Permanent Residency

[Malawi]

Just now, BritManToo said:

If you're a foreign female married to a Thai, you don't need any of that.

Not many of them I think.

Yes the sexist rules here discriminate against Thai Wives with foreign husbands.

[Pilotman]

6 minutes ago, Malawi said:

I have every idea why anyone would want PR here.

Not have to go through the extension circus every year.

Never knowing if you qualify or not.

if one year I don't qualify, for whatever reason, Mrs P and I will just go some place else.  The World is full of equally nice places to settle,  temporarily. 

[jayboy]

1 hour ago, SteveB2 said:

Hi nirocool

 

Udon Joe's comments are spot on

 

Understand that PR is NOT like a visa application, where you simply provide paperwork to meet the minimum published requirements, pay the actual published fee and your PR is issued.

 

PR is not just another visa - in fact it’s not even a visa at all.

 

PR applications are handled and vetted by a special team of high level government officials at Chaeng Wattana government HQ and by high ranking officials across all important Thai ministries in Bangkok. You sir, have got to be Mr perfect.

 

I will go as far to say that the published PR requirements mislead most potential applicants into believing that they can achieve PR status by one or more methods, whereas in fact, they don't even stand a chance by any published method.

 

So don't believe the published requirements - the PR team is after way more than that!

 

If I was to try and put my finger on what the PR team are actually looking for versus the PR application criteria... based on experience, I would say that most of the published requirements represent about 20% of what would satisfy the vetting procedures for all requirements across the board. As for the application fees - well, that’s a laugh. After your own legal and administration costs preparing the myriad of documents needed plus a dozen visits and overnight hotel stays at CW,  plus some express processing fees 'cough-cough', you'll easily spend USD10-15K. Maybe more if you need to travel back to your own country to legalize and have apostilles attached to any of the many required documents. The process itself could easily take many years. Issuance of the PR could also take several additional years after all vetting and payments are completed.

 

Further, your unfortunate lack of Thai partner is not helping matters (extra points for that), You'll need a high paying job(read my 20% rule above), most applicants I met were professionals and spoke decent business Thai (no requirement mentioned on the application form), most had a lawyer or CPA helping with paperwork prep etc, etc, etc.

 

I hope this information helps - FYI, I was issued PR 3 years ago. I now attend Thai government school as a regular student(PR and my name in a Thai house blue book permits me to do that) and have just completed M3 Junior high school education and national curiculum exams. 

 

Cheers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are right about some aspects but off beam/wrong on others.

 

You are right that in practice the requirements may be more onerous than those prescribed - salary for example.However there will always be exceptions where a candidate makes up for low salary in other ways. Similarly I know personally some successful applicant who had rubbish command of the Thai language but they were super qualified in other ways.They are not looking for "Mr Perfect": they are looking for applicants who fulfil the stated criteria.

 

You are right that issuance can take a long time though I believe it has speeded up under the military government.The delay is of little practical impact since Immigration is quite happy to stamp "under consideration" for years.

 

The costs are much less than you suggest.I employed a lawyer because I couldn't be arsed to run around like a monkey - but it isn't necessary.In practice my secretary did most of the work putting the papers together.I estimate my total costs (excluding the PR fee) were about Bt 80,000.I didn't go to Immigration more than 3 or 4 times.

 

You do not need to travel back to your home country.The UK (in my case) police will supply what's needed by request and send it out to Thailand.It took me about three months to collect all the required documents.

 

You exaggerate the level of scrutiny.Documentation is dealt with by Immigration in the first instance and then the Ministry of Interior.No other ministries are involved.

 

A Thai partner (if you mean unmarried) is irrelevant to the process of consideration.If married, it may have some bearing but not as much as you suggest.If your wife is a well educated and connected hiso, that might be of some marginal help but not much.

 

Cheers

[Malawi]

14 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

if one year I don't qualify, for whatever reason, Mrs P and I will just go some place else.  The World is full of equally nice places to settle,  temporarily. 

Great if you can do that.

Not always possible.

[timendres]

3 hours ago, jayboy said:

That's a completely reasonable point of view.

 

I agree you have no need for Elite.It only needs a look at their website for various red flags to go up, and the terms can be amended at any time.

That would be my biggest fear. I would not be shocked if they just reneged on the deal.

[AgMech Cowboy]

18 hours ago, nirocool said:

Very strange, I just find the same information at the official immigration site, here and official document here.  The last page update was done in 2016. Are these categories really gone?

@nirocool If you're not going to take ubonjoe's information as valid, then you will have to go to Immigration and find a reputable source there who is an expert in the area of PR. Even then you may well find yourself going down a rabbit hole of expenses that never quite meet the requirements, but your pocket book will feel so much lighter (Oops, not feel, be so much lighter).  I've a friend who worked here for many years, married, etc.  It still cost him a 'bunch' and he wasn't really very happy about it once he had it due to some restrictions. (I really know nothing about the PR, but I'd politely listen while he railed on about it.)

 

Good Luck!!

[rimmae2]

14 hours ago, SteveB2 said:

Hi nirocool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your post is totally misleading and incorrect in my experience and that of other people that I know who have obtained PR. From memory I visited Immigration maximum 4 times including after I had been approved.

 

I doubut very much if statements such as the following are substantiated other than from your experience:

 

"I would say that most of the published requirements represent about 20% of what would satisfy the vetting procedures for all requirements across the board."

 

What you are doing is dettering people from applying maybe from your experience. People like me who have obtained PR without dificulty don't make an issue about it and I post now only to advise others that your experience/knowledge is not representative of all others who have successfully obtained PR and do it for a reason.

[gamini]

On 6/1/2020 at 6:53 PM, jayboy said:

I think this is a profound misconception, albeit one quite commonly held by retired foreigners.

I can't possibly think why it is a profound misconception. I have lived in Thailand on and off for 55 years and never at any time felt there were any risks of living here. I have made many Thai friends over the years and that's probably the main reason why a live here. They are wonderful people and when I have had the odd problem they always help me. To give you an example my son who visited me here in Thailand overstayed. My Thai friend took him to emigration got an extension no fine no problem. 

As for your comments about the new rules and regulations in keeping money in the bank after getting the retirement Visa. This is only because it has been abused by Farangs cheating the requirements by getting other people to put the money up or over declaring income.  

[jayboy]

55 minutes ago, gamini said:

I can't possibly think why it is a profound misconception. I have lived in Thailand on and off for 55 years and never at any time felt there were any risks of living here. I have made many Thai friends over the years and that's probably the main reason why a live here. They are wonderful people and when I have had the odd problem they always help me. To give you an example my son who visited me here in Thailand overstayed. My Thai friend took him to emigration got an extension no fine no problem. 

As for your comments about the new rules and regulations in keeping money in the bank after getting the retirement Visa. This is only because it has been abused by Farangs cheating the requirements by getting other people to put the money up or over declaring income.  

I made no comments about keeping money in the bank after getting a retirement visa.It is a matter I know nothing about and have no interest in.

 

As to your other comments, they do not seem to have any relevance to the point of my earlier post which I will repeat below.I am glad you have had good experiences in your time in Thailand - as on the whole I have.

 

And so to my point which I will expand so the meaning is crystal clear.The community of foreign retirees in Thailand has far less significance to the economy than some of its members imagine.It is also a community that the Thai Government is of course aware of but to which it does not give much heed.If Thailand was a much smaller or poorer country, it might be possible for this community to exert some influence on government policy.However this is not the case.