Jo-Be tog upp detta i sin nyhetstråd, desto mer jag läser om denna möjlighet, desto mer konfundersam blir jag...
Till att börja med så är det inte ett 10-årsvisum, gäller i 5 år.
3 miljoner? hälften av dessa måste spenderas i Thailand, detta ska bevisas med kvitton, eller läste jag fel? nu ska man veta att detta är ett förslag, därmed blir vad man skriver bara funderingar och spekulationer, vidare så kan man läsa mellan raderna att detta visum kan komma att ersätta O-A visum för pensionärer. hur blir det då med O-A visum för dom som inte klarar dom ekonomiska kraven? kanske blir att resa in på turistvisum?
Här är texten som
@Ubon hänvisar till:
Pattaya Today:
10-year visa questions
The Thai Cabinet has now agreed to offer a 10-year expat visa for aliens over the age of 50, but has left the all-important details to be worked out by the Interior Ministry. The new visa in reality will be for five years, extendable by another five years if the paperwork is still in order. However, successful applicants will still need to report their address every 90 days unless they leave the country before the end of the three months’ reporting period. Pattaya Today has held informal meetings with immigration staff, but stresses that the detail will likely not become absolutely clear for several months prior to implementation.
It is known that the new visa will require proof of an overseas income of at least 100,000 baht monthly, or a Thai bank balance of at least three million baht, plus health insurance cover which pays out at least 10,000 US dollars. Although not specified, it is likely that other required documentation will be proof of address, such as a yellow book (tibean bahn), or ownership of a condominium unit or a rental agreement. It is not clear whether the new visa will include a re-entry provision or whether this must be obtained separately as at present. Nor has it been stated whether the current one-year, renewable retirement visa will continue in its present form; we believe that it will. It is rare in Thai immigration history for an established visa to be withdrawn unless a very similar alternative is introduced.
A big question mark hangs over how applicants will prove they have a foreign income of at least 100,000 baht monthly. At present, aliens applying for the one-year retirement option can request a letter from their embassy “confirming” their income of at least 65,000 baht monthly. However, it is well known that most embassies do not check the veracity of the claims of their nationals and some do not ask to see any documentation, relying on an affidavit in front of an officer. It has been suggested that immigration staff may need to see the applicant’s home bank book data in connection with the 10-year visa.
An alternative to the 100,000 baht a month income threshold is to have three million baht in a Thai bank account. In practice, the sum would need to be higher as the cabinet resolution apparently specified that the amount must not fall below that amount in the first year of the life of the visa. There is also a requirement to show after five years that at least half of the three million baht has been spent in Thailand.
This suggests that the visa holder will need to keep various bills including medical treatment expenses, and accommodation charges as well as major shopping receipts. It is not even clear which banks qualify for holding the cash or what sort of account is required. Moreover, there could be a rule stating how long the money needs to be in Thailand prior to the submission of the application.
There are even bigger question marks over the requirement to have medical insurance. The floor of 10,000 US dollars, or equivalent, seems a small amount given that most surgical procedures in Thailand are much more expensive than that. Moreover, insurers are reluctant to cover ageing men and women, particularly over 70, and frequently terminate the cover or raise the premiums. Some rich foreigners may have pre-existing conditions which would create exclusion clauses in any document but may have their own private resources to cover hefty bills in Thai private sector hospitals. It is not clear why the drafters of the initial document to be considered by the Thai Cabinet would insist on proof of very modest insurance. An immigration source said this clause might well be dropped at the review stage.
Amongst other queries yet to be resolved are whether the foreign spouse of a successful applicant could apply for the same facility, especially if he/she did not have a separate income and was under 50 years of age. Nor is it yet explained whether an initial non-immigrant visa is needed before application for the 10 year visa is made. All in all, the idea of a 10-year visa – not to be confused with the 20 year Elite Card, by the way – is a welcome one and will be looked at closely by the wealthier end of the older expat market. But the devil is in the details. It is always so.
