Moving to Thailand

[david1960]

Hi there
my name is David, and intend to move to Thailand, in March this year.

I am married to a Thai, and have been for 1 year now.

I have a Thai bank account in my name and have had since November 2012.

I am aged 52, 53 in July.

Our intention is to move to Leong Nok Tha, and build a property, land ect is all in hand.

I have numerous thai national friends whom I have known for some 5 years now.

Now lets get to the point, I am going to get a spouse visa, as this has a work permit, even though I am in a postion where I dont need to work to survie.

I know that you start off with a 3 month visitor visa and then apply for a year spouse/retirement visa. But i have seen a few companies adverts, saying they can help, so has anyone here used any companies for this purpose?? if so what are your experinces???

Any information will be fantastic

Thanks

David

[cnx_bruce]

hi david. Some clarification required and I suggest you go online to the relevant Thai embassy web site for further details.

There is no "spouse visa" and the visa you are thinking of (non-immigrant type 'O') does not have a work permit. If you have a type O visa and are in Thailand at the time then you may apply for a work permit (which you may or may not be granted) without having to leave the country and enter (for example) with a Business visa. You may apply for a 1 year extension of your type O visa based on the fact you are married to and supporting a Thai wife/family.

You can enter on the type O visa OR enter on the longer tourist visa and then changeover to the type O - you need to talk to the Thai embassy about this.

Personally I don't see need/value in paying someone to fill out forms for you, but you do need to commit a reasonable amount of time online looking at both Thai govt web sites and expat forums like this one.