Veteran wanting a retirement Visa.

[rijb]

25 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I haven't noticed any animosity towards Vietnam era vets. Sure lots of people hate Americans in general...

Speak for yourself.

[NancyL]

3 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

My thinking about CM was I can get direct flights, and initially maybe better accommodations at lower costs. Maybe more English friendly, I would later travel around Thailand or elsewhere for a more long time stay. I have time and will apply for my visa within the US. If I first enter in CM, will I be stuck there for some administrative processes? I will also hook-up with a local VFW.

 

I would also like to be open. I am not raising the American Veteran with duty in Thailand flag waving, though there seems to be an animosity toward us. That war is behind us, and no matter your view. Thailand retained it's autonomy, many existing airports and infrastructure were built by America. We supported local charities and some like me, as a young man, fell in love with the county, culture, and people. I have been there many times on business since  those days, and all-and-all, my feelings have not changed, except I have access to the internet.

Chiang Mai is a great place for Vietnam era vets to retire.  As you said, wonderful service from Korean Air where you can totally avoid Swampy.  The VFW has a new, young, dynamic commander who is very interested in helping the Vietnam era vets and the Chiang Mai expats club has many activities and connections to help you get settled.  

 

The only real problems in Chiang Mai are the local Immigration office, the ghastly traffic, lack of transportation infrastructure and the seasonal air pollution problem.  If you can work around those issues it's a good place to live.  It's a very good "starter" location for retirement overseas. 

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, rijb said:

Speak for yourself.

Did you have trouble understanding the phrase ...

 

I haven't noticed ...

Edited June 25, 2017 by Jingthing

[Kim1950]

I am speaking for myself. It's at face value, like you speak for yourself. There's no agenda or malicious intent. In fact, most responses have been helpful, assuring, and informative. In some cases, I have been given contacts. If people don't like, in general, American's, I am not taking up the cause either way. Or, pointing at other nationalities. Thailand runs their own country. Some people simply are explorers, who want to live other cultures, and like our primal ancestors want to risk to see what's over the next horizon.

 

 

[Jingthing]

Any anti-Americanism that exists here should not be a major worry. As you continue in your path towards retirement in Thailand legal status, I suggest you keep asking specific questions as things get more real. There are a number of details in the process. You've started it by posting here and asking your question. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Jingthing

[bkk6060]

OP I would check out Angeles City in PI.  The people are generally nicer/friendlier, speak English, stronger US military history, many Vets with very supportive VFW, lots of fun can be had.

[Scott]

Inflammatory post removed. 

[buick]

OP - get the non imm OA based on your funds in bank of america.  it is multi entry so you can visit the surrounding countries, etc..  each time you return you'll get a stamp for a 12 month stay. 

 

you want to leave thailand and return just before the expiration of the visa, you'll get a 12 month stamp that will cover year 2 of your stay.  if you plan to leave thailand during that 'stay' you must get a reentry permit (you are on an extension of stay at this point, visa expired).  you can get a single or mulit reentry permit.  some people forget about this, leave the country, and have to start all over by getting a new OA or O.

 

at the end of that stay, you can figure out what is best for you to continue your stay for year 3.  cash in a thai bank or the income method (you indicate you qualify for both).  i think the income method is better.

 

setting up the bank of america to bangkok bank 'relationship' is pretty easy.  open the bangkok bank account in thailand (you have a retirement visa so that shouldn't be too hard).  bofa will send a couple of test deposits (small amounts) to your thai account and you verify those amounts with bofa to complete the 'link'.  you use the routing number for bangkok bank in new york and your account number for your bangkok bank branch in thailand.  so you are doing an ACH transfer versus a SWIFT transfer.

 

good luck with all this and enjoy your retirement in thailand (and your side trips !!!). 

