Hi,

I'm due to renew my retirement visa in Phuket. I have done this with the validation from the British Embassy that I have a pension, for life, in excess of 65000 Baht per month since 2004. I thought this was valid until my passport expires. However, I read some posts that this was not now acceptable. Can anyone bring me up to date please? What can I do to ensure a 12 month retiremenr visa?

Gammy what are you worried about...............no problem with your one year extension

The so called retirement visa.

This allows foreigners aged 50 and over to extend a non-immigrant visa for up to 12 months from the date of the last entry into Thailand. It requires either 800,000 baht in a Thai bank or a combination of cash in the bank and proof of pension paid in the home country. A letter from the respective embassy is required for proof of pension. From now on, the immigration officer will need to see proof that the 800,000 baht has been there for three months prior to the visa being issued. This is to stop the practice of moving money into a bank account, and promptly out again, once the visa is granted.

The old regulation, however, that you must produce an annual medical certificate for this visa has been withdrawn.

Gammy, in line with what Satu said, I agree that you should be fine with the embassy letter verifying your income.

That said, based on reports here on ThaiVisa.com, occasionally individual immigrations officers seem to present additional criteria such as:

The embassy letter must be "current" ... i.e. cannot use a letter from last year. In my case a month ago, the Pattaya office took my original letter and kept it, even though I offered two photocopies. Other people have reported using the original letter year after year and just submitting new photocopies.

You should have a Thai bank passbook for the officer to take a look at, although not for the purpose of verifying B800,000. Apparently they just like to see that you have some bank activity.

Just be prepared to be flexible in case you meet some request not covered in the written guidelines. And smile a lot. :-)

I recently was granted a visa extension on grounds of retirement having produced a copy of my letter from the British Consulate verifying my pension payment. My letter was issued in 2002 and for the past 2 applications I have had a different passport. I have only noticed this since my recent application and it wasn't discovered during my visit to the Immigration Office.

This was probably due to the documents not being examined closely and I intend to visit the Consulate before my next application to get a new letter. I have never been told that an updated letter was needed, but if you are told this, then be thankful that you applied before your visa expired, and that you have time to obtain a new letter.

Could some one kindly clarify what information the British Embassy require for them to issue the letter verifying pension. I'm fast approaching the big 50 and have a private pension fund and other investments that I can draw on when I need but no regular monthly pension payment execept for rent from UK property, will the Embassy accept this?

I'm renewing my retirement visa in a couple months. I used a notorized statment from the U.S. Embassy last time. At Pattaya immigration they made copies of the letter and gave the original back to me. Can I use the old notorized statement or do I have to get a newer statement from the U.S. Embassy?

You can most likely use again if the same office but I would go a few days early just in case you are asked for a new letter, so it will not be a rush to comply.