one's nearest embassy or consulate - which, depending on where one lives in Thailand, could be a logistical challenge.

And then, well before the 90 days is up, one must begin preparing to apply for the extension of stay.

And this could well be on top of receiving that shipment of household goods, purchasing a car, buying or renting a home, finding the cheapest place to buy beer etc.

Edited March 29, 2015 by SpokaneAl

[OJAS]

If you apply for OA long stay visa the funds can be in a bank in the UK. See here for info: http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/51

This link is better than the one which I included in post #10.

A couple of other pieces of info for you should you be minded to go down the O-A visa route:-

(1) The criminal record check which you are required to obtain takes the form of a subject access disclosure provided by your local police force. Click on https://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx for details as to how you go about obtaining this.

(2) To identify a suitably-qualified person local to you who will be able to notarise your application docs as required by the Embassy, click on http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

[brianj1964]

If you apply for OA long stay visa the funds can be in a bank in the UK. See here for info: http://thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/51

This link is better than the one which I included in post #10.

A couple of other pieces of info for you should you be minded to go down the O-A visa route:-

(1) The criminal record check which you are required to obtain takes the form of a subject access disclosure provided by your local police force. Click on https://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx for details as to how you go about obtaining this.

(2) To identify a suitably-qualified person local to you who will be able to notarise your application docs as required by the Embassy, click on http://www.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

The criminal record check(1) is a done deal, I work in a school and that is something I had to obtain before they would employ me. the O-A definetly seems the way to go, thanks for all the help guys.