How To Get Retirement Visa

[tardelli]

how can i jump from tourist visa (which i already have now) to retirement visa ?

i am 52 years old European citizen.

[Jingthing]

Please describe your personal case (financial situation, income, savings, etc.).

If you are financially qualified you can do a change of visa status in Thailand to O, and then as the second step apply for the annual retirement extension.

Three basic options --

800K in Thai bank (seasoned 2 months for first application)

Income letter from embassy showing 65K baht income per month

COMBO method, banked money in Thailand PLUS income letter from embassy totally 800K

[tardelli]

Please describe your personal case (financial situation, income, savings, etc.).

If you are financially qualified you can do a change of visa status in Thailand to O, and then as the second step apply for the annual retirement extension.

Three basic options --

800K in Thai bank (seasoned 2 months for first application)

Income letter from embassy showing 65K baht income per month

COMBO method, banked money in Thailand PLUS income letter from embassy totally 800K

Thank for answering

i do not have 800k in Thai bank

and no income 65 k too..

i am just 52 years old European nation man

and i stay here with tourist visa now

but tired from visa runs..

[Mario2008]

Unless you qaulify for the combo methos (money in the bank in thailand plus yearly income must equal 800,000 a year) you do not qualify for an extension of stay based on retirement. The other option you have is an ED-visa and go and study in Thailand for at least 4 hours a week.

[Jingthing]

If you have no qualifying income and you can't raise 800K even the one time (it's needed to show every year after that too) then not only are you not financially qualified for the extensions, but you really can't afford to retire here long term anyway. (Assuming you don't have another money source you aren't mentioning.) No I am not saying every retiree spends at least 800K annually (nor are they required to do so) but in your case I don't see this working out.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Jingthing

[tardelli]

If you have no qualifying income and you can't raise 800K even the one time (it's needed to show every year after that too) then not only are you not financially qualified for the extensions, but you really can't afford to retire here long term anyway. (Assuming you don't have another money source you aren't mentioning.) No I am not saying every retiree spends at least 800K annually (nor are they required to do so) but in your case I don't see this working out.

i do not have 800k in the bank

and i guess; not many retired people has this money too in the bank to show to get visa;

i have incoming from my properties in Europe on my own ( i get monthly rent money 2000 euro every months all life long)

and i think that is enough to live here..

i do not need any paper to show.. i am not officially retired in my country.. i quit.

and i guess there are many people in Thailand who over 50 years old

they no have 800k or 65k to show at all

BUT after all that some get retirement visa legal

how they do it dont know

i will ask them next better.

[Jingthing]

Your previous words --

and no income 65 k too..

First you say you don't have income, now you say you DO have income.

You are qualified for the retirement extensions, assuming you are now being truthful.

Just get a LETTER from your embassy verifying these RENTAL incomes from Europe. 2000 Euro is about 85K baht per month. So you can use the embassy letter income method only.

It doesn't matter to you how many retirees show 800k in the bank (I do) and how many don't. What matters to you is how YOU are going to qualify. You are qualified. So what is your problem now as I reckon you still have one?

If for some reason your embassy won't give you a letter about your 2000 Euro monthly income, you have a number of other LEGAL options. You can save the 800K. You can live here for years on the education visa, now you are telling us you CAN afford it, so good for you, but it's not nice to change your story in the way you did when sincere people are trying to give you good advice.

If you're looking for advice on how to get extensions illegally, you're at the wrong forum.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Jingthing

[tardelli]

Your previous words --

and no income 65 k too..

You are a bit funny.

First you say you don't have income, now you say you DO have income.

You are qualified for the retirement extensions.

Just get a LETTER from your embassy verifying these RENTAL incomes from Europe. 2000 Euro is about 85K baht per month. So you can use the embassy letter income method only.

It doesn't matter to you how many retirees show 800k in the bank (I do) and how many don't. What matter to you is how YOU are going to qualify. You are qualified. So what is your problem now?

