Quite a long time ago, maybe 7 or 8 years, I was advised by a friendly and helpful immigration officer in Krabi where I was living at the time, that I should be careful to always keep my retirement visa valid by renewing it promptly each year, and making sure I had a valid re-entry visa whenever I returned from abroad. He said that if I did this without any break or infringement for 5 years, then I would become entitled to some kind of permanent residence whereby I wouldn't need to apply for visas any more. But if I broke it somehow, then the 5 years would have to start all over again from zero.

I think the reasons for this rule were (a) to encourage the purchase of re-entry visas, ( to ensure the immigration office had a reasonably guaranteed regular income from renewal of retirement visas, and © to avoid the very lengthy paperwork that was necessary at the time for new repeat applications. It sounded great at the time, but due to changed circumstances, I did break mine shortly afterwards and I did start again in a different immigration office some years later.

I started a new retirement visa 4yrs and 9 months ago, so am now nearing an unbroken 5 years on this new one.

But I suspect that in the meantime the rules have changed and this free ride after 5 years doesn't apply any more.

So my questions are these:

1. What exactly, if anything, changes now when you complete 5 unbroken years on a retirement visa?

2. What happens if you're abroad at the time your annual renewal is due?

3. What penalties do you suffer if you allow your retirement visa to lapse? Is it difficult to start again?

+ SJ

1. Nothing.

2. You will have to start over.

3. None. No.

Quite a long time ago, maybe 7 or 8 years, I was advised by a friendly and helpful immigration officer in Krabi where I was living at the time, that I should be careful to always keep my retirement visa valid by renewing it promptly each year, and making sure I had a valid re-entry visa whenever I returned from abroad. He said that if I did this without any break or infringement for 5 years, then I would become entitled to some kind of permanent residence whereby I wouldn't need to apply for visas any more. But if I broke it somehow, then the 5 years would have to start all over again from zero.

I think the reasons for this rule were (a) to encourage the purchase of re-entry visas, ( to ensure the immigration office had a reasonably guaranteed regular income from renewal of retirement visas, and © to avoid the very lengthy paperwork that was necessary at the time for new repeat applications. It sounded great at the time, but due to changed circumstances, I did break mine shortly afterwards and I did start again in a different immigration office some years later.

I started a new retirement visa 4yrs and 9 months ago, so am now nearing an unbroken 5 years on this new one.

But I suspect that in the meantime the rules have changed and this free ride after 5 years doesn't apply any more.

So my questions are these:

1. What exactly, if anything, changes now when you complete 5 unbroken years on a retirement visa?

2. What happens if you're abroad at the time your annual renewal is due?

3. What penalties do you suffer if you allow your retirement visa to lapse? Is it difficult to start again?

+ SJ

The immigration officer was probably talking about getting Permanent Residence in Thailand. One of the requirements is to have an unbroken string of extensions. I thought it was 3 years, but maybe 5 years. You can do a search on the forum and read all about it.

It is 3 years and not available on retirement extensions of stay.