@Kool ******

Minimum salary for a foreign employee depends on what country they are from and ranges from 25k to 50k a month.

@Maarten ***

Not easier or cheaper. Cheaper route is to get set up as an employee on a BOI company.

If you have to make your own company you have to cover the setup and accounting fees plus your income/SS tax plus the same for 4 Thai employees as well as show some kind of lease on the property your employees are working as well as find people to be your employees for immigration inspection and any future random inspections.

You could set up your own BOI but that costs a lot more to set up.

Setting up your own company, plus all the taxes for you and your staff would cost around twice what an Ed visa would and that doesn’t include leasing a commercial or retail space and making it look like it’s an actual operating business.

You could get around needing a commercial/retail space if you rent a house big enough to set up some desks to make it look like your “staff” work out of your home but still, it would cost around double for the first year and around the same as an Ed visa for subsequent years.

Being hired as a BOI employee I’ve seen prices range from 65-300k a year all inclusive.

So even on the low end it’s basically the same as an Ed visa.

@Charles *******

If you’re actually going to stay 20+ years and can learn some Thai, def consider going the work permit/visa route and applying for citizenship.

It’s not as bad as it used to be with 5+ year processing times.

But you will have to have lived and “worked” and filed tax returns for 3 years and will have to learn to speak Thai, possibly read and write it or have a Thai wife to get enough points to qualify.

The savings on buying a condo in the thai quota without a thai company or buying a house and actually owning it can alone be worth it, not to mention not having to deal with immigration again, being able to much more easily do business and work if that’s something you might want to do.

A lot will change in 20 years so don’t think in terms of just what your situation is now.

And learning to speak Thai when you’re going to be here for 20+ years can only help.

Also, it’s cheaper, excluding the value of your time to learn thai and meet the other needed requirements.

Something to consider.

@Mars ***********

Can always get a work permit and visa through a BOI company.

Yearly costs will range depending on who you use. I’ve seen prices from 65k to 300k.

The actual visa/permit fees and income/SS tax on the min monthly income of 50k is like 40k (forget the exact amount) so some of these companies are charging some big markups.

The company that quoted me 300k was a fairly big one in Bkk.

They were all professional and polite till I politely asked them what they offered that justified such a high rate.

Their response was literally: “No time”.

Basically they were just ripping off people/companies that didn’t know better.

But you also want to make sure you’re not dealing with some sketchy company that’s too cheap.

They have to be a legit BOI company. If they’re doing the whole thing where they claim 4 Thai staff on the books for you who don’t exist then things can get bad for you if immigration decides to take a close look at what they’re doing.

@Han *******

Only if you buy a lot of imported things from America. Probably won’t negatively affect the vast majority of people in Thailand.

It also makes tourism a little more affordable, a sector that’s been beaten down and can use all the help it can get.

Also make Thai exports less expensive.

Overall it’s a net gain.

@Thomas ************

True. But the real savings are with qualifying for foreign residency if you can, unless your income is so low you don’t even pay income tax, but I doubt that’s the case here.

If you actually want to marry the person then go for it.

Getting married just to add on a dependent and change your filing status seems like it wouldn’t be worth the hassle unless you also plan on going for a marriage visa as well and keeping the 400k baht in a Thai account (or want to deal with 90 day visa runs).

Would have to know more details about the situation but it sounds like he only wants to marry to change his filing status and add a dependent.

@Terary *********

If you’re getting married to file jointly because it lowers your tax obligation then that’s different.

Foreign earned income, if you can pass one of the two ways to demonstrate your actual home is outside the US, it doesn’t matter if your income comes from a US company or not.

It’s about the fact that you’re earning it while being a resident of a foreign country not that the money comes from a foreign country.

If you lived in the US and did some side work for a German company, you’d still be obligated to pay US income tax on it.

So if you really want to lower your tax burden, live outside the US (although it only excludes the first $108k you make plus up to like $20k in living allowances like paying rent or for visas and I believe moving costs, but you’d have to see what exactly is coveted by that).

@Terary *********

Qualifying for the foreign earned income exclusion is based on establishing that your home is outside the US (basically showing you have more ties to another country than the US) or by spending enough time each year outside of the US.

Being married to a non-American alone won’t qualify you, at best it’s just one piece of evidence that your home is outside the US but you don’t need to get married to establish your home is outside the US.

Have you talked to a US tax attorney about qualifying as a foreign resident?

If you want to marry her anyhow then cool, it’ll help your case but I definitely wouldn’t get married just to qualify for the income exemption.

@Maxim **********

Makes sense. They’d def take advantage of that to gouge you.

@Maxim **********

Yes. The prices I’ve seen to have a contact help you through BKK immigration ranged from 2k to 10k. Most were 5-6k.

If you think there’s any real chance you’ll be denied, it’s worth paying 5k vs being forced to buy a ticket to somewhere and then try and figure out what to do next.