Best Way To Retirement Visa

[husskydog]

I wonder if i could have some suggestions or opinions please...best way forward.

Moving over to LOS soon and will be 50yrs old in april 2010 , i would like to be there by the end of November/December this year 2008. I realise the best option and really the only option for a retirement visa is being the holder of a multi entry "o" visa from hull current on the date of retirement in LOS, but i dont want to return to the Uk that soon, meaning, i know that i can get a multi "o" extended and effctively give me 15 months in total but thats cutting it fine and i dont think i would get a retirement visa in LOS if my "o" visa was in extension? mode.

What is the longest time that hull will issue an "o" in advance and can i get vistors visa`s extended long enough to get me within a year of the retirement date.....thanks for your thoughts

p.s. i hope you guys understand what i mean...cheers

[Jingthing]

I think visas usually need to be used for the first time within 90 days of issue.

You don't need an O visa or an O-A visa from the UK though.

You can convert to an O visa in Thailand from even a 30 day stamp if you are qualified to extend based on retirement. Again, if you want, this can all be done in Thailand. You will need to have your financial act together here though, either

-- embassy letter over 65K per month pension etc. income

-- 800K in a Thai bank account, transferred from abroad ideally, seasoned for 3 months before your extension meeting

-- a combination of embassy letter and Thai bank account (no seasoning needed)

In Thailand, you won't need a criminal background check or medical report, in the UK you will.

I see you have quite a gap between your arrival time and turning 50. I think your best bet for that would be an ED visa to take Thai language courses. That will fill your gap quite well. If you are interested, find out about getting an ED visa to start. Then, when you turn 50, you can do the conversion to extension based on retirement in Thailand.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Jingthing

[husskydog]

Thanks for the speedy reply Jingthing,

still not sure what type of visa you mean from now until 2010, please advice...the money side should be ok as i have a kasikorn internet account up and running now and have funds for either part and part or full cash if needed, i did read earlier too that if you have a letter from pension fund +cash the cash need not be in the back for 3 months prior...thanks

[Sophon]

I wonder if i could have some suggestions or opinions please...best way forward.

Moving over to LOS soon and will be 50yrs old in april 2010 , i would like to be there by the end of November/December this year 2008. I realise the best option and really the only option for a retirement visa is being the holder of a multi entry "o" visa from hull current on the date of retirement in LOS, but i dont want to return to the Uk that soon, meaning, i know that i can get a multi "o" extended and effctively give me 15 months in total but thats cutting it fine and i dont think i would get a retirement visa in LOS if my "o" visa was in extension? mode.

What is the longest time that hull will issue an "o" in advance and can i get vistors visa`s extended long enough to get me within a year of the retirement date.....thanks for your thoughts

p.s. i hope you guys understand what i mean...cheers

I don't know if there is a set time, but you definitely want to have the visa issued as late as possible. The visas validity starts on the day it's issued (not the day you enter Thailand), so for every day between the date it's issued and the date you arrive in Thailand you lose a day at the other end.

What I would do if I were you;

Apply for a multi non-o visa at Hull maybe 10 days before you leave. If, let's say, it's issued on 25th November it will be valid until 24th November 2009.

Between now and 24th November 2009 you have to do visa runs every three month (not really that bad or expensive).

Do your last visa run on 23rd November 2009, that should give you a permission to stay until approximately 20th February 2010.

In February 2010 go to a neighbouring country and apply for a new non o (if you can get it) or a tourist visa. That will give you another 90/60 days which should be enough for you.

In April 2010 apply for an extension based on retirement. If at that time you only have a tourist visa you will need to convert to a non 0 visa first, but that can be done without leaving Thailand.

The above is based on the present rules, but of course things could change between now and 2010.

Sophon

[Jingthing]

I don't know if there is a set time, but you definitely want to have the visa issued as late as possible. The visas validity starts on the day it's issued (not the day you enter Thailand), so for every day between the date it's issued and the date you arrive in Thailand you lose a day at the other end.

If I understand what you are saying correctly, I believe that is incorrect. The visa has a use by date which can expire but the actual visa is not effected until you enter Thailand. In other words, you get a 90 day visa in rhe UK and it expires in 90 days. This means you have 90 days in which to first enter Thailand (or whatever date they stamp the expiry date as), and then you can stay 90 days after you "use" the visa. In this case, there is no big rush at all to wait until the last minute to get the O visa in the UK!

