REPORT: Do it Yourself Retirement Visa (Pattaya) Chonburi Immigration

[Kohsamida]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There should be no problem doing it. It should make no difference where the visa was issued.

A one time people were applying for the visa in Bangkok and then applying at their local office for the extension.

Thanks; don't mean to take up your time but one other question because I'm not exactly sure about the date I'll be moving to Jomtien.

 

What if I get the extension here in Chiang Mai in September when my 90 day visa expires and then move to Jomtien afterwards.  Is there any problem with having an extension issued in Chiang Mai and then moving to another province afterwards?

 

Again, Thanks in advance.

Edited July 5, 2018 by Kohsamida

[ubonjoe]

9 hours ago, Kohsamida said:

What if I get the extension here in Chiang Mai in September when my 90 day visa expires and then move to Jomtien afterwards.  Is there any problem with having an extension issued in Chiang Mai and then moving to another province afterwards?

No problem at all. You would only need to formally change your address at immigration in Jomtien so that you could do your 90 day report to them instead of Chiang Mai.

[Kohsamida]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No problem at all. You would only need to formally change your address at immigration in Jomtien so that you could do your 90 day report to them instead of Chiang Mai.

Just wanted to say you're a pretty amazing person!  I'm in awe of your wide range of up-to-date knowledge on such a wide range of Thai topics of interest to Farangs and the way you always seem so concise in your replies.  Thanks!

[JG27]

I follow the visa topics with much interest in the hope that she (Thai) who must be obeyed says “yes” to moving one day.

Q. if I may, what does having your income/money “seasoned” mean (apologies if it has been explained in past posts which I have missed or due to age, forgotten !!) ?. 

Also, am I correct in my understanding that given a choice of a Marriage or Retirement visa(extension) Retirement is the way to go ?

I live in hope......

Cheers, John

Edited July 6, 2018 by JG27

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, JG27 said:

I follow the visa topics with much interest in the hope that she (Thai) who must be obeyed says “yes” to moving one day.

Q. if I may, what does having your income/money “seasoned” mean (apologies if it has been explained in past posts which I have missed or due to age, forgotten !!) ?. 

Also, am I correct in my understanding that given a choice of a Marriage or Retirement visa Retirement is the way to go ?

I live in hope......

Cheers, John

I don't use the seasoned term myself since I am concerned it could be confusing to some people. It means the amount of time the money has to be in bank on the date you apply for the extension. 

For retirement the 800k baht must in the bank for 60 days for the first application and 3 months after that. For marriage the 400k baht must be in the bank for 2 months for every extension application.

IMO it is up to the individual whether the extension is applied for based upon marriage or retirement.

Some people exaggerate how difficult the extension based upon marriage can be. From own experience after doing 10 of them it is not that big of a problem.

 

[Kohsamida]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't use the seasoned term myself since I am concerned it could be confusing to some people. It means the amount of time the money has to be in bank on the date you apply for the extension. 

For retirement the 800k baht must in the bank for 60 days for the first application and 3 months after that. For marriage the 400k baht must be in the bank for 2 months for every extension application....

I might add that you must also be able to prove that the funds in the bank come from a source outside of Thailand.  I think it might have been you, UbonJoe, who pointed this out in a previous thread.  Some people have gotten themselves into a mess by, for example, bringing foreign funds in with them when they travel into the Kingdom and then depositing them locally into a local bank.  In a case like that, your deposit would be marked as an "in-country" deposit and not qualify as part of the 800k requirement.  Just something to consider ?

 

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

I might add that you must also be able to prove that the funds in the bank come from a source outside of Thailand. 

That is not required for a extension of stay application. It is only needed if applying for a non immigrant visa (categroy O) at immigration.

[Kohsamida]

8 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not required for a extension of stay application. It is only needed if applying for a non immigrant visa (categroy O) at immigration.

Really?  I didn't realize that.  So, if you have a 90 day Non-O visa, and took the funds out of the bank to use after receiving your first 1 year extension, and then redeposited them from within Thailand at a later date to meet requirements of a new one year extension, that would be OK?

