Application for Retirement visa from USA

[beauro]

I thought I knew the retirement application process but obviously I did not.

I was planning to apply for a 3 months O visa in Washington to enter the kingdom, then apply in Thailand for a one year O-A Visa. But I was told by the Thai embassy in Washington that I am not eligible to apply for a single entry 3 months O visa in the USA. I need to apply for an O-A visa, in USA, before entering the kingdom.

Here're my questions on the O-A visa.

I see in the Thai Embassy website O-A procedure that I need bank statement of 800 000 bahts with certification letter from the bank. Is this In USA bank account or Thai bank account? I don't have Thai bahts in US bank account. Do I need to get this paperwork from my bank in Thailand?

Letter of verification that I have no criminal record. Who can give me this letter?

The medical certificate seems to be easy, i just need to make a doctor appointment and ask doctor to fill up the form.

Obtaining these documents is a lot of headache. Does anyone know if there's a way to simplify this original application?

Thanks in advance

[KED]

This exact discussion is going on currently at this thread : http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/649432-best-retirement-visa-procedure-coming-from-los-angeles/

[TerryLH]

The embassy will not give you an O because they issue O-A.

For a single entry Non O, contact one of the honorary consulates. Portland is often mentioned as being user friendly and with a quick turn around.

Once you get to Thailand, you will not get an O-A visa renewal. You simply extend your O visa for a year. 1900 baht.

For the embassy, the money is usually in a bank in the US. When you extend at an immigration office in Thailand, the money is required to be in a Thai bank.

[beauro]

Thanks Terry!

The O visa is a single entry visa, what I need to do if I want to plan a trip outside Thailand for 2 or 3 weeks? I assume i would need to apply for an O-A visa before i get out of Thailand. Right?

On the O-A visa application procedure from the USA. Does the criminal record letter need to be issue by the police? I am not sure if anyone at the police station here would be willing to give me such a letter with their signature at the bottom. I saw many websites on the internet doing criminal record check, can i just get a letter from one of them? Would this be legit for Thai embassy?

One last question, does the Thai consulate issue O-A visa?

[asiaexpat]

If you enter Thailand using a Non-O single visa you should apply for an extension of stay based on retirement at your local immigration office in Thailand during the last 30 days of your permitted to stay period. Once you have the extension of stay you apply for either a single or multi re-entry permit. The extension of stay is 1900 TB and the re-entry permit is 1000 TB for single and 3800 TB for multi.

[rodknock]

crimanal record check is easy. just go to local police or sheriff station and they will help you out. i did mine in meas,az. and was only 10,00, takes a couple of days. they did not even print me. mark

i used the thai consulate in la, no problems. mark

[lopburi3]

1. Inside Thailand you apply for one year extensions of stay for retirement - this is not called an O-A visa and is not a visa. For travel you obtain re-entry permit prior to departures.

2. If you use the O-A visa method from Embassy you can use money in home country at the official exchange rate to equal or exceed the 800k baht requirement.

3. Police check is routine procedure for police.

4. Medical however can be a bear if doctor fears suit - they could line up long list of expensive 'tests' to be completed before they sign - even if they agreed to sign at all.

5. As said single entry non immigrant O visa from an honorary Consulate is normal - you then extend 60 days after arrival. You can also just arrive and convert from a visa exempt or tourist visa as an extra 2,000 baht step/visit - but better to have the required non immigrant visa entry on arrival if you can.

[ubonjoe]

List of honorary consulates are on this webpage: http://www.visetkaew.com/wp/directories/

Any should issue issue a single entry non-o visa for being over 50 for retirement without any problem.

[oneday]

The 800,000B or $ equivalent is for your US Bank if getting a RETIREMENT visa in the US. BTW, all you need to do to exit and come back into Thailand on your retirement visa is to apply for a REENTRY PERMIT at immigration. I think it's 1000B.

The criminal record is from your local police. They do this all the time, at least it did not phase my local police department when I asked for it.