 

 

[XBroker]

I'm in a similar situation to the OP.  Qualify by income or assets,  and a veteran. Seems like you have to have a reservation 3 months out or so to be sure to get it all done and be able to give them flight info. Is that correct? There is no way to secure an OA before committing to an itinerary? I'm not a long term planner when it comes to leaving and arriving on a specific day. Rather book 6 weeks or so before I travel, even then.

[ubonjoe]

15 minutes ago, XBroker said:

I'm in a similar situation to the OP.  Qualify by income or assets,  and a veteran. Seems like you have to have a reservation 3 months out or so to be sure to get it all done and be able to give them flight info. Is that correct? There is no way to secure an OA before committing to an itinerary? I'm not a long term planner when it comes to leaving and arriving on a specific day. Rather book 6 weeks or so before I travel, even then.

There is no requirement to show flight tickets to apply for a OA long stay visa. See: http://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-category-o/

[XBroker]

6 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no requirement to show flight tickets to apply for a OA long stay visa. See: http://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-category-o/

I downloaded the one from Chicago and it has a place for flight number etc. I like yours better.

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, XBroker said:

I downloaded the one from Chicago and it has a place for flight number etc. I like yours better.

There is a space on the application forms for a flight number but there is no requirement to show the tickets.

From website. http://www.thaiconsulatechicago.org/pages-non-immigrant-visa-eng.html

Quote

VII. Retirement in Thailand, the applicant must be at least 50 years old and must submit documents as follows :

• documentation showing proof of retirement
• bank statement or monthly/year income.
• a copy of the applicant’s criminal record from the local police department
• a certificate of health.

*These documents must be certified by a Notary Public and certify true signature of the notary public by the Secretary of State.

 

[XBroker]

How does a notary public certify my income, bank accounts,  my health document that I give them or any criminal record documents I pay to provide? I don't even know who the current secretary of state is.

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, XBroker said:

How does a notary public certify my income, bank accounts,  my health document that I give them or any criminal record documents I pay to provide? I don't even know who the current secretary of state is.

It is for the copies you have to supply with the 3 application forms. It has beens mentioned that for the original documents you do a cover letter swearing they are true and correct that is then notarized.

 The secretary of state line means the notary public is registered with them.

The embassy in DC's  list is better than the on the Chicago site

[XBroker]

Thank you.

[Kim1950]

On 6/25/2017 at 7:41 AM, ubonjoe said:

Or get a single entry non-o visa from one of the honorary consulates in the states. http://thaiembdc.org/royal-thai-honorary-consulates-general-in-the-u-s/

No need to deal with CM immigration to get a 90 day non immigrant visa entry.

This was my plan though this route requires a FBI Idenity History Summary. A state level criminal background check seems too problematic, as this information is not always passed from state to state. I do have a 40 year old DUI charge which was not a felony and later the charge was dismissed at the state level. Never caused me any employment or travel problem in the past. From what I can understand, from the perspective of the FBI, they may have never received any or only some of the information about the charge, fingerprints, or disposition of the case. You would only know by submitting the forms, $18 USD and two months for processing. 

 

Then whatever the outcome, I have no idea how stringent the US\DC Thai Embassy is on the criteria for a criminal record to prohibit the Visa. On paper, they say no criminal record. I suppose, just go for it, see what happens, a shared learning experience. Does anybody know?

[bkk6060]

You are coming here anyway, right?  Just get it here much easier less requirements then the US.  

 

 

[ubonjoe]

4 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

This was my plan though this route requires a FBI Idenity History Summary.

That is to get a OA long stay visa at the embassy in DC or one of the 3 official consulates.

To get a single entry non-o visa at one of the honorary consulates only requires your passport, application form and the $80 fee for it.

[Kim1950]

9 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is to get a OA long stay visa at the embassy in DC or one of the 3 official consulates.

To get a single entry non-o visa at one of the honorary consulates only requires your passport, application form and the $80 fee for it.

