Retirment? Just One Year? Why?

[jacaranda]

thanks

It is for one year because those are the rules. There are a number of retirement visa programs in other countries that offer a clear, doable path for more permanent, lifetime residency for those who start with a kind of retirement visa.

OPINION --

Those policies are obviously more humane and reasonable to people who actually HAVE become permanent residents. Don't expect Thailand to ever offer such a program for retirees. Here, retirees are treated status-wise more like long term tourists. The message is -- don't get too comfortable. If you can't handle that, don't retire in Thailand.

thanks jingthing,,,,, yes thats how i feel,,none others mentioned this clearly,, they say u put 800,000THB, in the bank for 3 to six months then u can close the account and take your money out,,, then they said for the renewal of your visa you have to show the financial proof for that amount once again,,,, so do i have to deposit that amount once again in the bank?? does not sound very clear there as whats going on,,,,, then some travel agents told me in Pattaya it is not renewable ,,, !!!!,,,, which countries are those u mentioned provide clearer residency ?.... now one last thing ,,, a travel agent said he can put that required amount into my account as long as i pay 40,000THB fees they charge to do so...how do u feel about that?

[jacaranda]

i am confused about the retirement visa, why its just for one year ? doesn't retirement mean u which to stay off work for good and stay in a place to live for the rest of your life if u wish in most countries ,,, then how come in Thailand U get just one year visa to stay as a foreigner ?

What gives you the right to simply choose to live in Thailand, and then be able to do so with an indefinite visa, made available immediately?

Have you got some sort of birthright to live here, simply because you want to?

firstly ,,,the thai law is offering it,,, secondly learn more what the word ...RETIREMENT... means.

[Jingthing]

thanks

It is for one year because those are the rules. There are a number of retirement visa programs in other countries that offer a clear, doable path for more permanent, lifetime residency for those who start with a kind of retirement visa.

OPINION --

Those policies are obviously more humane and reasonable to people who actually HAVE become permanent residents. Don't expect Thailand to ever offer such a program for retirees. Here, retirees are treated status-wise more like long term tourists. The message is -- don't get too comfortable. If you can't handle that, don't retire in Thailand.

thanks jingthing,,,,, yes thats how i feel,,none others mentioned this clearly,, they say u put 800,000THB, in the bank for 3 to six months then u can close the account and take your money out,,, then they said for the renewal of your visa you have to show the financial proof for that amount once again,,,, so do i have to deposit that amount once again in the bank?? does not sound very clear there as whats going on,,,,, then some travel agents told me in Pattaya it is not renewable ,,, !!!!,,,, which countries are those u mentioned provide clearer residency ?.... now one last thing ,,, a travel agent said he can put that required amount into my account as long as i pay 40,000THB fees they charge to do so...how do u feel about that?

For the bank account method to qualify for annual retirement extensions, over 800K must be in a Thai bank account for two months before the first application, and three months for subsequent ones.

For additional years, you must come in again and again, as long as you wish to live in Thailand on retirement extensions. Generally you would keep the same account open for practical reasons, typically people spend down from it during the year and "top up" in time for each annual extension application. I suppose there is no problem to close the account after each annual extension (why?) IF you have a NEW account ready for the next year's application meeting the money and seasoning requirements. Their often WOULD be a problem with the BANK transferring money in such an account by wire to go out of Thailand, but you could close it, again, WHY?

You do NOT need to deposit a new 800K annually, but you DO need to show that balance seasoned each year.

Talking here specifically about the bank account method. There is also the income letter from embassy method and the combo method (income letter plus bank account).

Visa agents telling you that you can use the bank account method without showing your own 800K are acting ILLEGALLY. We can't comment here on such schemes except to state they are illegal. So you're on your own there.

A number of other countries offer retirement programs that offer various paths towards permanent residence and even citizenship to foreigners. I am not going to research them all for you here but they tend to be in the Americas. Thailand offers NO path towards increased status for retired foreigners.

For examples,

Mexico

Ecuador

Belize

Chile

Argentina

Edited December 5, 2011 by Jingthing

[laurits]

I´m up for Ret. Visa renewal, and will apply by the 65K montly income...

Is a "Confirmation of Income Letter" from an Embassy or Consulate still needed?

I read somewhere - forgot where - that a retiree paid Immigration 4-5000 THB for them to make some statement or a translation of his pay statement.

Anyone heard about this??

[TerryLH]

"What gives you the right to simply choose to live in Thailand..."

