One Year Retirement Extensions - How Reliable?

[TerraplaneGuy]

Hi All,

I'm Canadian, over 50, here on my first Non-Imm OA visa and will apply for my first annual extension next year. I see that the extensions are discretionary but my impression from this forum is that as long as you can document the financial test and address you get one. My questions are:

1. Does anybody know of cases where the documents were right but an extension has been refused for no good reason? (A good reason, I suppose, would be conviction of a crime in Thailand or something of that nature.)

2. Has there been any recent indication that policy on extensions may change?

I'm just trying to get a sense of how reliable the "retirement system" is, for future planning.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,

TG

[lopburi3]

No and no.

[TerraplaneGuy]

No and no.

Haha thanks Lopburi! Couldn't ask for a quicker or more concise answer

[NancyL]

I think if there were a case where someone was denied a retirement extension when they clearly met the requirements that we'd have heard about it on this forum. It's considered a very reliable visa and very easy to obtain (and extend) if you meet the requirements.

[bangkokburning]

If you are planning a lifetime relo, you should plan on all the vagaries of the "system". Before you commit to live here, I would suggest you spend two years here. During this time I would read about all the nonsense that goes on merely to obtain an extention to remain in the country for an addl year. Please note - this is not and you will never ever have - permenent residency. You may depending on where you settle (outside BKK, PTY and possibly Chaing Mai) some real hassles at the local level. Phuket, Samui and parts of Issan seem to be legend.

Try other countries as well - if I had the dosh, hell - I'd be in Singapore or Palau. Malaysia also suits me. If I was younger, I would settle in Cambodia. It is quite liveable these days despite no real coastline and it being bloody hot. If you like mountains - Lao might fit your bill. Even Vietnam I hear you can obtain relatively hassle free 6mo visas.

Don't come here becasue its the easiest game in town, you are selling yourself short. Thailand is so done.

In the end - nothing is 100%, that is the life of the Thai expat. Thailand has no offical retirement program, or at least one that is still functional or legal. If you want 100% try Malaysia or dare I say (ack) Philippines (they also have an offical retirement program). You can live two years in Phils on tourist visas w/o even leaving the country. Yanks get ONE YEAR IN PALAU WOOHOO!

A turdblossom can pop up at any immigration office and make your life miserable. Short of moving - you are stuck with him or them. Might mean 8 hours of paperwork or days of running back and forth for some stupid papers no other office requires or a B3000 house visit or a bottle ofred label this year, black label the next and two the year after. Phuket and Samui seem to be especially nasty and Pattaya seems to be pretty liberal especially given the crew they are dealing with.

[Jingthing]

There are cases of gray areas where people have encountered problems. Mostly technical issues, such as the bank account being in more than one name (don't do that), the funds being in a fixed income making account rather than a standard savings account (different officers can rule differently), exchange rate different estimates between embassy letter and what immigration thinks that day, etc. However, with an application with no technical oddities, and no ambiguity about meeting the rules, very consistent.

[Guest]

I've been here many long years on a retirement visa and never had an issue with renewals - its a good idea to keep abreast of events here on TV as sometimes paperwork requirements change.

[UbonOz]

Check out my thread on the THB65,000/month option

[NancyL]

One important thing sets retirement extensions apart from all others -- there is no third party between you and Immigration. You don't have to rely on the continued existence and competence of an employer, educational instituation or wife. It's just you, your money and Immigration.

Perhaps there have been "issues" with retirement extension in remote areas, but I have never heard of any problems in Chiang Mai. In fact, I've had conversations with several groups of retired expats and no one has encountered anything more than kindness, respect and patience from CM immigration officials. Certainly no request for "tea money", no expectation of gifts and embarassment from the immigration officials when they've been offered.

Yes, there could be a change in administration, but I think if we ended up with a "turdblossom" running CM immigration, there would be such a cry from the resident expats and their consuls that things would get smoothed over and returned to the status quo.

[moe666]

Just figure there is always that 10 percent of people who will have problems and the other 90 percent donot. You should be able to figure out which group you fall into.

[rizla]

I think if there were a case where someone was denied a retirement extension when they clearly met the requirements that we'd have heard about it on this forum. It's considered a very reliable visa and very easy to obtain (and extend) if you meet the requirements.

Wrong...

The Thai law states part and part ( letter and money) option...no seasoning of money part req`d...it`s on the application forms..

BUT if you are using the unhelpfull Korat Office YOU WILL BE TOLD to season the money part for 3 months every year,,,they can`t read their on rules i`m affraid....good luck, and to the OP hope you ain`t using that office...

[Headgame]

If you are planning a lifetime relo, you should plan on all the vagaries of the "system". Before you commit to live here, I would suggest you spend two years here. During this time I would read about all the nonsense that goes on merely to obtain an extention to remain in the country for an addl year. Please note - this is not and you will never ever have - permenent residency. You may depending on where you settle (outside BKK, PTY and possibly Chaing Mai) some real hassles at the local level. Phuket, Samui and parts of Issan seem to be legend.

Try other countries as well - if I had the dosh, hell - I'd be in Singapore or Palau. Malaysia also suits me. If I was younger, I would settle in Cambodia. It is quite liveable these days despite no real coastline and it being bloody hot. If you like mountains - Lao might fit your bill. Even Vietnam I hear you can obtain relatively hassle free 6mo visas.

Don't come here becasue its the easiest game in town, you are selling yourself short. Thailand is so done.

In the end - nothing is 100%, that is the life of the Thai expat. Thailand has no offical retirement program, or at least one that is still functional or legal. If you want 100% try Malaysia or dare I say (ack) Philippines (they also have an offical retirement program). You can live two years in Phils on tourist visas w/o even leaving the country. Yanks get ONE YEAR IN PALAU WOOHOO!

A turdblossom can pop up at any immigration office and make your life miserable. Short of moving - you are stuck with him or them. Might mean 8 hours of paperwork or days of running back and forth for some stupid papers no other office requires or a B3000 house visit or a bottle ofred label this year, black label the next and two the year after. Phuket and Samui seem to be especially nasty and Pattaya seems to be pretty liberal especially given the crew they are dealing with.

With regard to your comments regarding Phuket, I can say without equivocation that I have had absolutely no issues or hassles at that office - just friendly, efficient service for my Non-Imm O visa and 90 day check in's. "Nasty" would be the opposite of my experiences.

[NancyL]

I think if there were a case where someone was denied a retirement extension when they clearly met the requirements that we'd have heard about it on this forum. It's considered a very reliable visa and very easy to obtain (and extend) if you meet the requirements.

Wrong...

The Thai law states part and part ( letter and money) option...no seasoning of money part req`d...it`s on the application forms..

BUT if you are using the unhelpfull Korat Office YOU WILL BE TOLD to season the money part for 3 months every year,,,they can`t read their on rules i`m affraid....good luck, and to the OP hope you ain`t using that office...

Korat's little rule about account seasoning is well-known and uniformly applied for all extensions in that office. It's not just one immigration officer having a bad day and deciding he doesn't like the looks of someone.

[Jingthing]

I think if there were a case where someone was denied a retirement extension when they clearly met the requirements that we'd have heard about it on this forum. It's considered a very reliable visa and very easy to obtain (and extend) if you meet the requirements.

Wrong...

The Thai law states part and part ( letter and money) option...no seasoning of money part req`d...it`s on the application forms..

BUT if you are using the unhelpfull Korat Office YOU WILL BE TOLD to season the money part for 3 months every year,,,they can`t read their on rules i`m affraid....good luck, and to the OP hope you ain`t using that office...

Korat's little rule about account seasoning is well-known and uniformly applied for all extensions in that office. It's not just one immigration officer having a bad day and deciding he doesn't like the looks of someone.

That may indeed be true but its a reminder that people here need to stay aware of both generalized national rules and quirky rules that apply to their own office, and are of course subject to sudden changes. So yes we would all love perfect predictability from year to year, but we're not quite at that level.

[wpcoe]

Hua Hin Immigrations is twin of Korat: They insist on seasoning of the money when using the income+savings requirement for a retirement extension.

[bangkokburning]

I have read of numerous issues in Phuket. Like I said Samui is legend as is much of Issan. Now we can add Hua Hin (which should be totally friendly to farang retirees).

You will never have permenent residency.

The marriage visa is an absolute nightmare.

As more 55+++ men come to 'paradise' (as this guy), hassles will only increase as Immigration seeks to profit in some manner above and beyond fees.

> Just saw two guys yesterday one crying in his phone to his "thii-rak" on the MRT and another opening a bank account with some rather large, middle aged woman. Pile of cash on table.

[moe666]

I guess my question to BB is why are you still here with all of those great options you mentioned earlier.

[ludditeman]

I'm just trying to get a sense of how reliable the "retirement system" is, for future planning.

If you have the cash, you get the Visa extension.

How easy is that for future planning.

[moe666]

I'm just trying to get a sense of how reliable the "retirement system" is, for future planning.

If you have the cash, you get the Visa extension.

How easy is that for future planning.

It helps to have a permanent address.