Retirement visa - i just got mine...i think!

[mesquite]

Today I went out to Chiang Mai Immigration with all my paperwork.  Every thing went smoothly and the lady said she would stamp in my passport that I need to come back in 10 days, presumably to pick up the retirement visa.  Lo and behold, she comes back with my passport stamped for one year since I last entered the country.  She said her boss decided to do it.  I thanked her.

I compared the stamp with the one in a friend's passport (he has an o-a visa) and it was identical.

My original visa, though, was a non-Immigrant "B", multiple entry, good for one year.  It was stamped "NO EXTENSION OF STAY" at the bottom.  This appeared to make no difference.

All of the paperwork the lady filled out seemed to contain information about my pension and other retirement issues and I made it clear I was retiring in Thailand.  

I wonder if I have an O-A visa or an extended B visa.  I guess it really doesn't matter, unless I want to buy a condo or apply for residency.

The people at Chiang Mai Immigration certainly were nice and I have no complaints.

[Lancelot]

Today I went out to Chiang Mai Immigration with all my paperwork.  Every thing went smoothly and the lady said she would stamp in my passport that I need to come back in 10 days, presumably to pick up the retirement visa. ........

I wonder if I have an O-A visa or an extended B visa.  I guess it really doesn't matter, unless I want to buy a condo or apply for residency.

Mesquite,

Congrats on receiving your Visa. So is it a retirememnt Visa or anothe type?

Can you buy property on a retirememnt Visa?

Lance

[Phuket 2002]

Hi all;

I just got my 2nd retirment visa here in Phuket.  No problems, showed them my bank statement showing 800,000 baht in it (deposited the day before :-) )

and 1 photo, 500 baht and 15 minutes later I am good for another year.

Add to that a 1 year multiple re-entry permit for 1,000 baht

You can always buy a cond (farangs allowed 49% of the totla numebr) but a retirement visa gives you no rights to buy land or WORK!!!

Phuket Immigrtation is GREAT!!

[Roger13]

I thought I read somewhere that Foreigners

could buy Condos but only above a Certain

Floor Level - (4th or 5th floor maybe??)

[Brian]

We wouldn't want them to survive a dive from a lower floor and then put uneccessary strain on the Thai medical system now would we..

Seriously though, I've never heard of that one.

[Curious George]

I must say I've read the same about the Condo building being constructed with a minimum number of floors, and also the farang can only purchase above the fourth floor. But, reading the following current Act, I see no mention of that. (Note: this is only the first part since it goes on and on)

--------------

Condominium Act of 1999

Section 19 (1): Aliens and Juristic persons which the law treats as aliens may own a condominium unit if they qualify as one of the following types of aliens or juristic persons:

1. An alien who has been permitted to stay in the kingdom as a resident under the laws of immigration.

2. An alien who has been permitted to enter the Kingdom under the laws on promotion of investment.

3. A juristic person as prescribed under Sections 97 and 98 of the land code which has been registered as a juristic person under Thai law.

4. A Juristic person who is an alien under Announcement of the National Executive Council No. 281, dated 24 November B.E. 2515, and which has received a promotion certificate under the laws on promotion of investment.

5. An alien or a juristic person which the law treats as an alien which imports foreign currency into the Kingdom or withdraws money from a deposit account of Thai Baht of a person having residence abroad or withdraws money from a deposit account of foreign currency

Section 19 (2): Each condominium may have aliens and / or juristic persons as stated under section 19 take ownership of its units in total of not more than forty-nine per cent of the whole area of all units in that condominium as shown at the time the condominium was registered.

In any condominium where aliens or juristic persons as stipulated in section 19 take ownership of units in excess of the rate as prescribed by the preceding paragraph, that condominium shall be located in Bangkok, municipal or other local government areas as prescribed by Ministerial Regulations, and the area of the land on which the condominium is situated including the land available for use or for common interests of its co-owners shall not exceed five rai.  (it continues)

--------------

[meuok]

I have an "O" visa, and I've been to Suan Plu twice to effect change of visa from O to O-A, but despite having a print out of the govermental rules for retirement visas (in English), they refuse to change the visa telling me that this has to be done outside of the kingdom.

I would be pleased to hear from readers whoo have suceeded in changing their visa in Thailand, or alternatively any one who knows of a government site with the regulations written in Thai, that I can peruse and put in front of the officer's nose.

[goofy]

idont know were suan plu is , but it sems like its no idea to do it there

The officer has decided that you cant do it at his imm office and thats it !!!

Dont try to put papers in his face, the result might be something you dont like

Go somewhere else bkk or whatever.

[Roger13]

Goofy

As everybody else knows:

Soi Suan Phlu is where the

Immigration Head Office

for Thailand is situated - in Bangkok.

Meuok

Goofy is right however when he says

that you are unlikely to succeed

with that attitude.

You will just get all the rules quoted to you

and no help whatsoever.

Others on this Forum advise having

done what you wish to do.

