Retirement Visa, Easy Easy Easy

[hithere]

Hi All

Just got my retirement visa today, I know some companies charge from 6000B to 9000B to do the paperwork, I did it on 30 days visa, only had passport bank pass book and a statement from my bank that I had 800.000B.

It took me 1 hour and a lot photocopy @ 2 Baht a piece

It was very easy, no drama at all.

[Sunbelt Asia]

If you did it from a 30 day visa. The government fee was 2,000 Baht to change the visa from a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp and 1,900 Baht to extend the "O" visa. You then would have 1,000 Baht for a single reentry or 3,800 Baht for multi entry permit ( if you plan on traveling)

If you did this in one day, this 800K must have been in the bank for 90 days.

Sometimes it’s easy and other times people have drama. For instance, they did not wire the money into Thailand but they used the ATM and just had ATM slips. Other cases where the pension was only 35K per month or cases they had only 10 days left on a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp. This is when it can get interesting. :-)

[hithere]

If you did it from a 30 day visa. The government fee was 2,000 Baht to change the visa from a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp and 1,900 Baht to extend the "O" visa. You then would have 1,000 Baht for a single reentry or 3,800 Baht for multi entry permit ( if you plan on traveling)

If you did this in one day, this 800K must have been in the bank for 90 days.

Sometimes it's easy and other times people have drama. For instance, they did not wire the money into Thailand but they used the ATM and just had ATM slips. Other cases where the pension was only 35K per month or cases they had only 10 days left on a 30 day tourist visa exemption stamp. This is when it can get interesting. :-)

Hi Sunbelt

You are right about all of it, had to pay what you say, i have more than 3.000.000 in my bank, they wanted copy of my old bankpass books, i dont know why, had to give them copy of 2 old books, i had them with me so no problems. they did not want anything from the embassy.

[wpcoe]

Hi All

Just got my retirement visa today, I know some companies charge from 6000B to 9000B to do the paperwork, I did it on 30 days visa, only had passport bank pass book and a statement from my bank that I had 800.000B.

It took me 1 hour and a lot photocopy @ 2 Baht a piece

It was very easy, no drama at all.

Just for accuracy, did you have a 30-day visa of some sort, or did you enter on a 30-day visa-waiver stamp?

There have been recent queries whether one can still convert the 30-day visa-waiver stamp to Non-Immigrant O visa with retirement extension. It definitely could be done last September, but there have been no recently confirmed reports.

Also, where did you do this: Bangkok Suan Phlu, Jomtien, or elsewhere else?

PS: Congratulations on your new visa!

[hithere]

Hi All

Just got my retirement visa today, I know some companies charge from 6000B to 9000B to do the paperwork, I did it on 30 days visa, only had passport bank pass book and a statement from my bank that I had 800.000B.

It took me 1 hour and a lot photocopy @ 2 Baht a piece

It was very easy, no drama at all.

Just for accuracy, did you have a 30-day visa of some sort, or did you enter on a 30-day visa-waiver stamp?

There have been recent queries whether one can still convert the 30-day visa-waiver stamp to Non-Immigrant O visa with retirement extension. It definitely could be done last September, but there have been no recently confirmed reports.

Also, where did you do this: Bangkok Suan Phlu, Jomtien, or elsewhere else?

PS: Congratulations on your new visa!

Hi There

I did it on a 30 day visa on arrival, just did a visa run the other day, i did it in Phuket.

[lopburi3]

There is no visa on arrival for 30 days (they are 15 days) so it was done from a 30 day entry without visa (30-day visa-waiver stamp) so apparently they are still allowing this method.

[Sunbelt Asia]

There have been recent queries whether one can still convert the 30-day visa-waiver stamp to Non-Immigrant O visa with retirement extension. It definitely could be done last September, but there have been no recently confirmed reports.

Also, where did you do this: Bangkok Suan Phlu, Jomtien, or elsewhere else?

