Retirement Visa

[robertcox]

Hello,

The sequence, forms, and process for acquiring a retirement visa is not clear to me. I'm an American who lives many miles from a Thai embassy-- I understand that I should go to a Thai embassy in the US, tell them I want to retire in Thailand, and ask for a non-residence visa. And then when I'm in Thailand I should go along to a Thai embassy and convert the 90-day non-immigrant visa into a one-year retirement visa. Is this correct? Other questions:

1) When applying in the US how many copies of the application and photo should I have?

2) Is it best to just ask my bank to give me a letter confirming that I have enought money/pension in the bank?

3) Do I need a letter from the police saying I'm not a criminal at this point, or does this happen in Thailand?

4) At what point (in the US or Thailand) will I need the medical form completed by a doctor?

5) When approaching the Thai embassy do I need a letter from a Thai bank regarding the savings--or can the money still be in a US bank?

6) How recent does the statement from the bank have to be?

7) I understand that a letter from a US embassy declaring that I intend to retire. Do I present this letter to the Thai embassy in the US? Or do I take the letter to a Thai embassy in Thailand, and if in Thailand can I get the letter from the US embassy in Thailand?

Thanks for the help... Is there a site that will answer these questions.

[lopburi3]

Try:

Royal Thai Embassy Washington DC

Royal Thai Consulate LA

[mrmnp]

Your questions are certainly deje vu for me two years ago.

Without getting into a step by step "how to" at this point, based on a year of reviewing posts in this forum and my own experience, getting anythng more than a tourist visa from the Thai Embassy or Consulate nearest you is making your life unnessarily difficult and is fraught with complications.

Just be a tourist on a tourist visa until you get here. Before you come, make sure you can transfer money from your bank in the U.S. to a Thai bank or have a debit card that the bank can charge the funds to for deposit in Thailand.

Once you are here on the tourist visa, go to the main immigration office in Bangkok, 4th floor and they will change your tourist visa to a non-immigrant 0 retirement visa in due course. The only thing you need to do before your come, is to make sure you can transfer the money needed to satisfy the retirerment extention requirement, ie. 800,000 baht in a lump sum in a Thai bank or a combination of deposited funds and verifyable pension funds annually, totalling that figure. Stay away from using pension funds if possible.

Once you are here, the steps are straightforward and you can find what they are by merely looking through the many posts on the subject in the many threads in this forum. Also, once you are here, renew the questions and many will be happy to detail them. You won't need a police clearance even though the regs say you do. Your medical certificate is a quick stop at any hospital. Usually no exam required. No embassy letter is required. Bank letter verifying the amount on deposit is the most important, obtained the same day you go to immigraton, detailing the source of the funds and the date they came into Thailand.

You may have to return to immigration on a following day, to allow for processing of your application.

[pyan pong phew]

mrmnp, thanks for the practical info, sounds much simpler than obtaining a retirement visa in home country (UK in my case).

One question, maybe a silly one. Do I have to obtain a tourist visa you mentioned above before entering Thailand? or I just arrive in Bangkok Airport and the immigration there will give me a tourist visa on the spot. Is there any difference between the two?. If same, the latter is preferable as it will be less hassle. It that right?

Thanks

[mrmnp]

Excellent point. I obtained a two entry visa for my two visits to Thailand, the second ending with the switchover.

Hopefully someone will help me out on this one. In another thread today, a poster made a distinction between an entry permit and a visa and suggested the questioner would have to leave Thailand and re-enter with a visa to effect a change of status from tourist to non-immigrant 0 (Retirement).

Take a look at the first two pages of this thread and you should see the other thread or threads where the comment is made.

[lopburi3]

You must obtain a visa prior to your arrival in Thailand. What you receive as a member of the 39 visa free entry countries is a visa free entry for 30 days which can only be extended for 10 days. It can not be changed to a non immigrant visa required for retirement. So you should have either a tourist visa valid for 60 days or a non immigrant valid for 90 days stay in your passport prior to travel.

[mrmnp]

lopbur3, educate me if you will. Is the U.S. one of the 39 countries that qualify for the 30 day entry permission. Is it called an entry permit? When I came from the U.S. I was clueless and found out from somewhere that a Visa was required for a visit. I obtained a two entry tourist visa, not knowing otherewise. Could I have come into the country from the U.S. by simply showing up in Thailand at the airport and requesting a 30 stay? Thanks

[lopburi3]

Could I have come into the country from the U.S. by simply showing up in Thailand at the airport and requesting a 30 stay?

If you are traveling on a US passport or that of another country on the list of 39 the answer is yes. You would have received a stamp to allow stay for 30 days upon arrival. The only requirement (not usually checked by immigration but often by airlines) is that you have an onward ticket out of Thailand not later than 30 days from arrival.

If you were traveling on a one way ticket or did not have reservations out within 30 days your understanding that you needed a visa was correct (at least to be sure you were allowed to fly).