Hello all,

My spouse and I are looking into moving to Thailand after a few shorter visits in the next few years, so we've been scouring the net for information about visas and residency.... and finding that the information we find seems to not quite cover us or is down right confusing! Any help would be appreciated with my questions.

First is the issue of non-immigrant visas. When I've read the requirements, they generally state that you need to be there for education, work or business of some sort and need to have some sort of documentation proving it.

The problem is, we simply wish to live there... while we'd like to get permission to work if/when we chose to via visa & permit, it's not our reason for moving there and we'd have no documentation showing we'd be working or schooling in Thailand. We'll be living on our retirement income at that time.

We'll both be retired by that time but several years before the age of 50, so a retirement visa doesn't seem to cover us + is said not to be allowing work, anyhow, should we choose to.

So, what visa could we get? I'm not sure which would be right.

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Second question is about visa runs I keep reading about, since the visa seems to be only good for either 30 or 60 days (?) should you get the work/edu-visa. How many times can you do this before they stop you from popping back in and out of the country for new short-term visas? Do they care that that's what you're doing, so long as they've a record of you?

I've seen nothing anywhere said so far that there is a limit, but I figured it's best to ask folks instead of assuming... it would be terrible to find on a run that you can't get back!

My spouse and I are both from the US, if that factors in at all, since I know we train some of Thai military that things are friendly (I read about the tourist visa exemptions for friendly countries).

Greatly appreciate any and all help folks out there can give!

Best wishes,

Rumpus

Hi i will be interested in the replies that you may recieve because i intend to move to Thailand September 2007 i will be 50 i am married to a thai.

Which would be the best visa for me as i dont want to leave for 90 days.Any help would be gratefully recieved.Was toying with the idea of applying to Hull UK for a visa but not sure of the type i require

Married to Thai and over 50 you have a choice. Retirement obtained in the UK (O-A) and you receive a one year permitted to stay and then extend on a yearly basis. Support Thai wife you obtain a non immigrant O visa and then extend in Thailand on that basis. Lower financial requirements but more red tape.

Without these factors the best a person can do is a multi entry non immigrant O visa on the basis of visiting friends. That allows 90 day stays and is valid for one year. It would not likely be available in the immediate area of Thailand however.

Married to Thai and over 50 you have a choice. Retirement obtained in the UK (O-A) and you receive a one year permitted to stay and then extend on a yearly basis. Support Thai wife you obtain a non immigrant O visa and then extend in Thailand on that basis. Lower financial requirements but more red tape.

Without these factors the best a person can do is a multi entry non immigrant O visa on the basis of visiting friends. That allows 90 day stays and is valid for one year. It would not likely be available in the immediate area of Thailand however.

Can also get a single type O based on being over 50 and within last 30 days of 90 day entry stamp go to Immigration and get 1 year extension by showing 800K in Thai bank (from foreign source). This route is better then O-A as you do not have to get all the other paperwork, especially police record. Even though the financial requirement for spouse visa is less (400K) everyone I know married to a Thai and is over 50 goes for the retirement as it much less hassle then the married visa extension , where you can often get 30 day extension while Immigration investigate the legitimacy of your marriage, including visits to your neighbors.

TH

You can change to retirement from anything at Immigration. But the only paper that is not currently required is the police report (which is rather simple for most to obtain it seems). The advantage of obtaining O-A rather than do later is that if it is issued as a multi entry type you have two years before you have to visit immigration with the local bank deposit because any entry during its validity obtains a one year stamp.