If for some reason your embassy won't give you a letter about your 2000 Euro monthly income, you have a number of other LEGAL options. You can save the 800K. You can live here for years on the education visa, now you are telling us you CAN afford it, so good for you, but it's not nice to change your story in the way you did when sincere people are trying to give you good advice.

If you're looking for advice on how to get extensions illegally, you're at the wrong forum.

something misunderstood here

i have incoming not from my government retired money..i am not officially retired there.. that they cant give me any paper of retired

i get money on my own properties rent money.. the bank sent it me every month from europe

so it doesnt matter for the visa if i am officially retired or not.. just incoming would be enough.. i got it

[supaprik]

Guys sorry to hijack this thread but do you know if I can now apply for my retirement visa without leaving and getting an O visa, I am on my APEC card which gives me 3 mths, unfortunatly I cannot renew it but that is fair enough as I am no longer in business as such... I can easily meet the other requirements and I have had over a mil thb in a Thai banks for over a year..Cheers

[lopburi3]

Believe that is considered a visa exempt entry so you must change to non immigrant 90 day entry first at an immigration office (perhaps Bangkok) at cost of 2,000 baht and then you will be able to obtain the normal TM.7 extension of stay for 1,900 baht (but may have to wait two months).

[supaprik]

Believe that is considered a visa exempt entry so you must change to non immigrant 90 day entry first at an immigration office (perhaps Bangkok) at cost of 2,000 baht and then you will be able to obtain the normal TM.7 extension of stay for 1,900 baht (but may have to wait two months).

Thanks ( as usual Lopburi ), I will try to find out exactly and report back to the other interested members about this situation

[Jingthing]

something misunderstood here

i have incoming not from my government retired money..i am not officially retired there.. that they cant give me any paper of retired

i get money on my own properties rent money.. the bank sent it me every month from europe

so it doesnt matter for the visa if i am officially retired or not.. just incoming would be enough.. i got it

The Thai government does not care one bit if you are "officially" retired or not! It seems you think ONLY pension income streams are qualifying. That is not true. Are you saying you have approached your embassy with proof of your rental income and they are unwilling to issue an income letter suitable for Thai immigration? Somehow I doubt that, but if you haven't approached them about that, if you wish to use your income to qualify for Thailand retirement extensions, then you need to.

To repeat, Thai immigration isn't interested in a document from your government saying you are retired. They are interested in a document saying you have INCOME.

Like I said, in the event your embassy won't issue you a letter, as you DO have an income, you do have other options --

1. Save up the 800K; seems to me you have enough income to accomplish that over time

2. Study Thai 4 hours a week and get an ED visa

3. Cambodia?

Edited September 1, 2011 by Jingthing

[Lite Beer]

An inflammatory post has been deleted.

[Lite Beer]

This is what you need.

(1) The alien has obtained a temporary visa (NON-IM);

(2) The applicant is 50 years of age or over;

(3) Proof of income of not less than Baht 65,000 per month; or

(4) Account deposit with a bank in Thailand of not less than

800,000 Baht as shown in the bank account for the past 3 months at the filing date of the application. For the first year, the applicant should have that amount in his bank account for not less than 60 days or

(5) Annual income plus bank account deposit totaling not less

than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date of application

If you have income plus savings that total 800,000 Baht a year you will qualify.

[Jingthing]

The OP may be concerned that his particular European embassy won't issue him an income letter for immigration based on his rental income flow. Perhaps he may wish to mention the specific nation he is from and can get feedback on that issue from his fellow nationals. Assuming it is an embassy that requires PROOF to issue the immigration letter, perhaps that's another issue. I guess I'll stop speculating now as I ain't psychic!

Edited September 1, 2011 by Jingthing

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

To the OP.... as far as income is concerned, any regular ongoing income will be OK...as long as it is 65,000 baht or more per month.... which is about $2,150 U.S. per month. You said you get 2000 Euros, so as long as you can document that if asked to, you should be fine.