Thanks, it appears to be too perilous and time consuming to navigate the OA long stay Visa through the DC Embassy, unless I find a in country agent, or this could take months and then get jammed for some offense that was dismissed 40 years ago. What's pathetic and I talked to the FBI, big felonies can fall through their database and small offenses, even dismissed could show with no disposition,. This is because all this is dependent on each individual state. Like even today some states don't report crimes of illegal immigrants to the Federal Government.

 

Anyway, I was stationed in Thailand for two years during the Vietnam War and later traveled there on business many times. I fell in love with the country and dreamed of returning there for an extended stay, maybe longer, and also visit Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I did short service in those places. There were many clandestine operations out of Thailand. My memory bucket list. Look and see, do research, much is available today, maybe keep a journal of the experience, then and now. Make peace with it all. Who knows retire there.

 

Money and health are not issues. Once there, it seems, other veteran communities can help me. In your opinion, how do I get into Thailand with the goal of a extendable one year stay that allows me travel to neighboring countries. Thanks.

 

 

[phuketjock]

26 minutes ago, Kim1950 said:

Thanks, it appears to be too perilous and time consuming to navigate the OA long stay Visa through the DC Embassy, unless I find a in country agent, or this could take months and then get jammed for some offense that was dismissed 40 years ago. What's pathetic and I talked to the FBI, big felonies can fall through their database and small offenses, even dismissed could show with no disposition,. This is because all this is dependent on each individual state. Like even today some states don't report crimes of illegal immigrants to the Federal Government.

 

Anyway, I was stationed in Thailand for two years during the Vietnam War and later traveled there on business many times. I fell in love with the country and dreamed of returning there for an extended stay, maybe longer, and also visit Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I did short service in those places. There were many clandestine operations out of Thailand. My memory bucket list. Look and see, do research, much is available today, maybe keep a journal of the experience, then and now. Make peace with it all. Who knows retire there.

 

Money and health are not issues. Once there, it seems, other veteran communities can help me. In your opinion, how do I get into Thailand with the goal of a extendable one year stay that allows me travel to neighboring countries. Thanks.

 

 

These are the basic requirements for the Phuket office and generally they are the same for every imm. office with 

slight differences for other offices, as you don't say where you may settle in Thailand you may have to research a 

particular office after you decide where you wish settle.

Your first extension, it is not a VISA, but an extension of your permission to stay on the grounds of retirement and is

renewable every year indefinitely, I am on my 9/10th year on this extension. It may appear a bit scarey the first time

but it really is not, it is in fact very simple if you just follow the necessary steps.

There is no requirement for a medical certificate but you will require a residence certificate, referred to as up to date

address registration in the text below. Hope this helps.

With this extension you can come and go as you please but you must ensure that you obtain a re-entry permit if you

intend to leave the country because if you don't you will, on departure, immediately invalidate your extension and will

have to start the whole process all over again. You can opt for a single re-entry permit 1,000 baht or a multi re-entry

permit 3,800 baht if you intend to make many excursions in a year. Either re-entry will remain valid for the duration of

your extension.

If you do not leave the country for 90 days you are required to report to your imm.office .

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by phuketjock
addition

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, Kim1950 said:

Thanks, it appears to be too perilous and time consuming to navigate the OA long stay Visa through the DC Embassy, unless I find a in country agent, or this could take months and then get jammed for some offense that was dismissed 40 years ago. What's pathetic and I talked to the FBI, big felonies can fall through their database and small offenses, even dismissed could show with no disposition,. This is because all this is dependent on each individual state. Like even today some states don't report crimes of illegal immigrants to the Federal Government.

 

Anyway, I was stationed in Thailand for two years during the Vietnam War and later traveled there on business many times. I fell in love with the country and dreamed of returning there for an extended stay, maybe longer, and also visit Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I did short service in those places. There were many clandestine operations out of Thailand. My memory bucket list. Look and see, do research, much is available today, maybe keep a journal of the experience, then and now. Make peace with it all. Who knows retire there.

 

Money and health are not issues. Once there, it seems, other veteran communities can help me. In your opinion, how do I get into Thailand with the goal of a extendable one year stay that allows me travel to neighboring countries. Thanks.

