Mike Teavee

48 minutes ago, mokwit said:

In fairness Mike that's your personal circumstances affecting visa your visa choice. Take your point about UK O.

I agree 100% & I wouldn't have even bothered getting a Visa at that time if it wasn't for the fact that I was spending almost every other weekend in Bangkok & got stopped on entry at Don Muang one time to explain why, haven't flown from/to DMK since.

Penang was by far the easiest place for me to get a Non-IMM O & as a bonus they gave me the 12 month multi-entry variant, at that time getting a Non-IMM O from the UK wasn't possible ( @Bday Pranghas kindly explained that it is now possible even though the Website suggests you need a State Pension) & getting it in Singapore wasn't an option as I didn't go for PR before I hit 50. 

I think in fairness to long term Non-IMM OA holders, it was a great Visa before the Health Insurance requirements kicked in as you could do 1 trip home every 2 years (Border Bounce just before the end of the 1st year) & get a new one, so never needed to do an extension or even have a Thai Bank account (although it seems when  @TigerandDog got his he had to put 800K in the bank after 3 months, am not doubting him but this is the 1st time I've heard anybody having to do that & have read of many guys who are happy with the fact that they don't need to have any money in Thailand with their Non-IMM OA). 

13 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Learn to read and comprehend. I said going forward abolish O. No retrospectivity whatsoever.

I sort of agree with your last point, but think they should scrap both & come up with a new “Retirement” Visa whilst “Grandfathering In” existing holders. 
 

Of course this would only “Cement In” your gripe about Non-IMM O getting preferential treatment over Non-IMM OA but again, unless changes are made that impact Non-Imm O holders retrospectively I will always be receiving preferential treatment over you. 
 

41 minutes ago, TigerandDog said:

Just goes to show what I said about those that meet the requirements and who use agencies is correct. Too lazy to do it yourself. Also please show me where I said make it retrospective. Like so many others you've read something into my comments that wasn't there. I said make it mandatory going forward.

You call it “Lazy” I call it making the best use of my time (a bit like paying for Fast Track access at the airport)… works out at <17b pd… Worth it to me, not too everybody. 

You have consistently complained about Non-IMM O holders getting preferential treatment over Non-IMM OA holders so to make things “Equal” it would have to apply retroactively as it did with Non-IMM OA holders.

So either you do want it applied retrospectively or don’t want to see the Visas being “Equal”, make your mind up. 
 

1 minute ago, mokwit said:

You didn't do your research. You could have come on a VE or TR and converted to O in country. HTH.

 

 

Non-IMM O wasn’t available for me in the UK as it requires you to be receiving State Pension (eVisa website still says you need this) so I got mine in Penang as I was working in Singapore at the time & didn’t have the time to spend 2 weeks in-country doing the conversion.
 

18 minutes ago, mokwit said:

I think it might be that they have "earned" the right to jump the cue.

TBH I think they had somebody who spends the day at CW that would get you a Queue number before you arrived… No need nowadays with the appointment booking system. 

48 minutes ago, mokwit said:

It says at the bottom of both forms "attendance is requited in person" They added the "unless incapacitated" shortly after someone was pushed 'round CW in a hospital bed complete with IV drip. It was surreal seeing that.

 

Jomtien I hear you can do both without attending.

 

I don't think you can do standard PoA on an extension other than for a handful of cases, or maybe just medical - presumably the agent submits some questionable paperwork. CW without attendance is long gone. PoA can be done for other things e.g. TM30.

 

Re entry permit attendance enforcement seems to have tightened up at CW - taking your photo now.

If it is/was mandatory to attend then I’d happily show up at Jomtien to go through the formalities. 
 

CW was a pain to get to (approx. 1.5 hours from On-Nut) but I found using an agent you were in & out quickly even before they introduced the appointment booking system as the Agents know the best times to attend. 

19 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Strictly speaking your attendance is required in person for the first two. I'd be interested if this is at CW and all goes through OK.

No need to attend for Re-Entry Permits (even at CW) & strictly speaking your attendance is not required for your Extension as you sign an agreement with the Agent authorising them to do it on your behalf, however CW will only accept non-attendance for Medical Reasons so you would also need a note from your Dr. there.

I used to use an Agent in Bangkok & did have to attend with them for my extensions but not for the Re-entry permit I got to my initial 12 month Multi-Entry Visa before getting on the Extension treadmill, since moving to use Jomtien IO, attendance is not required. 

3 hours ago, TigerandDog said:

Also why should those on O, whether it be marriage or retirement, receive preferential treatment to those on O-A. The health insurance should be mandatory for ALL long term visas, and agents should be declared illegal.