There is no way to simplify this arcane process. The headache for me was getting a letter from my bank or in my case my government savings plan stating this was my money as of a certain date and it was correct and verified. It's the stupidest part of this whole process. Since this is something banks in the US don't do I'm sure I would have gotten silence on the end of any phone call to the US government's Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). So I went to the embassy and asked what I could do. This is by far your best bet if you have any questions...go to your Thai embassy and ask.

Anyway, she told me to write a statement on the printout in my own handwriting that it was my money and correct and accurate on the date of the printout and for me to sign this in front of a notary. And BTW this was just a computer printout of my account transactions and balance. Thais seem to trust notaries as somehow verifying the truth of something when all it is doing is verifying that you are who you say you are and you signed something in front of them. Notaries could care less what you are signing or if any statements you are making are the truth.

Edited June 29, 2013 by oneday

[oneday]

BTW, I thought I was going to have a problem with the medical certificate, but because I had a good, long standing relationship with my doctor and he knew I was getting ready to retire to Thailand, when the day came that I showed it to him he had no problems signing off on it with no further tests. He kind of joked while looking at the items then at me and saying, "nope" you don't have that or that, etc.

Who is the doctor going to be sued by, Thailand? Talk to your doctor in advance and show him the list of things Thailand wants to know you don't have so he's prepped for it when you need it.

[NancyL]

We had problems with getting a letter from the national firm that manages our retirement savings. Also, the doctor insisted on testing for everything on the medical record, since he said he couldn't sign his name unless he knew he was everything was true. Our insurance didn't pay for it, either, because we didn't have any symptoms that normally would have caused him to order those tests. By comparison, the police record check was fairly easy. It was a real education seeing their booking room and jail cells since that's where we had to go to get fingerprinted. Looked like everything could be hosed down and disinfected. The police thought the process a joke and said normally people aren't well dressed and smiling when they're getting fingerprinted.

I really wish we'd just contacted an honorary consulate and applied for a 90-day O visa for the purpose of "investigating" retirement. Much less hassle and much cheaper. Recently, I wrote an essay for my Thai language class detailing the process of getting an O-A visa. I'd never calculated this before, but that visa and all the associated B-S cost us 15,000 baht per person more than if we'd just applied for an O and extended it for 12-months due to retirement once we were in Thailand.

[Nowisee]

i applied for my non-immigrant O A multi entry visa through Los Angeles also

Printed the Dr fom from Thai consulate website and had him fill it out.

Sent copies of my latest FERS statement showing I had the required monthly amount. To be on the safe side I also sent a copy of my latest bank statement. Didn't bother with TSP statement.

The quick $10 criminal check from the city.

Money order

Visa was back in about 7 days.

I worried more than I should have.

Just send them everything they want.

Breezed right into Thailand with it.

What I'm finding the most difficult is understanding, reentry permit and permission to stay.

Edited June 29, 2013 by Nowisee

[lopburi3]

You have a multi entry non immigrant O-A visa so any return from a trip within the one year validity of that visa gets a new one year permitted to stay stamp from date of arrival. Any travel that will be beyond the one year validity will require a re-entry permit before you depart Thailand to keep your current permitted to stay until date alive on return.

[ableguy]

get criminal record from your state police usually you can apply at any station, be aware when ever you present it it must not be more than 30 days old, I movedhere from California on a 90 day visa and simply applied when I got here also had the medical here.

[Jingthing]

get criminal record from your state police usually you can apply at any station, be aware when ever you present it it must not be more than 30 days old, I movedhere from California on a 90 day visa and simply applied when I got here also had the medical here.

Neither medical reports nor police reports are needed for applications for retirement extensions in Thailand.

[beauro]

Thank you very much every body, this is very good information. I appreciate very much you help and inputs. Thank Nancy for your sharing your experience, I am thinking about getting a non-O visa from the consulate now... I don't see any benefit of getting an O-A visa right away...