To the OP, this is a little complicated because you have such a long time range and so many possible variables and strategies. As you are under 50 and wish to move to Thailand now, I suggested you do some research into the ED visa (which I think is another kind of O visa) which is good for a year at a time but has an education requirement (in other words you need to sign up with a school usually to learn Thai). I don't know much about the ED visa but it is fairly straightforward and a popular option for under 50's who want to hang around for years without visa runs.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Jingthing

[ubonjoe]

I wonder if i could have some suggestions or opinions please...best way forward.

Moving over to LOS soon and will be 50yrs old in april 2010 , i would like to be there by the end of November/December this year 2008. I realise the best option and really the only option for a retirement visa is being the holder of a multi entry "o" visa from hull current on the date of retirement in LOS, but i dont want to return to the Uk that soon, meaning, i know that i can get a multi "o" extended and effctively give me 15 months in total but thats cutting it fine and i dont think i would get a retirement visa in LOS if my "o" visa was in extension? mode.

What is the longest time that hull will issue an "o" in advance and can i get vistors visa`s extended long enough to get me within a year of the retirement date.....thanks for your thoughts

p.s. i hope you guys understand what i mean...cheers

Yes getting a multiple entry non-o at Hull is best option for you. You can apply for it to visit friends with a note that you plan on retireing later. My understanding is that Hull is very cooperative in giving visas. You need to wait until shortly before you plan to traval because its validity starts on the date of issue. With a multiple entry you can get almost 15 months as long as you make your last entry just before it expires and get the final 90 days out of it. It will mean border runs every 90 days but those are easily done. You will come up short of your retirement date by couple of months or so. You could then make a visa run to a nearby consulate and possibly get a single entry non-o since your birthday falls within the validity period of the visa. If not you could get a single entry tourist visa whish would also get you to your birthday.

Of course if you were to make another trip home before then you could always get another multiple entry while you were there and not have to worry about the visa run here.

Good Luck

Joe

Edited October 26, 2008 by ubonjoe

[Jingthing]

ou need to wait until shortly before you plan to traval because its validity starts on the date of issue.

OK, I have only gotten tourist visas and started here now on a single entry O visa. The usable days for these visas did NOT start on the date of ISSUE. they started on the day of ENTRY. Is this something about a multi entry O that is different in that the usable days start on the day of issue? I think the visas are VALID for 90 days from the issue to begin USING, so maybe we are talking about the definition of the word shortly, because to most people 3 months is a fair stretch of time.

Edited October 27, 2008 by Jingthing

[ubonjoe]

All multiple entry non immigrant visas have on a use before date of 1 year from date of issue. The one year date for this visa is important if you want to get as much as you can out of the visa. Every day lost between date of issue and date of entry is lost in how long you can use it to get one more entry out of the visa.

A single entry will have a date 90 days after issue. With this visa it does not matter because you will still get 90 days upon entry.

I think tourist visas are the same in that they also have a use by date that starts on date of issue. If it has more than 1 entry you would loose the time you have to do the last entry.

Edit: Note there are non immigrant visas that have more than one year and those are multiple non-oa's and 3 year b's.

Edited October 27, 2008 by ubonjoe

[Sophon]

I don't know if there is a set time, but you definitely want to have the visa issued as late as possible. The visas validity starts on the day it's issued (not the day you enter Thailand), so for every day between the date it's issued and the date you arrive in Thailand you lose a day at the other end.

If I understand what you are saying correctly, I believe that is incorrect. The visa has a use by date which can expire but the actual visa is not effected until you enter Thailand. In other words, you get a 90 day visa in rhe UK and it expires in 90 days. This means you have 90 days in which to first enter Thailand (or whatever date they stamp the expiry date as), and then you can stay 90 days after you "use" the visa. In this case, there is no big rush at all to wait until the last minute to get the O visa in the UK!

You are mixing up the validity of the visa and the permission to stay stamp.

A visa will have a "enter before" date, and as the name implies you have to enter Thailand before that date. With a single entry visa that date generally doesn't matter, because it will normally be three months after the visa is issued and the visa holder will normally have entered long before then.

But in order to get the maximum out of a multi entry non O you will want to enter on your visa for the last time the day before the visa expires, and that will be 12 months after the visa is issued. So if the visa is issued long before you enter Thailand you will lose time in Thailand on the visa.

