I'm planning on getting my retirement visa next year from the Thai Consulate in Vancouver. Once I am there, when it comes time to renew (one month before?), do I just need to show that I have had 800K in the bank (with a bank letter and passbook) every year ? Does it have to be a "new" 800K (i.e. a deposit of a new 800K) or can it be the 800K I put in the 1st time and just leave there.

For the first application the 800k require 2 months seasoning... next year 3 months and they could be the very same money. One month before the expiration is fine as long as you have those 800k on your bank account for 2 months.

Edited August 16, 201510 yr by Siriam

1.For those who are RENEWING a retirement visa, the required "seasoning period" for your money is three months. For first-time applicants it is two months.

2.You can put B 800,000 in the bank, and leave it there indefinitely. It is not necessary to open a new account, or to transfer B 800,000 every year. In subsequent years, the requirement is to top up your account (i.e. replace what you have spent) if your balance is less than B 800,000.

You are applying for a 12 month extension of stay.

It is not a Visa.

As said 800,000 in the bank for 2 months. 3 Months next time.

or 65,000 monthly income.

or a combination of both.

I have had an O-A retirement visa for 13 years. I have placed B800k on term deposit with the local BKK Bank in Thailand. Each year, I get the appropriate letter from the bank & submit it to the I/O together with the original passbook & a photocopy thereof.

No problems.

You will not get a retirement visa in Vancouver unless you apply for a OA long stay visa which requires medical and police certificates. You also have to show financial proof.

It seems you want to get a single entry non-o visa for being 50 or over and then apply for an extension of stay here.

Vancouver more than likely will not issue you a non-o visa and only offer the OA visa. You will have to a apply for the non-o visa at one of the honorary consulates such as the one in Edmonton.

I have had an O-A retirement visa for 13 years. I have placed B800k on term deposit with the local BKK Bank in Thailand. Each year, I get the appropriate letter from the bank & submit it to the I/O together with the original passbook & a photocopy thereof.

No problems.

You have not been getting OA visas at immigration here. You have been applying for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement.

A OA visa can only be obtained at an embassy in you home country.

I have had an O-A retirement visa for 13 years. I have placed B800k on term deposit with the local BKK Bank in Thailand. Each year, I get the appropriate letter from the bank & submit it to the I/O together with the original passbook & a photocopy thereof.

No problems.

Actually you have had annual extensions of stay for 13 years.

Your Visa dies years ago.

Yes, you are correct.

The question was focussed on $$$$ in bank - pedantic re exact title? Enjoy!

^^^ I'm no expert as some here are. Why doesn't he just come in on a tourist visa and do everything in Thailand? Open the bank account to get it seasoning, convert visa to non-O, get all paperwork etc., extend a multi-entry visa to 90 days and wait until not more than 30 days but not less than 15 days are left and get his one year extension of stay?

Cheers.

Yes, you are correct.

The question was focussed on $$$$ in bank - pedantic re exact title? Enjoy!

Actually it is essential to get the terminology correct.

Courses all sorts of confusion otherwise.

# 10

Agree. I followed a similar route.

^^^ I'm no expert as some here are. Why doesn't he just come in on a tourist visa and do everything in Thailand? Open the bank account to get it seasoning, convert visa to non-O, get all paperwork etc., extend a multi-entry visa to 90 days and wait until not more than 30 days but not less than 15 days are left and get his one year extension of stay?

Cheers.

That is not as easy as it was before.

The only office that can approve the conversion now is Bangkok immigration. It now takes 2 trips 15 days apart to get the visa/entry stamps done there. They have approved a few offices within the metropolitan area and Jomtien to accept the application who then forward the application for their approval.

I was probably one of the last ones to get 3month nonimmigration visa and twelve month extension of stay (total of fifteen months) during one visit to Jomtien immigration. My new extension of stay is due in the beginning of December. What is allowed interval (both before and after extension expiration day) for the new extension application?

Thanks

Yes, you are correct.

The question was focussed on $$$$ in bank - pedantic re exact title? Enjoy!

Not "Pedantic" but accurate.

The sloppy use of terminology leads to confusion and misunderstanding.

And indeed the question was focused on money!

