What are my visa options?

[rudi49jr]

I’m going to retire at the end of next year, and will be moving to Thailand. I will be 67 years old then, and will get a pension of around 75,000 baht a month.
I don’t have 800,000 baht for a retirement visa. Don’t have 500,000 baht for a DTV either. I do have a Thai girlfriend, and we will be living together, but we’re not going to get married. 

I would prefer to live in Thailand year round. But if necessary (i.e. easier visa-wise), I would consider living in Thailand for 6 months, and then in Cambodia for 6 months. 
What are my options?

[DrJack54]

What is passport country? 

 

Asking as some embassies provide "income letter" and some (UK, USA, AU) do not.

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

[rudi49jr]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

What is passport country? 

 

Asking as some embassies provide "income letter" and some (UK, USA, AU) do not.

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

I am Dutch. Not sure what the ‘income letter’ you mention means. I don’t have a Thai bank account in my name only.

[Pattaya57]

Well if you don't have 800k baht equivalent in a bank then pretty much that's what agents are for. I'm not sure if you'd have the 30k baht for an agent though, which is what's required to open a bank account and get your non-imm O (Retirement) + 12 month extension

 

Edit: just saw your response that you are Dutch. Isn't that one of the embassies that still give the income letter so you can use that instead of 800k in bank?

 

Edited 35 minutes ago by Pattaya57

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I am Dutch. Not sure what the ‘income letter’ you mention means. I don’t have a Thai bank account in my name only.

That's good news. 

For non O retirement annual extensions there are two methods.

Money in bank (800k) OR income method.

Being Dutch you can use income method.

Is the 70k per month that you mentioned a pension?  

 

Since you dont have a Thai bank account you best option is to obtain the Non O retirement eVisa outside of Thailand. 

 

BTW: The Thai gf doesn't come into the equation for immigration purposes.

What's with the 6 months in Cambodia 

[Nick Carter icp]

If you are staying for just six months year , you can do that on free Visa exempts . 

   If you don't have the money in the bank for a retirement visa, then it will cost about 30-50K B a year for the visa

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

If you don't have the money in the bank for a retirement visa, then it will cost about 30-50K B a year for the visa

He has embassy income letter available for extensions from a non O.

Assume the 30-50k you mention is for visa agent. Ongoing annual extensions less than 15k.

Better options available 

 

It's possible the 6 month thing is OP concern with taxation.

 

[rudi49jr]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

That's good news. 

For non O retirement annual extensions there are two methods.

Money in bank (800k) OR income method.

Being Dutch you can use income method.

Is the 70k per month that you mentioned a pension?  

 

Since you dont have a Thai bank account you best option is to obtain the Non O retirement eVisa outside of Thailand. 

 

BTW: The Thai gf doesn't come into the equation for immigration purposes.

What's with the 6 months in Cambodia 

Thanks for the info, this is very helpful. The 70k per month is actually two pensions.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Thanks for the info, this is very helpful. The 70k per month is actually two pensions.

As posted earlier....one option it to obtain non O (retirement) eVisa in your country. 

That provides a 90 day stamp on entry.

With a non O visa you can open a bank account. 

That will be first item on the "to do" list.

What's the plan of 6 months each year in Cambodia 

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

Thanks for the info, this is very helpful. The 70k per month is actually two pensions.

For income method (retirement) the monthly transfers is min 65k 

[rudi49jr]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

As posted earlier....one option it to obtain non O (retirement) eVisa in your country. 

That provides a 90 day stamp on entry.

With a non O visa you can open a bank account. 

That will be first item on the "to do" list.

What's the plan of 6 months each year in Cambodia 

The question about the 6 months a year in Cambodia was for several reasons. Maybe it’s easier to get a visa to live in Thailand for just 6 months, then go live somewhere else for 6 months and then come back again. My plan is to live on Koh Chang, and Cambodia is very close.

Second reason is that Thailand is going to tax expat income, but I believe only if you stay there for more than 180 days.