An Aussie friend is planning to come and apply for retirement visa when he's in Chiang Mai.

What visa should he come in on..?  Can you help?

i thought a non immigrant O was what he needed but he tells me the staff in Australai say things have changed...

Any suggestions for the man..?

Assist Thai Visa are sponsors of Thai Visa  (Plus they do a bloody good job).

 

He can come in on  a tourist exempt visa/entry and go see the guys at ATV. They can sort out everything for him...ie Non Immigrant O and hen transfer to long stay (retirement) visa.

 

I did that 5 years ago thru ATV and have never regretted doing so.

He should obtain a Type 'O' visa

 

Try for a one year multi entry or the minimum, or obtain a 3 month single entry type 'O'

 

You can turn these visa's into retirement extension

 

You must be over 50 and have 800,000 Baht in the bank for 2 months

 

So open a bank account upon arrival

Apply for the retirement visa in Australia, you will have to get a health certificate, a letter of income and a police letter saying you don't have a criminal record. On the plus side you will qualify for a second year on retirement visa just by walking across a border and back again.

Moved to Thai visas forum where it belongs.

1 hour ago, ramrod711 said:

Apply for the retirement visa in Australia, you will have to get a health certificate, a letter of income and a police letter saying you don't have a criminal record. On the plus side you will qualify for a second year on retirement visa just by walking across a border and back again.

That being called a "Non O-A".

Recommended if financial proof is sufficient and other documents easy to get.

(I don't know about Australia)

2 hours ago, HullyGully said:

He should obtain a Type 'O' visa

 

Try for a one year multi entry or the minimum, or obtain a 3 month single entry type 'O'

Not available in Australia for being 50 or over.

A multiple entry non-o is very hard to get anywhere now. Most places cannot do them.

As said OA long stay visa is an option. He can apply at the embassy in Canberra or the official consulate in Sydney.

Info can be found here by clicking retirement visa after entering Australia at the top left corner of the page. http://canberra.thaiembassy.org/Home/visa

Another option is to get single entry tourist visa and and then apply for a change of visa status to get a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) entry. And then apply for an extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration.