Permanent Resident

[Charlie]

Assuming I may want to apply for Permanent Resident in Thailand.

I have two questions to ask. BTW, my wife is not a Thai.

What is the criteria ?

Do I need a lawyer or an agency to do so ?

And how much do the lawyer or the agency charges ?

Your kind advice is much needed. Thanking you all in advance.

Much appreciated. Thank you.

[oncearugge]

Are you employed by a Thai company and paying Thai income tax ?

[ubonjoe]

The requirements and other info can be found here. http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=residence

You need to be on extension of stay for 3 years and be working with a work permit to qualify. It also rrequires 3 full years of tax payments.

You don't need a lawyer or agent. All they can do is help get all the paperwork together to do the application.

[Charlie]

Sorry that I forgot to add that I am on "Retirement" or better known as "Extension of Stay"

with funds in the bank. This is my fifth year of stay. Meaning I have renewed my Extension of Stay

for the forth time. I also bought a Condo here about five years ago.

Please kindly advice. Thanking you all in advance. Much appreciated.

[oncearugge]

Sorry that I forgot to add that I am on "Retirement" or better known as "Extension of Stay"

with funds in the bank. This is my fifth year of stay. Meaning I have renewed my Extension of Stay

for the forth time. I also bought a Condo here about five years ago.

Please kindly advice. Thanking you all in advance. Much appreciated.

Sorry that I forgot to add that I am on "Retirement" or better known as "Extension of Stay"

with funds in the bank. This is my fifth year of stay. Meaning I have renewed my Extension of Stay

for the forth time. I also bought a Condo here about five years ago.

Please kindly advice. Thanking you all in advance. Much appreciated.

Your status as a retired person bars you from applying for Permanent Residency

[Eclipse]

As said, you need to be working in Thailand and paying income tax for a number of years.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Eclipse

[noise]

The requirements and other info can be found here. http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=residence

You need to be on extension of stay for 3 years and be working with a work permit to qualify. It also rrequires 3 full years of tax payments.

You don't need a lawyer or agent. All they can do is help get all the paperwork together to do the application.

Please comment on (3) which, to me, clearly states any one of the following 3 categories is eligible for permanent residency (my bold enlarged font)

1.2 has personal qualifications that fit one of the following categories:

(1) Investment category

(2) Working/Business category

(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

1) A legal husband or wife.

2) A legal father or mother.

3) A child who is under 20 years of age up to the application submission date and must be single.

[ubonjoe]

That is for the child of a person that has permanent residence to to apply for permanent residency.

[noise]

That is for the child of a person that has permanent residence to to apply for permanent residency.

You read this differently that I do. I read this to say

(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

1) A legal husband or wife. You can apply if you are a spouse of a Thai citizen

2) A legal father or mother. You can apply if you are a parent of a Thai citizen

3) A child who is under 20 years of age up to the application submission date and must be single. You are a minor child (admit I don't understand this one, any random minor can apply?)

[ubonjoe]

In bold is what 3 is for. "(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

Also this from http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/residence/26122546_regulation_notice_en.pdf

"2.3.5 Child: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s father or mother who was granted with residential permit,"

[noise]

Are just "talking" past each other and looking at different words?

My first quote was from the link in your first post. The quote below is from another immigration site that has the words you just quoted. I see your last post is one of the options under 2.3 Humanitarian, to wit., 2.3.5 a child. I am addressing 2.3.1 a spouse. I read paragraph 2) as stating there are 3 categories under which one can apply, anyone of which is acceptable. And Category 2.3 Humanitarian (the 3rd choice) offers 6 categories, again any one of which is acceptable.

2) Categories of application

2.1 Investment,

2.2 Employment,

2.3 Humanitarian reasons as follows:

2.3.1 Spouse: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of a Thai national spouse,

2.3.2 Child: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of a Thai national father or mother,

2.3.3 Father or mother: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s Thai national child,

2.3.4 Spouse: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s spouse who was granted with residential permit,

2.3.5 Child: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s father or mother who was granted with residential permit,

2.3.6 Father or mother: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s child who was granted with residential permit.