Edited July 6, 2018 by Kohsamida

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

So, if you took the funds out of the bank to use, and then redeposited them from within Thailand at a later date to meet requirements of a new one year extension, that would be OK?

Yes it would be allowed.

The reason it is needed for the visa application is that the money only needs to be in the bank on the date of application.

[JG27]

Very interesting ubonjoe & Kohsamida thanks so much.

John

[likerdup1]

UPDATE:

    Yesterday was the date for me to return for the "result" of my Non-Imm "O" for purpose of retirement visa conversion application.

 

I arrived early in the morning and was first in line for the 7 desk. My number was called and I entered the 7 desk room. Saw wat dee krap and wai to the officer in charge and before I could sit down one of here secretaries took my passport and receipt. Officer in charge told me to wait outside.

 

I proceeded to sit down and waited. 10 minutes later the secretary returned and gave me my receipt back and said. "You come back tomorrow after 3pm ok?"

 

I got up and started to walk out of the building and remembered that today was the day my permission to stay on tourist visa expires! Also they now have my passport and all I have is a small paper receipt. On realizing this I went back to the office and asked if there was a problem. The officer in charge (who was rather harsh with me when I submitted my application) said "Your application not approved" What? Just then a Thai officer walked in and proceeded to talk with the female officer in charge. I waited outside the door. After about 5 minutes a more polite secretary came out and asked "You OK Mr.?" I asked her "is there a problem with my application? She explained. "We need my boss signature you come back tomorrow after 3."

 

I was a bit worried. What now? I thought. I left the building and consigned my self to the fact I will just have to play along. I am lucky I live close by. For those who live in Chonburri or Bang Suray etc.. what a hassle it could be.

 

Today I returned at about 1:45pm expecting the worst. I didn't take a number because the 7 desk was only on 702. Yesterday morning 701 was my number at 8:30am. The display read 702 and it was now 2pm. Obviously the 7 desk gets very little traffic, at least today.

 

I caught the eye of the female officer in charge and waved my ticket. She directed her secretary to take it. I stood there and watched her sift through a pile of passports. Finally I see my US passport being taken out of the pile. She opened it up and from about 3 feet away I saw the new stamp in my passport!! The secretary then handed my passport to another gal who politely showed me the stamp and told me I have 90 days permission to stay and if I want a 1 year extension  to apply for it with all new paper work about 1 month before permission to stay expiry date. I am to go to the 8 desk now which processes extensions.

 

Do it yourself Non-Immigrant "O" visa for the purpose of retirement procured. It was a bit of a hassle. But it did NOT cost me 12,000 to 20,000THB payed to an agency. It cost me 2000THB and a fair amount of my time and effort. Now I know exactly how this all works currently. It was A LOT EASIER 3 and 6 years ago.

 

Yes guys it can be done. Patients, tolerance and attention to detail help a lot. I got a Non-Imm "O" visa stamp and 90 days permission to stay myself. ( I have now done this 3 times in the last 6 years by myself NO AGENCY involvement)

 

I hope my experience helps. Cheers Thai Visa Friends. From your friendly likerdup dude. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by likerdup1

[Kohsamida]

7 minutes ago, likerdup1 said:

UPDATE:

    Yesterday was the date for me to return for the "result" of my Non-Imm "O" for purpose of retirement visa conversion application.

 

I arrived early in the morning and was first in line for the 7 desk. My number was called and I entered the 7 desk room. Saw wat dee krap and wai to the officer in charge and before I could sit down one of here secretaries took my passport and receipt. Officer in charge told me to wait outside.

 

I proceeded to sit down and waited. 10 minutes later the secretary returned and gave me my receipt back and said. "You come back tomorrow after 3pm ok?"

 

I got up and started to walk out of the building and remembered that today was the day my permission to stay on tourist visa expires! Also they now have my passport and all I have is a small paper receipt. On realizing this I went back to the office and asked if there was a problem. The officer in charge (who was rather harsh with me when I submitted my application) said "Your application not approved" What? Just then a Thai officer walked in and proceeded to talk with the female officer in charge. I waited outside the door. After about 5 minutes a more polite secretary came out and asked "You OK Mr.?" I asked her "is there a problem with my application? She explained. "We need my boss signature you come back tomorrow after 3."

