oceanbreeze851 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Good morning from the USA. I am having a hard time understanding the different visas and the process to obtaining and keeping once in Thailand. Background: I am a 67 y/o male married to a my Thai wife who is a USA citizen. We will be relocating to Sattahip, Thailand in the March, April 2020 time frame. We still need to sell our home in Texas. I will either process my visa via mail or walk-in at the embassy in Washington D.C.. When I apply, I will have over $50,000 in my Charles Schwab account. I will also have my Social Security payment and my military retirement money sent to account. As retired USAF, I will have Tricare overseas for insurance for my wife and myself. Now for my questions. What visa should I get (reading the embassy website is confusing)? I would like a multiple entry visa as I have family in USA and my mother is 95 y/o. When in Thailand, what extension should I get, retirement or marriage? I would like everything to be smooth but I realize we are speaking about Thailand so things change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puchaiyank Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 With money not being a problem for you, you may want to ask about hiring an agent to grease the immigration skids each year. Be prepared to show health insurance coverage for the both of you...You will likely run into this health insurance requirement when you apply for your initial visa. Many do their own visa paperwork each year with varying degrees of success... The visa requirements have been a moving target in recent years. Add to that mix...immigration offices are prone to decide how they want to interpret and enforce immigration statues. I ended up paying a lawyer to finalize my retirement extension this year as immigration officer chose to play hardaxx. Do not burn all your bridges in US...reserve some income...have an exit plan if things do not work out for you in Thailand... Climate still hot and humid much of the year with an increasing concern for air quality. If either of you have breathing problems, you will want to keep an eye on the AQI (Air Quality Index)...there is an App that will keep you informed...today it is around 101 in the general area of Sattahip...which is considered unhealthy. Good Luck! Enjoy your stay in Thailand...???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJack54 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 With respect to previous post opinion, you don't need to do much. Not even health insurance if that was your choice. Best option IMO would be non o based on retirement obtained in Thailand or nearby consulate. You could enter Thailand visa exempt or with setv and do "conversion" to non o based on retirement or marriage at immigration. Prior to its expiry you would apply for 12 month extension. Then every year you would apply for extension. Regarding the multiple entry you obtain what's called a reentry permit. You can even obtain at airport. 3800baht for multiple. As for using an agent, what for, its a simple process. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 You can get a single or multiple entry non-o visa based upon marriage that will allow a 90 day entry. You can then extend that 90 day entry for one year based upon marriage to a Thai. You would need 400k baht in a Thai bank in your name only for 2 months or proof of 40k baht income proven by monthly transfers into a Thai bank. Or you can apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement. You would need 800k baht in a Thai bank for 2 months and then 3 months after applying and then 400k baht for the remainder of the year. Or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2 totaling 800k baht. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve187 Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 4 hours ago, Puchaiyank said: With money not being a problem for you, you may want to ask about hiring an agent to grease the immigration skids each year. Be prepared to show health insurance coverage for the both of you...You will likely run into this health insurance requirement when you apply for your initial visa. Many do their own visa paperwork each year with varying degrees of success... The visa requirements have been a moving target in recent years. Add to that mix...immigration offices are prone to decide how they want to interpret and enforce immigration statues. I ended up paying a lawyer to finalize my retirement extension this year as immigration officer chose to play hardaxx. Do not burn all your bridges in US...reserve some income...have an exit plan if things do not work out for you in Thailand... Climate still hot and humid much of the year with an increasing concern for air quality. If either of you have breathing problems, you will want to keep an eye on the AQI (Air Quality Index)...there is an App that will keep you informed...today it is around 101 in the general area of Sattahip...which is considered unhealthy. Good Luck! Enjoy your stay in Thailand...???? i rad this post and thought i was in another thread, but no its a thread about someone wanting info on visa requirements on moving to sattahip, so as a fellow sattahipian, ignore this post and go post post number 4 from ubonjoe, who is always spot on with visa stuff 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricTh Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 (edited) You said your wife is a USA citizen. Can a Thai hold dual citizenship or has she relinquished hers? Yes, the visa types can be confusing. Edited November 11, 2019 by EricTh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayaout Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Retirement extension are less paperworks but require to freeze 800K for 5 months and 400K all year round. Marriage extension only require to freeze 400K for 2 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ubonjoe Posted November 11, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted November 11, 2019 26 minutes ago, EricTh said: You said your wife is a USA citizen. Can a Thai hold dual citizenship or has she relinquished hers? She can have both nationalities. There is no Thai or US law stating it is not allowed. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishtank Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Go with the marriage option as Joe says, Easier and less money tied yup in a Thai bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oceanbreeze851 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 Thank you for the responses. I will start work on visa based on marriage and my wife likes the idea of travelling to Washington D.C. and processing the visa at the Thai Embassy. That way we can visit the city before leaving the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiaexpat Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 From experience I recommend getting a Non-O visa based on marriage to Thai wife from either Dallas or Houston Consulate (assuming u are in Texas.) I did this in Dallas with minimal time and expense. During the last 30 days of the 90 day entry go to immigration and apply for an extension of stay based on Thai Wife. It will be simple if you put 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account in your name only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oceanbreeze851 Posted November 11, 2019 Author Share Posted November 11, 2019 Based on the map I saw on the Embassy website, living in Texas, I need to file the visa in Washington D.C.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve187 Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 3 hours ago, Tayaout said: Retirement extension are less paperworks but require to freeze 800K for 5 months and 400K all year round. Marriage extension only require to freeze 400K for 2 months. plus maybe while the extension is under consideration as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieBri Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 4 hours ago, oceanbreeze851 said: Thank you for the responses. I will start work on visa based on marriage and my wife likes the idea of travelling to Washington D.C. and processing the visa at the Thai Embassy. That way we can visit the city before leaving the country. Are you in Texas now? If so, there is a Thai Consulate in Houston, Tx where you can go to get the visa in about 4-5 days or do a mail-in which will take about 15 days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skallywag Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 We used the Thai consulate in LA. Not sure why many on here are so opposed to keeping 400k-800k baht in a thai bank account, always counting months needed for seasoning. Easiest to just keep the money in a thai bank all year round. Do you have a Thai bank account? I opened an account at Kasikorn bank several years before retiring here and had over 800K in it before moving here. Opening a new bank account is getting more difficult. Something to consider, you will have less than a month to open an account and get money into it for your one year extension if you do not have one already. Ubonjoe is your best reference. As he says, and as I experienced, you will have the 90 day single entry from the Thai consulate in the USA and need to go to immigration here in Thailand to get your one year extension Non-Imm O visa within 90 days. And yes, make sure it is a Non-Imm O. The Non-Imm O-A type has a requirement to purchase Thai health insurance as of November 1, 2019 https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/thai-visas-americans/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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