Example:

You want to enter Thailand on 2nd December 2008.

If the visa is issued on 1st December 2008 it will have an "enter before" date of 30th November 2009.

You can then enter for the last time on the visa on 29th November 2009 and will be allowed to stay until 26th February 2010.

So you will be allowed to stay in Thailand in total from 2nd December 2008 until 26th February 2010 or almost 15 months.

But if the visa is issued two months in advance on eg. 1st October 2008 it will only have an "enter before" date of 30th September 2009.

When you enter on the visa for the last time on 29th September 2009 you will get a "permitted to stay" stamp until 27th December 2009.

So in total you can stay in Thailand from 2nd December 2008 until 27th December 2009 which is two month less than if you had the visa issued just before you leave for Thailand.

So even though you will still receive 90 days permitted to stay on each entry on the visa, in total you will lose the two months the visa was issued before you enter Thailand for the first time. And the question from the OP was what is the best way for him to stay in Thailand until he turns 50 in 2010.

Sophon

Edited October 27, 2008 by Sophon

[Maestro]

Jingthing, your posts suggesting a single-entry non-O visa are off topic. The OP needs to cover the time from November 2008 until April 2010, when his age will qualify him for a retirement extension. Another poster’s suggestion of a multiple-entry non-O visa followed by a tourist visa is the best option for the OP.

--

Maestro

[Jingthing]

Jingthing, your posts suggesting a single-entry non-O visa are off topic. The OP needs to cover the time from November 2008 until April 2010, when his age will qualify him for a retirement extension. Another poster’s suggestion of a multiple-entry non-O visa followed by a tourist visa is the best option for the OP.

--

Maestro

I suggested he look into an ED visa and stay long term that way. But it sounds like you have a better idea of what is possible from the UK, so my apologies for introducing any unwelcome confusion.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Jingthing

[Lite Beer]

Yes a Multi Entry Non O Visa is easy from Hull Consulate in UK. Unlike the US I gather.

15 months followed by a tourist visa or two will sort him out. Assuming the £ is worth anything by then and he can still afford to stay here.

[tutone]

Thanks for the speedy reply Jingthing,

still not sure what type of visa you mean from now until 2010, please advice...the money side should be ok as i have a kasikorn internet account up and running now and have funds for either part and part or full cash if needed, i did read earlier too that if you have a letter from pension fund +cash the cash need not be in the back for 3 months prior...thanks

Am I reading this correctly, that if I have an income letter from my embassy, then the balance required does not have to be in the bank for 90 days prior to applying for the retirement visa? Does this mean that if I have a letter showing 500,000 baht income, I can deposit 300,000 in the bank anytime before I apply for the visa?

[Jingthing]

Am I reading this correctly, that if I have an income letter from my embassy, then the balance required does not have to be in the bank for 90 days prior to applying for the retirement visa? Does this mean that if I have a letter showing 500,000 baht income, I can deposit 300,000 in the bank anytime before I apply for the visa?

Yes. But what you will be applying for at that time in Thailand is called an extension based on retirement, which is an extension of an already existing O visa.

[tutone]

Am I reading this correctly, that if I have an income letter from my embassy, then the balance required does not have to be in the bank for 90 days prior to applying for the retirement visa? Does this mean that if I have a letter showing 500,000 baht income, I can deposit 300,000 in the bank anytime before I apply for the visa?

Yes. But what you will be applying for at that time in Thailand is called an extension based on retirement, which is an extension of an already existing O visa.

What if I have a tourist visa and want to apply for an "extension based on retirement"?

[Jingthing]

What if I have a tourist visa and want to apply for an "extension based on retirement"?

You can first convert to an O in Thailand as the first step. I believe you would have to prove you will be able to meet the requirements of applying for the extension to be approved for this first step. Then, the second step is applying for the extension (I think at a later date). I think it would probably OK for you to visit your immigration office for an informational meeting to sort out their exact requirements before you start this as doing the 2 step is a little complicated. In other words, different immigration offices do things differently and hopefully they can tell you how they do it, so you can play the game their way.

Edited October 28, 2008 by Jingthing

[Lite Beer]

What if I have a tourist visa and want to apply for an "extension based on retirement"?

If you meet the financial requirements you can change your Tourist Visa to a Non O Visa at Immigration if you have at least 21 days remaining. (2,000 Baht). This Non O Visa can then be extended for 12 months based on retirement. (1,900 baht)