The Officers do seem to have very wide

discretionary powers to assist polite

/ undemanding applicants, but they will

put up all barriers to pushy demanding types.

One successful member did quote the name

of an individual Immigration Ofiicer who assisted

him - in a room upstairs - you can trace it in

another posting about Retirement Visas (I think).

My advice is - Next time wait some distance

from and in front of the Officer and WAIT

until he or she invites you

to come forward.

Roger

[JimGant]

[i'm a US citizen, age 59, married to a Thai national]

"Today I went out to Chiang Mai Immigration with all my paperwork."

Could you (or anyone in the know) state exactly what "all my paperwork" consists of? I'll be doing the same in Chiang Mai soon, but I'm slightly confused about some stated requirements, like "A Personal Data Form."  Is this a fill-in-the-blanks form, or what? Easily filled out at time of application -- or should I obtain it (from where?) before I go to Immigration?

Another stated requirement is: "Verification stating that the applicant has no criminal record issued from the county of his/her nationality or residence (the verification shall be valid for no more than 3 months). "

What, how, and who satisfies this requirement?

Medical certificate. Do you just waltz into a clinic, get checked out for elephantitis, etc, and then exit with an official certificate?

Bank certificate. I've got the required 250,000 baht in a Thai bank - but it's in a joint account with my Thai wife. Do I need an individual account?

If I wanted to use monthly pension vice 250,000 in bank to meet requirement, would this pension have to be directly deposited to a Thai bank? Right now, my pension goes directly to a US bank. It's above 65,000/mo, and I can verify it with my US Air Force Pension statement. And part of it is wired periodically to Thailand. But will Immigration accept this?

Does marriage certificate have to be translated into Thai? I've seen 'yes,' 'no' and 'maybe' to this on this forum -- anybody have the latest, particularly with experience in Chiang Mai?

Anybody experience any surprise requirements when applying for a retirement visa?

What's the best FAQ link, if any, that addresses the above?

Thanks.

Jim Gant

[lopburi3]

Could you (or anyone in the know) state exactly what "all my paperwork" consists of?

First of all we need to know what type of visa extension you are requesting.  In one place you say marriage certificate and 250k and in another retirement.  They are not the same.

First data form is that of TM-7 which can be found from home page of Thaivisa.com.  Another form of various items is filled out at final extension desk, normally they/wife will fill it out.  Includes your net pay, bank info, address, history etc, etc.  None of these are filled out prior to visit.

Criminal record statement only required for retirement visa.  Perhaps Consulate can issue if you in Chiang Mai but have no knowledge of this, or even if required if living here already.

Medical certificate is also only for retirement AFAIK and can be obtained at any clinic for a few baht.

Bank deposit can be joint; but 250k is marriage requirement.   For retirement you need 800k.

Your pension can be used with a letter from your consulate.  It does not have to be directly deposited here.

Marriage certificate may have to be register with foreign ministry (translated) but not sure.  Best to ask immigration.

You should check with immigration for current requirements a few days before you plan to apply to make sure you have everything.  You will need copies of everything for the first visit and they will have to be signed by you, wife, or both for joint accounts.

[hukster]

I'm getting married in august, and will be going through the same. The wesites i have gone to is the ministry of foriegn affairs, where you have a choice of english or thai. also bangkok banks website says if you are married you can open a joint resident account. I do not know if immigration requires the account to be in your name only. If you find out please let me know.

[lopburi3]

Bank account can be a joint account.  Mine is.  Ministry of Foreign Affairs rules may not always be exactly the same as followed by the Immigration Police inside Thailand.

[hukster]

Thanks lopburi3. I'll let everyone know what happens. will be in August.

[JimGant]

Lopburi3, many thanks for your info.

Yes, I've gotten 'retirement' and 'marriage' visas confused, being eligible for both. I had just assumed the only difference was 800,000 baht vs. 250,000 baht bank acct requirement. As you point out, there is a considerable difference in paperwork requirements between the two, with 'marriage' visa looking the less onerous (unless translating the marriage certificate, if required,  is more than the minimum effort it seems(?)).

Before the law was changed to allow wife to keep her Thai surnmame, I had considered going the 'retirement' visa route to preclude any fuss over her having kept her name 25 years ago when we married in the States. But that's no longer a factor --- so the 'marriage' visa looks the way to go -- unless someone reading this sees a quirk I don't (and it seems 'quirk' defines Thai immigration law interpretation

Thanks again for your time, Lopburi3.

Jim Gant

[sabaijai]

Back to the condo issue, I purchased a condo on the second floor of a six-storey building, no problem. However there was a lot of paperwork involved, including a guarantee from a foreign bank that they had transferred money to my Thai acct for the express purpose of buying the condo. Plus, obeying a request from the bank I bought the condo from (they owned, I bought in cash), I had to show a work permit.

Sorry to go a bit off topic, but since someone brought this issue up in this thread I thought it might help to mention my experience.  ::