For qualifying for a retirement extension of stay, the income can be from any source pretty much... regular pension, bank interest, rental property income, annuity.. whatever. And even if the amount varies some month to month, as long as the average for the year is 65,000 baht per month or greater, you should be OK.

Thai Immigration doesn't care whether you are officially retired in your country or not. If you're using the 65,000 baht per month method to qualify, what Thai Immigration usually cares about is only that you can provide them with a standard letter from your country's consulate in Bangkok verifying your claimed income. All the consulates are familiar with such letters and issue them routinely to ex-pats living in Thailand.

If you want to pursue this, you should check with your country's consulate in Bangkok about just what they will ask of you in order to issue the income letter that Thai Immigration will require for your retirement extension of stay. The exact procedures for that vary some from consulate to consulate.

And as explained above, if you already have a valid tourist visa, you can go to Bangkok Immigration and have that converted to an O visa, and then to an annually renewable retirement extension of stay, sometimes all in one day -- assuming you meet the requirements for the retirement extension of stay... which are being at least 50 years of age and meeting one of the financial requirements.

Then for the future, you'd have to renew the retirement extension of stay each year, and each year would have to go back to your consulate and get another income letter for that year to once again give to Thai Immigration with your renewal application. And repeat and repeat and repeat...

[Lite Beer]

The op would appear to be Italian if anyone has experience with dealing with the Italian Embassy.

[OriginalPoster]

Your previous words --

and no income 65 k too..

You are a bit funny.

First you say you don't have income, now you say you DO have income.

You are qualified for the retirement extensions.

Just get a LETTER from your embassy verifying these RENTAL incomes from Europe. 2000 Euro is about 85K baht per month. So you can use the embassy letter income method only.

It doesn't matter to you how many retirees show 800k in the bank (I do) and how many don't. What matter to you is how YOU are going to qualify. You are qualified. So what is your problem now?

If for some reason your embassy won't give you a letter about your 2000 Euro monthly income, you have a number of other LEGAL options. You can save the 800K. You can live here for years on the education visa, now you are telling us you CAN afford it, so good for you, but it's not nice to change your story in the way you did when sincere people are trying to give you good advice.

If you're looking for advice on how to get extensions illegally, you're at the wrong forum.

something misunderstood here

i have incoming not from my government retired money..i am not officially retired there.. that they cant give me any paper of retired

i get money on my own properties rent money.. the bank sent it me every month from europe

so it doesnt matter for the visa if i am officially retired or not.. just incoming would be enough.. i got it

There's no requirement that you be "retired" to get an O or OA visa for Thailand, just that you don't work in Thailand.

Edited September 2, 2011 by OriginalPoster

[Travelish]

and do not forget to report every 90 days at Immigration!

[IMA_FARANG]

If you have no qualifying income and you can't raise 800K even the one time (it's needed to show every year after that too) then not only are you not financially qualified for the extensions, but you really can't afford to retire here long term anyway. (Assuming you don't have another money source you aren't mentioning.) No I am not saying every retiree spends at least 800K annually (nor are they required to do so) but in your case I don't see this working out.

i do not have 800k in the bank

and i guess; not many retired people has this money too in the bank to show to get visa;

i have incoming from my properties in Europe on my own ( i get monthly rent money 2000 euro every months all life long)

and i think that is enough to live here..

i do not need any paper to show.. i am not officially retired in my country.. i quit.

and i guess there are many people in Thailand who over 50 years old

they no have 800k or 65k to show at all

BUT after all that some get retirement visa legal

how they do it dont know

i will ask them next better.

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

i get monthly rent money 2000 euro every months

Wait a minute!

If you can document and prove that then you may qualify.

What you need is at least 65,000 Thai Baht income each month.

The Euro/Baht exchange rate now is about 42 Thai Baht for one Euro.