 

 

Kim, it's not that difficult to obtain an FBI records check or to go to your local law-enforcement agency to ask them to fingerprint you and get a state check.  That's what we did and the local township police thought it great fun to fingerprint a nice older couple who were sober, smiling and wanted to be fingerprinted.   In looking around the fingerprint room, I commented "gee, this room looks like you have to hose it down from time-to-time" and the laughing staff said, "normally the people we finger print are puking, pissing, and don't want to be here"

 

Anyway, do that and see what the report says.   It's not like the Thai Embassy is going to run their own criminal check on you.   If you don't like the report you get, then come to Thailand with a tourist visa and the idea you'll have to pay the big baht to a Chiang Mai visa agent to work their magic with Chiang Mai Immigration.  Remember, you've been warned.

 

Otherwise, if your U.S. police report is clean, then move along to get an O-A visa in the U.S.  It's the "Platinum Visa"  that will minimize your contact with the vultures at CM Immigration that love to feed on newbies.

[phuketjock]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Kim, it's not that difficult to obtain an FBI records check or to go to your local law-enforcement agency to ask them to fingerprint you and get a state check.  That's what we did and the local township police thought it great fun to fingerprint a nice older couple who were sober, smiling and wanted to be fingerprinted.   In looking around the fingerprint room, I commented "gee, this room looks like you have to hose it down from time-to-time" and the laughing staff said, "normally the people we finger print are puking, pissing, and don't want to be here"

 

Anyway, do that and see what the report says.   It's not like the Thai Embassy is going to run their own criminal check on you.   If you don't like the report you get, then come to Thailand with a tourist visa and the idea you'll have to pay the big baht to a Chiang Mai visa agent to work their magic with Chiang Mai Immigration.  Remember, you've been warned.

 

Otherwise, if your U.S. police report is clean, then move along to get an O-A visa in the U.S.  It's the "Platinum Visa"  that will minimize your contact with the vultures at CM Immigration that love to feed on newbies.

Nancy that is a bit naughty if he comes in on a 90 day non "O" he will not have to do a conversion just a straight extension

and he most certainly will not require an agent to extort money from him. I can't think why you would say such a thing when

the guy is obviously looking for genuine information, what you wrote scared me, " Remember you have been warned ", really??

The extension will cost him 1,900 baht per annum. 

How much does an O-A cost against a 90 day non Imm "O" in the US ??

Edited July 2, 2017 by phuketjock
addition

[Kim1950]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

Kim, it's not that difficult to obtain an FBI records check or to go to your local law-enforcement agency to ask them to fingerprint you and get a state check.  That's what we did and the local township police thought it great fun to fingerprint a nice older couple who were sober, smiling and wanted to be fingerprinted.   In looking around the fingerprint room, I commented "gee, this room looks like you have to hose it down from time-to-time" and the laughing staff said, "normally the people we finger print are puking, pissing, and don't want to be here"

Good point, though you do the fingerprint process at your local police station. You submit those along with another form to the FBI. The Embassy won't accept a state background checks. Now, each state determines what is reported to the FBI, some things are reported with no cause or disposition, some things are never reported, especially going back 40 years. Once submitted, this takes 10+ weeks. Then you can apply for the visa along with other forms. Then, if one as a record, it could be a misdemeanor, an acquittal or case dismissed, or even with no disposition. Then I have no idea what is Thailand's criteria for a passing criminal record. Thanks anyway. I'll probably go through the motions. 

[tonray]

2 hours ago, Kim1950 said:

Good point, though you do the fingerprint process at your local police station. You submit those along with another form to the FBI. The Embassy won't accept a state background checks. Now, each state determines what is reported to the FBI, some things are reported with no cause or disposition, some things are never reported, especially going back 40 years. Once submitted, this takes 10+ weeks. Then you can apply for the visa along with other forms. Then, if one as a record, it could be a misdemeanor, an acquittal or case dismissed, or even with no disposition. Then I have no idea what is Thailand's criteria for a passing criminal record. Thanks anyway. I'll probably go through the motions. 

