Red Phoenix

Which airlines? Never heard this nonsense. It's not nonsense. When making a domestic flight in Thailand there are airlines that charge extra for making use of a credit-card to book the flight.

Yes, if you do not have already a Non Imm O-A compliant health-inurance policy and do not have a need for such - often expensive - policy, applying for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa would in most cases be the better choice. Applying for such 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement) can be done: 1 - By e-Visa at the Thai Embassy/Consulate of your home-country; 2 - At a Thai Embassy/Consulate of a neighboring country of Thailand; 3 - At the local Imm Office of the Thai province where you plan to reside long-term, but this can only be done when having entered Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) or on a Tourist Visa.

You can only apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa at the Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country or country of residence. For the application you need to show either: 1 - Official pension-statement showing that you receive the equivalent of +65.000,- THB per month OR 2 - Evidence of having the equivalent of +800.000,- THB for a period of at least 3 months on a bank-account (the account will normally be in your home-country, but also foreign or Thai bank-accounts are accepted).

@Sandboxer @asf6 @patman30 @Get off of my cloud - - TM-30 guideline sent as requested by PM, you are welcome.

@gamb00ler @0james0 @Bangkokney299 - TM-30 guideline sent as requested by PM, you are welcome.

Thanks OJAS! And there are some additional reasons why I refrain from posting the Guideline on the Forum: #1 - It is a comprehensive 6-page document, with 4 embedded attachments. And I also provide these attachments separately in the PM as some members will not be able to open them when embedded in the document. #2 - When the recipients of the document have questions relating to their specific situation and need additional information, they can then easily contact me PM. #3 - By sending PM I am able to ensure that requesters of the info, receive the latest version as I use any comments/questions on content that I receive to update the document or the intro PM-text that I sent with it.

TM-30 guideline sent as requested, you are welcome.

TM-30 guideline sent as requested, you are welcome.

TM-30 guideline sent as requested, you are welcome.

Hi, I did PM you a comprehensive Guideline on how to register an address on the IO TM 30 website and notify Immigration of any foreigners (including yourself) staying at - or returning to - that address by issuing on an on-line TM-30 notification.

Below my responses to the questions in your OP: #1 - As mentioned by DrJack54, you need to do the application for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement) when you still have at least 15 days left on the Permit to stay you received from Thai border-immigration when entering Thailand. Be aware that some Imm Offices require more days (e.g. Chiang Mai requires at least 21 days, and Phuket requires at least 15 WORKING days), so better check with your local Imm Office or ask on the Forum. Obviously, it is not recommended to wait till last day to do the application in case your application is incomplete, so that you still have time to get hold of the missing documents. #2 - The process to do this is called the 'change of Visa process' and it allows holders of a VisaExempt entry or Tourist Visa entry to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at a Thai Immigration Office, instead of having to apply for the Visa at an Embassy/Consulate in your home-country or other country than Thailand. I attached the requirements for such an in-country 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement). #3 - The application can be done at any Immigration Office, but it is recommended to do it at the Imm Office of the province where you intend to stay long-term. The Imm Office in order to provide you with any service will require proof of your address in their province (TM-30), that can be in the form of a rental agreement and house-book of the address where you are staying < requirement 8 from the requirements >. Do PM me on how to meet that TM-30 (official address) requirement, when you are staying at a private address. #4 - Use of the 'income method' to meet the financial requirements for the application < requirement 6 >, is only available for citizens of those countries where their local Embassy/Consulate in Thailand still provides the 'income letter'. Unfortunately the US, British and Australian Embassies in Thailand do not give out such letters anymore, so citizens of those countries have to make use of the 'funds in bank' method < requirement 5 >. This requires opening a Thai bank-account on your personal name, and transferring +800.000 THB to that account with foreign origins proven as you need proof that those funds are on that account at the moment of application for your 90-day Non Imm O (retirement) Visa. Note that opening a Thai bank-account is not evident, and that it might require shopping around for quite some time to find a Bank willing to accept you as a customer. Some banks - even for retirees - require a Work Permit, which makes it impossible to comply with that requirement for opening the account on a Non Imm O (retirement) Visa, as working is strictly prohibited on such Visa. Other banks require a Residence Certificate, which you cannot get at an Imm Office unless you already have made your 90-day report, so it has to be acquired at your Embassy in Thailand (when they give out such Residence Certificates). And some bank-banches want you to buy insurance when opening the account at their branche. It is recommended to try opening an account at branches of Kasikorn Bank or Bangkok Bank, or alternatively at other banks that are familiar with dealing with farangs like SCB or KrungSri. You best chances are in the small branches of banks situated in large Shopping malls. If nothing works (you have approx 1 month after arrival to get it done), you might have to contact a Visa Agent to help you open a Bank-account, which normally would cost approx 5.000,- THB. Kasikorn Bank and Bangkok Bank are partner-banks of WISE, while other Thai banks when you make use of the WISE-service to transfer the funds to your Thai bank only allow 50.000,- THB per transfer, hence the preference for Kasikorn or BKB, and these major banks have a large network all over Thailand. >> It sounds complicated (and it is) but with patience and perseverance you will be able to do it. Cheers and success! 9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

Yes, that's fully correct. After re-reading @bamboozled post it is clear that he is talking about the Visa validity expiry date, and not about the Permit to stay he got on entry from that valid Visa.

He would need to exit Thailand prior to the 90-day stay expiry date of his 1-year ME Non Imm O Visa (marriage) otherwise he would be on overstay. So when there is unclarity whether the Thai Consulate in Savannakhet will issue a new 1-year ME Non Imm O Visa, when the permit to stay from the current one has not expired yet, it would probably be best to exit Thailand on last day of current Permit to stay.