Many times a day in Bangkok, we do it from a 30 day visa exemption stamp. It is still allowed.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Hi All

Just got my retirement visa today, I know some companies charge from 6000B to 9000B to do the paperwork, I did it on 30 days visa, only had passport bank pass book and a statement from my bank that I had 800.000B.

It took me 1 hour and a lot photocopy @ 2 Baht a piece

It was very easy, no drama at all.

Hey, Hithere, did you also get a Reentry Permit?  That's an essential part of the process.  You can get one at the airport, but can be a pain if you're short of time.

Did mine today, 5 1/2 hours door-to-door.

Out of the house at 0830, off to the Eastern Ring Road at Klong 5, south to Ramintra Road, west 4.2 km to the Ramintra-Ajnarong Expressway, off at Sukumvit Soi 50, park at TESCO-Lotus. Skytrain to Asoke, MRT subway to Sathorn Road (Lumpini Station), taxi to Immigration

on Soi Suan Plu, arrived about 1020 hrs.

One hour for the one-year extension, of which about 40 minutes was waiting in the queue.

Off to Rentry Permit window, andother 30+ minutes there.

Bus #62 back to the Sathorn (Lumpini) MRT subway station, subway to Asoke, Skytrain back to TESCO-Lotus at Suk Soi 50, a bit of shopping, paid baht 50 for parking, just a tad over three hours, expressway back to Ramintra, east to the Eastern Ring Road, north to Hwy 305 at Klong 5, home to Klong10 at 1400 hrs.

It's actually a bit faster to drive all the way down to Immigration but it's a real pain finding a place to park there or on the back sois nearby. The park & skytrain-subway combo is just easier on the nerves.

Mac

[hithere]

Hi Mac

Hey, Hithere, did you also get a Reentry Permit? That's an essential part of the process. You can get one at the airport, but can be a pain if you're short of time.

Yes i did get a multiple visa, that one was 3.800 Baht, need to go to work.

[geoffrob]

Hello

I am new to all this so bear with me please, I assume that if you wish to move to Thailand and need the money in the bank for 3 mths you have to come over to Thailand and open an account in readiness for the move, or can you open an account online?

The paperwork confirming amount of pension, lack of criminal record and funds in bank, does this all have to be confirmed in Thailand even if applying fronm one's own country. Am I right in assuming that if you apply in England you will be issued with a 90 day visa and will have to apply for an extension in Thailand. I assume the timing of all this is quite crucial and would you suggest I use a visa company first time around.

If you retire in Thailand and decide you want to work is it a problem changing over to a work permit/visa?

Thanks for any help, geoff

[lopburi3]

You can apply for an O-A visa in your home country using funds in that country. Police report and medical would then also be required. On entry into Thailand you will receive a one year permitted to stay stamp; and if you got a multi entry type O-A visa you can freely travel during the one year visa validity and if you enter again just before it ends you will receive the normal one year permitted to stay stamp - so in effect you have two years before you will have to have the bank account in Thailand and visit immigration to extend your stay here.

[SoiSong]

Is it not possible to show the money in a foriegn bank? So, what papaerwork will be needed if I decide to entertain myself by renewing rather than just getting a new O-A outside of Thailand. Seems like the renewal and the multiple reentry permit are more than an OA good for multiple journeys to Thailand aquired outside the Kingdom!

[Krub]

Is it not possible to show the money in a foriegn bank? So, what papaerwork will be needed if I decide to entertain myself by renewing rather than just getting a new O-A outside of Thailand. Seems like the renewal and the multiple reentry permit are more than an OA good for multiple journeys to Thailand aquired outside the Kingdom!

If you apply in Thailand for the extension of stay, the money must be in a bank in Thailand (can be a foreign bank but the account must be in Thailand)

[Maestro]

Is it not possible to show the money in a foriegn bank?

To apply for a non-immigrant O-A visa at a Thai embassy, it is possible.

what papaerwork will be needed if I decide to entertain myself by renewing rather than just getting a new O-A outside

With “renewing” you probably mean getting an annual extension of stay, as the OP did. You need

1. Application form

2. Passport and copy

3. Passport photograph

4. Evidence of 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for at least 3 months prior to application, or 65,000 Baht monthly income, or a combination of both.

