Permanent Residency

[VincentD]

No, you don't need to be working. What you do need is a tax record. I got this done at the tax department years ago; you declare a certain amount of income, and they issue a tax receipt.
At the time there was this requirement that you needed a tax clearance certificate on your passport if you stayed more than 90 days in the kingdom, more than a few people got caught out at the airport. Fortunately Anand Panyarachun got rid of this silly rule when he was acting pm.

You need three years in a string, and an unbroken stay (meaning everytime you leave you get a non-imm re-entry) - do note that I was holding a non-imm 'O' visa at the time. Not sure if it was three years or five years.

Things may have changed since then, but would not expect anything major.

[buksida]

This demonstrates you do not know who would really benefit from having PR.

Not at all, it demonstrates that someone like myself (married and working category) would not benefit from it. Aside from retirees these are the major three non-immigrant visa categories there are. In my view PR is like an elite card, if you have a spare bunch of cash, want to wait for a very long time, and don't like visa hassles its for you! It certainly isn't there to help the average farang - else all long-termers would have it.

Your stance on immigration and prose indicates that PR is a simple thing to get which is entirely misleading to anyone looking for genuine information on the subject.

VincentD, can I ask your nationality (though I think I already know)? I have also been told by applicants that it is easier for certain nationalities and the waiting list can be upto 3 years for others that they don't favour.

[Spitfire]

I have also been told by applicants that it is easier for certain nationalities and the waiting list can be upto 3 years for others that they don't favour.

That wouldn't surprise me at all. They do always seem to have a "preferred list" with everything in their hierarchy infested notion of things. The "Grade A Syndrome", I suppose.

It really is astounding the extent to which it permeates everything, nothing is exempt.

Sadly, it wouldn't be too hard to guess the lines along which this one goes.

[Super Joe]

Yes, I do have PR.
I officially got it fourteen years ago, it took two years, but I did it on my own, not through any agency or law firm.
Even then they did have a quota of 100 persons per country per year.
I am not a high-flying GM type, never have been and never will be. Immigration will genuinely consider the circumstances (in my case Thai wife, officially married in Thailand, kids are Thai citizens). They will also factor in the kind of profession you're in, i.e. peanut sellers from the sub-continent aren't really welcome. Don't think anything has really changed except for the number of people applying.

I will not be kicked out of the country if I have no work. In fact, I could just sit on my backside right now for the next couple of years and they won't bother me.

Thank you Vincent for that, it's how I understand it works. I listed on my initial post in this thread where it can be beneficial to certain farangs in the future and also have read numerous accounts, of those having gone through the process, that PR is given to the 'ordinary' guy and not just the Bangkok 'high-fliers'.



Quote from someone going through the process in 2008:

This year approximately 400 persons are applying for PR.
Most of the applications are in the Family Support Category.
4 persons are applying under the special category.

Cheers,
SJ

[malcolminthemiddle]

No, you don't need to be working. What you do need is a tax record. I got this done at the tax department years ago; you declare a certain amount of income, and they issue a tax receipt.

So PR is of no use to any retiree relying on income from outside Thailand to fund their retirement.

[VincentD]

Bucksi,

yes, I remember telling you quite a while ago, I'm from Singapore. Think it was at the first HHAD get-together. As to it being easier for certain nationalities, well I don't think too many people from sillypore would apply for residency per year, so I'd be well within the 100 persons per country per year quota. I was told that in the year I applied there were seven hundred people, mainly from Europe and India, applying for PR.

An Aussie I know (married to Thai and also interested in PR) also admits that it is oversubscribed these days so you may just be subject to the luck of the draw.

I looked at PR back then as I had made up my mind that Thailand would be where the family would stay. Singapore is way too crowded and expensive, and can be quite a xenophobic place to stay. Besides, it's only a two hour flight away.

Malcom, I think you can get a retiree visa?

[buksida]

Got a reply from the legal eagles:

In order to qualify for permanent residence in Thailand, you will first need to satisfy the following criteria:

1. You will need three 1 year visa extensions in your passport (back to back and no gaps)

2. Hold a valid work permit for three years up to the date of submission (no gaps)

3. Earn a minimum monthly salary of 80,000 THB or if married to a Thai spouse for 5 years or more the salary is reduced to 30,000 THB.