Why should Agents be declared illegal?

I use them (for convenience) for all of my immigration needs despite keeping the 800K in the Bank. 

The next 10 days are going to be interesting as I need to 

1. Extend my Non-IMM O Visa 
2. Get a Multi Re-Entry Permit
3. Do a TM30 change of address
4. 90 Day Report (Despite doing a TM30 which obviously reports my address to immigration ) 

You can bet your bottom dollar that I will legally be using an Agent to do all of the above (8K for the extension, 4K for the Multi-Rentry Permit, unknown for the TM30 & they normally do a new 90 Day report for me as part of the Extension). 

PS. I also have Health Insurance (Visa Friendly Policy with Pacific Cross) which I got when they made it mandatory for Non-IMM OA holders as I thought there was a possibility that this would be extended to Non-IMM O holders but I wouldn't want to see this made mandatory as there are lots of guys that have lived her for decades who are too old to get it.

Make this kind of stuff mandatory for New Visas by all means, but retrospectively making changes for existing holders that they cannot meet is simply unfair. 

On 8/5/2023 at 10:27 AM, Karma80 said:

Incidentially you ca download the form, email it, pay the fee and they send it back internationally. Takes about 2-3 weeks in my experience. There is no need to attend in person UK side. But good luck if you have for example resided in Hong Kong and need one from there also. You must go get fingerprinted at Bangkok police HQ so you can send the application to Hong Kong. A complete nightmare.

If you think Hong Kong would be a nightmare, Singapore would be worse as they only issues them to Citizens & PRs .

I'd be royally screwed if Thailand insisted on a Police Report for the 12 years prior to retiring to Thailand that I spent working there!

56 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

I seem to remember reading on ThaiVisa that some people were "grandfathered in" when the financial requirements increased around 1998.

Can't find any ThaiVisa topics, but found this ...

https://legal.co.th/resources/visa-immigration-law/thailand-immigration-law/retirement-visas-thailand-retirees-grandfathered-status/

I think it only applied to aliens with continuous extensions for a number of years.

Pretty sure it was “Aliens” who had been on unbroken Non-IMM O/OA visas for 4 years that were Grandfathered. 
 

16 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

You said LTR was better than O-X but then compare LTR cost to Non-Imm O yearly extension cost with re-entry permits. Isn't an O-X a 5+5 year multi-entry visa for 10,000 baht with no re-entry permits required?

I would go for the LTR if I qualified (hold my hands up, I don't on income grounds as I'm living on rental/dividend income & due to Covid, 2000/2001 were bad dividend years for my main holdings)  and if I was already planning on purchasing a >8.5Million THB property (Which I am).... I wouldn't bring in $250,000 for any other reason than to purchase property.

I would have gone for the Non-Imm OX if it had been available when I was getting my 1st (Non-IMM O) visa hence me creating the topic, but have more or less decided now to wait out the next 2.5 years until I can show a guaranteed > $40K income from my private pensions and go for the LTR 

As an aside I really am hoping that any changes to Retirement Visa will introduce a new 1/2 way "house" between LTR/Non-IMM OX and current Non-IMM O/OA giving a 5 year visa for higher financial limits... But I know i should be careful what I wish for!

On 8/5/2023 at 9:48 AM, scubascuba3 said:

If you have a broker type account where you keep your investments which could be ISAs, SIPPs or just investment account they may not accept Wise as it isn't a bank, that was reported by one post so far

Barclays will allow you to pay money into your investment/ISA account via a Debit card so I don't see why a Wise (MasterCard) Debit Card wouldn't work. 

Unfortunately I can't try it as I've just dug out my Wise Debit Card & found out it has expired ???? 

https://www.barclays.co.uk/smart-investor/video/how-to-videos/debit-card-payment-isa-gia/

An oldy (2008/2009) but a goody if you're a fan of the gritty British crime dramas.... 

Criminal Justice... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1188927/

Drama series following people accused of crimes and their journey through the British Criminal Justice System.

12 hours ago, khunPer said:

No.

 

Why do you need to change, it's much more convenient with a non-O based on retirement and annual extensions of stay; i.e. only 800k baht in deposit and no claim for health insurance.

I don't "need" to change, I was just mulling over my options for long term stay in Thailand [I should have added in my OP that the upcoming changes to the Thailand Elite Visa also prompted my question as I've also been considering the 20 year 1 Million THB visa before the changes coming on 15th September] 

As things stand I have decided to stick with my Non-IMM O (I do keep 800K in the Bank + have Health Insurance anyway) and do nothing for the next couple of years until my pensions start to pay out & then will go for the LTR visa.  

