Hello All,

I am a little confused about which Non-O visa to apply for when I wish to apply for a Retirement Visa.

Details are:

1. I am currently in Oz

2. I have requested the necessary money (800k) from my Super scheme and should be able to transfer that to my Thai bank account in about 14 days.

3. I return to BKK on 7 August, 2013.

I know the money has to season for 60 days and obviously a 30 day entry permit will not cover that. I read somewhere (maybe here?) that I should be able to successfully apply for a Non-O visa stating that I was looking at retirement options. Or should I just prove that I have deposited the money into my Thai account when applying for the visa?

How long before the Non-O expires must I apply for the retirement visa?

Is any Embassy/Consulate better than another here. I have read good things about the Consulate in Brisbane, however the website appears to be down.

TIA

Edited July 9, 201312 yr by lujanit

Will wait a few minutes for text to magically appear.

You need to edit or repost your query ! At the moment no one knows what the question is !

Obtain a single entry non immigrant O visa from one of the honorary Consulate (such as Brisbane) by mail and use that for a 90 day entry and during the last 30 days apply for one year extension of stay with the financial proof (in bank account 60 days or more). You will not need the financial proof to obtain the visa in Oz and that type of entry is required to extend for retirement so best to obtain prior to your trip.

Lopburi thank-you for the quick reply.

I have no idea why the text didn't appear when I made the original post. Very odd!

One Q lopburi please. You say during the last 30 days. Are you saying that I can apply the day before the Non-O expires or is there a minimum period prior to the expiry of the Non-O to apply for a retirement visa. I read somewhere that if you come to Thailand on an 30 day Entry Permit that application for a retirement visa must be made at least 15 days prior to expiry. Or have I got this wrong?

during the last 30 days apply for one year extension of stay with the financial proof (in bank account 60 days or more).

For a conversion you shoulf have at least 15 days left.

For an extension you can apply up to 30 days early, the last day of your permission to stay will be fine. But the extension starts the day your current permission to stay ends, so by doing it early you dont lose any days and have extra time if you forget a document, the car breaks down, you suddenly get sick, etc.

Mario, thank you for clearing this up for me. I was attempting to maximize my stay with the Non-O and you have kindly confirmed the method by which I may do so.

It really makes no difference as you get 90 day stay on the non immigrant visa entry and extension starts at the end of that stay regardless of when during the stay you apply (even if it is first day and they do both at the same time as a conversion inside Thailand).