Retirement visas for British married couple

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flossiebear
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by flossiebear »

Hi eatuae

Regarding the marriage certificate issues you mentioned. Please Can you update after Wednesday as to the outcome? We are a married UK couple arriving in 2 weeks. My husband has O A Longstay visa and I have 90 day single entry Non immigrant O visa issued at Thai Embassy in London. They accepted a signed and stamped photocopy of my marriage certificate by UK solicitor. I have original. So now bit concerned about when I apply for extension of stay as spouse. What is the difference between an original marriage certificate and one issued by Foreign and Commonwealth one? Really hope I don't have more hassle when I extend. So any further info will be gratefully received.
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by killala »

A vote of thanks to all respondents on this topic. James west you've been epic.
We think we have a handle on the situation but if eatuae and flossiebear could keep the topic live by sharing their experience in the days ahead, that would be good.
killala
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by killala »

There was one other thing that was very scary and that is the post from wpcoe about the situation in which I, as the main visa holder dying and herself, as a dependent , would have 7 days to pack up and leave the country, barely giving time for my ashes to cool down! Jeepers that really is an awful thing.
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JamesWest
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by JamesWest »

wpcoe wrote:While it is legal, acceptable and economical for one spouse to obtain a retirement extension and the other spouse to then have a dependent spouse extension, if you are easily able to both qualify for independent visas/extensions, there is one (unpleasant) factor to consider: In the case of the dependent extension, if the other spouse (the one on a retirement extension) dies, the dependent has seven days to get things in order and depart the country. With all the trauma and stress of the death of a loved one, being required to leave the country might not be welcome added stress. If both spouses are on independent visas/extensions, the surviving spouse need not worry about leaving the country within seven days.
good info. For me, being alone in Thailand, i have this philosophy in most everything I do in Thailand. Duplicating everything that is really important. Having a non dependent visa is a form of that.

Don't laugh, but I have duplicate wallets with different ATM cards, Thai Bank Credit Cards and cash.
If I lose my wallet, all i have to do is get home and I am good to go.

duplicate accounts at different banks in the USA and Thailand, linked separately.
so any banking problems with one, i can still transfer cash with the other.

And a USA government issued "Passport Card", good in Noth America only, but still good for helping ID me at the Embassy if i need a new passport.

And yes I have a cheap duplicate cell phone. :)

Lose primary wallet while traveling? some small baht goes in the hotel safe along with one USA credit card. So I am still good to go.

Living here for two years I have relaxed somewhat, but coming here alone to a new counrty without friends or speaking the language I wanted to minimize the downside.
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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JamesWest
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by JamesWest »

killala wrote:A vote of thanks to all respondents on this topic. James west you've been epic.
We think we have a handle on the situation but if eatuae and flossiebear could keep the topic live by sharing their experience in the days ahead, that would be good.
thank you. :)
I really like this forum because there are no personal attacks. All the members contribute in a positive way to my posts.
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by eatuae »

Will post after immigration tomorrow. But Thailand is the place to be and Hua Hin has not seriously changed in years. We love Malaysia but could I live there well 20 years ago it would be our first choice but now with all the changes there at the moment makes Thailand seem like paradise even with the challenges but we have these as well in our second home in Spain but there they speak less English than here
killala
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by killala »

Thanks a million eatuae.
We look forward to your missive after the visit to Immigration. Good luck!
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Big Boy
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by Big Boy »

killala, please remember people generally only write about the dark side of things, and yes, it can be a pain, but honestly I don't think my circumstances are out of the ordinary, and I would guesstimate Immigration takes up about 8 hours or less of my retirement time each year. Please don't be put off - we all love to have a moan, but we're all here still.
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killala
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by killala »

What's the story with obtaining the police clearance? Pain in the whatsit for us as we both have dual nationality and are resident in Ireland so the way I see it is that I need a report from the cops here and the UK as we would probably choose to come in on a British passport as the wife will be coming in on a full visa and not as my dependant and her pensions are paid by the UK. The Thai consulate in Dublin is next to useless when it comes to visa's we would probably obtain a 90 day visa in London and spend a week or so slumming it in the Landmark on Sukhumvit (just my little joke, love the place) to get the required 12 month extension and would possibly pay someone like Siam Legal to sort the first application for us. Anyone an opinion on the script so far?
And here's the thing Big Boy, yep, you're all there. There are so many places on this planet that are warm and reasonable when it comes to the cost of living yet why are so many people prepared to put up with a degree of nonsense that is Thailand? Tis the place itself. As infectious as Chicken Pox in a holiday camp. Upon exiting the airport in Bangkok a man can actually taste the country in the air. Brilliant.
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by flossiebear »

The police clearance to get O A Longstay visa from Thai London embassy is easy. Basically just follow all,the instructions on Thai Embassy website for O A visa. Need to apply in person once you have all documents. It takes 10 days and £45 to get police certificate . Medical we paid £35. Don't get documents notorised. Use link provide by embassy to Ashtons solicitors. £5 a copy to sign and date. Then get tube 15 mins away to Thai embassy. If you have all your ducks in a row, including UK bank statement you will be issued with a receipt and collect next day. We made it a nice two day leisure trip to London.

