Application for Retirement visa from USA

[moe666]

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.

Sorry to report that the program at Payap is not excellent, know a man on extension of stay who studied there not happy with the program at all.

[moe666]

One of the problems that constantly pops up on this forum is the inability of people to understand and use the correct definitions: Visa, extension of stay, re-entry permit, 90 day reporting, difference in visas, difference between money in bank, monthly income and the combination of both. I have no solution to this problem other than detailed explanations.

A while back I tried to explain to a man I know that he would go to immigration for an extension of stay after explaining this he would then say,lets see if I have this right I go to immigration and apply for a visa hehehe after about the tenth time I told him he really needed to concentrate on what I was saying as he wasn't getting it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

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.

There's a difference between having certain particular pre-existing conditions excluded from coverage in one's health insurance vs. not being able to obtain any health insurance.

Obviously, everything depends on the particulars of each invididual situation. But I'd say in general, most people under 60 probably can qualify for some Thai medical insurance.

But like the U.S. prior to the changes from Obamacare, they should expect that any significant medical conditions from the prior 5 to 10 years, depending on the condition/problem, are likely to be excluded from coverage.

[beauro]

Thanks all! I appreciate your comments. It has been helpful.

I just received my non-immigrant O visa from the consulate in Dallas. No criminal check, no medical record and no bank letter to supply. It has been processed quickly, they received it, got my visa and mailed it back the same day. I recommend to use your local Thai consulate for application of non O visa.

[lopburi3]

A non immigrant O visa never requires police or medical paperwork - that is for the non immigrant O-A long stay visa only (which honorary Consulates in US can not issue). I suspect you obtained a single entry O visa and intend to extend your stay for retirement once in Thailand?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

That's interesting....

Years back, I got my first visa to Thailand from the honorary consulate in Houston...

But when I read the above post re an honorary consulate in Dallas, I didn't remember one there from before.

But when I look at one third-party list of honorary Thai consulates, it shows there are actually 3 in Texas now... Dallas, Houston and El Paso...assuming the list is accurate.

I looked for an official MFA list of all honorary consulates, but didn't see one.

[ubonjoe]

There is no longer a consulate in El Paso. It closed several years ago.

This list should normally be the most up to date because it is from the embassy in DC.

http://www.visetkaew.com/wp/directories/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Joe, thanks for the correction and the link to the very useful list of all Thai Honorary Consulates in the U.S...

I did a Google search for those terms earlier, and didn't see or recognize that site among the results.

In looking thru the list, it's still interesting that Texas appears to be the only state with two different honorary consulates (Houston and Dallas), whereas all the other states that have any seem to just have one.

Edited July 6, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ubonjoe]

The great state of Texas.

I think it may have to do with the large number of companies envolved in the O&G and petro chemical industry.

Edited July 6, 2013 by ubonjoe

[asiaexpat]

Texas is quit large and the distance between Houston and Dallas is more than between many other consulates.

[ubonjoe]

Houston to Dallas is only about 260 miles. I think from LA to Portland is more than that.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quite a bit more... I wanna say it's about 400 miles just from L.A. to San Francisco.

http://www.travelmath.com/drive-distance/from/Los+Angeles,+CA/to/San+Francisco,+CA

Edited July 7, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK