OJAS

Certainly "super service" when compared to the bureaucratic rigmarole facing your son when his current British passport is due for renewal - involving as it will be 2 time-consuming physical return trips between Phuket and Bangkok. Unfortunately the EMS mailing service appears to be considered far too hi-tech by those clowns in HMPO back in the UK for this purpose!

Which is your immigration office? In addition, please clarify whether you are actually referring to an annual extension of stay for marriage, or to the conversion of a recent visa-exempt or tourist visa entry into a real genuine McCoy 90-day non-immigrant visa of the "O" variety for marriage at your local immigration office, as set out in the following link: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/6.FOR-PROVIDING-SUPPORT-TO-OR-BEING-A-DEPENDANT-OF-A-THAI-CITIZEN-SPOUSE-VISA-NON-O.pdf

Clearly got his June's and July's mixed up in interpreting the info he got from the web, methinks!

And this link sets out, in English and (by clicking on the link in the top left-hand corner) Thai, the procedural steps she'll need to comply with in order to achieve this end: https://tm30.immigration.go.th/TM30/Foreigner/RegisterEN/Register.html @rutteketuut It will be your wife's responsibility (as your "Housemaster, Owner Or Possessor Of Residence") to file a completed TM30, nothwithstanding that you will, in practice, be its principal beneficiary.

@Dande In particular you will then be banned from re-entering Thailand for 5 years. https://www.tratimmigration.com/thailand-visa-overstay-regulations/

It would appear that the OP is currently not in Thailand: Provided that his home country's (European?) embassy in Bangkok is one of those which still issues income confirmation letters/affidavits for IMM purposes, the easiest course of action open to him IMHO would be to return to Thailand AFTER his current non-OA visa has expired in November or whenever, whereupon he would be able to enter the country on the basis of a 60-day visa exemption which he could then convert to a 90-day non-O visa for retirement at his local immigration office in accordance with the following link: https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf In this way he would then be able to avoid the need to faff around with mandatory health insurance requirements!

But if the OP were eventually seeking to relocate to Ban Chang specifically, the immigration office he'd need to deal with (for TM30 purposes initially) would be Rayong, not Jomtien!

The 2-month seasoning period for your retirement extension will be calculated retrospectively from the date you apply for this. However the 800k will, in any event, already be in place in your savings account for your non-O visa conversion (assuming, of course, that you leave it untouched in the meantime).

But in your post containing the Trat list you also quoted mine below! Why did you decide to do this and lead us all up the garden path as a result?

So how then was I expected to know that, despite quoting my post referring to the 90-day non-O conversion, you were, in fact, referring to the OP's point 4? I therefore can only offer you my humblest apologies if my mind-reading skills are not up to scratch in getting to grips with what is lying behind confusing and ambiguous posts like yours, and cause you so much grief and anger as a result.

I think that's what the OP is planning to do in any event! EDIT: But he would IMHO be strongly advised not to rely on the 800k as a potential "emergency fund for absolute last resort needs". Otherwise he could find himself in deep, deep, deep, deep doo-dah when his next retirement extension is due!

That list and your comments relate to annual extensions of stay for retirement. Whereas I am referring to conversions of latest visa-exempt/tourist visa entries into single-entry 90-day non-immigrant "O" visas for retirement. Completely separate animals.

Do Khon Kaen have special requirements for non-O conversions for retirement which differ from those detailed in the official Immigration Bureau version set out in the link below (I'm not aware that they do)? https://www.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

In that case, might not a Wise account be a suitable alternative? Or do you hold a significant balance with the awkward bank that you're unable to transfer elsewhere?

Presumably with the same due care and attention to detail as displayed by the captain of the Titanic in 1912.

Instead of faffing about with the Nationwide banking app, why not use Wise to make transfers from your Nationwide current account to your new payee (who, I assume, has a Thai bank account)? That's how many of us Brit expats living in Thailand (myself included) transfer monies from UK bank accounts to our Thai accounts. https://wise.com/help/articles/2932335/guide-to-thb-transfers https://wise.com/gb/send-money/

Certainly money laundering checks do now appear to be the general norm as regards USD transfers at least, based on the following statement included in Wise's latest Quarterly Mission Statement: Fewer transfers from USD were instant this quarter because we've updated our security measures to avoid speeding up transfers which could be fraudulent. However, this has caught more transfers, which reduced the total number being processed instantly. https://wise.com/gb/blog/q2-2024-mission-update-speed

Clearly the USD complainers on this thread have overlooked the relevant explanatory statement contained in this Mission Update. So please indulge me while I spell it out in full for their benefit: Fewer transfers from USD were instant this quarter because we've updated our security measures to avoid speeding up transfers which could be fraudulent. However, this has caught more transfers, which reduced the total number being processed instantly.

Just beware, however, that the first 90-day report due after your return to Thailand will, as things currently stand, have to be submitted in person or by snail mail (i.e. not online), as referred to in other recent threads.

It is, indeed, a Government Pension BUT NOT AN OCCUPATIONAL ONE (as is not the similar Australian Age Pension either, if I understand correctly). Whereas Article 19 of the UK/Thailand DTA is clearly restricted to Government OCCUPATIONAL Pensions. Therein lies the crucial difference - which even the most dimwitted numbskull of a decision-maker within the TRD who is worth but a solitary grain of salt should be capable of detecting, I would have thought.

Below in italics is the text of a "complaint" which this particular Brit has sent to HMRC. Not holding my breath for any reply any time soon, though, let alone a favourable one: For some mysterious reason the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) does not include specific Articles covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions. As a result it does not appear possible for UK nationals who are Thailand tax residents and in receipt of either or both pension types to seek relief from double taxation, as is certainly made clear in the case of the State Pension by Note 4 in the Thailand section of HMRC’s Digest of Double Taxation Treaties. The Thailand Revenue Department has signalled its intention to seek income tax payments on all remittances to Thailand since 1/1/24 covering what they consider to be assessable income including State Pension and company occupational pension payments. In these circumstances what steps are HMRC taking with the aim of remedying the glaring deficiencies in the existing DTA through renegotiations with their Thai counterparts aimed at securing the inclusion of new Articles specifically covering the State Pension and company occupational pensions?

So, if the length of time which it now takes for your Direct Debit transfers to be processed is such a major catastrophic problem for you, why don't you try intiating future transfers directly from your home country bank account instead?

Including 2,500 THB for their express service, which is 500 THB more than the IMM fine for missing a report!

And if they aren't at the present time then equally hope that they won't be at some point in the future as you might then find yourself in deep, deep, deep, deep doo-dah at 90-day reporting time! In any event it strikes me that the longest you could continue with your planned strategy (even if you were able to get away with it for any length of time) would likely be until you next needed to renew your passport.

All the more reason to do this IMHO since, if it is subsequently rejected, there might still be time to use the snail mail option instead. Good to hear that English native speakers may not be the sole experts in the double negative! ☺️