Edited November 3, 2015 by noise

[noise]

In bold is what 3 is for. "(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

Also this from http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/residence/26122546_regulation_notice_en.pdf

"2.3.5 Child: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s father or mother who was granted with residential permit,"

Sorry, I misread that and my post #11 was off subject for the 2.3.5.

Back on the my original point: do you agree or not that the criteria allows a spouse of a Thai citizen to apply with no need for a work permit (i.e., retirees are eligible)?

[ParadiseLost]

I like where you are going, Noise but I think the catch is in the wording of this 2009 document Supporting Thai citizen or being supported by Thai citizen

The title says it all (pardon the caps): IN THE CATEGORY OF SUPPORTING THAI CITIZEN OR BEING SUPPORTED BY THAI CITIZEN (HUSBAND-WIFE, FATHER-MOTHER, OR CHILDREN WHO IS UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE AND SINGLE)

To be able to support someone you will need to prove income generated in Thainland.

Edited November 3, 2015 by ParadiseLost

[ubonjoe]

In bold is what 3 is for. "(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

Also this from http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/doc/residence/26122546_regulation_notice_en.pdf

"2.3.5 Child: To provide patronage or to be under patronage of the applicant’s father or mother who was granted with residential permit,"

Sorry, I misread that and my post #11 was off subject for the 2.3.5.

Back on the my original point: do you agree or not that the criteria allows a spouse of a Thai citizen to apply with no need for a work permit (i.e., retirees are eligible)?

If you open this file that is on the page on I postrf a link to you will see a work permit is needed. Supporting Thai citizen or being supported by Thai citizen

You also you find nothing for retirement on that page because they will not accept the application.

[noise]

Thanks. I thought I had done due diligence in searching documents but missed this one. Now I understand.

[Rhys]

Is there really... any advantage of applying for permanent residency .... Really seems like very little perks for the money paid out..

[noise]

Is there really... any advantage of applying for permanent residency .... Really seems like very little perks for the money paid out..

That is true. It just depends in your point of view and personal situation. Many factors might affect the decision to apply or not apply.

I had one immigration officer suggest that, given my age, I would be spending 2 to 3 times the annual visa renewal fee (assuming I died in the not too distant future). He recommended saving my money.

[KamalaRider]

Is there really... any advantage of applying for permanent residency .... Really seems like very little perks for the money paid out..

I think there is,

1. No more permit to stay, only report to nearest police station once a year

2. When retiring from work, the PR stays, although I don't know how it affects the +400 000 in a bank (I'm married with a Thai woman)

3. **** someone else who knows better han me can fill in the rest

[momtaz]

Guys, what if a foreigner father of 2 children, and registered under his name, but no registered marriage,

is there any option to apply for PR?

[Stevemercer]

There might also be tax reasons. For example, under a tax agreement between Thailand and Australia, a non-resident of Australia is taxed at 33% for any Australian derived income/pension, but that same income is taxed exclusively at the Thai rate if the person is a resident of Thailand. I doubt I could ever qualify for Thai residency and so have never checked what the Thai tax rate would be. But I'm sure it would be better than 33%.

[blackcab]

Guys, what if a foreigner father of 2 children, and registered under his name, but no registered marriage,

is there any option to apply for PR?

Yes, if you have a work permit and pay enough tax on your earnings. There are other criteria, but this is a good starting point.

[TerryLH]

"I had one immigration officer suggest that, given my age, I would be spending 2 to 3 times the annual visa renewal fee (assuming I died in the not too distant future). He recommended saving my money."

I thought PR for someone not married to a Thai was more like 100 times the annual extension fee.

If married to a Thai, only about 50 times the annual extension fee.

Have I got this wrong?

[scorecard]

That is for the child of a person that has permanent residence to to apply for permanent residency.

You read this differently that I do. I read this to say

(3) Humanity Reasons category: he/she must have relationship with a Thai citizen or an alien who already possessed residence permit as the followings:

1) A legal husband or wife. You can apply if you are a spouse of a Thai citizen

2) A legal father or mother. You can apply if you are a parent of a Thai citizen

3) A child who is under 20 years of age up to the application submission date and must be single. You are a minor child (admit I don't understand this one, any random minor can apply?)

[scorecard]

"I had one immigration officer suggest that, given my age, I would be spending 2 to 3 times the annual visa renewal fee (assuming I died in the not too distant future). He recommended saving my money."

