Renew Retirement Visa in Phuket

[John Phuket]

Does anyone have the latest requirement to renew a retirement visa in Phuket? I understand about the bank requirements but are photographs of you both outside and inside your house also required? (or even a video ?)  Is a hand-drawn map of where you live also required? And are there any new requirements that might have been introduced recently? Thanks for any input

[federicoP]

My last experience al Phuket immigration was on March of this year, hope it is still updated

 

At the Immigration they were distributing this check-list: VistoIstruzioniImmigrationMarzo2023.pdf

I gave also the hand-drawn map and a copy of my ATM card.

Picture only outside, with evidence of the house number.

 

Any more recent experience will be welcome

 

 

[Liquorice]

3 hours ago, John Phuket said:

Does anyone have the latest requirement to renew a retirement visa in Phuket?

You can't renew a visa at local Immigration offices.
You can though apply to extend your period of stay based on retirement, which is a permit, not a visa.

[Red Phoenix]

Here the link to the page with the 'Retirement extension' requirements as published on the website of the Phuket Immigration Volunteers.  The info was last updated October 2023.

> http://piv-phuket.com/retirement/ 

[phuketcouple]

In March this year, when I applied again for my Retirement Extension at Phuket Immigration, I received for the first time an "official" list for their requirements from Phuket Immigration officers- see attachment.
Good Luck

2023 Phuket Immigration Retirement Extension Requirements.pdf

[novster]

Can confirm the Phuket immigration volunteers list of information was accurate when I renewed earlier this month. 

[Mutt Daeng]

13 hours ago, federicoP said:

My last experience al Phuket immigration was on March of this year, hope it is still updated

 

At the Immigration they were distributing this check-list: VistoIstruzioniImmigrationMarzo2023.pdf

I gave also the hand-drawn map and a copy of my ATM card.

Picture only outside, with evidence of the house number.

 

Any more recent experience will be welcome

 

 

You gave immigration a copy of your ATM card? Why on earth would you do that?

[federicoP]

43 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

You gave immigration a copy of your ATM card? Why on earth would you do that?

Because they asked me, and because number, expiring date and my signature are only at the back.

 

[DFPhuket]

I renewed mine in Phuket in  July. The only change was that the map (which had been required in previous years) was returned to me and I was told it wasn't needed. All other docs needed were as listed on the volunteer's website. 

 

When you arrive they now give you (or you may need to ask for) a queue number. When it's your turn, the immigration official sitting outside who checks your documents is quite young, fast and efficient. He has a computer and checked it for something as he went through the documents. I'm pretty certain it was to check for a completed TM30 since the person ahead of me was told that was missing and to return after doing it. 

[OJAS]

14 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

Here the link to the page with the 'Retirement extension' requirements as published on the website of the Phuket Immigration Volunteers.  The info was last updated October 2023.

> http://piv-phuket.com/retirement/ 

Of particular interest to the OP if he originally entered the country with a non-OA visa, having last used it for this purpose before 1 October 2019, is that Phuket are still not insisting on the mandatory health insurance requirement in such cases. The solitary non-rogue office in LOS in that regard, I believe!

 

[Mutt Daeng]

3 hours ago, federicoP said:

Because they asked me, and because number, expiring date and my signature are only at the back.

 

Fair enough. 

[LudwigK]

https://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/retirement/

[xylophone]

I renewed my retirement extension just a few days ago at the main Phuket immigration office and the list of requirements which has been posted by @phuketcouple was on the mark, although the young officer I was dealing with suggested that I should have come sooner because the bank stamp on the bank statements was 10 days previous, but that was because there was a holiday and a weekend in between me going into the bank and me receiving the printouts on the same day as I visited the office!

 

A point here that I will make is that when I got there at 1 PM, there was around 35 people waiting to go into the office and quite a few Russian agents with stacks of passports to process, so I had to wait about 3 1/2 hours to get my ticket/receipt to come back the next day to pick up my passport – – which I did, only to find that the queue in order to get a re-entry permit had about 60 people in it (including sitting on seats inside the room waiting for their turn to be called) so I wasn't about to wait, and got the re-entry permit at the immigration office in Patong, waiting just five minutes to do so.

[Brick Top]

9 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

You gave immigration a copy of your ATM card? Why on earth would you do that?

A copy of the ATM that you use to withdraw funds from your bank is and always has been required if your on the 65,000 per month income way. I have always been asked to provide this at Phuket immigration on my previous 16 extensions 

[Brick Top]

8 hours ago, federicoP said:

Because they asked me, and because number, expiring date and my signature are only at the back.

 

Also , they have always requested this from me  for my last 16 extensions. I am on the 65,000 per month way , they told me its because they want proof of how I access my pension funds.

[Mutt Daeng]

29 minutes ago, Brick Top said:

Also , they have always requested this from me  for my last 16 extensions. I am on the 65,000 per month way , they told me its because they want proof of how I access my pension funds.

What if you don't have an ATM card? I let my ATM cards expire and now use the cardless withdrawal function in the bank mobile apps to get money from ATMs.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, Brick Top said:

A copy of the ATM that you use to withdraw funds from your bank is and always has been required if your on the 65,000 per month income way. I have always been asked to provide this at Phuket immigration on my previous 16 extensions 

Out of curiosity, does this mean that they will deny the application if, for safety reasons, you decide not to have an ATM card for the account?

[LikeItHot]

13 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

You gave immigration a copy of your ATM card? Why on earth would you do that?

They absolutely demanded it from me despite me using the transfer method and them having absolutely zero grounds to request it.  They refused to accept my embassy income letter 3 times until one of the volunteers finally intervened and told the actual officials they were wrong before they finally relented.  Even then I had to wait for the extension boss to count out the age of my income letter on his fingers first and then with a pad and pencil as he could not believe the letter was less than six months old and was one of the last one issued by the US Embassy before they ended this practice and was still valid.  The thought that I could be right and he was wrong was so overwhelming for him he did everything he could to try to deny me before finally giving me my extension but never admitting he was wrong.  A process that should have taken minutes took hours to resolve.  I thank God every day that I left those SOBs behind and now breeze through my extension every year in Samui where Immigration is staffed by actual human beings not robotic psychopaths.

[jimn]

13 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

They absolutely demanded it from me despite me using the transfer method and them having absolutely zero grounds to request it.  They refused to accept my embassy income letter 3 times until one of the volunteers finally intervened and told the actual officials they were wrong before they finally relented.  Even then I had to wait for the extension boss to count out the age of my income letter on his fingers first and then with a pad and pencil as he could not believe the letter was less than six months old and was one of the last one issued by the US Embassy before they ended this practice and was still valid.

Why are you commenting on something that obviously happened years ago. Its not relevant.

[John Phuket]

Thanks to everyone who responded. The pdf info looks good although last year I was also asked for copies of all previous retirement stamps in my passport. 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, John Phuket said:

I was also asked for copies of all previous retirement stamps in my passport. 

I forgot to mention this...............sorry!!!

[BritTim]

An insulting post, and the reply to it, have been removed.

[Captain Monday]

You cannot renew a visa.

You can extend your permit to stay. If you wish to argue terminology that is fine but just understand the rules and restrictions of what Thai immigration can issue.