Retired foreigners with a foreign spouse..

[SunandFun]

Do I understand this correctly? If you are a foreigner and married to another foreigner, even if both are from the same nationality, (US to US or Brit to Brit) that you now have to prove income of 65,000 baht each monthly or 800,000 baht each in a Thai Bank account.

What if you can prove you are still married and living together?

Seems a bit short sighted and not thought through very well. Basically they have just doubled the requirement for couples living in Thailand.

Does that mean they only want single or divorced foreigners to come and live in Thailand? Couples are not welcome?

This is bound to affect a lot of foreign couples in Thailand. I guess the work around is to have your visas expire 3-6 months apart. Then you can just move the money from one account to another to meet the requirements.

[hhfarang]

Does that mean they only want single or divorced foreigners to come and live in Thailand? Couples are not welcome?

They probably prefer that you marry a Thai, buy her a house, and support her family...

[SunandFun]

Does that mean they only want single or divorced foreigners to come and live in Thailand? Couples are not welcome?

They probably prefer that you marry a Thai, buy her a house, and support her family...

I can do that, but then how do I get my other wife a "Retirement Visa?"

[Vital Spark]

What particularly irks me is that the Thai government thinks that a salary of around 30,000 baht (the going rate for a university teacher) a month is an adequate amount to live on in Thailand. Yet when it comes to retirement they require an income of 65,000 baht a month! Grrr....

VS

[oakdale160]

Preferring single guys with demonstrable income/assets to come, with the likely hood that they will soon be pouring money into the impoverished village of a new companion makes perfect sense. Perhaps if western wives signed a statement that they are prepared to allow their husband to have a Thai minor wife it might help.

[dalmatiandave]

Do I understand this correctly? If you are a foreigner and married to another foreigner, even if both are from the same nationality, (US to US or Brit to Brit) that you now have to prove income of 65,000 baht each monthly or 800,000 baht each in a Thai Bank account.

What if you can prove you are still married and living together?

Seems a bit short sighted and not thought through very well. Basically they have just doubled the requirement for couples living in Thailand.

Does that mean they only want single or divorced foreigners to come and live in Thailand? Couples are not welcome?

This is bound to affect a lot of foreign couples in Thailand. I guess the work around is to have your visas expire 3-6 months apart. Then you can just move the money from one account to another to meet the requirements.

That would work but then both would have to have their own retirement visa. This is about those who are reliant on their spouse for an extension of stay and who therefore are likely to be under 50, the amount has just doubled. It appears that the person whose retirement visa extension is what the visa is based on needs to show double the amount i.e 1.6m as I doubt an under 50 spouse could have a pension of 65,000 baht. Of course if the spouse is over 50 then under this rule they might as well just get their own retirement visa and, then yes, you could do the visas at different times perhaps with the same 800,000 baht or you will just be stuck at having to show 1.6m in savings.

[Don East Stand]

I don't like the sound of this very much and it will undoubtedly affect many farang couples, like us!

I guess moving the money back and forward between us might work for a while, but the other option might be for one of us to have the money (ME ) and my spouse could obtain an educational visa?

Whilst we could both do with improving our Thai language skills, I understand that you can do other things on an educational visa if you so wish. I guess someone else can comment on that.

It might turn out to be a better, cheaper, and more fulfilling option than doubling the money you have here in Thailand?

[Big Boy]

I was under the impression that an ed visa had time limitations (3 years was what I'd been told).

[barrys]

^

at the rate regulations are changed here, 3 years sounds like a pretty good interim solution - just about all of the goalposts are likely to have been moved by the time that option expires - and then there are bound to be other workarounds - seems like the way most things work here.

[caller]

'Clarifications' seem to be appearing now, but via Phuket? It almost appears to be 'as you were'.

The issue appears to be where a joint account is used for the visa, but doesn't have sufficient funds for two!? Solution? Scrap the joint account! Only in Thailand.

http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-imm ... -43330.php

[bapak]

I was under the impression that an ed visa had time limitations (3 years was what I'd been told).

In fact it has never been tested... We know for sure can go to 3 years but some places in Bangkok are now advertising 5 years.
For sure Immigration are not going to let you get away without requiring some testing of what you have learned.. and in fact this is now in effect in Bangkok. So those schools, and there are some in Hua Hin, that arrange Ed Visa and are not requiring students to attend classes may be facing some problems.

I was visiting a school in Bangkok that I know the owners quite well 2 weeks ago, and two people from the Education Department arrived there with a list of 10 names and requested to verify their attendance.

I digress.

We have a number of students of retirement age who have opted for Ed Visa. And they are all regular attendees.