From Non-Imm B to Retirement

[PaulOkay]

Hello,

 

I am 54 years old and I have come to Thailand in 2006 on a Non-Immigrant B visa and have opened my business in 2007. I live and have my business in Cha-Am, Phetchaburi. All those years up till now I have had visa extensions based on that visa, and also a workpermit.

The first years I have had my visa renewed by an accountancy firm with Immigration in Hua Hin (Prachuab Kiri Kahn). Als the price slowly rose from 15.000 to 25.000 THB, I thought it became too expensive and decided that I would do it by myself (or my staff actually). Also the Immigration office in Thayang (Phetchaburi)  opened around that time, so instead from Hua Hin, we had to go to Thayang from then on.

Around that time things started to get more difficult. Maybe for a part because we did not have the paperwork completely in order the first visit, so had to come back with the correct paperwork. But also they started to ask new and additional paperwork that actually was not officially necessary. And they would repeatedly summon me to have my visa done by an accountancy firm. I am pretty convinced this was so they would be able to share in the 25.000 THB fee.

Now I am a positive and adapted Farang, enthausiastic about Thailand, not someone that rants on and on about the Thais. So also at the immigration office, me and my staff have always been polite, well dressed and respectfull to the officers. But last year things have gone really south.

We started half of February with the application (my visa expires on 25th of March). We were send back 10 times to get additional or other paperwork, one item at a time. In the end we got the application completed, but then it has to be reviewed in Bangkok. We were visited by Immigration officers from Bangkok, who interviewed my staff and my partner. As there were only 2 staff present (one had her day off and another one had an extra day off because of family matters, which was no problem, because it was very quiet with the corona crisis and curfew. In the end they only gave me until the 23th of June (less than 2 months), because they said they didn’t believe I still had enough staff.

Anyway, I now have two months to arrange a new yearly visa. I want to make it easier (and cheaper) for myself and change to a retirement visa (or get a visa extension based on retirement). Me and my partner are together for 25 years but not married. And my children are all over 20 years old. So a Marriage visa or Guardian visa are no options.

So what would be the right path to follow now? Can I just change from business visa to retirement? Or do I need to apply for a new Non Immigrant O in my home country (the Netherlands) and then try to get an extension based on retirement here in Thailand? There could be a problem, because I am not sure if the borders will be open by then….

I am making arrangements now for transferring the 800K to Thailand to a savings account. But it will not be on my account the full 2 months before my visa expires at the 23rd of June. Would that be a problem? BTW, do I need to tag the money that I will be transferring? For example with “retirement”?

Thanks for your advice!

[ubonjoe]

You could change the reason for your current extension of stay from working to retirement at immigration without needing to leave the country. The 800k baht will need to be in the bank for 2 months on the day you apply for the new extension. You do not need anything special when you transfer the funds into the country.

You should ask immigration about waiving the 2 months requirement due to the emergency situation.

[PaulOkay]

Thanks Ubonjoe. 

That sounds easier than I had anticipated. Although I'm afraid the Immigration office at Thayang will not be lenient about the 2 months requirement in my case. 

I read by the way that because of the Corona crisis no extension of all Non-imm visas are necessary until the end of July. Is that correct?

[ubonjoe]

7 hours ago, PaulOkay said:

I read by the way that because of the Corona crisis no extension of all Non-imm visas are necessary until the end of July. Is that correct?

If on a 90 day entry from one that is correct. But if on an extension of one there is no certainty you would be able to apply for a new extension if you were to let your current one expire without having problems and having to start all over again.

[pjuk]

I tried to change my Non O B to a Non O retirement here in Samui and NO they would not do it.

I had to leave the country and get a new non O visa valid for 90 days then change this to a non O retirement.

Under normal circumstances the 800,000 MUST have been in your account for 60 days.

But present circumstances are far from normal so go and have a chat with immigration and see what they say.

Good luck.

[Eff1n2ret]

I did this 8 or 9 years ago. If your 'B' is dependent on a work permit, you first have to get the work permit cancelled by the Labour Office. At that point your permission to stay is no longer valid so that is cancelled by the Immigration Office, and as far as I remember there was a notice saying I must leave the country within 7 days. My case was slightly complicated because my business and the Non-Imm 'B' were in Pattaya, although I live in Rayong. So I couldn't get the WP cancelled in Chonburi then the 'B' at Jomtien, and apply for the 'O' Retirement at Maptaphut all on the same day, so effectively I was an overstayer by the time I applied at Maptaphut the following day. They reckoned the overstay as 2 days, so I was fined 2000Baht, but they then issued a 1-year 'O' without any fuss at all.

So there is a 'Catch 22' in that as soon as you turn in your work permit you become an overstayer, and I can imagine that some offices will make difficulties about that. Both Jomtien and Maptaphut were fine with the procedure, but I strongly recommend that you talk to your local office in advance about how they handle things.