Hi Thai Visa!!

I did some research and found some good information on here before posting, so please bare with me. I'm also new! I am American and looking to marry my Thai wife and work in Thailand. I know its possible but I'm not too sure about the exact process. Can someone please guide me to proper directions??? How would this entire process work? Please let me know so I can better prepare for the road ahead, thank you so much!!

You would have to be on extensions of stay (not visas) for 3 years, have a work permit and proof of 3 years of of tax payments to prove an income of at least 40k baht.

Requirements are here: Guidelines and documents required for application for Thai citizenship by naturalization

You can find info here: dbrenn's story of Thai citizenship application

thank you ubonjoe, thai naturalization seems like a long process and i will look into it a few years down the line, but the most important thing for me is to be allowed to work in thailand (bangkok area)... is this process a lot easier/faster? what is the procedure for this by going through a thai marriage?

that's what i'm currently worried about... after i can work a few years, then i'll worry about naturalization. the info. you sent above was only concerned with thai naturalization.

OR do i have to be naturalized to work?

thank you ubonjoe, thai naturalization seems like a long process and i will look into it a few years down the line, but the most important thing for me is to be allowed to work in thailand (bangkok area)... is this process a lot easier/faster? what is the procedure for this by going through a thai marriage?

that's what i'm currently worried about... after i can work a few years, then i'll worry about naturalization. the info. you sent above was only concerned with thai naturalization.

OR do i have to be naturalized to work?

The first thing to worry about is securing a job with a Thai employer/Company.

Naturalisation is not a pre-requisite for working.

Being married does not make job hunting easier.

i've tried securing a job, they won't hire me unless i have a work permit. so it's like a catch 22, i can't work unless i have a permit and i can't get a permit unless i work?

getting married won't help getting a work permit at all??

Being married will not assist with obtaining a work permit.

An employer has to apply for a work permit and if the application is accepted you can then you leave the country and obtain a single entry "B" visa with paperwork supplied by the employer. Once the visa is obtained the work permit would be issued.

What is your profession/trade/special skill(s) ?

i have an MBA from a top public school here in California. i also have 5+ years of work experience in the finance field. but having looked for 3 months... i've had no luck and the companies that wanted to hire me would not due to visa/work permit issues

i have an MBA from a top public school here in California. i also have 5+ years of work experience in the finance field. but having looked for 3 months... i've had no luck and the companies that wanted to hire me would not due to visa/work permit issues

Perhaps they are just attempting to be polite in their refusals ?

If you are a financial expert maybe you should approach the major Thai Banks who would know about visas/work permits for those they wished to employ.

perhaps they were just being nice, but the truth is that it will be very hard for me to find a job there and gaining through that avenue. i was hoping that getting married in thailand would help expedite the work permit process or help me qualify, however, this doesn't seem like the case. is there any truth to this?

Believe me !

Getting married will make obtaining a job easier and it will not "expedite" the acquisition of a work permit which is linked to a specific job.

Married or not, you cannot get a job in Thailand unless the company cannot get a Thai national to do that job. It is one of the things that your prospective employer has to certify on one of the forms he has to submit for your application for a work permit.

The only thing easier for the employer is that if you chose to do your annual extensions of stay for the reason of living with your Thai wife, the employer does not have to supply the heap of company documents that would be necessary for an application for the reason of employment.

i just want to work a respectable job (finance related) in thailand through marriage, how hard would that be? i tried getting a job without being married and it's almost impossible... i tried for 3 months full-time

i just want to work a respectable job (finance related) in thailand through marriage, how hard would that be? i tried getting a job without being married and it's almost impossible... i tried for 3 months full-time

Jeez, listen to what has been said; marriage has nothing to do with your ability to get a job.

Be reslistic. Yes you have an MBA, but for the jobs you will be applying for, so do the Thai applicants. I can assure you that a Thai applicant whose MBA is from Sasin will be thought of at least as highly as your MBA from the US. On top of that, several of the Thai applicants will be bilingual, while a few will be trilingual. Can you speak Thai?

All Thai applicants will be able to effectively work and integrate in a Thai office. If your computer was broken, could you call IT and resolve the problem in Thai - or would you have to ask someone else to help you?

The most important thing, and this is crucial, is that the Thai applicants might have contacts. It took me a couple of years to work out how extensively Thai people use (and favour) their personal, family, education and business contacts. Believe me when I say contacts are everything and Thai people spend their lives building and maintaining their contacts.

Hiring a foreign worker often means the company is getting something very different than what they usually hire. For this to happen, you need to provide the company with a skill set they can't get locally for cheap.

It can happen. It's just that the chances are smaller than in the West. That's because with expat jobs you will also be competing against other foreign candidates. How would your application compare against a 40 year old expat with an MBA, 15 years experience (some in Thailand) and the ability to speak Thai?

Married or not, you cannot get a job in Thailand unless the company cannot get a Thai national to do that job. It is one of the things that your prospective employer has to certify on one of the forms he has to submit for your application for a work permit.

The only thing easier for the employer is that if you chose to do your annual extensions of stay for the reason of living with your Thai wife, the employer does not have to supply the heap of company documents that would be necessary for an application for the reason of employment.

I work in the entertainment field here in Pattaya I do customer relations work something that anytime could do I have been employed with a work permit for 10 years so as far as not being hired if a ThaiI can do it such is not always the case.

Being married will not assist with obtaining a work permit.

An employer has to apply for a work permit and if the application is accepted you can then you leave the country and obtain a single entry "B" visa with paperwork supplied by the employer. Once the visa is obtained the work permit would be issued.

What is your profession/trade/special skill(s) ?

Sent from my LG g3