I am going to change my Non - B visa to a retirement visa. However i have a bank account with the 800k on it, but according to the rules the amount has to be on the account for 60 days before applying for a retirement visa. My current Non-B expires the 31st of March so in fact i have 5 days too short. Is it possible the apply for the retirement visa anyway or do I have to cancel my work permit first get an 7 day extension and change my visa after the 7 days, or do I still have to go out of the country?

You need to check with your local immigration offices policy is for doing the change. Many will no longer do a change of he reason for your extension of stay.

Also many will not allow you to apply for an extension during the 7 days to leave the country you get from applying for a 7 day extension.

There is a good chance you will have to go out to get a non-o visa. Vientiane and Penang are the best locations to get one.

maybe i can better overstay??? But i will go to the immigration office first to check their options, but i don't want to leave the country in fact

The chances of going on overstay are very good that they would refuse the extension application because you would not a have a valid permit to stay.

The chances are very high that you will have to bite the bullet and leave the country.

Hi,

I asked this before when I got confused.

Money is needed in a bank account TWO months prior to applying, yes?

Recently someone said 3 months.

cb

It is is 60 days for the first extension and 3 months for all others for an extension based upon retirement.

maybe i can better overstay??? But i will go to the immigration office first to check their options, but i don't want to leave the country in fact

Very bad idea. This will almost certainly give you trouble with your Retirement Visa application.

Hi Joe,

sorry if I am dense, but just wanting to make sure I understand.

When FIRST applying for a retirement visa, the money needs to be in an account for a minimum of 60 days, but after that when one applies for the retirement visa a second or third time, etc. the money needs to be in 90 days in advance?

Not sure because you say "extension".

The money needs to be there once a year for either two or three months, yes?

Hi Joe,

sorry if I am dense, but just wanting to make sure I understand.

When FIRST applying for a retirement visa, the money needs to be in an account for a minimum of 60 days, but after that when one applies for the retirement visa a second or third time, etc. the money needs to be in 90 days in advance?

Not sure because you say "extension".

The money needs to be there once a year for either two or three months, yes?

You cannot apply for a retirement visa here in the country. You apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

For the first extension it is 60 days. For the next one and all others afterward it needs to be in the bank for 3 months,

immigration & their little rules... came to do an extention, in fact a stamp from old to new passport & an extention, as the man instructed me to do last year... the stamp was done quickly, for the other thing they said, too soon, come back NEXT WEEK

You need to check with your local immigration offices policy is for doing the change. Many will no longer do a change of he reason for your extension of stay.

Also many will not allow you to apply for an extension during the 7 days to leave the country you get from applying for a 7 day extension.

There is a good chance you will have to go out to get a non-o visa. Vientiane and Penang are the best locations to get one.

No need to leave the country, Chaengwattana will do it.

Joe, thanks as always for your kindness, and I am still a bit confused.

Now, from what you wrote I DO get that the money needs to be in the bank for 60 days when first applying and 90 days after that.

Ok.

But what you write next, confuses me:

You cannot apply for a retirement visa here in the country. You apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

//

As a concrete example- I am on an ED visa that ends in August of this year.

You are saying that I have to leave the country in order to get a Retirement visa?

​And when you say, "you apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement." I get lost....

If my current visa is up on August 15, then I need to have money in the bank no later than June 15 yes?

And then what...?

I leave the country and apply for a retirement visa while in another country?

Sorry if I am being a pain!

:-)

cb

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Joe, thanks as always for your kindness, and I am still a bit confused.

Now, from what you wrote I DO get that the money needs to be in the bank for 60 days when first applying and 90 days after that.

Ok.

But what you write next, confuses me:

You cannot apply for a retirement visa here in the country. You apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

//

As a concrete example- I am on an ED visa that ends in August of this year.

You are saying that I have to leave the country in order to get a Retirement visa?

​And when you say, "you apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement." I get lost....

If my current visa is up on August 15, then I need to have money in the bank no later than June 15 yes?

And then what...?

I leave the country and apply for a retirement visa while in another country?

Sorry if I am being a pain!

:-)

cb

There is no such thing as a "Retirement Visa" as Joe has explained.

It is the permission to stay that is extended and one of the reasons such an extension is permitted is retirement.

The nearest thing to a "retirement visa" is a long stay O-A visa which can only be obtained from a Thai Embassy or Official consulate in your home country.

Do you currently have a "visa" obtained from outside the country or have you got an extension of stay obtained from immigration?

If you have a "visa" you will have been leaving the country every 90 days .

Edited March 1, 201511 yr by nzexpat

Joe, thanks as always for your kindness, and I am still a bit confused.

Now, from what you wrote I DO get that the money needs to be in the bank for 60 days when first applying and 90 days after that.

Ok.

But what you write next, confuses me:

You cannot apply for a retirement visa here in the country. You apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

//

As a concrete example- I am on an ED visa that ends in August of this year.

You are saying that I have to leave the country in order to get a Retirement visa?

​And when you say, "you apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement." I get lost....

If my current visa is up on August 15, then I need to have money in the bank no later than June 15 yes?

And then what...?

I leave the country and apply for a retirement visa while in another country?

Sorry if I am being a pain!

:-)

cb

The only visa that even comes close to being called a retirement visa is a OA visa that you can only get in your home country.

Unless immigration start allowing a change from a ED extension of stay to one based upon retirement again you will need to leave the country to get a single entry non-o visa. Then during the last 30 days of the 90 day entry from the non-o visa you can apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement.

You could put the money in the bank after you get the non-o visa then apply for the extension when the money has been in the bank for 60 days.

Joe, thanks as always for your kindness, and I am still a bit confused.

Now, from what you wrote I DO get that the money needs to be in the bank for 60 days when first applying and 90 days after that.

Ok.

But what you write next, confuses me:

You cannot apply for a retirement visa here in the country. You apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.

//

As a concrete example- I am on an ED visa that ends in August of this year.

You are saying that I have to leave the country in order to get a Retirement visa?

​And when you say, "you apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement." I get lost....

If my current visa is up on August 15, then I need to have money in the bank no later than June 15 yes?

And then what...?

I leave the country and apply for a retirement visa while in another country?

Sorry if I am being a pain!

:-)

cb

Charlie,

Here is the part that you are not understanding. I know the following because I am doing the same thing as you.

I am on an ED now expiring in May. Our visas cannot be extended for retirement reasons. We must first leave the country and get a Non Immig O visa in Vientienne. Then re-enter on that, which gives us 90 days.

THEN, at the end of that 90 days, you go and get and Extension based upon retirement and provide all of the paperwork needed for that, of which, the money in the bank is one of them.

So you won't need the money in that account for a while, the last 2 months of your Non O visa.

Secondly, we can obtain a letter of income from our embassies in lieu of the 800k in an acct that basically states you make more than 65k baht per month in your home country. They accept either that or the bank deposits or a combination of both. Hope that helps.