Worried! I don't have 800,000 Baht in Thai bank.

[bangkoklasse]

I have been living/working here for 24 years.

This year I sold my condo in Bangkok, unfortunately the proceeds of the sale ,money was 2 weeks short of the due date to renew my annual retirement visa.

I therefore decided to take the option of renewing my visa using an agent in Pattaya (B13,000). This was very painless and completed in 1 day - "Amazing Thailand". A good friend of mine has been using this option for the past 3 years and has never encountered any problems.

I understand BangkokLasse's comments about the legality of this option, however having been here for such a long time nothing really surprises me about the many options Thai Entrepreneurs get round Thai legal challenges,

My recommendation to the Canadian retiree is to "Go FOR IT". This is after reading some of the recent posts of members being here for 14 years on an "OVERSTAY" and paying B20,000.

Why go for it? He have more than 1,1 million baht in yearly income. That is much more money than you need to get the extension legally. So why pay extra to get it ilegally???

Edited August 21, 2014 by bangkoklasse

[gringo99]

U need 65000 baht per month or 800000 baht in bank

Or u need example if u have just 40000 baht pension month give u 480000 b year and then u put 320000 baht in bank give u 800000 baht

[phuketrichard]

So your in a double entry tourist visa? wait till it is due to expire as you have already paid for it

Than go to immigration an have it changed to a non O visa ( 2,000 baht) valid for 90 days

get ur money in the bank (first application 60 days) and than apply for the 1 year extension.

US embassy will do the letter for 1,600 baht or $50,they do not ask for any proof of your income

Thanks phuketrichard!

I have been here for 60 days at the beginning of next month. I was told that I can extend this for another 30 days before the 60 days is up, for a total of 90 days

I was also told that if I re-entered before the visa is expired, that would give me ANOTHER 60 days, that could also be extended for 30 days.

I would then apply for the retirement extension...

Does above sound correct?

NO reason to pay 1,900 for 30 days when u can pay 2,000 for 90 days,

So just head to a border before ur visa expires and re- enter and get the second 60 days

jutst make sure than ur money is in the bank for 60 days for 1st extension.

[balo]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

Edited August 21, 2014 by balo

[Namplik]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

This is called corruption mr balo

[duanebigsby]

For the OP getting a multiple entry non-o would be a waste of money. He has enough income to qualify for the extension. All he has to do is go to the Candandian embassy and get do statutory declaration for his income.

That is great to hear for the OP,,, but I just did not know that Canada had the same privilege as an American ... I thought that some countries did not ... But waste of money? My multi 'O' was only 200 USD... and the extra time allows for a contingency - in case any hiccups pop up along the way...

" but I just did not know that Canada had the same privilege as an American ."

What privilege are you talking about? The requirements for an extension of stay based on retirement are not an American privilege. They are based on Thai immigrations' rules and regulations for people over 50 with the financial resources.

My use of the word privilege was a poor choice of words perhaps - but maybe not ... I just did not want to assume that citizens of all countries are treated exactly the same under Thai immigration law with respect to being allowed to use an Embassy verification of income letter / affidavit in lieu of having seasoned 800,000 Baht in a Thai Bank. Because other Thailand Immigration Rules do in fact favor some countries with special privileges usually done via bilateral agreements - Example: Citizens of certain countries are granted the privilege of entering Thailand without a visa (due to bilateral agreements) - thus discriminating against other countries by not granting this same privilege. There is also (while not strictly immigration related) Americans by treaty are allowed to own corporations in Thailand without having to have Thai partners... other countries are not allow this privilege. In this regard I erred on the side of not making an assumption.

The rules are a little bit different. Us Canucks have to be 52 years old, but the money thing is the same.

We also pay more than Americans for a Laos Tourist Visa.

[DerekMarshall]

To qualify for an extension you need:

- 800,000 in bankaccount in Thailand

OR

- an income of 65,000 a month

Or

- a combination of yearly income and money in the bank totaling at least 800,000 baht.

In otherwords your income is enough to qualify you for an extension of stay. You will need to rpoof you income to immigraiton with a letter from your embassy confirming your income. Your embassy decides what they accept as proof.

hMM What about say a UK national that has a disability pension from another nation? would one have to get document proving income from the other nation translated and validated as a proof of income by the UK embassy to be accepted as proof of income?

[sambum]

To qualify for an extension you need:

- 800,000 in bankaccount in Thailand

OR

- an income of 65,000 a month

Or

- a combination of yearly income and money in the bank totaling at least 800,000 baht.

In otherwords your income is enough to qualify you for an extension of stay. You will need to rpoof you income to immigraiton with a letter from your embassy confirming your income. Your embassy decides what they accept as proof.

You don't need to get a O-Avisa, if you apply for a non-O visa at a honorary consulate in Canada you will get a permission to stay for 90 days wihout medical certificate of police check. Near the end of those 90 days you apply for a 1 year extension of stay at immirgaiton in Thailand.

Correcto Mario! One thing to be aware of however is, "A combination of yearly income and money in the bank totalling at least 800,000 baht" I can not get a definitive answer on this, but my local Immigration Officer insists that the shortfall between your yearly income and the 800,000 baht has to be in a Thai bank, and has to have been there for 3 months. (A moving of the goalposts again - about 3 years ago the shortfall could be in a bank in your home country)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For retirement extensions issued by Thai Immigration here in Thailand, the bank deposit funds must be in a bank in Thailand.