The New York City consulate accepted a background check from my state NJ.  it was $40 and came back in 48 hours. 

[sqwakvfr]

The Los Angeles Thai Consulate accepted a Criminal Background Check from my local police department.  No fingerprints were submitted and the background check was completed in 24 hrs for $17 dollars.  My O-A Multi was then granted in 24 hrs after submitting my application and supporting documents.  The application fee was $200 dollars.

[NancyL]

14 hours ago, phuketjock said:

Nancy that is a bit naughty if he comes in on a 90 day non "O" he will not have to do a conversion just a straight extension

and he most certainly will not require an agent to extort money from him. I can't think why you would say such a thing when

the guy is obviously looking for genuine information, what you wrote scared me, " Remember you have been warned ", really??

The extension will cost him 1,900 baht per annum. 

How much does an O-A cost against a 90 day non Imm "O" in the US ??

The Honorary Consuls in the U.S. no longer issue 90 day O visas "for the purpose of investigating retirement".   He doesn't meet any of the current criteria for obtaining a single-entry 90 day O visa in the U.S.  

 

Yes, that used to be a sweet way for retirees to start life in Chiang Mai.  Now if they come with a tourist visa or visa exempt, thinking they can do a "visa conversion" in Chiang Mai, they get the run-around from CM Immigration until they either give up and hire a visa agent or go to a neighboring country where they can apply for an O visa.

 

In an earlier post, I had pointed this out.  i.e. warned him that while, in theory, it's possible to do a "visa conversion" in Chiang Mai, he will find that it's nearly impossible as a D-I-Y task.  CM Imm. throws up too many roadblocks that the visa agents can magically make disappear.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, NancyL said:

The Honorary Consuls in the U.S. no longer issue 90 day O visas "for the purpose of investigating retirement".   He doesn't meet any of the current criteria for obtaining a single-entry 90 day O visa in the U.S.  

They can still issue single entry non-o visas. They cannot issue multiple entry visas anymore.

[buick]

OP - given the difficulty of immigration in chiang mai, maybe you should consider using bangok as your travel hub when you first arrive.  rent a place for a few months, that will set you up with a bangkok address.  stop by the US embassy to get your income letter, then you can convert a visa exempt entry to a non imm O at chaeng wattana.  or just be prepared to pay the visa agent fees in chiang mai.  as i noted previously, i didn't have the time to go through the motions to get the non imm OA in the USA.  i did the conversion in bangkok.  but i used the money in the bank method which i found to be a real hassle.  much easier to get the income letter from the embassy.

[NancyL]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

They can still issue single entry non-o visas. They cannot issue multiple entry visas anymore.

Joe, I consulted the website of the Portland consulate before posting and it says that in order to apply for a single entry O visa one must submit "Marriage certificate and proof of spouse's Thai citizenship, Letter of invitation from volunteer organization in Thailand, proof of condo or home ownership."  This would imply rather narrow basis for granting a 90 day O visa.  The OP isn't able to supply any of these.

[NancyL]

Kim, here's how to evaluate your options:

 

The agents here in Chiang Mai charge around 15,000 - 25,000 baht plus the standard gov't application fees to take someone through the process of visa conversion to having a one year retirement extension.  Fairly quick, easy process if you have a high tolerance for "looking the other way" about how things are done.

 

Weigh this against the cost of applying for an police or FBI check and a the medical exam costs for a medical certificate, plus any courier fees for application of an OA visa in the U.S.  You have to have the ability to make and keep appointments, navigate bureaucracy, keep up with deadlines to do this process.  But, it's all above board and gives you peace of mind when you arrive.  No need to focus on Immigration when you hit the ground as a new retiree.

 

Or the cost of going to Laos to apply for a 90 day O visa once you get here.  Good way to go if you have a sense of adventure.

 

It depends on you.