Convert from a tourist visa to a non o on the basis of retirement.

[Kilick]

I will be coming to Thailand with a 60 day tourist visa and want to change to a non-o after 45 days. What is the process to complete this? Do I have to leave the country or can this be done at any immigration office. Will an income letter from the embassy in bangkok suffice as proof of retirement funds?

[zzzzz]

in country easy> go to ur local immigration: can start day after you arrive if you wish, the 90 day will be added to ur 60 day tourist visa
usually you need show 800,000 in the bank coming from overseas>
cost 2,000 baht

what passport as most now wont give ya the letter.  ask at ur local immigration

 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Kilick said:

I will be coming to Thailand with a 60 day tourist visa and want to change to a non-o after 45 days

Don't leave it till that late 

You require minimum 15 days remaining on permission of stay.

Some offices eg CM 21 days.

 

Do you have a Thai bank account in your name only? 

[khunPer]

4 hours ago, Kilick said:

Will an income letter from the embassy in bangkok suffice as proof of retirement funds?

To my knowledge, getting a non-immigrant O-visa on retirement conditions inside Thailand requires a bank deposit of 800k baht.

To extend the stay based on retirement your deposit need to be matured by 2 months, i.e. you need to change visa within 30 days from your initial arrival, preferably after 2 weeks.

[Red Phoenix]

4 hours ago, Kilick said:

I will be coming to Thailand with a 60 day tourist visa and want to change to a non-o after 45 days. What is the process to complete this? Do I have to leave the country or can this be done at any immigration office. Will an income letter from the embassy in bangkok suffice as proof of retirement funds?

Below my responses to the questions in your OP:

#1 - As mentioned by DrJack54, you need to do the application for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement) when you still have at least 15 days left on the Permit to stay you received from Thai border-immigration when entering Thailand.  Be aware that some Imm Offices require more days (e.g. Chiang Mai requires at least 21 days, and Phuket requires at least 15 WORKING days), so better check with your local Imm Office or ask on the Forum.  Obviously, it is not recommended to wait till last day to do the application in case your application is incomplete, so that you still have time to get hold of the missing documents.

#2 - The process to do this is called the 'change of Visa process' and it allows holders of a VisaExempt entry or Tourist Visa entry to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at a Thai Immigration Office, instead of having to apply for the Visa at an Embassy/Consulate in your home-country or other country than Thailand. 

I attached the requirements for such an in-country 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement).

#3 - The application can be done at any Immigration Office, but it is recommended to do it at the Imm Office of the province where you intend to stay long-term.  The Imm Office in order to provide you with any service will require proof of your address in their province (TM-30), that can be in the form of a rental agreement and house-book of the address where you are staying < requirement 8 from the requirements >.  Do PM me on how to meet that TM-30 (official address) requirement, when you are staying at a private address.

#4 - Use of the 'income method' to meet the financial requirements for the application < requirement 6 >, is only available for citizens of those countries where their local Embassy/Consulate in Thailand still provides the 'income letter'.  Unfortunately the US, British and Australian Embassies in Thailand do not give out such letters anymore, so citizens of those countries have to make use of the 'funds in bank' method < requirement 5 >. 

This requires opening a Thai bank-account on your personal name, and transferring +800.000 THB to that account with foreign origins proven as you need proof that those funds are on that account at the moment of application for your 90-day Non Imm O (retirement) Visa.

Note that opening a Thai bank-account is not evident, and that it might require shopping around for quite some time to find a Bank willing to accept you as a customer.  Some banks - even for retirees - require a Work Permit, which makes it impossible to comply with that requirement for opening the account on a Non Imm O (retirement) Visa, as working is strictly prohibited on such Visa.  Other banks require a Residence Certificate, which you cannot get at an Imm Office unless you already have made your 90-day report, so it has to be acquired at your Embassy in Thailand (when they give out such Residence Certificates).  And some bank-banches want you to buy insurance when opening the account at their branche.

It is recommended to try opening an account at branches of Kasikorn Bank or Bangkok Bank, or alternatively at other banks that are familiar with dealing with farangs like SCB or KrungSri.  You best chances are in the small branches of banks situated in large Shopping malls.  If nothing works (you have approx 1 month after arrival to get it done), you might have to contact a Visa Agent to help you open a Bank-account, which normally would cost approx 5.000,- THB.  Kasikorn Bank and Bangkok Bank are partner-banks of WISE, while other Thai banks when you make use of the WISE-service to transfer the funds to your Thai bank only allow 50.000,- THB per transfer, hence the preference for Kasikorn or BKB, and these major banks have a large network all over Thailand.

>> It sounds complicated (and it is) but with patience and perseverance you will be able to do it.  Cheers and success!

9.FOR-RETIREMENT-PURPOSES-50-YEARS-OLD-NON-O.pdf

[Toby1947]

If you haven't got a Thai bank account, you are stuffed and you will struggle to open one on a tourist visa. Need to use an agent 

[bluemoon58]

All good info above but I would strongly suggest you go see a visa agent within days of arrival. Yes it will cost you but it'll be a lot less hassle. Once you're sorted, come your annual renewal, you can do it yourself, it's simple. That's what I did and never regretted it. 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, bluemoon58 said:

. Once you're sorted, come your annual renewal, you can do it yourself, it's simple. That's what I did and never regretted it

So for your first extension based on retirement you met the financial requirements and maintained that till your next extension? 

So what did the agent do.

Hand holding? 

Edited June 30, 2023 by DrJack54

[BritTim]

You can definitely apply for a change of visa to a Non O intending retirement at the local immigration office.

 

An income letter from your embassy might be accepted as financial proof for the application. You will need to discuss this with your local immigration office after arriving in Thailand. Some offices will only accept money in the bank for the initial visa application, though an income letter should always be acceptable (perhaps, backed up with other documentation) for later extensions of your permission to stay.