For O-A retirement visas issued by Thai Consulates in other countries, the required bank deposit funds can be held in those countries.

AFAIK, the bank deposits for retirement extensions issued by Thai Immigration have ALWAYS had to be in a Thai bank, and never allowed in other countries.

[Mario2008]

To qualify for an extension you need:

- 800,000 in bankaccount in Thailand

OR

- an income of 65,000 a month

Or

- a combination of yearly income and money in the bank totaling at least 800,000 baht.

In otherwords your income is enough to qualify you for an extension of stay. You will need to rpoof you income to immigraiton with a letter from your embassy confirming your income. Your embassy decides what they accept as proof.

hMM What about say a UK national that has a disability pension from another nation? would one have to get document proving income from the other nation translated and validated as a proof of income by the UK embassy to be accepted as proof of income?

Yes, normally your own embassy will do that and not the embassy of the country you receive a pension from.

[Mario2008]

To qualify for an extension you need:

- 800,000 in bankaccount in Thailand

OR

- an income of 65,000 a month

Or

- a combination of yearly income and money in the bank totaling at least 800,000 baht.

In otherwords your income is enough to qualify you for an extension of stay. You will need to rpoof you income to immigraiton with a letter from your embassy confirming your income. Your embassy decides what they accept as proof.

You don't need to get a O-Avisa, if you apply for a non-O visa at a honorary consulate in Canada you will get a permission to stay for 90 days wihout medical certificate of police check. Near the end of those 90 days you apply for a 1 year extension of stay at immirgaiton in Thailand.

Correcto Mario! One thing to be aware of however is, "A combination of yearly income and money in the bank totalling at least 800,000 baht" I can not get a definitive answer on this, but my local Immigration Officer insists that the shortfall between your yearly income and the 800,000 baht has to be in a Thai bank, and has to have been there for 3 months. (A moving of the goalposts again - about 3 years ago the shortfall could be in a bank in your home country)

Yes, also in the combination method the money must be in a bank account in Thailand. (That has been the rule for ages).

The combo method does not require seasoning of the money in the bank. (Some offices seem to require it, but it is not in the rules).

[mrfaroukh]

Nothing to worry, the law is that you must get Non Immigrant O visa I don't know what is A for as you mentioned. Get a letter from your Embassy to show what is your monthly pension. That is all you need plus other documents like address where you live, copy of passport etc and couple of photos. You then go to any immigration office in any city and apply for retirement visa. It will cost you 1900 Baht. You then get reentry stamp in your passport as well. It cost you 1000 Baht for a single and 3800 Baht for multiple. If you are not leaving Thailand at all during the one year you not need any reentry stamp also.

It make no difference how many years to did stay in Thailand you have to do this process every year. Either have 65000 Baht a month regular salary, or have 800 000 Baht in a bank. Or combination of the two.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The combo method does not require seasoning of the money in the bank. (Some offices seem to require it, but it is not in the rules).

Mario, there is growing evidence lately that Immigration in fact has begun requiring 3 month seasoning of combo method bank deposit funds.

As per the following threads:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/752971-retirement-visa-combination-of-pension-money-in-bank-account/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/743309-minor-change-on-1-year-retirement-extension-of-stay/

And including:

Posted Yesterday, 13:51

I have just returned from Chaengwattana today I went there to extend my Retirement Visa using the pension plus balance in the bank method. This would be about the 10th year i have done this so i was not expecting anything different. To cut a long story short they refused to extend my visa and i have 2 weeks to leave the country. Why ? because about 20000 baht of the balance in my bank account had not been there for three months.

When i protested and said it had never been like this before i was told the new rule came in last August and it is up to me to know the rules.I'm still in shock but i had began to think it was my fault for not paying more attention to the way the Thais make it up as they go along ,but this thread seems to suggest that this" new rule" is news to a lot of people.I would really like to know if other people using the pension + balance method have been denied because money was not in bank for 3 months.If as immigration say the rule is a year old why isnt everybody already aware of it.I'm still so shocked i don't know if i'm coming or going , literally.

Edited August 21, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[paz]

I think it's just logical that any type of funds deposit has to be seasoned.

Otherwise people using combo method but small income of (e.g.) 10,000 Bt would be able to satisfy the requirement by borrowing the main capital for a week or so.

That is unfair to the people using only deposit method.

Perhaps that will cut on the fixer method too.

[balo]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

This is called corruption mr balo

Yes , but this is Thailand.

[RecklessRon]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

IMHO: 25K is a LOT of money to waste if you have the 800K.

[larsjohnsson]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

IMHO: 25K is a LOT of money to waste if you have the 800K.

Yes it's like giving away 25k without getting anything

[paz]

I have been told you can get a retirement visa without having 800k in the bank. You just need to talk to the right guys at the immigration. My friend did this for 25k , valid 1 year.

IMHO: 25K is a LOT of money to waste if you have the 800K.

The point is, people that does that does not have the 800K.

[larsjohnsson]

How can people afford 25k bribes if own less than 800k ?

[paz]

How can people afford 25k bribes if own less than 800k ?

Because 25K is a lot less than 800K, exactly 32 times less.

[balo]

If youu're on a low pension, maybe 50k baht , and not enough savings, then paying 25k for a year is not a bad idea. And a lot of retired people do this.