Immigration data and fund-transfer options to a Thai bank are not connected. Whatever your immigration status you can always transfer funds to Thailand, although there might be max receiving limits per transfer (e.g. using Wise to transfer money to a Thai bank-account opened a different bank than Kasikorn or Bangkok Bank is limited to 50 K per transfer).

RE your statement 'I have never had a TM30 in 15 years' When you apply for a Non Imm O Visa, or for an extension of your Permit to stay, the Imm Office will only provide you such service when they have evidence of the address where you are staying in their province. The process for registering your address is done by providing Immigration with the TM-30 form and/or the accompagning documents that provide evidence of you staying at that address (e.g. a rental contract or a copy of he house-book with a signed copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner of the premises). So if you are currently on a 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, you must have provided Immigration with some documentary evidence of your address. And it is possible that you did not provide the TM-30 FORM but that Immigration did fill it in on their IO TM-30 database based on the address evidence you provided.

> See my response 3 posts down.

Re issue b) Afaik you can ONLY buy a Re-Entry Permit at a local Immigration Office or - when flying out of Thailand - at the major Thai international Airports (which in your case would not be applicable as you want to enter Cambodia using a land-border). A Single-Entry Re-Entry Permit costs 1.000,- THB (in your case no need for the 3.800,- THB Multiple-Entry one). You might need a pass-photo together with your Passport for the application, and the Re-Entry Permit stamp is delivered on the spot. When re-entering Thailand that Single-Entry Re-Entry Permit is stamped 'USED' by border-immigration. I recall reading a @BritTim post in which he mentioned that you need to buy the Re-Entry at the local Imm Office that issued your Non Imm O or O-A Visa (or extension) based permit to stay. But when you are already on the way to the border that some Imm Offices allow you to buy the Re-Entry Permit when you are close or on route to the land-border. I would suggest not to take any chances on that one and therefore visit your local Imm Office to buy the Single-Entry Re-Entry Permit.

What age is your son?

Yes, entering Thailand on an Single Entry 60-day Tourist Visa obtained in your home-country would be an easier option. That 60-day TV can be extended for 30 days at a local Thai Imm Office, and in the final days of that Permit to stay you could then do a simple 1-day border-hop which will provide you with a 30-day VisaExempt stamp, which can then also be extended at a local Thai Imm Office with an additional 30 days. Note that instead of a 1-day border hop you could also make use of opportunity to make a multiple-day trip in the neighbouring country before re-entering Thailand Visa Exempt.

When you apply for the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O-A Visa and you do this for reason of retirement, a Thai health-insurance policy that meets the Non Imm O-A coverage requirements is mandatory. However, when you apply for reason of marriage or dependant thai children, there is no need for any health-insurance coverage. Also in those latter cases the financial requirements that need to be met, are much lower.

Yes, you are correct.

It is not a Visa renewal that you will be doing, but an application for the 1-year extension of your original Non Imm O-A Visa. But when applying for the extension the new Permit to stay you will receive will not be for 12 months but will be capped to the expiry date of your passport. Don't forget to buy a Re-Entry Permit after having received your new Non Imm O-A based Permit to stay, to keep it alive when exiting the country. When you do not travel abroad frequently a Single-Entry Re-Entry Permit (1.000,- THB) suffices.

When using a 'fixer' Agent to get hold of the 1-year extension based on your original Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, without having the required fund on your personal Thai bank-account, this means that the 1-year extension stamp the Agent manages to get for you, has been acquired by bribing the Imm Officer to overlook that you did not meet the financial requirements. So although the 1-year extension stamp in your passport is genuine, the way it has been acquired was illegal. It is actually quite easy for Immigration to determine whether you met and are still meeting the financial requirements by simply asking to show them your personal Thai bank-book with the required funds (which you would not be able to do).

When you are not able to meet the eVisa requirements for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (although it looks that with a Thai dependant daughter that that should not be a problem), you have 2 alternative options but those require at least 1 visit to a local Imm Office: #1 - Apply for the 60-day Tourist Visa, and in the last 2 weeks of your Permit to stay as stamped in your Passport by Thai border-immigration on entry, then apply at any local Imm Office for a 30-day extension (costs 1.900 THB and is delivered on the spot). #2 - As BritTim suggested: Enter Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30 day Permit to stay. In the last 2 weeks of your Permit to stay then apply at any local Imm Office for a 30-day extension (the 30 days will be simply added to the expiry date of your Permit to stay, so no need to wait till last days). Two or 3 days before the Expiry of that extension provided Permit to stay (at day 57 or 58 of your stay in Thailand) then apply again at a local Imm Office for another 30-day extension. That will NOT be provided as you are only allowed ONE extension when having entered on a Tourist Visa or VisaExempt, but when you explain that your flight is booked for day 64 of your stay in Thailand, Immigration can provide you with a 7-day Permit to leave the country (cost 1.900 THB). That's a fully legit procedure and you will not be on overstay. You are correct that overstay should be avoided as it can jeopardize your future applications or you could even be detained when being stopped by Thai police while on overstay.

Be aware that when applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa in Jomtien or SriRacha, that Immigration can keep your passport for the full 'under consideration period'. This happened to two friends of mine. One of them (applying at the Jomtien Office) was without his passport for almost 5 weeks! So best to make snapshots of your Passport ID-page and all the stamped pages in case it gets lost at that hell-hole...