I was under the impression u needed to be married, have a baby etc for around 10 years or more and even then it was a lottery. Lady my missus knows farang husband lived here 1 year, married 1 year. Applied and approved no probs

You need to have been staying more than 3 years on Immigration annual extensions, and have been paying income tax over a certain amount.

Plus more.

It takes years to actually get approved.

Everything you ever needed to know and more here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/74654-cameratas-guide-to-the-permanent-residence-process/unread/

What lite beer said.

Yep right, the lady your missus knows hasn't got the faintest...

Well got a bit more detail. The blokes a doctor apparently working in some essential service

Edited August 25, 201510 yr by Kenny202

Well got a bit more detail. The blokes a doctor apparently working in some essential service

Foreign doctors aren't allowed to practice unless they have passed the local exam. Which is all in Thai.

Presume he passed that as well?

Anyway, he'd need three years of work permit plus taxes paid to even qualify for applying for PR.

Yeah not sure. Got second hand from the missus and she's not the clearest nor is her friend

Yeah not sure. Got second hand from the missus and she's not the clearest nor is her friend

Suggest he's got a bog standard 1 year extension of stay.

Also suggest you not believe stories you might hear on how your wife's mates husband is stonking rich either.

Yeah not sure. Got second hand from the missus and she's not the clearest nor is her friend

Suggest he's got a bog standard 1 year extension of stay.

Also suggest you not believe stories you might hear on how your wife's mates husband is stonking rich either.

funny you say that. Her friend is on a farang wife chat room. She's been attacked all morning for suggesting it's easy for an expat to get PR thus can own land businesses in there own name. Why is she trying to screw up a good thing

Correct me if I"m wrong but I thought the only way a foreigner could own land in Thailand was if he became a citizen and PR doesn't qualify as being a citizen (or am I mistaken) ?

Not sure about the "business in their own name" bit, I'm guessing she was on about being able to own more than 49% of the shares in a business (but again that could lead to a "foreigner" owning land if he held the controlling interest in the company and the company owned "land") ?

I was mightily disappointed to find that being here (however long) on Non-O(A) (Retirement) visas didn't qualify towards getting a PR. When I first looked into it, the information I read mentioned just having to have been on 3 consecutive year long visas/extensions so I went out of my way to ensure that I renewed my O-A's early to avoid any gap between them. All for nought !

I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper to go the Immigration/Citizenship route instead of the PR ? Last I heard Immigration was only accepting 100 applications per country per year, but I don't recall the timelines or costs involved. PRs can take what, 4-6(+) years to be approved ?

(I really should look into this as I have nothing better to do with my time anymore any ways !)

PR does not allow a Farang to own Land in Thailand and has no effect on the 49 / 51% business ownership laws.

Patrick

What lite beer said.

Yep right, the lady your missus knows hasn't got the faintest...

I add, many people, Thais (including many government officials, low and high levels and the police) and foreigners have quite confused (wrong) understanding about permanent residency and other categories of visa. I have PR (approved some 18 years ago).

The family car was registered in my name at purchase, but a few years back we decided to change the name on the car papers to my adult son's name (he is a Thai national).

The paper work to change the name was lodged at the Land transport office and the clerk called the office manager to come, she insisted that my son produce some further papers about me and my son then produced my PR book. The unpleasant manager went ballistic insisting that there is no such thing as PR, therefore the book my son produced was a fake. She was about to rip it up but my son snatched it back, quickly scooped up all the documents and fled.

At another Land Transport office it was processed quickly. The officer politely asked my son what the PR book was, son explained, and the lady said 'ohh I didn't know this existed'(obviously in Thai language), she went right ahead and processed the name change on the car papers.

As already stated, at the very start of the ThaiVisa forum there is a pinned section titled 'Cameratas guide to PR' or very similar, it contains a wealth of information about qualifying for and applying for PR.

Also, as already stated, it's a long process and a quite large % of the applications are rejected.

