Retirement Visa Question

[jwpen]

I have been living in Thailand for the last few years on 90-day visa exemptions, which I get as a citizen of S. Korea every time I enter LOS. I will be returning to Thailand next week from Europe and will, hopefully, receive a new 90-day visa exemption. Since I have recently turned 50 years old and have the required funds, I want to get a "retirement visa" to avoid the stress of having my passport scrutinized every time I leave and reenter the country. My question is, can I apply for the non-immigrant O visa after I arrive in Thailand or do I have to go back to Korea or another embassy outside of Thailand to do this? The information on the various websites seems contradictory on this issue but maybe I am missing something.

If I can do this while in Thailand, can I apply for the visa as soon as I arrive or should I wait 60 days for my funds to season? Will I need the medical/police reports? Will a few years of 90-day visa exemptions in my passport be a problem? I am living in Bangkok. Where would I need to go to apply? Thanks for the advice.

[ubonjoe]

You can apply for a conversion to a 90 day non immigrant visa entry at Chaeng Wattana immigration in Bangkok. The 800k baht only needs to be in the bank on the date you apply but you will need a letter from the bank confirming the funds came from abroad,

You can apply at any time during your 90 day exempt entry but must have 15 days remaining on your entry when you do it.

You will need to make two trips to immigration 15 days apart before you get the visa/entry stamps.

Then 45 days after you apply for the visa you can apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement. The 800k baht will need to be in the bank for 60 days when you apply.

After getting the extension you will need a re-entry permit if you want to travel. Single is 1000 baht and a multiple is 3800 baht.

You previous history of entries will not be a problem.

[SpokaneAl]

Or, I suppose, as a citizen of South Korea, and assuming that you travel on a South Korean passport and also that you spend time in your country, you could apply for a multi entry non imm O-A while in South Korea. By doing that, with your back and forth trips between your home country and Thailand you could get almost two years off that initial non imm O-A. You would do this via the Thai Embassy or Consulate in South Korea.

And if the process was not too complex and difficult, you could simply repeat the non imm O-A application process while in South Korea when that initial visa got close to expiration.

That would keep you from needing to meet the various income/bank account balance requirements while in Thailand and keep your visits to the local immigration office to just simple 90 day checks, assuming that you are actually in the country for 90 days at a time.

But please be aware that I am speaking from experience in obtaining a non imm O-A in the US. Your results may vary.

Edited February 4, 2015 by SpokaneAl