"firstly ,,,the thai law is offering it,,, secondly learn more what the word ...RETIREMENT... means."

It's not a 'right', it's a privilege, and can be revoked or denied at any time.

"...doesn't retirement mean u which to stay off work for good and stay in a place to live for the rest of your life if u wish in most countries..."

"...secondly learn more what the word ...RETIREMENT... means.

"

I bothered to look it up. Did you?

Nowhere, I repeat, nowhere, could I find anything that says that when you retire you can live the rest of your life in whichever country you want to.

Maybe I just didn't have the right pension plan.

PS - I understand that Uganda is business friendly and offers easy citizenship.

Edited December 6, 2011 by TerryLH

[Jingthing]

PS - I understand that Uganda is business friendly and offers easy citizenship.

Is that a joke or are you recommending Uganda?

[elliss]

PS - I understand that Uganda is business friendly and offers easy citizenship.

you have to be edible , to live in uganda .

:jap:

bttopic ,

a bonafide retiree,, is a OAP who has reached the reirement age of 65 ,

AND RECIEVES A STATE PENSION .

[TerryLH]

"Is that a joke or are you recommending Uganda?"

Second hand info. I have a friend who moved there, from here, recently and is very happy about the move.

He's started a business and is waiting for citizenship to come through.

I suppose the downside is that you live in Uganda.

"a bonafide retiree,, is a OAP who has reached the reirement age of 65 ,AND RECIEVES A STATE PENSION ."

And here I've been thinking I was a retiree.

If I don't meet your very strict definition of a 'bonafide retiree', what am I? A wannabe retiree?

At least it made me laugh.

OAP = Older Appearing Person?

[lopburi3]

I´m up for Ret. Visa renewal, and will apply by the 65K montly income...

Is a "Confirmation of Income Letter" from an Embassy or Consulate still needed?

I read somewhere - forgot where - that a retiree paid Immigration 4-5000 THB for them to make some statement or a translation of his pay statement.

Anyone heard about this??

Yes a new letter is always required. As such local arrangement would be illegal as stated or more likely a misunderstanding.

[laurits]

Thanks lopburi3, I´ll get a new one..

[OriginalPoster]

say if you are independant and live in your own and sadly you die.what happens to the 800,000 bht ??

Depends upon whether you have a will and whether anyone knows that the 800,000 baht exists. If you're worried about that, make sure that your estate's executor has a means of tracking down your assets.

Edited December 7, 2011 by OriginalPoster

[OriginalPoster]

i am confused about the retirement visa, why its just for one year ? doesn't retirement mean u which to stay off work for good and stay in a place to live for the rest of your life if u wish in most countries ,,, then how come in Thailand U get just one year visa to stay as a foreigner ?

What gives you the right to simply choose to live in Thailand, and then be able to do so with an indefinite visa, made available immediately?

Have you got some sort of birthright to live here, simply because you want to?

firstly ,,,the thai law is offering it,,, secondly learn more what the word ...RETIREMENT... means.

The Thais don't officially call it a "retirement visa", that's an informal name for it. They just call it a Non-Immigrant Visa and one of the justifications for receiving it is that you're a retiree and have sufficient funds to support yourself in Thailand. What it actually is is a 1 year visa for people who are 50 years of age or older, not working in Thailand, and can afford to spend 800,000 baht per year. Whether or not you are actually retired is of no interest to the Thais, just that you meed the preceding criteria.

[Jingthing]

Not exactly. There is an option to start with a visa called O-A obtained in your home country. This is now called a long stay visa these days on embassy/consulate websites although in the past it was more widely called a retirement visa. Similar to extensions, you need to be over 50 and meet certain financial requirements. You don't need it get into the retirement extension system in Thailand; it's just an option. If you start with an O with the reason being retirement and then get retirement extensions, that is not an O-A or long stay visa.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Jingthing

[Lite Beer]

A nonsense post and the reply to it deleted.

[tombkk]

I think the reason you need to renew your permission to stay every year is that they want to see that you are still alive.

[Jingthing]

I think the reason you need to renew your permission to stay every year is that they want to see that you are still alive.

Funny but the 90 day reports cover that even better.

[tombkk]

I think the reason you need to renew your permission to stay every year is that they want to see that you are still alive.

Funny but the 90 day reports cover that even better.

Point taken. But then, I don't know the inner working of the 90-day report (different department?) but I am all against it. If I have a one-year extension of stay, I don't want to have to report every 90 days.