Thanks to all for your replies & here's hoping any changes to the Non-IMM O include Grandfathering for existing holders

The current discussions about possible changes to "Retirement" Visas & potential increase in how much money you need to keep in the bank got me to thinking....

Is it possible to convert from a Non-IMM O to a Non-IMM OX without leaving Thailand? 

I know you would need... 

    - 3Million in the Bank (or 1.5 Million and 100K pm income)

    - Health Insurance 

    - Criminal Records Check

But assuming you had all these & were happy with keeping a minimum balance of 1.5 Million in the bank (& ignoring the 1Million deposit  protection limit) would it be possible to convert to the 10 year visa or would you have to "Exit" your current visa and get a new Non-IMM OX outside of Thailand?

2 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Thai Consulate in Australia already asks for A$54,545 in bank for Non-Imm O-A. At today's exchange of 22.50 that's 1,227,262 baht

 

I seem to remember somebody saying the Embassy had updated their site to include higher finance requirements then quickly took it down... The above is still there today on the Sydney Embassy site... 

https://sydney.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/non-immigrant-visa-type-o-a

But on the same site to get a Non-IMM O you only need A$2,000 in your bank account!

Proof of adequate finance

- A bank statement in the past six months showing a deposit account with the minimum fund of AUD 2,000

https://sydney.thaiembassy.org/en/publicservice/non-immigrant-visa-type-o-retirement?cate=60a49cffd5987e330c3424e2

23 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

They've just posted a new video on it... But basically saying the same thing... 

1. Nothing has change yet & it will take time before anything does.

2. Big Joke is no joke when it comes to Immigration changes so keep an eye out for updates in the news. 

3. Good possibility of Grandfathering but don't solely base your plans on them doing so...

 

 

 

Another video from Integrity Legal... 

More "Inspection Of Bank Statements" For Thai Retirement Visas?

Key point is that Big Joke specifically mentioned that the lack of inspection of bank statements by Immigration Bureau officers is allowing some Foreigners to "Window Dress" their Bank Accounts. 

3 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I think it will be 1.5M

Ouch... With that + a 100K pm income you could get the 10 Year Non-IMM OX visa. 

Speaking of which it's the 10 Year Non-IMM OX & new(ish) 10 year LTR visas that make me think they will introduce a new multi (5) year visa targeted at guys who can put more money in the bank.

Funny enough, 1.5Million would be my guess for it or an income of 100-125K pm.  

4 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I meant a poll on what we think they will do, not what we want. I have a figure in mind.

My post was what I think they will do...

I believe they will Grandfather in existing holders (save for more scrutiny on Extensions) & create a new 5-year Class of Retirement Visa.

Time will tell... 

Edit: Why don't you share your number, as I posted if they do increase existing limits I expect it to be 1Million/80K pm. 

9 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I think it would be interesting to have a poll on what the members here think it might rise to.

 

I have a feeling the approximate amount of the price increase will be telegraphed by the new Elite Visa prices.

Maybe somebody should start a Poll...

I would select an option that said no increases to existing O/OA Visa Holders (except maybe greater scrutiny on people having the money in the bank and/or income) & the creation of a completely new retirement visa based more on the OX...

Not unlike what they are (rumoured to be) doing with the Thailand Elite visa, i.e. leaving the existing Visas as-is & creating a new class of PE visa. 

If I had to select an increase I would go with 1Million/80K pm...

12 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I am fairly sure they didn’t consider exchange rates when they set the 65k/800k, they probably set it at a level in THB that was significant in advantage to the Thai economy.

 

It would be interesting to know what that figure would be now adjusted for inflation.

It's well known that THB was pegged to USD for a longtime & I'm pretty sure it was UbonJoe (RIP) who shared that fact but I can't find the post as it was several years ago. 

39 minutes ago, Henryford said:

The problem is that the 800k was set when the GBP was 70+, with the GBP at 44 the 800k is really now 1.3m.

I seem to recall somebody saying that the 800K/65K pm was set to match on approx. $2K pm so at current rates that would be 70K pm /840K.

10 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Someone will be posting for you to obtain a PE visa (elite visa) 

It's an option but expensive.

You can buy a 5 year option which being 47yr is a good option.

It's all about what  you can afford.

@mrblonde If you do decide to go down the 5 year 600K PE route then do it quickly as the current PE offerings are changing from 15th September & current rumours are that the 5 year visa will cost 900K from 1st October.