Retirement Visa Based On Australian Income

[bobles]

Can anyone out there help me please?

My wife and I would like to obtain a Retirement Visa based on my Income from Australia. Is this possible?

We are aged 58 and 60 years.

Three years ago and two years ago we had a Retirement Visa as we had the appropriate amount of money in a Thai bank. At the begining of this year we obtained a Non Immigrant O Visa from an embassy outside Thailand. The main problem being that we did not have the required amount of money in our Thai bank account. The situation is still the same.

I receive about 74,000 Baht per calender month from the N.S.W. State Government Superannuation Scheme which is indexed linked and is paid to me each fortnight until I die.

This pension is paid into my account with the State Government Employees Credit Union in Sydney. They will not pay it into an overseas bank account. The Credit Union will only transfer my money to my Thai bank account with Western Union. Expensive and inconvenient.

In October every year I receive a statement from the State Government Super Scheme informing me of the amount of my fortnightly payments for the coming year.

My question is: If I get the statement certified at the Australian Consulate in Bangkok, will it be accepted by Thai Immigration as proof of income when we apply for a Retirement Visa?

We would appreciate any assistance to help us navigate through the Thai Immigration minefield.

[lopburi3]

Yes - all you need is the Embassy letter to use income. But I take it your wife also needs a visa/extension? In that case she must use your passport showing retirement extension of stay to obtain a non immigrant O visa and then it can be extended to match your extension of stay without new financial conditions.

[aussiedoug]

A much cheaper option for you would be a plain debit card issued by your credit union that you can use overseas. This would save you the Western Union fees and you could get one each and that gives you a back up if the mag strip on one goes awol.

[bobles]

Yes - all you need is the Embassy letter to use income. But I take it your wife also needs a visa/extension? In that case she must use your passport showing retirement extension of stay to obtain a non immigrant O visa and then it can be extended to match your extension of stay without new financial conditions.

Thank you very much for the info lopburi3. This is good news. Only one problem now. Me being a bit thick. I do not quite understand the bit about my wife using my passport. Also, if I get a retirement visa/extention and she gets a non immigrant O, does that mean that I can report to Samui immigration every 90 days and she has to do a 'border' bounce?'

Once again, thanks for your help. It looks like it will not cost me an arm and a leg this time.

[bobles]

A much cheaper option for you would be a plain debit card issued by your credit union that you can use overseas. This would save you the Western Union fees and you could get one each and that gives you a back up if the mag strip on one goes awol.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion aussiedoug, good idea. Don't quite know how I could use it as proof of income though. Cheers

[thaiphoon]

Yes - all you need is the Embassy letter to use income. But I take it your wife also needs a visa/extension? In that case she must use your passport showing retirement extension of stay to obtain a non immigrant O visa and then it can be extended to match your extension of stay without new financial conditions.

Thank you very much for the info lopburi3. This is good news. Only one problem now. Me being a bit thick. I do not quite understand the bit about my wife using my passport. Also, if I get a retirement visa/extention and she gets a non immigrant O, does that mean that I can report to Samui immigration every 90 days and she has to do a 'border' bounce?'

Once again, thanks for your help. It looks like it will not cost me an arm and a leg this time.

Once you have your own extension of stay based on retirement in place, your wife can “piggy back” your extension of stay as your dependant. That means neither of you would have to do border runs, but you would both have to report your address to immigration every 90 days.

To start the process your wife first needs to have a Non-O visa and will then go through a conversion process to obtain her own extension of stay as your dependant. If Non-O visa is required, that can easily be obtained from a consulate abroad by presenting your passport showing your own extension of stay.

[lopburi3]

Your wife gets a single entry visa one time at a foreign located Consulate using a copy of your passport to prove need for such a visa (although being over age 50 it may not even be asked for). Then returns and extends her 90 day stay to match your extension of stay (as your dependent wife).