 

I was a bit worried. What now? I thought. I left the building and consigned my self to the fact I will just have to play along. I am lucky I live close by. For those who live in Chonburri or Bang Suray etc.. what a hassle it could be.

 

Today I returned at about 1:30pm expecting the worst. I didn't take a number because the 7 desk was only on 702. Yesterday morning 701 was my number at 8:30am. The display read 702 and it was 3pm. Obviously the 7 desk gets very little traffic, at least today.

 

I caught the eye of the female officer in charge and waved my ticket. She directed her secretary to take it. I stood there and watched her sift through a pile of passports. Finally I see my US passport being taken out of the pile. She opened it up and from about 3 feet away I saw the new stamp in my passport!! The secretary then handed my passport to another gal who politely showed me the stamp and told me I have 90 days permission to stay and if I want a 1 year extension  to apply for it with all new paper work about 1 month before permission to stay expiry date. I am to go to the 8 desk now which processes extensions.

 

Do it yourself Non-Immigrant "O" visa for the purpose of retirement procured. It was a bit of a hassle. But it did NOT cost me 12,000THB. It cost me 2000 and a fair amount of time and effort.

 

Yes guys it can be done. Patients, tolerance and attention to detail help a lot. I got a Non-Imm "O" visa stamp and 90 days permission to stay myself. ( I have now done this 3 times in the last 6 years by myself NO AGENCY)

 

I hope my experience helps. Cheers Thai Visa Friends. From your friendly likerdup dude. 

 

 

 

 

That's funny; I had pretty much the same experience in Chiang Mai...a mixture of confusion about procedures, officers that spoke very poor English, and seemed very abrupt, but in a couple of cases turned out to be quite friendly and helpful, a crisis (im my case, confusion over some missing days on my TM-30), and then turning over my passport with two days to go before expiration of my Tourist Visa, and being told "somebody will call you when it's time to come pick up your passport", and then not getting the call until the day my visa was to expire.  And like you, it turned out fine in the end.

 

It's funny because I always heard that  Jomtien Imm office was quite well run and things more or less ran very smoothly.  I guess it's just the luck of the draw!  Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for posting because I am moving to Pratumnak and will be dealing with that office  soon enough for my extension.

 

BTW, not sure if you know this but you can apply for the extension up to 45 days before your Non-O expires.  Even though you can apply for the extension the same day it expires (wouldn't advise that), the advantage is that you get it done and out of your life.  The extension still starts on the day your Non-O expires so you don't loose any days off of the extension.  Just thought it might be helpful to know that.

 

 

[likerdup1]

32 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

 BTW, not sure if you know this but you can apply for the extension up to 45 days before your Non-O expires.  Even though you can apply for the extension the same day it expires (wouldn't advise that), the advantage is that you get it done and out of your life.  The extension still starts on the day your Non-O expires so you don't loose any days off of the extension.  Just thought it might be helpful to know that.

Thanks very much for the info. I may elect to take care of it sooner to get it out of the way.

[likerdup1]

15 hours ago, Kohsamida said:

 It's funny because I always heard that  Jomtien Imm office was quite well run and things more or less ran very smoothly.  I guess it's just the luck of the draw!  Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for posting because I am moving to Pratumnak and will be dealing with that office  soon enough for my extension.

My experience with the 8 desk, the 10 desk in the past have been very good. The queue system in the office runs well. The 7 desk is unique I think. It is only visa conversions there. Both days I visited the 7 desk they had very few "customers".  Each day they start at 700. I had been there twice in the afternoons and saw the queue display read 702. Very few walk ins I believe. They may be primarily dealing with agencies there. Conversions to Non-Imm "O" for various purposes. In my case a successful conversion from a Tourist Visa to a Non-Immigrant "O" for the purpose of retirement. ?

Edited July 7, 2018 by likerdup1

[IFinish]

   15 hours ago,  Kohsamida said: 

 BTW, not sure if you know this but you can apply for the extension up to 45 days before your Non-O expires.  Even though you can apply for the extension the same day it expires (wouldn't advise that), the advantage is that you get it done and out of your life.  The extension still starts on the day your Non-O expires so you don't loose any days off of the extension.  Just thought it might be helpful to know that.

Thanks very much for the info. I may elect to take care of it sooner to get it out of the way.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Note: 

Jomtien office only allows App for Extension up to 30 days ahead of visa expiry. 

Just did mine in April.

Congrats & Cheers!

 

p.s. I had similar bad experience with IO you mention. She truly is a piece of work!  I tried the conversion route through her and after telling me my document package looked good, she told me i needed to pay her 20k baht to do it! She should be canned, shes obviously corrupt. She is really the only bad IO Ive had to deal with at that office. I think this also explains why she doesnt see many customers each day!

 

[likerdup1]

8 minutes ago, IFinish said:

 Note: 

Jomtien office only allows App for Extension up to 30 days ahead of visa expiry. 

Just did mine in April.

Congrats & Cheers!

 

 

OK so the polite secretary of the Imm Officer in question was correct in telling me that I can apply only up to 1 month in advance for the extension. Thank you. Seems Chonburri immigration and other local offices have there own policies with varying rules etc.. I am very surprised this female IO up and asked you for 20k THB straight away.

 

Things must have changed because I got my Non-Immigrant "O" for the purpose of retirement for the application fee of 2000THB.

Sucess! NO AGENT... thank you!

Edited July 7, 2018 by likerdup1

[Kohsamida]

43 minutes ago, IFinish said:

   15 hours ago,  Kohsamida said: 

 BTW, not sure if you know this but you can apply for the extension up to 45 days before your Non-O expires.  Even though you can apply for the extension the same day it expires (wouldn't advise that), the advantage is that you get it done and out of your life.  The extension still starts on the day your Non-O expires so you don't loose any days off of the extension.  Just thought it might be helpful to know that.

Thanks very much for the info. I may elect to take care of it sooner to get it out of the way.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Note: 

Jomtien office only allows App for Extension up to 30 days ahead of visa expiry. 

Just did mine in April.

Congrats & Cheers!

 

p.s. I had similar bad experience with IO you mention. She truly is a piece of work!  I tried the conversion route through her and after telling me my document package looked good, she told me i needed to pay her 20k baht to do it! She should be canned, shes obviously corrupt. She is really the only bad IO Ive had to deal with at that office. I think this also explains why she doesnt see many customers each day!

 

 

Thanks for the clarification on lead time in Jomtien.  In Chiang Mai where I currently live it is 45 days.  It's really odd how variable the rules and regulations are between different provincial offices throughout the Kingdom. 

 

Just curious, was it an actual immigration officer who said you needed to pay 20k baht or was it a private visa agent?  If she is a government immigration officer, are you sure it might not have been a misunderstanding (i.e.: language miscommunication)?  

 

I only ask because many private agents charge a fee in that price range to handle a visa conversion, which in itself is on the outrageous side of things, but for a government agent to ask you to pay that would be pretty shameful, not to mention, criminal.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Kohsamida

[IFinish]

4 hours ago, Kohsamida said:

Thanks for the clarification on lead time in Jomtien.  In Chiang Mai where I currently live it is 45 days.  It's really odd how variable the rules and regulations are between different provincial offices throughout the Kingdom. 

 

Just curious, was it an actual immigration officer who said you needed to pay 20k baht or was it a private visa agent?  If she is a government immigration officer, are you sure it might not have been a misunderstanding (i.e.: language miscommunication)?  

 

I only ask because many private agents charge a fee in that price range to handle a visa conversion, which in itself is on the outrageous side of things, but for a government agent to ask you to pay that would be pretty shameful, not to mention, criminal.

I understood her to be asking me to pay her (she didnt offer a range of baht to pay but an exact amount and said good for TODAY only). She scribbled up a case on a paper trying to justify that it would be cheaper for me to do that than to go to another country to get a non-o. I was so ensenced at the time, but i bit my lip HARD and just said ill think about it and left, after all, TIT.