There are other categories of Visa that may be applicable.

Good luck.

Edited August 26, 201510 yr by scorecard

Correct me if I"m wrong but I thought the only way a foreigner could own land in Thailand was if he became a citizen and PR doesn't qualify as being a citizen (or am I mistaken) ?

Not sure about the "business in their own name" bit, I'm guessing she was on about being able to own more than 49% of the shares in a business (but again that could lead to a "foreigner" owning land if he held the controlling interest in the company and the company owned "land") ?

I was mightily disappointed to find that being here (however long) on Non-O(A) (Retirement) visas didn't qualify towards getting a PR. When I first looked into it, the information I read mentioned just having to have been on 3 consecutive year long visas/extensions so I went out of my way to ensure that I renewed my O-A's early to avoid any gap between them. All for nought !

I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper to go the Immigration/Citizenship route instead of the PR ? Last I heard Immigration was only accepting 100 applications per country per year, but I don't recall the timelines or costs involved. PRs can take what, 4-6(+) years to be approved ?

(I really should look into this as I have nothing better to do with my time anymore any ways !)

"I was mightily disappointed to find that being here (however long) on Non-O(A) (Retirement) visas didn't qualify towards getting a PR. When I first looked into it, the information I read mentioned just having to have been on 3 consecutive year long visas/extensions so I went out of my way to ensure that I renewed my O-A's early to avoid any gap between them. All for nought !"

"I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper to go the Immigration/Citizenship route instead of the PR ? Last I heard Immigration was only accepting 100 applications per country per year, but I don't recall the timelines or costs involved. PRs can take what, 4-6(+) years to be approved ?"

This is a good example of how the anecdotal information out there about qualifying for and gaining PR is PR is often wrong. (Not meaning to attack the poster here, not at all.)

The main factor (by the rules) of qualifying is three consecutive years of working here with a work permit and proof that your annual personal Thai tax returns have been lodged and finalized for the same time period.

But in reality the immigration section concerned don't seem to look at applications unless there is proof of work permit and tax documents for a longer period. When I applied the imm. officer told my agent they don't even look at applications unless there is proof or WP and tax for more than 7 years. Luckily I had these documents for an even much longer period.

That's a long time ago, whether 'more than 7' still applies I don't know.

There are other qualifying factors, and my understanding is that the imm. people now require applicants to have a detailed discussion in Thai and applicant must be able to read Thai.

The '100 per country' is also often misunderstood. Unless it's changed recently, there is a maximum of 100 per country in terms of final approvals, but from my understanding (from the conversation with the Imm. officer when I applied) the 100 quota (final approvals) is never filled and is nowhere near that number. And for many countries the annual approvals are zero.

My agent discovered, in the year mine was approved the all up total for all countries was under 20 people.

Somebody with more up to date insight might like to comment about the current accuracy of the above.

There is another route to PR, via very large commercial / industrial development approved through the BOI (Thai Board of Investment) and employing large numbers of Thai people. However, from my understanding the investor has to prove that he/she is domiciled in Thailand and if the investor changes their domicile to another country then Thai PR is automatically revoked.

Good luck.

Edited August 26, 201510 yr by scorecard

What lite beer said.

Yep right, the lady your missus knows hasn't got the faintest...

Par for the course.

If you come to LOS & get an O-A retirement visa, my research reveals that one has no chance of PR. No work=no PR!

Kenny, unfortunately you will discover that certain Thai women make extreme claims about their husbands savings, assets, housing, each one wishing to elevate their husbands standing to one above any of their friends husbands.

My g/f hates it when the women start to talk this way and doesn't like to associate with that kind. She has more sense and can see beyond the lies and deceit. Nowhere is this more prevalent than Facebook.

One such story my g/f was told about a friends husband was how he was very wealthy and a top retired surgeon from the UK. with properties all over the world. Some weeks later I met this UK husband and casually asked him about his life in the UK.