Then you have a visa which if used correctly ( depart before 12 month expiry and get stamped back in for another 12 months) will last nearly 2 years, with 90 day reports, no transferring money to Thailand etc.
killala
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by killala »

Thanks for the info there.
We don't have much to do with London but will have to shoot over at sometime to get 90 day visas sorted but we live and bank etc in Ireland and we do need a report from An Garda Siochana as well as UK cops so prob best all round to get the visa in Thailand as there doesn't seem to be a requirement for police reports according to Siam Legal. Simples.
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Khundon1975
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by Khundon1975 »

killala First of all, welcome, both of you, to the forum. :D

You have received a lot of sage advice in this thread by BigBoy, JamesWest, eatuae and many others. Some of the advice, I didn't even know. :oops:

I do not have much to add on the visa choice, but there is a couple of things that I would like to add, for what it is worth.

The insurance problems for people with pre-existing medical conditions is very expensive and in my case, pretty well useless, when my past medical history is revealed to any insurance company. If I caught a cold, then, yes, the insurance company would pay out, pretty much any other ailment and they will walk away from you, despite you having paid humongous premiums.
If you have a motor accident, then they usually will pay out for injury to you or others covered by the motor insurance you have.
But forget trying to get reasonably priced health insurance, if you have any pr-existing conditions. The problem is, they are usually the conditions that cost a fortune to treat and would eat into your budget with alarming speed.

Cash is king in this country and slapping a wadge of cash on the hospital reception counter will get you treatment, should you need it.
It works for me, as I have stopped trying to get health insurance, due to the restrictions placed on any policy I applied for.
We are lucky, as we live in other countries, as well as spending a fair bit of time in the LOS, but I would live full time in Thailand in a heartbeat, if I did not have family commitments elsewhere.

Whatever you both decide to do, take your time, rent a place for six months (that won't be dead money) then find a house or condo that you like and start the first day of the rest of your lives.

As for the minor visa problems that you may encounter here along the way, well you are retiring here, just think of them as a new hobby for your retirement. :wink:

Good luck. :thumb:
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Big Boy
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by Big Boy »

Hopefully our resident visa expert will jump on and say if I'm talking rubbish, but why are you even considering coming on an O-A visa? I and many others came with an O visa, which was relatively easy to get, and didn't require police checks or medicals.

You mention dual nationality, but surely you will choose which passport you want your visa in - you won't have a visa in both passports. My wife has dual nationality, but chooses which passport to use, depending upon circumstances.

Paying somebody to do the first application for you? (meant in the nicest possible way) that's bonkers. All you do is get half a dozen (may not be that many) bits of paper together and hand them over at the counter. It would still be you that has to provide the bits of paper, and you'd have to accompany the agent to immigration. If you have plenty of money to waste, OK, but IMHO the only thing it would achieve is filling an additional seat in the waiting room.

I think you are making a relatively simple procedure sound very difficult - it isn't.

Most people that complain on forums don't actually meet the requirements, but from what you're telling us, you're old enough and have plenty of cash - it will not be a problem.
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London Boy
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by London Boy »

My wife and I (British couple) have had our house here since 2008 and have now moved here full time as I have retired but have had conflicting info on amount of money requirement. When we obtained our visas in Abu Dhabi we just had to show the correct amount in our bank account, however when we were at immigration reporting we have been informed that we must have separate accounts showing minimum of 800. We aware of the pension income but we do not yet have pensions. Is there any other British couple here who can verify what is the correct procedure. Thanks in advance.
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Re: Retirement visas for British married couple

Post by eatuae »

As requested my Wednesday experience
Well for the first time in 5 years I didn't need my stress pills
My wife documents were spot on
1 copy of marriage certificate with Foreign and Commonwealth Office apostille and stamped
2 Uk Thai Embassy stamp
3 Thai translation of marriage certificate stamped by Thai Ministry of Foreign Affers Bangkok
Rachael at Siam Legal in Bangkok was excellent did all the work at this end
Got to say how impressed I was with the Immigration Staff professional, friendly and helpful
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