Lookme

I was a bit worried about this. In the past we never had to show flight bookings for a SETV. But with the new e-visa system, you do. I had already booked for 89 days (assuming a 30-day extension) so just included the flight booking with the application to see what would happen. No problem at all.

I also used a really bad set of photos of my condo rental agreement, and a bank statement that didn't show much income (my income is irregular). No problem with anything. 

I didn't know I would need the rental agreement, so got my girlfriend to email me pictures. It was interesting getting them into a single file of less than 0.5Mb - not sure how many people would manage that. The e-visa consumed about 20 times as much of my time and 15 times as much paper as the old manual system. But hey, at least the dreaded Postal Orders are gone.

These days I always take well over 20,000 Baht of English cash with me just in case, although never been asked to show it.

Yes, I'm going on a 60-day tourist visa, which I will convert to a a Non-Immigrant “O” Visa at Jomtien immigration. That process is very well documented here:

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/retirementvisachecklist.pdf

The fee is 2,000 Baht, so quite a bit cheaper than the UK version, but it doesn't allow re-entry. You can easily convert it to multi-entry with a simple form and a fee (about 3,600 Baht, from memory).

You can then extend that “O” Visa annually on the basis of retirement, documented here:

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/ExtendingStay.pdf

I'm sure the A-O in the UK is feasible if you can get to London easily, but for me that's the deal-breaker. The big difference for me is that my condo in Jomtien is 5 minutes walk from immigration, so I can just go down there as many times as it takes, and the last time I went there they were very nice and very helpful. The London Embassy doesn't give me that impression.

Thank you Roy111, that is indeed an excellent thread, although it still leaves the question of the bank letter, which makes no sense to me at all.

But it's really good that the notary/solicitor question seems to be completely resolved. It's just certification of copies by any solicitor, for £5 per copy. It does leave the question of whether you could just go to the embassy with the original documents...

Anyway, for me, the trip to London is a deal breaker, and my decision is made. I have already obtained a 60-day tourist visa by post and I'm headed back to Thailand next week. I will go for the 'O' conversion on the basis of retirement at Jomtien immigration. It should be easy enough once I get all the bits together. I will report back, although it will be a while because they don't let you apply until two or three weeks before your current visa runs out.

I already provided the link to "those who are applying for O-A long stay must apply in person at the Thai Embassy in London"...

www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/401

It took three phone calls and three weeks to get a printed statement from National Savings and Investments. I have little confidence that they could provide a letter, and since the embassy don't specify what the letter needs to say, we are really only guessing. There is nothing the letter could say that isn't on the statement, so I come back to my question, why the letter, and what exactly does it need to say?

How can a Notary attest anything with my bank? A bank are never going to talk to a third party about a customer's account. All the Notary can do is sign what I put in front of him. It seems utterly pointless to me. It appears that the embassy are creating obstacles simply to deter people from using this route.

I agree about the embassy. I never got a response to my email. I haven't tried phoning, but I have read elsewhere that's a non-starter.

I have heard that it's straightforward to get an O visa from Jomtien, although they send the application to Bangkok so it takes a couple of weeks.

Thanks for that Roy111, I'm glad it's not just me that finds this process unclear.

I called my local solicitors yesterday and they said that the wording "Notary Public officer or Solicitors" was very odd, and their feeling was that in the absence of clarification it would be better to go with a Notary. I then called three Notaries, none of which were particularly close to my home. None of them answered the phone so I have no idea how much they charge, but I'm guessing it's more than solicitors.

Putting that together with the doubts I have about the bank letter, I decided that the trip to London is too risky. For personal reasons I can't go to London alone, so with train fares and a night in a hotel the total cost of the trip was in the hundreds of pounds - which is ok if it was guaranteed to produce a visa, but not with it being so risky.

I was really hoping to provide a full report on this but I'm afraid I have now abandoned this approach. My condo in Jomtien is 5 minutes walk from the immigration office so I'm going to try to do it there. It should be possible to convert a tourist visa to an O with 800,000 in the bank and baked for two months, which I already have.

My feeling now is that the A-O in the UK is only viable if you live close enough to the embassy that you can afford to fail once or twice. If you have a long journey to London, it's just too risky with so many unknown unknowns.

They want a letter from the bank confirming your account and balance on the date written.

Damn. I honestly don't have any confidence that my bank will be able to provide that. Are you sure? I have a statement that shows many times the required amount. Is it worth a try with just the statement? Has anyone actually done this in London recently?

I am in England now and almost ready to go to London to submit my O-A application. I was hoping to do it by post but then I saw (here) that "those who are applying for O-A long stay must apply in person at the Thai Embassy in London".

I now have the medical form, the police check, and bank statement. But I have one remaining question. On this page the requirements for bank documentation are:

My interpretation of "Documents 4 to 8 inclusive must be certified by a Notary Public officer or Solicitors" was that any solicitor would do. I can't think of any logic that would require a specific solicitor, and if they do only accept one specific solicitor, they should say so explicitly.

Unless anyone knows differently, I will use my local solicitor. He charged £15 to authenticate documents for a probate application a few years ago. It was good enough for the Probate Registry. And as he said himself, he can't check the authenticity of documents anymore than anyone else.

Amazing how everything about Thai visas is so ambiguous.

I will report back on how I get on. Won't be for another few weeks yet.

And make sure that their printed statement includes their address. As I recall from my OA visa application to them in 2008, the London Embassy were insistent on this point.

If your UK bank doesn't include its address on its statements as a matter of course (as mine doesn't), then you'll need to obtain a letter from them on headed paper including their address, which basically states that you hold an account with them (as I had to).

Thanks OJAS, I will watch out for that !

Wow, that was quick. Many thanks for all the answers. I will call my bank in the UK and get a printed statement. I will post back if I hit any problems. Thanks again.

I am in Thailand at the moment but for timing and logistical reasons I am going to apply for a multi-entry O-A visa in the UK. I need to go down the 800,000 Baht route as I don't have enough of the right kind of income.

I'm looking at "Required Documents" on thaiembassyuk.org.uk and it's not at all clear what documentation is required. The wording on the website is, "Copy of bank statement or evidence of adequate finance showing a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate with monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht, (approximately GBP 14,000.00/annum) or a deposti acocount plus a monthly income totaling not less than 800,000 Baht".

It's not clear whether this means UK funds or funds in Thailand. I have both in place, but if it's Thai funds they want I need to know what to get from my Thai bank before I go back to England. And if it's UK funds, surely they are not going to accept a statement printed off the internet as it's far too easy to fake?

Can anyone provide any clarification please?

One other question: The website says that "Applicants can submit their applications at the Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Consulates in UK and Ireland". Does this mean I have to go there in person, or can this be done by post?