He worked as an ancillary in a hospital washing and ironing hospital bedding etc. His ex property was a Council flat in Manchester.

It caused some serious loss of face to his wife............shouldn't tell porkies then love.

By the way, there are more retired SAS staying here than the whole British military!!!

Don't believe everything you hear!

Appreciate the heads up mate but we'll aware of all this. Luckily my missus doesn't play this game either. She learnt that when we lived in Australia with all the Thai wives trying to one up each other. She flicked them all in the end. Id see many of their poor husbands endlessly trying to satisfy their demands like appeasing a small child. To be fair we are talking about a particular class of person here. We live in Isaan and from the time I got here I asked her to wave away all the chancers coming to our home for a handout. The "culture" is ask for something, the person can't refuse because they would appear to look poor. Not me. I've used this my advantage. I'm kie neow and kie nok because I'm not an easy mark, do my own work at home and roll my own smokes. We have many Thai friends. Wonderful normal family people and they wouldn't dream of asking for anything. By the way...As well as ex "miltary" (special ops of course) you will find a lot of ex doctors too. Some on here giving advice. You would think a doctor could spell and use correct grammar...and know basic medical terminology. I think Sheryl has run a few of them off haha

Appreciate the heads up mate but we'll aware of all this. Luckily my missus doesn't play this game either. She learnt that when we lived in Australia with all the Thai wives trying to one up each other. She flicked them all in the end. Id see many of their poor husbands endlessly trying to satisfy their demands like appeasing a small child. To be fair we are talking about a particular class of person here. We live in Isaan and from the time I got here I asked her to wave away all the chancers coming to our home for a handout. The "culture" is ask for something, the person can't refuse because they would appear to look poor. Not me. I've used this my advantage. I'm kie neow and kie nok because I'm not an easy mark, do my own work at home and roll my own smokes. We have many Thai friends. Wonderful normal family people and they wouldn't dream of asking for anything. By the way...As well as ex "miltary" (special ops of course) you will find a lot of ex doctors too. Some on here giving advice. You would think a doctor could spell and use correct grammar...and know basic medical terminology. I think Sheryl has run a few of them off haha

Same in the UK mate, as you and Faz describe. Many Thai wives would ask one another very blunt questions - how much your husband earn, how much your house, how much he give you each month, what presents he buy you etc etc. All about showing off, face and driven by jealousy.

If one bought a designer handbag, they all wanted one. Then the first one had to get another to keep ahead of the game. Like you, I wouldn't play this game and neither would several more so we kept our own little group most of the time. More disturbing was one group who went out for a "ladies night" every so often to a local night club where I did some work with some mates. Micro mini skirts and chase the younger blokes to see who could "pull the best" seemed to be the competition. I hear a couple now have regular boyfriends and go away on weekend breaks - leaving their quite wealthy but retired husbands with the kids. I reckon 20% of the UK Thai wives I met were really nice, normal, friendly helpful people, 40% were o k but into one up-manship and 40% needed to be ignored.

Here, we have a good circle of Thai friends, my wife's friends from university or parents of the children's school friends. They are just normal nice friendly good people.

I've met so many ex-special forces, authors, gangsters, successful businessmen, entrepreneurs and financial geniuses here that Thailand must be the place they all retire to! And they're all experts on visas, extension of stay, PR and citizenship details - but they're special case of course 555.

Edited August 26, 201510 yr by Baerboxer

Appreciate the heads up mate but we'll aware of all this. Luckily my missus doesn't play this game either. She learnt that when we lived in Australia with all the Thai wives trying to one up each other. She flicked them all in the end. Id see many of their poor husbands endlessly trying to satisfy their demands like appeasing a small child. To be fair we are talking about a particular class of person here. We live in Isaan and from the time I got here I asked her to wave away all the chancers coming to our home for a handout. The "culture" is ask for something, the person can't refuse because they would appear to look poor. Not me. I've used this my advantage. I'm kie neow and kie nok because I'm not an easy mark, do my own work at home and roll my own smokes. We have many Thai friends. Wonderful normal family people and they wouldn't dream of asking for anything. By the way...As well as ex "miltary" (special ops of course) you will find a lot of ex doctors too. Some on here giving advice. You would think a doctor could spell and use correct grammar...and know basic medical terminology. I think Sheryl has run a few of them off haha

If you die in Thailand do they allow your ashes to remain or does no PR mean just that?

