Hello all. Serious question - what's the benefit of the Marriage Visa vs the Retirement Visa?
I'll be retiring soon (6 months - a year). My Thai wife and I have been married for 30 years but the last 10 years she's lived in Thailand (as she's gotten older, she can't live with the cold weather in NYC) and I've lived in NYC (need to work). We have 4 grown children (Thai and U.S. citizens, living/working in U.S.; btw, my wife is also Thai and U.S. citizen). I've been through the Imm-O and Wife Visa before but that was 10 years ago and I don't really recall all the steps that we went through.
Anyway, I'm looking for a step-by-step procedure and documentation requirements for either a Retirement Visa or Wife Visa (whichever is better)...
1. I'm currently living in NYC; my wife is living in Thailand. The children are all working in the States and have no desire to move back to Thailand (hopefully, they'll visit their empty-nesters).
2. My monthly Social Security will easily cover the income requirement; my IRAs and, if needed further, cash-in-bank will easily cover the capital requirement.
3. We (she) own a 2BR house in Tungsong, Nakhonsrithammarat. She (we) has a large family there - I (and the 4 children) have lived there before for about 8 years. Great caring, helpful, loving family.
So, I'm looking for a fairly smooth procedure, without a lot of in-out travelling.