I thought PR for someone not married to a Thai was more like 100 times the annual extension fee.

If married to a Thai, only about 50 times the annual extension fee.

Have I got this wrong?

This can be quite confusing.

- Married to a Thai is not in itself a direct avenue to attain Thai PR. The officer (20+ years back) told me 'PR is about you - are YOU a suitable person to be granted Thai PR?' That part hasn't changed. (I was lucky, I got it.)

- Now some official costs:

- The initial application fee is standard regardless of: married, not married, have children or whatever. And it's not refundable if you don't get approved. I believe it's now about 6,000Baht, but this needs checking.

- Now the part that's seems to be inconsistent:

If you are approved, now you pay the actual / final PR fee:

- Approx. 50,000Baht if you are married to a Thai lady (other members who are up to date on this please correct the amount.)

- Approx. 190,000Baht if you are single (other members who are up to date on this please correct the amount.).

OP, if you mean that the application is by a female foreigner married to a Thai man then that's another ballgame, the details are shown in the pinned thread at the very start of the ThaiVisa forum.

Edited November 3, 2015 by scorecard

[scorecard]

Is there really... any advantage of applying for permanent residency .... Really seems like very little perks for the money paid out..

I think there is,

1. No more permit to stay, only report to nearest police station once a year

2. When retiring from work, the PR stays, although I don't know how it affects the +400 000 in a bank (I'm married with a Thai woman)

3. **** someone else who knows better han me can fill in the rest

Everybody has a different view of 'is it worth it'?

IMHO it is worth it and I got it 20+ years ago.:

- No more 30 day reports / no more annual retirement application. Nothing.

- There are 2 criteria to lose PR:

1. Get a criminal conviction in Thailand or anywhere and it cancels immediately, no review possible.

2. PR holder can be outside of Thailand for 364 days in one block period and it's all OK, but outside of Thailand for 365 days or more in one block period and it cancels and no review process.

- Now the most important point of all, for me. I will never be separated from my Thai family, my Thai children and my Thai grand children because of visa 'stuff'.

When the 400,000 / 800,00BAht in the bank rules were created I asked my lawyer to check if this was going to apply in some way to new people now applying and/or perople already holding PR. the answer was no, and no.

Edited November 3, 2015 by scorecard

[DerringDo]

Thanks for the perspective scorecard, never looked at it like that for the future.

[aronp1]

I like where you are going, Noise but I think the catch is in the wording of this 2009 document Supporting Thai citizen or being supported by Thai citizen

The title says it all (pardon the caps): IN THE CATEGORY OF SUPPORTING THAI CITIZEN OR BEING SUPPORTED BY THAI CITIZEN (HUSBAND-WIFE, FATHER-MOTHER, OR CHILDREN WHO IS UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE AND SINGLE)

To be able to support someone you will need to prove income generated in Thainland.

You should have ended the sentence with the word income.

[ParadiseLost]

I like where you are going, Noise but I think the catch is in the wording of this 2009 document Supporting Thai citizen or being supported by Thai citizen

The title says it all (pardon the caps): IN THE CATEGORY OF SUPPORTING THAI CITIZEN OR BEING SUPPORTED BY THAI CITIZEN (HUSBAND-WIFE, FATHER-MOTHER, OR CHILDREN WHO IS UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE AND SINGLE)

To be able to support someone you will need to prove income generated in Thailand.

You should have ended the sentence with the word income.

You should have reconsidered before making an ass of yourself...

1. You have to prove you have an income to support your wife;

2. You have to prove the income was earned in Thailand.

Clear enough, professor?

[manarak]

The requirements and other info can be found here. http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=residence

You need to be on extension of stay for 3 years and be working with a work permit to qualify. It also rrequires 3 full years of tax payments.

You don't need a lawyer or agent. All they can do is help get all the paperwork together to do the application.

Joe, I think I read somewhere that the 3 years of tax returns must be based on an income of 80k THB or more per month. Is that true?

[Shadychris]

Is there really... any advantage of applying for permanent residency .... Really seems like very little perks for the money paid out..

You can get into National Parks at 'local' price for starters..... ;-)

There are other advantages.