We live in NZ and because my wife works hard and has now paid off her house in Thailand word's got out, she is starting to get requests for funds for this and that. She needs me to remit funds so I am refusing the handouts especially for petty things like holidays, OK if the baby has a hole in the heart but.... she's on the minimum wage here, up to her it's her money but that cultural aspect upsets me a little

Appreciate the heads up mate but we'll aware of all this. Luckily my missus doesn't play this game either. She learnt that when we lived in Australia with all the Thai wives trying to one up each other. She flicked them all in the end. Id see many of their poor husbands endlessly trying to satisfy their demands like appeasing a small child. To be fair we are talking about a particular class of person here. We live in Isaan and from the time I got here I asked her to wave away all the chancers coming to our home for a handout. The "culture" is ask for something, the person can't refuse because they would appear to look poor. Not me. I've used this my advantage. I'm kie neow and kie nok because I'm not an easy mark, do my own work at home and roll my own smokes. We have many Thai friends. Wonderful normal family people and they wouldn't dream of asking for anything. By the way...As well as ex "miltary" (special ops of course) you will find a lot of ex doctors too. Some on here giving advice. You would think a doctor could spell and use correct grammar...and know basic medical terminology. I think Sheryl has run a few of them off haha

Here's a twist of the above.

My Thai son married a delightful Thai lady, they have a happy marriage and two delightful kids - my grandchildren.

My D-I-L's family:

- Her parents, salt of the heart, hard workers, pleasant and welcoming, have never asked for anything, I enjoy their company often.

- One brother and one sister, continuous requests for everything from land, houses, vehicles, cash, holidays and more. Along with this, both the brother and the sister have close to zero education and no experience in anything more than simple daily life but they both claim to be experts in law.

Both claim (regularly) that it's Thai law:

- Foreigners, when they come to Thailand have to give all their money to Thai people.

- Foreign men, when they get married to a Thai lady, have to give a monthly salary of at least 50,000Baht a month to all the members of the family of the Thai wife. (Mother, father, all brothers and sisters.)

And more, created regularly.

My Thai son regularly asks for proof of such laws, which of course don't exist. The regular response is that they cannot provide a copy of these laws because it's illegal for normal people to have documents about Thai law.

Because of the above my son, a long time ago, found several websites containing pretty much all Thai laws. He has shown these sites to his brother and sister in law several times. Their response - close it quickly we could all get into trouble / it's fake, and more.

You don't need to be married to get a PR. Just need to be working with a proper work permit and paying taxes. When I got mine the requirement was 5 years of wrk permit/taxes. The application process slowed to a halt under page previous xenophobic government ... guess there was no money in it for them. Understand from friends who had applied that it is moving again. Lots of paperwork and other documents to source. However, it's less burdensome than a similar PR application would be to say Canada or the U.S. There is so much misinformation about getting a PR because so few people meet even the most basic of qualifications.

If you die in Thailand do they allow your ashes to remain or does no PR mean just that?

My dear old (long departed) dad was here on a Non-O(A) for 2 years before he passed away. He now has a permanent residence at a temple in Pattaya. As long as he remains peaceful and doesn't start haunting people I think they'll let him stay as long as he wants.