Seems like the renewal and the multiple reentry permit are more than an OA good for multiple journeys to Thailand

It depends on your circumstances, such as whether you are already in Thailand or not, whether and how often you plan to travel out of Thailand per year during your retirement stay, whether for an extension of stay you would use money in the bank or monthly income, etc.

--

Maestro

[jaiyenyen]

Hi All

Just a couple of questions that i hope someone can help me with.

I have just got a non resident "O" visa, and will move to Thailand next month. I Intend to change it to a retirement visa later in the year.Do i have to re-apply for the retirement visa every year, and is it the same proceedure every time?

I intend to marry my Thai fiance, will this make a difference to my visa options?

Thanks

Jaiyenyen

[lopburi3]

Yes you have to reapply each year and if requirements have not changed it will be the same procedure. Marriage would provide the option to use family income of 40k per month as basis for extensions of stay - but the paperwork would be greater and at least a month of review would be required each year.

[jaiyenyen]

Yes you have to reapply each year and if requirements have not changed it will be the same procedure. Marriage would provide the option to use family income of 40k per month as basis for extensions of stay - but the paperwork would be greater and at least a month of review would be required each year.

Thanks for the advice lopburi3

you've been a great help

regards

jaiyenyen

[polehawk]

You can apply for an O-A visa in your home country using funds in that country. Police report and medical would then also be required. On entry into Thailand you will receive a one year permitted to stay stamp; and if you got a multi entry type O-A visa you can freely travel during the one year visa validity and if you enter again just before it ends you will receive the normal one year permitted to stay stamp - so in effect you have two years before you will have to have the bank account in Thailand and visit immigration to extend your stay here.

lopburi3,

Interesting post and hope I'm not misconstruing what you are saying. I arrived in Thailand from the USA last September with the multi-entry type O-A visa and got the one year permitted to stay stamp at the airport Immigration. If I go to Laos, say tomorrow, when I re-enter Nong Khai will I get a new one year permitted to stay stamp which would be valid until April 2, 2008? Also, will I get a new stamp each time I leave and re-enter Thailand until just before the O-A visa expires without, hopefully, getting a hassle from Thai Immigration when doing the 90 day report? I definitely like the idea of keeping the bank account in the states for two years but want to be sure that the Immigration people won't be interpreting it in a different manner if I can.

Thanks,

polehawk (in Udon)

[lopburi3]

Yes any entry should receive a one year permitted to stay stamp but remember that once your Consulate visa date expires you will need a re-entry permit prior to any more travel. If you are not in Thailand for longer than 90 days you do not do 90 day address reports. They will check your arrival card and understand (if not they will also check your departure stamp). Clock starts on each entry.

[Dave the Dude]

Hi Jaiyenyen

Its incredible how our two situations are so similar

Your in Maidstone UK,Im in Sutton UK

You Move next month,I move next week !

We both have 'O' visa's and need to swap to retirement later this year.Same, same re Fiance's

Firstly, I understand from the esteemed TV experts that Retirement is the way to go; in preference to the marriage visa route. Its simpler & less paperwork, as long as you are over 50 and have required funds. I believe we both will need a visit to BKK to apply for a visa extension due to retirement and this will be an annual trek (90 day reporting to Immigration but no border runs)

You will find many threads here with more specific info about requirements and GOOD LUCK ON YOUR MOVE

Edited April 2, 2007 by Dave the Dude

[lopburi3]

You can do the retirement extension of stay at the nearest immigration office - all have authority for immediate approval if you present the financial evidence.

[Dave the Dude]

You can do the retirement extension of stay at the nearest immigration office - all have authority for immediate approval if you present the financial evidence.

Thanks Lop (as always, you provide clear reliable guidance)

That will make my future life even easier.

You are a legend in your own lunchtime