 

So i dont think it was any misunderstanding but i really didnt take it far enough to see how she would have actually carried it out. 

 

Corruption exists yes, but ill be damned if im going to contribute to it unless there is no other choice. 

[Kohsamida]

1 minute ago, IFinish said:

I understood her to be asking me to pay her (she didnt offer a range of baht to pay but an exact amount and said good for TODAY only). She scribbled up a case on a paper trying to justify that it would be cheaper for me to do that than to go to another country to get a non-o. I was so ensenced at the time, but i bit my lip HARD and just said ill think about it and left, after all, TIT.

 

So i dont think it was any misunderstanding but i really didnt take it far enough to see how she would have actually carried it out. 

 

Corruption exists yes, but ill be damned if im going to contribute to it unless there is no other choice. 

Still am not sure; was it an official Immigration officer or a commercial visa agent?

[IFinish]

2 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

Still am not sure; was it an official Immigration officer or a commercial visa agent?

Reread my comment in my p.s. 

There is only one problem person here.

[likerdup1]

17 hours ago, IFinish said:

Reread my comment in my p.s. 

There is only one problem person here.

So did you finally get a Non-Imm "O" from inside Thailand? What finally happened? Do you now reside in Thailand on a Non-Imm "O"?

[Kohsamida]

12 minutes ago, likerdup1 said:

So did you finally get a Non-Imm "O" from inside Thailand? What finally happened? Do you now reside in Thailand on a Non-Imm "O"?

He said he was successful, as I was also (I am in Chiang Mai).  My question to him was whether the person asking for 20k baht was an official at Immigration of a private Visa agent but I was confused by his answer.  Do you know, by any chance?  Just curious

[JackThompson]

On 7/8/2018 at 10:17 AM, Kohsamida said:

He said he was successful, as I was also (I am in Chiang Mai).  My question to him was whether the person asking for 20k baht was an official at Immigration of a private Visa agent but I was confused by his answer.  Do you know, by any chance?  Just curious

Several reported the IO asked for the money directly awhile back, but this was not my experience a year or so ago.  I was outright denied service because their "special rules," at that time (they printed them out - unofficial document), did not allow for income-affidavits to be used to meet the income requirements when married to a Thai. 

 

Agents are a safer way for IOs to get brown-envelopes, given modern recording technology. 

[likerdup1]

Update: Yesterday I submitted and received my 365 day extension of permission to stay for the purpose of retirement. So the two step process of

 

1) Submitting an application for and procuring a Non-Immigrant "O" for the purpose of retirement visa and 90 day permission to stay.

2) Submitting an application and being granted an 365 day extension of permission for purpose of retirement

 

IS FINISHED and I did this myself, NO AGENT INVOLVED and with a little attention to detail and asking for help IT IS DONE!

 

I must say my experience at the number 8 desk was much better than the intial experience at the 4 desk for my Visa change.

 

This is the 3rd time I have done this in 6 years. I have returned to my country 3 times for extended periods and let my extension lapse. NEVER AGAIN! This time was TOO DIFFICULT and Thailand keeps changing requirements and procedures. I will continue to extend my permission to stay to AVOID getting the initial NON-Imm "O" which was a hassle this time. I was able to do it but more trouble than before.

Edited September 5, 2018 by likerdup1

[jnak]

On 6/14/2018 at 4:21 PM, likerdup1 said:

June 7 Thursday : Went to the legal department of Thailand Dept of Consular Affairs at Chang Wattana government facility Bangkok 3rd floor and got the embassy letter certified. (The certification is actually a sticker that is affixed to the back of the letter saying stating that the signature of the US notary is authentic)

Cost: 200 Baht to office, 2 round trips to Bangkok and 2 hours at the legal department. The reason for the two trips? Because I could not get same day service arriving after 9:30am that day. I had to come back on Monday.

To get same day service arrive before 9:30 am, submit your document at the cue and come back between 2:30PM/4:30PM.