It is mostly difficult to talk to Thais about dying, especially with my wife. (she assures me that I will live until I am 151 years old) My wife has an uncle, nawee, a 76 yo gentleman and my best male friend here. He leads the procession for those that have died to the temple in my village. When I talked to him about my death, he said that he will be long dead. But he assured me that when I died, I would be burnt at the local temple, some of my remains would stay there. My wife finally said, as per my wishes, that some of my remains would go into the river, some would be buried beneath a golden shower tree that we planted together. I am not sure that my last request, playing Pink Floyd (no more turning away) would be honoured. I love the procedure and am content to die in Thailand with these most wonderful people.

I thought the topic was about the requirements of obtaining a PR, looks like we have more discussions on dying wishes here, quiet strange

I thought the topic was about the requirements of obtaining a PR, looks like we have more discussions on dying wishes here, quiet strange

it's not that strange? Most of my posts turn into a bun fight after the first couple of replies. At least we sorted the PR issue first. Now off topic but positive, constructive and light hearted.

To nemesis7, you are correct. But surely the subject of PR was finished and someone said something about the mortal remains being returned to mother country. This was my excuse to say to love and embrace true Thai culture. I live almost in the boonies, a small village. If full PR is not given to me, I don't care, I will comply to Thai law, I live in a thriving communal village, I am invited to speak at schools on special events such as ASEAN, the Queens birthday. If you have not known the honour and respect that is mutually imparted, you have never entered into Thai culture, you will never be a part of everything that eludes you. Open up your mind.

Correct me if I"m wrong but I thought the only way a foreigner could own land in Thailand was if he became a citizen and PR doesn't qualify as being a citizen (or am I mistaken) ?

Not sure about the "business in their own name" bit, I'm guessing she was on about being able to own more than 49% of the shares in a business (but again that could lead to a "foreigner" owning land if he held the controlling interest in the company and the company owned "land") ?

I was mightily disappointed to find that being here (however long) on Non-O(A) (Retirement) visas didn't qualify towards getting a PR. When I first looked into it, the information I read mentioned just having to have been on 3 consecutive year long visas/extensions so I went out of my way to ensure that I renewed my O-A's early to avoid any gap between them. All for nought !

I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper to go the Immigration/Citizenship route instead of the PR ? Last I heard Immigration was only accepting 100 applications per country per year, but I don't recall the timelines or costs involved. PRs can take what, 4-6(+) years to be approved ?

(I really should look into this as I have nothing better to do with my time anymore any ways !)

1. 10yrs. PR status to qualify for citizenship. 2. If it took 4-6 yrs for PR status approval, that means they lost your paperwork and happen to find it years later.

PR does not allow a Farang to own Land in Thailand and has no effect on the 49 / 51% business ownership laws.

Patrick

Unless you are American, if so you can own 100% of the business but not the land if not a citizen.

Correct me if I"m wrong but I thought the only way a foreigner could own land in Thailand was if he became a citizen and PR doesn't qualify as being a citizen (or am I mistaken) ?

Not sure about the "business in their own name" bit, I'm guessing she was on about being able to own more than 49% of the shares in a business (but again that could lead to a "foreigner" owning land if he held the controlling interest in the company and the company owned "land") ?

I was mightily disappointed to find that being here (however long) on Non-O(A) (Retirement) visas didn't qualify towards getting a PR. When I first looked into it, the information I read mentioned just having to have been on 3 consecutive year long visas/extensions so I went out of my way to ensure that I renewed my O-A's early to avoid any gap between them. All for nought !

I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper to go the Immigration/Citizenship route instead of the PR ? Last I heard Immigration was only accepting 100 applications per country per year, but I don't recall the timelines or costs involved. PRs can take what, 4-6(+) years to be approved ?

(I really should look into this as I have nothing better to do with my time anymore any ways !)

1. 10yrs. PR status to qualify for citizenship. 2. If it took 4-6 yrs for PR status approval, that means they lost your paperwork and happen to find it years later.

1. Wrong

2. Wrong

PR/citizenship.

I would treasure it. A medal of honour.

Alas, I have no chance.

So, I just think it - honorary citizenship in my mind is now sufficient.