I was probably one of the last ones to get 3month nonimmigration visa and twelve month extension of stay (total of fifteen months) during one visit to Jomtien immigration. My new extension of stay is due in the beginning of December. What is allowed interval (both before and after extension expiration day) for the new extension application?

Thanks

Thirty days before your extension ends and nothing after.

Yes, you are correct.

The question was focussed on $$$$ in bank - pedantic re exact title? Enjoy!

No, it's not pedantic. A visa and an extension of stay are two different things. When you had a valid multi-entry O-A visa you could exit and return to Thailand as you pleased.

Once the visa expired and you were in Thailand on an extension of stay, crossing in and out of Thailand would require a re-entry permit.

There have been numerous reports of people assuming the annual extension was an extension of their visa. They blithely left the country and when they returned were given only a 30 day visa exempt entry because their O-A visa had long expired and an extension of stay only allows one to remain inside Thailand, not to cross in and out of the country without a re-entry permit.

Whatever the focus of the O/P, if someone is asking about the procedures for remaining in Thailand based on retirement, misinformation can lead to problems for them down the road.

I apologize for not using the correct terminology. Of course I meant an extension of stay based on my O-A Visa.

I was planning on doing it the way they seems to want with the police/medical check and showing them my assets in a Canadian bank.

• For the purpose of retirement (Type “O-A”)
Qualifications of an applicant
1. A foreign national whose age is 50 years or above. (on the date of submitting the application)
2. Not being prohibited from entering the Kingdom under the Immigration Act. B.E. 2522 .
3. Having the nationality of or the residence in the country where his/ her application is submitted.
4. Having no criminal record against the security of Thailand and the country of his/her nationality, or the country of his/her residence.
5. Not having prohibitive diseases as indicated in the Ministerial Regulation No.14 (B.E. 2535)
(Leprosy, Tuberculosis [T.B], Elephantiasis, Drug addiction, Alcoholism, 3nd step of syphilis)

Required documents (*** One original set and 3 sets of copies. Requested documentation 5–7 must be notarized.***)
1. Four visa application forms |Download|
2. Four passport-type photos (Passport-type photo, 2” x 2”, color, front-view, taken within 6 months, and write your name and last name on the back of each photo).
3. Four copies of the applicant's passport (the picture page) - include the actual passport when submitting the application. Passport must be valid for at least 18 more months.
4. Four copies of Personal Data Form. |Download|
*5. Four copies of:
- applicant's bank statement showing a balance in the amount of not less than 800,000 Baht (current Thai exchange rate is available from the Bank of Thailand web site)
- or an income certificate with a monthly salary of not less than 65,000 Baht
- or a combination of a deposit account plus a monthly income totaling not less than 800,000 Baht a year.
(When submitting the bank statement, a letter from the bank verifying the account and balance is to be presented)
*6. Four copies of police verification stating the applicant has no criminal record issued by the authority concerned of his/her nationality or residence. The verification must not be more than three months old. Please note we will not accept the receipt for Request for Live Scan Service unless it includes the actual report/results.
*7. Four copies of the completed medical certificate form |Download| issued from the country where the application is submitted, showing no prohibitive diseases as indicated in the Ministerial Regulation No. 14 (B.E. 2535) with the name and address of the doctor. The certificate must be not be older than 3 months.

I'll speak to the Vancouver Consulate but I don't see why they can't do it.

Quick questions:

1) Who do you tell where you live every 90 days. It is the police in Pattaya or the immigration guys in Jomtien ?

2) For the 1st year (while I do have a VISA), do I need that multiple entry thing to leave and come back or is that just the extension of stay ?

Thank you.

1. Jontiem Immigration.

2. Not for the first year, but you will for the second year.

You can apply for a OA visa in Vancouver. The way I read your post it appeared you were asking about doing an extension here instead of the OA visa.

You will not need to worry about the 800k baht in the bank for almost 2 year after you get your OA visa.

1. You will make your reports of staying longer than 90 days in the country to immigration in Jomtien. You can now do them online.

2. You will use your visa for entry to the country up to the enter before date on the visa that will be one year from the date date it is issued. If you do an entry to get another year entry just before the enter before date you can stay for that full year. You will then need a re-entry permit to keep that one year permit to stay valid if you want to travel.