Once I am at it, I want to use your knowledge/experience a little bit more and ask two more questions.

I understood that the criminal record, statement/letter from the bank showing equivalent of 800K bahts and medical report are not required for the application for the Non-O visa single entry. Right?

Now, assuming I enter with a non-O visa, I understand that after 60 days (but before 90) in Thailand, I can be renew the O visa for one year. I can also request (or buy) multiple re-entry to Thailand for that period. So my question is, when this one year extension period is about to expire, can I renew the non-O visa for another year? Or do I need to request an O-A visa?

[beechguy]

Thank you very much every body, this is very good information. I appreciate very much you help and inputs. Thank Nancy for your sharing your experience, I am thinking about getting a non-O visa from the consulate now... I don't see any benefit of getting an O-A visa right away...

Once I am at it, I want to use your knowledge/experience a little bit more and ask two more questions.

I understood that the criminal record, statement/letter from the bank showing equivalent of 800K bahts and medical report are not required for the application for the Non-O visa single entry. Right?

Now, assuming I enter with a non-O visa, I understand that after 60 days (but before 90) in Thailand, I can be renew the O visa for one year. I can also request (or buy) multiple re-entry to Thailand for that period. So my question is, when this one year extension period is about to expire, can I renew the non-O visa for another year? Or do I need to request an O-A visa?

No you do not need the 800K or medical report for the Non-O application. Also, you are not extending the Non-O visa in Thailand, you are extending the permission period to stay in Thailand, near the end of the one year, you apply for another extension. If you will be exiting the country, you will need to apply for a re-entry permit, single 1000 Baht, multi 3800 Baht.

[lopburi3]

You never need an O-A visa and it is not available in Thailand in any case. You just extend your stay yearly on basis of retirement. Takes about 15 minutes and costs 1,900 baht/TM.7 form with 4x6cm photo and the financial proof paperwork. Only extra might be some proof of where you live or map. If you plan travel also good to get a re-entry permit at the same time.

[jrtmedic]

No -------

You apply for an extension of stay !

Proof of money in the bank or proof of income will secure you a one year "permission to stay" !

If you wish to leave Thailand during your " permission to stay" period a re-entry permit will be required and will allow return to Thailand up to the original permit to stay date .

Edited June 29, 2013 by jrtmedic

[dslocum]

Very new here, but this was the first I heard about medical requirements. Can someone point me to a tread? I have several heart related preexisting conditions. I plan on getting an education Visa to learn Thai, then converting to retirement.

[Lite Beer]

If you apply for a 12 month extension for retirement in Thailand you do not need any Medical Certificate.

[jrtmedic]

Very new here, but this was the first I heard about medical requirements. Can someone point me to a tread? I have several heart related preexisting conditions. I plan on getting an education Visa to learn Thai, then converting to retirement.

Why bother with an "education visa "?

Retiring in Thailand will not prevent study !

Edited June 29, 2013 by jrtmedic

[NancyL]

Very new here, but this was the first I heard about medical requirements. Can someone point me to a tread? I have several heart related preexisting conditions. I plan on getting an education Visa to learn Thai, then converting to retirement.

Why bother with an "education visa "?

Retiring in Thailand will not prevent study !

Quite true -- in fact, as someone who considers the study of Thai to be an ongoing hobby, I've found that the schools that offer ED visas aren't as good as those that don't. The problem is that the ED visa schools are full of students who don't give a rip, don't do their homework, often don't show up for class, etc. Makes for a frustrating learning experience for the few who actually want to learn Thai. An exception, of course, are the rigorous programs offered at universities like Payap in CM at Chula in Bangkok -- these are programs where student go to class every day for many hours and then are expected to do homework before the next day's class. They offer ED visas, but most retired people don't want to turn learning Thai into a 40-hr/week job, like you do in those excellent programs.