Congrats on getting it done!  I have a question about getting your embassy income letter certified or legalized.  Did you have to get it translated into Thai first even though the original is in english?  UJ says it doesn't need to be, but I did email the office to ask that question and they said yes.  But, what are they going to say really? I just wanted to double check with you, and if they accepted yours in english, they should accept mine.  I am going to mail it in instead of messing with Bangkok.

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, jnak said:

I am going to mail it in instead of messing with Bangkok.

I got an MFA Cert on my Embassy income-letter by mail successfully - no translation to Thai.  Although they would not allow me to get the Non-O without paying an agent at that office, they did not mention anything about needing a Thai translation of my letter, which was in English.

[smedly]

On 7/8/2018 at 10:17 AM, Kohsamida said:

He said he was successful, as I was also (I am in Chiang Mai).  My question to him was whether the person asking for 20k baht was an official at Immigration of a private Visa agent but I was confused by his answer.  Do you know, by any chance?  Just curious

you can convert to a Non O 90 day in Thailand for the purpose of extension - it is not illegal, so I'm not sure what this IO was doing wrong in recommending and agent to do all the "legal" donkey work for you, it is an entirely different matter if they were directing you to an agent to circumvent the rules for e.g. the funds and seasoning of funds in the bank if you couldn't provide yourself

[likerdup1]

On 10/17/2018 at 7:41 AM, jnak said:

Congrats on getting it done!  I have a question about getting your embassy income letter certified or legalized.  Did you have to get it translated into Thai first even though the original is in english?  UJ says it doesn't need to be, but I did email the office to ask that question and they said yes.  But, what are they going to say really? I just wanted to double check with you, and if they accepted yours in english, they should accept mine.  I am going to mail it in instead of messing with Bangkok.

No translation to Thai language necessary. You would have seen that as an additional step had that been the case. I would have done it by mail had I known this was an easy option. Hopefully I will never have to get an income letter certified again as unless I am sure I am never coming back to Thailand I will just continue to get the 1 year extension of permission to stay on my original Non-O.

 

I DID NOT USE AN AGENT to do any of the work in procuring my Retirement Visa and 1 year extension of permission to stay on the original Non-O.

[George36]

On 10/21/2018 at 5:17 AM, likerdup1 said:

iDID NOT USE AN AGENT to do any of the work in procuring my Retirement Visa and 1 year extension of permission to stay on the original Non-O.

Congratulations on your success.  I envy your ability.  At 65 years old, my brain would explode going through what you did. My patience level sucks right now.  5555

 

This weekend, my wife and I decided that I needed to go to Thailand for, at least, a year.  I have been to Pattaya three times within the last two years and my wife was with me one trip.  So, I need to move quick.

 

I am looking at doing the 90 days visa through the Los Angelas, Ca Thai Embassy.  I will be contacting them shortly.  I need to move quick as my wife and I will be going to Spain for seven days at the end of the month and I will be leaving for Thailand around the 15th of February.  Will be staying at the LK the Empress for the first few weeks as I look for a house to rent.

 

i contacted a local visa place, Key, and they told me that I could arrive as a tourist, get the 90 visa and, then, the retirement visa like the OP did.  They indicated a total charge of 34,000 Baht for their services.  

 

Not it sure what I will end up doing but this thread has helped a lot.  Thanks.

 

 

[KhunFred]

On 7/7/2018 at 3:59 PM, IFinish said:

I understood her to be asking me to pay her (she didnt offer a range of baht to pay but an exact amount and said good for TODAY only). She scribbled up a case on a paper trying to justify that it would be cheaper for me to do that than to go to another country to get a non-o. I was so ensenced at the time, but i bit my lip HARD and just said ill think about it and left, after all, TIT.

 

So i dont think it was any misunderstanding but i really didnt take it far enough to see how she would have actually carried it out. 

 

Corruption exists yes, but ill be damned if im going to contribute to it unless there is no other choice. 

"Corruption" seems to be a word used only by foreigners.  In Thailand, the preferred term is "business". I try to keep that in mind always. If visa services actually have a presence at immigration, they cannot be illegal.