4. Provide monthly personal income tax receipts for the last 3 years (no gaps)

5. Provide Por Nor Dor 91 tax returns for the last 3 years.

6. Provide all relevent company tax documentation, including social security receipts etc.

Without all of that you have absolutely no chance (according to that firm). I can do 5 out of the 6 so its another ten years of annual extensions for me!

[malcolminthemiddle]

I think we have established that the criteria for PR greatly reduces the number of people who could make a successful application.

I have friends who went through the long process successfully and gained their PR while they were here in Thailand working and living with their families. Once work dried up and they were forced to relocate, while keeping their home in Thailand, maintaining the PR became virtually impossible thereby voiding the effort and cost.

PR? Forget it.

[JimmyGreaves]

Well Well Well

As I initially thought this is really a lottery with so so many variables. If it was black and white then there would be alot more people talking about it and that is not the case.

So I still do believe that you are not that secure here even when you are the bread winner for your thai wife and thai kids, there is no stable legislation that helps, legislation changes in the blink of an eye and during the last 3 to 4 years it has always been to make things more difficult!

[buksida]

So I still do believe that you are not that secure here even when you are the bread winner for your thai wife and thai kids, there is no stable legislation that helps, legislation changes in the blink of an eye and during the last 3 to 4 years it has always been to make things more difficult!

Couldn't have put it better.

[Super Joe]

There is no stable legislation that helps, legislation changes in the blink of an eye and during the last 3 to 4 years it has always been to make things more difficult!

Well judging by Vincent's posts and numerous others of 'average joe's' obtaining PR there is JG.
But if you can not meet the criteria or relocate to other countries, as per Buksi's and Malcolm's examples, then you will have to carry on meeting the annual extension requirements.

SJ

PS: What criteria did you not meet Buksi, the 5 year marriage part ?

[buksida]

Well judging by Vincent's posts and numerous others of 'average joe's' obtaining PR there is JG.

Vincent is Singaporean, hardly a farang, and we have no other 'average joes' on the board who has obtained it or knows another who has so I still totally disagree with you - its those rose tinted ones again!

PM me if you want the details on my rejection, apparently ten years of tax paying and family support is not enough.

[Super Joe]

Vincent is Singaporean, hardly a farang

That doesn't seem relevant by the looks of it Buksi, there's a list from Immigration website that show applicant's who had passed Immigration Commission process and received approval by The Minister of Interior showing 20 no. British and 6 no. Singaporeans.

PM me if you want the details on my rejection, apparently ten years of tax paying and family support is not enough.

It's your choice to put it up on the board or not, without it it's hard to gauge why you did not meet the criteria. The solicitor you asked seems to have made an error in the list anyway: "Item 3-Earn a minimuim monthly salary of 80,000 THB or if married to a Thai spouse for 5 years or more the salary is reduced to 30,000 THB."
From Immigration website: (1) Be a lawful spouse and had registered their marriage for at least 2 years before the date of application submission, and do have their biological child together, in any case of infertility, medical certifying letter issued by the hospital is required. In any case of infertility without a certification letter, their marriage registration must have been made at least 5 years before the date of application submission

For the record, they've got items 4) and 5) wrong too.

SJ

[malcolminthemiddle]

From Immigration website: (1) Be a lawful spouse and had registered their marriage for at least 2 years before the date of application submission, and do have their biological child together, in any case of infertility, medical certifying letter issued by the hospital is required. In any case of infertility without a certification letter, their marriage registration must have been made at least 5 years before the date of application submission

SJ

SJ are you sure this quote is related to PR?

It is the exact same reason why the Thai Consulate in Taipei would not issue me with a Non-O on the grounds of marriage back some years ago.

[Super Joe]

From Immigration website: (1) Be a lawful spouse and had registered their marriage for at least 2 years before the date of application submission, and do have their biological child together, in any case of infertility, medical certifying letter issued by the hospital is required. In any case of infertility without a certification letter, their marriage registration must have been made at least 5 years before the date of application submission SJ

SJ are you sure this quote is related to PR?
It is the exact same reason why the Thai Consulate in Taipei would not issue me with a Non-O on the grounds of marriage back some years ago.

Yes mate, item 3.3.1 on attached link: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en ... ice_en.pdf

SJ