So you have an income of over 80,000 Baht a month... which is enough to meet the financial requirement.

But to prove that to the Thai immigration you will need documentation and it probably will need to be legally certified by your country's embessy.

If your source from that income is outside of Thailand, and the funds are deposited in a bank in your country, that bank may be able to provide you with documentation.

But strictly financially, your income based on what you said should be enough to meet the financial requirement Thai immigration wants.

Edited September 4, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[jitenshaman]

The OP may be concerned that his particular European embassy won't issue him an income letter for immigration based on his rental income flow. Perhaps he may wish to mention the specific nation he is from and can get feedback on that issue from his fellow nationals. Assuming it is an embassy that requires PROOF to issue the immigration letter, perhaps that's another issue. I guess I'll stop speculating now as I ain't psychic!

Jingthing you seem to have a good handle on this...do you happen to know the answer to this: if one wanted to be sure on the Embassy letter (just in case it didn't work out for some reason) so you go get the Embassy paper 60 days prior to applying for an extension based on retirement (with the idea if it didn't work you'd do the bank transfer)....when you then apply at Immigration, is it ok that the proof of income letter is now 2 months old, or will they make you get something more recent?

[lopburi3]

If you use the bank transfer the Embassy letter would not be required. As for validity most seem to accept up to 3 months or same year from most reports but there is no set in stone rule available.

[enricobkk]

All above are the official requirements to get a retirement visa.....

but this is Thailand , l will have my retirement visa in November , with no letter from my embassy nor income from abroad nor 800k on my bankaccount

and all official......

[Lite Beer]

All above are the official requirements to get a retirement visa.....

but this is Thailand , l will have my retirement visa in November , with no letter from my embassy nor income from abroad nor 800k on my bankaccount

and all official......

Are you referring to an Extension of Stay or a Visa?

[impulse]

All above are the official requirements to get a retirement visa.....

but this is Thailand , l will have my retirement visa in November , with no letter from my embassy nor income from abroad nor 800k on my bankaccount

and all official......

Possibly, but this IS Thailand and you'd better wait till you have it in hand before you make any long term plans.

And even if someone else did it, doesn't mean I can do it- a lesson learned many times in 12 years of hanging out and working in Asia.

Edited September 4, 2011 by impulse

[Jingthing]

I reckon the poster above is referring to visa fixing agents which is an ILLEGAL way to go and is definitely an AYOR thing to go if you are looking for a long term future living in Thailand. I also reckon the more people pulling those stunts, the greater chance the majority of us who are law abiding get hit with additional annoyances like the money seasoning requirements.

[anterian]

I went the mixed method for my first year, with a letter of income from the embassy. However I objected to paying that useless mob for a 5 line typed letter. So the next year I just showed them my bank statements, with regular payments into it highlighted, Immigration was perfectly happy with this, particularly as they were issued by Natwest which they seemed to think was an important bank

I thgink a lot depends on the individual official.

[kimamey]

All above are the official requirements to get a retirement visa.....

but this is Thailand , l will have my retirement visa in November , with no letter from my embassy nor income from abroad nor 800k on my bankaccount

and all official......

Possibly, but this IS Thailand and you'd better wait till you have it in hand before you make any long term plans.

And even if someone else did it, doesn't mean I can do it- a lesson learned many times in 12 years of hanging out and working in Asia.

Also if it works this year it may not next.

I think also that sometimes misunderstandings occur when posts are written by someone for whom english is not their first language. This can lead to a post appearing to be inconsistent so maybe we should take time to clarify things calmly before accusing them of not being truthful. I would think all of us on this forum should be able to do that as we must spend a lot of our time dealing with language confusion

[OLDAUSSIE]

If someone income with proof from their embassy was 47,000. Bhart per month, how much would they need in a Thai Bank account?

[lopburi3]

47k x 12 = 564k + 236k = 800k required