Visa options - in a nutshell

uk-expat-in-asia · Post by **uk-expat-in-asia** » Sat, 07 Sep 2013 11:08 pm

I am a British citizen, 64 years old, living in Vietnam with my Filipina wife. I have a successful online business, selling products in the USA. My income is very healthy and proof of income no problem.

We wish to move to a more developed country and Singapore is an obvious 1st choice. However the visa restrictions seem severe and since I have no wish to apply for any kind of job there, my options seem to be just the tourist visa + extension ... or the Global Investor Programme. Sadly Don't have THAT kind of money to spare!

So, before I write this off as totally impractical, is anybody aware of a means of obtaining visas that do not require exiting every 60/90 days and not returning again for 5 days? We want to settle somewhere and rent for a year before buying a property.

I suppose Johor might be an alternative, but I have never been there. Certainly a 5 year MM2H visa is a more practical way of proceeding.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Adrian

Post by **x9200** » Sun, 08 Sep 2013 9:39 am

Probably the only option is PR (GIP)
http://www.contactsingapore.sg/Library/ ... t%20EN.pdf
http://www.ifaq.gov.sg/edb/apps/fcd_faqmain.aspx

Also you may want to search this forum for expat retirement Singapore. There are some other approaches discussed (including Malaysia).

uk-expat-in-asia · Post by **uk-expat-in-asia** » Sun, 08 Sep 2013 10:56 am

Thanks for your input, it pretty much confirms what I have found. I have also searched this forum as you suggested ... nothing different to be found there.

It seems that Singapore, being physically a small place, is sensibly controlling the number of residents there. I will now look at Malaysia, Costa Rica and Panama instead.

Thanks
Adrian

Wd40 · Post by **Wd40** » Sun, 08 Sep 2013 11:26 am

uk-expat-in-asia wrote:I am a British citizen, 64 years old, living in Vietnam with my Filipina wife. I have a successful online business, selling products in the USA. My income is very healthy and proof of income no problem.

We wish to move to a more developed country and Singapore is an obvious 1st choice. However the visa restrictions seem severe and since I have no wish to apply for any kind of job there, my options seem to be just the tourist visa + extension ... or the Global Investor Programme. Sadly Don't have THAT kind of money to spare!

So, before I write this off as totally impractical, is anybody aware of a means of obtaining visas that do not require exiting every 60/90 days and not returning again for 5 days? We want to settle somewhere and rent for a year before buying a property.

I suppose Johor might be an alternative, but I have never been there. Certainly a 5 year MM2H visa is a more practical way of proceeding.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Adrian

Regarding the MM2H, are you considering getting it for living in Johor or living in Singapore? a better option would be to take the MM2H and live in KL.

AngMoG · Post by **AngMoG** » Sun, 08 Sep 2013 1:37 pm

Not sure if you are aware - seeing as your wife is Filipina, you can also just get a spouse visa for the Philippines easily, and live there. Free choice of location, including Cebu or other holiday-ish places. Not quite first world, but I would think pretty liveable.

Post by **PNGMK** » Sun, 08 Sep 2013 6:20 pm

Can you give us the main reason you want to leave VN? That might drive some suggestions.

For example if the main reason is health services then I would suggest Thailand.

If the main reason if you want to be safer I'd suggest Belize or perhaps the destinations you mentioned.

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 3:14 pm

AngMoG wrote:Not sure if you are aware - seeing as your wife is Filipina, you can also just get a spouse visa for the Philippines easily, and live there. Free choice of location, including Cebu or other holiday-ish places. Not quite first world, but I would think pretty liveable.

If you can park 20K US$, Residency under the retiree's programs, if you are above 60

Or park 100K US$ ..if below 60 years of age .. spouse visa in PH ? mmmm .. it is a long drawn out process, though doable ..

PNGMK wrote:If the main reason if you want to be safer I'd suggest Belize or perhaps the destinations you mentioned.

Belize ??? seriously ???? all the way from Asia ??

Post by **PNGMK** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 4:13 pm

ecureilx wrote:
AngMoG wrote:Not sure if you are aware - seeing as your wife is Filipina, you can also just get a spouse visa for the Philippines easily, and live there. Free choice of location, including Cebu or other holiday-ish places. Not quite first world, but I would think pretty liveable.
If you can park 20K US$, Residency under the retiree's programs, if you are above 60

Or park 100K US$ ..if below 60 years of age .. spouse visa in PH ? mmmm .. it is a long drawn out process, though doable ..

PNGMK wrote:If the main reason if you want to be safer I'd suggest Belize or perhaps the destinations you mentioned.
Belize ??? seriously ???? all the way from Asia ??

IF he's American it's a much shorter trip home.

the lynx · Post by **the lynx** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 4:33 pm

PNGMK wrote:IF he's American it's a much shorter trip home.

OP is British. So Belize won't do. Probably same distance to UK as Singapore.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 5:22 pm

But I might start looking at Belize as that might be right up my alley. Diving on my doorstep on reefs second only to the great barrier reef (of course that is subject to interpretation - I've not actually dived in Belize but I have on the GBR & the Caymans)

zzm9980 · Post by **zzm9980** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 5:25 pm

the lynx wrote:
PNGMK wrote:IF he's American it's a much shorter trip home.
OP is British. So Belize won't do. Probably same distance to UK as Singapore.

Belize is likely closer, but also likely won't have a direct flight.

Belize is English speaking, and used to be a British colony. It's a very popular destination for retirees in the Western hemisphere.

BoroBoy · Post by **BoroBoy** » Mon, 09 Sep 2013 6:19 pm

If your company has accounts for more than 3 years and your turnover is more than $250k per year then you can open a representative office in Singapore for the purposes of Market research. This type of company is for research only and you cannot conduct business in Singapore. But you will be able to sponsor your own EP and a DP for your wife. Also one nice thing is you dont have to report the accounts.

This site has info on : http://www.guidemesingapore.com/incorpo ... tion-guide

or you could try opening a local branch but its a bit more complicated and you will need to get a local director etc.

here is the differences between the options - http://www.guidemesingapore.com/incorpo ... comparison

ecureilx · Post by **ecureilx** » Tue, 10 Sep 2013 8:53 am

BoroBoy wrote: ...

You aren't with Janus I hope .. for a while I thought the site you linked was a public service site, or govt/semi govt site .. only later did I find out it was a Private company's website .. nicely done though ..

BoroBoy · Post by **BoroBoy** » Tue, 10 Sep 2013 5:57 pm

no I'm not affiliated to Janus, but they do have lots of nice free advice and info. If you know an alternative source of information let me know and I will edit the post.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Tue, 10 Sep 2013 8:42 pm

It's okay BoroBoy, I've linked to Janus as well on here as they do have some excellently written pieces there.

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Visa options - in a nutshell

Visa options - in a nutshell

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