Not a question of waking up one morning and realising you do not want to be in Thailand any more,..its many mornings now and getting worse. Got long time Thai GF, am a UK national,not married,but that can be sorted pretty quickly( no family)

I could get her into the UK quite easily , I tick all the boxes on entry there ,so does she,but I want Spain or Portugal,Portugal preferably but rental especially in the east of Algarve is slim and want to rent initially,Spain far easier and a couple of villages just north of Benidorm fits the bill.

Need Spanish visa,and reading the thread applicable seems difficulty arising from marriage translations ....anybody been through this process Thanks?

I'm not European or knowledgeable, but a British friend got a Thai to those places with a Schengen visa when he couldn't get her into the UK.

??

There are good threads on Schengen visa. I'm AU, so in same boat as UK citizens. You could apply to Spanish embassy as sounds like that might be your point of entry.

You could then see how things pan out. Your tgf would be able to travel through out Europe . I know you did not mention South America but thai do not require a visa for most of the countries in sth america

....... I'm AU, so in same boat as UK citizens.......

Not really.

As the UK is a member of the EEA, UK citizens have the same freedom of movement rights within the EEA enjoyed by all other EEA nationals. As do their qualifying non EEA national family members; providing they are travelling with or to join their EEA national family member.

These rights do not apply to the country of which the EEA national is a citizen, unless they qualify under the Surinder Singh ruling.

Australia is not a member of the EEA, so as an Australian you do not enjoy the same freedom of movement rights within the EEA as a UK citizen does; unless you are the qualifying family member of an EEA national.

These rights have been discussed at length in the topic the OP refers to and elsewhere.

Strange, I'm having exactly the same thoughts after 29 years in Thailand. The idea of settling in Spain only came up about a month ago. Spain is great, good climate all year round, good food, excellent wine and some of the land prices are very affordable, cheaper than Thailand. We're planning for a trip to Spain, next year or in 2017, my Thai wife and daughter both speak fluent English and the little one would learn Spanish in no time.

Strange, I'm having exactly the same thoughts after 29 years in Thailand. The idea of settling in Spain only came up about a month ago. Spain is great, good climate all year round, good food, excellent wine and some of the land prices are very affordable, cheaper than Thailand. We're planning for a trip to Spain, next year or in 2017, my Thai wife and daughter both speak fluent English and the little one would learn Spanish in no time.

All those things and more. Just trying for the area I would more than probably choose to live. just been to algarve,love it there but prices for houses are a third up from Spain,but food drink etc a third down Good luck(you will not need it once there) this place gets more weary by the day