We all do silly things only some of us get caught.35 years ago as a young man I got myself on trouble with the law and ended up with a criminal record....I'm from the UK. Will this preclude me from ever getting a Thai retirement visa ??? Thankyou all

Should not matter if you do it in Thailand as they do not require a police back ground check. Getting a O-A visa in your home country will entail a police report.

A criminal back ground check is only needed for getting a OA visa at the embassy.

You can get an extension of stay based upon retirement here without one.

A post with a defamatory and abusive comment has been removed.

The OP says he made a mistake 35 years ago and has a criminal record. He does not state what it was. That does not make him a criminal now.;

Cooment removed as it is a dicussion about moderation.

The person has contacted support and should await his answer or contact the oderator in question directly.

Should not matter if you do it in Thailand as they do not require a police back ground check. Getting a O-A visa in your home country will entail a police report.

+1...Do it all inside Thailand. No Health or police reports needed.

Get a Non-Immigrant O-visa based on retirement with a single entry, which will give you 90 days permission to stay. Once in Thailand you apply for a temporary extension of stay based on:

1) Having deposited 800,000 baht i a Thai bank at least two monts before; or

2) You can prove an monthly income of at least 65,000 baht verified by your embassy or ev. consulate in Thailand.

We NOT all do slicky things, maybe in your family/world, but good honest hard working people really excist.

I for one never did anything I should have been caught for. I am sure MANY readers here are the same as me.

So, I hope your past follows you, if needed. If not, welcome same, really don't care either way.

Please just refuse the first beer ever, if I am so unfortunate to meet you somewhere.

We NOT all do slicky things, maybe in your family/world, but good honest hard working people really excist.

I for one never did anything I should have been caught for. I am sure MANY readers here are the same as me.

So, I hope your past follows you, if needed. If not, welcome same, really don't care either way.

Please just refuse the first beer ever, if I am so unfortunate to meet you somewhere.

I am glad you cleared that up.

How does it work with licenses? Do they check on your driving record in your home country when you convert to a Thai driving license or doesn't the licensing department have a link to overseas departments.

We all do silly things only some of us get caught.35 years ago as a young man I got myself on trouble with the law and ended up with a criminal record....I'm from the UK. Will this preclude me from ever getting a Thai retirement visa ??? Thankyou all

Unless you committed a capital crime you no longer have a criminal record due to the time expired. You are not asked for proof of no criminal record when applying for a retirement visa.

We all do silly things only some of us get caught.35 years ago as a young man I got myself on trouble with the law and ended up with a criminal record....I'm from the UK. Will this preclude me from ever getting a Thai retirement visa ??? Thankyou all

Unless you committed a capital crime you no longer have a criminal record due to the time expired. You are not asked for proof of no criminal record when applying for a retirement visa.

Actually, if applying for an O-A visa in your home country, a police record report is absolutely REQUIRED. They are not required for annual extensions of stay based on retirement in Thailand. When people say "retirement visa" it is quite difficult to know what they are talking about unless they give strong clues WHICH they are referring to -- O-A visas or annual retirement extensions or other O visas (per below).

Single entry O visas (not O-A) obtained in external countries, or change of status changes from entry stamp or tourist visa to "O visa" IN Thailand (obtained to be eligible to then apply for retirement extensions) also do not require any kind of police report.

Edited July 2, 201412 yr by Jingthing

For the OP... getting a retirement extension for me was straightforward and no such checks were made.

For information, I hear of someone doing the same in the Capitol and it is taking longer than usual as they are being more stringent.

As you are from the UK it is possible there to apply to have your published police record not include older offences which are not considered major or which do not come into certain categories. This means the statement you have to give the Embassy will not include them. Of course here you do not need a police certificate to apply but if you are on the UK wanted list they can send you back.

Travel to Thailand on a tourist or multiple tourist visa to allow enough time to get a Thai bank account and seasoning of the 800,000Thb, unless you have a monthly income in excess of 65,000Thb, then convert that to a non O visa inside Thailand, then get an extension of stay based on retirement, ensuring you qualify for all the other requirements.

Good luck.

We NOT all do slicky things, maybe in your family/world, but good honest hard working people really excist.

I for one never did anything I should have been caught for. I am sure MANY readers here are the same as me.

So, I hope your past follows you, if needed. If not, welcome same, really don't care either way.

Please just refuse the first beer ever, if I am so unfortunate to meet you somewhere.

I don't think he'll be able to reach for the beer anyway since your moral high horse is so high

Travel to Thailand on a tourist or multiple tourist visa to allow enough time to get a Thai bank account and seasoning of the 800,000Thb, unless you have a monthly income in excess of 65,000Thb, then convert that to a non O visa inside Thailand, then get an extension of stay based on retirement, ensuring you qualify for all the other requirements.

Good luck.

To do a change of visa status to get a non immigrant visa entry there is no seasoning requirement. The money just needs to be in the bank.

It does need to be in the bank for 60 days to do the first extension of stay (3 months after that).

Travel to Thailand on a tourist or multiple tourist visa to allow enough time to get a Thai bank account and seasoning of the 800,000Thb, unless you have a monthly income in excess of 65,000Thb, then convert that to a non O visa inside Thailand, then get an extension of stay based on retirement, ensuring you qualify for all the other requirements.

Good luck.

To do a change of visa status to get a non immigrant visa entry there is no seasoning requirement. The money just needs to be in the bank.

It does need to be in the bank for 60 days to do the first extension of stay (3 months after that).

Just to add that it isn't always easy to get a Thai bank account on tourist visa, but also the OP should get his living arrangements sorted out and try to get an account in a bank that is fairly local. It's not like the UK as I have found out. The level of service can depend on the relationship with the branch manager.

It is interesting to read that most posters here are writing about how to get a visa or extension by circumventing the requirement for a Griminal Records Check. None of you know what the offence was.

However, as it was 35 years ago it will be considered spent, except for certain job applications in the UK, and will not be mentioned on the report. It may depend on the secerity of the offence and whatever the punishment/sentence was.

We NOT all do slicky things, maybe in your family/world, but good honest hard working people really excist.

I for one never did anything I should have been caught for. I am sure MANY readers here are the same as me.

So, I hope your past follows you, if needed. If not, welcome same, really don't care either way.

Please just refuse the first beer ever, if I am so unfortunate to meet you somewhere.

Hello Mr self righteous or is it Mary Whitehouse ?

If you really don't care why bother commenting ?

The only difference between you and OP is you haven't been caught yet that's all

First beer ...if you displayed this higher than mighty attitude in my presence you would be wearing the beer

Big difference in local police check and national fingerprint check.