Edited June 30, 2013 by NancyL

[pizzachang]

Never needed to show funds in a Thai bank. Why would anyone want to move that much money to a possibly risky bank, when a sworn affidavit from the American Consulate showing you have a pension equaling the required funds every year or some other form of the funds. If you needed further proof you could even have the US bank documents translated into Thai language and have it "approved". In this age of digital banking, moving funds is really not necessary unless you plan to make a major purchase in Thailand. This has been my personal experience and I've lived here for 5 years. The immigration officers have told me that proof of the funds either in the bank or as a permanent pension [with the affidavit seeming to be proof] is acceptable. If anyone else has had a different experience, I suspect that the funds in a Thai bank requirement may have to do with a permanent residency card/certificate but I'm just guessing.

[Jingthing]

Of course income letter is fine but keep in mind not everyone has a pension thus the use of the 800k method.

Sent from my GT-S5360B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think this has been an oft-discussed topic here over the years... To my way of thinking...

The main advantage of the O-A visa from the U.S. is its longer duration -- being a full initial year and then an additional year if you depart Thailand and re-enter just before your original year is finished (since each entry yields an additional 12 months permitted stay).

However, for me, that advantage is outweighed by the various hassles with getting an O-A in the U.S. vs. starting out with some other initial entry to Thailand -- visa exempt, tourist visa or even a single entry O visa, and then converting to annual retirement-based extensions of stay from Thai Immigration once already inside Thailand.

With retirement-based extensions of stay coming off of one of the other entry types, there's NO police check, NO medical certificate and no fiddling around with financial letters from a person's various U.S. financial companies. Some of the Thai consulates also go a bit crazy with demanding multiple copies of documents and having various of them notarized -- none of which is required when going the extensions of stay route inside Thailand.

The O-A visas allow multiple/unlimited entries and exits into/out of Thailand during their duration, so I suppose if someone was going to be making a lot of in/out trips, that would be a consideration. To keep extensions of stay alive with international travel, you have to purchase either a single use re-entry permit for 1,000b or a multiple-use reentry permit for 3800b per year as an added cost. But I think the average retiree to Thailand isn't making so many of those kinds of international trips.

Overall for me, the added hassle of jumping through the various hoops in the U.S. to get an O-A is a greater burden that the relatively minor cost and effort of converting to a retirement-based extension of stay from Thai Immigration inside Thailand once you've entered on a visa exempt, tourist visa or O visa.

[Suradit69]

Very new here, but this was the first I heard about medical requirements. Can someone point me to a tread? I have several heart related preexisting conditions. I plan on getting an education Visa to learn Thai, then converting to retirement.

Your heart issues would not be a problem. If you apply outside of Thailand for the O-A and a medical certificate is required it's only to certify you do not have " Leprosy, tuberculosis, elephantiasis, drug addiction and 3rd step of syphilis."

While some doctors in the US might feel the need to test for everything, if you have a family doctor who has known you for any period of time, he/she should be willing to sign that without a hassle. I applied directly for the O-A in the country where I was working at the time I intended to retire, not at home in the US and, in addition to the doctor's signature I also had to get a stamp from the local Ministry of Health certifying that the doctor was licensed to practice. Not sure if that would be required in the US.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Suradit69

[jrtmedic]

If you have on-going heath issues give thought to the absolute need for health insurance whist in Thailand,and take account of the fact that pre-existing conditions are unlikely to be insurable.

Edited June 30, 2013 by jrtmedic

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Also that life insurance in Thailand is pretty overpriced and shoddy in some respects.

So if you're an American and think you'll need or want life insurance for the future, best to get it before you relocate, since life insurance in the U.S. is based on state of residency. And also make sure you're getting a policy in a state where the rules don't make it difficult for the insured to move in the future to a different country.

[Jingthing]

If you have on-going heath issues give thought to the absolute need for health insurance whist in Thailand,and take account of the fact that pre-existing conditions are unlikely to be insurable.

Sounds a bit like schizophrenic advice. Make sure you have health insurance but BTW nobody will sell you any ...

Might as well say: don't come.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Jingthing