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How can I get a Thai retirement visa ??

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outofba
  1/29/2017 11:58 EST

I am a U.S. born U.S. citizen, who has been living, legally, as a tourist in another country for many years. I am over 50, single and financially well off'
Because I don't have residency where live, the Consul General at my local Thai Consulate told me that they couldn't issue me a visa and said that I would have to go to a Thai Consulate in the U.S.
I would like to move to Chiang Mai. Is it possible for me to get a retirement visa there without having to go to the U.S.?
The Thai website states "You must be holding nationality or permanet residence of the country of application." I'm not exactly sure what this means.

hawkesk
  1/29/2017 15:07 EST

You can, but it's expensive. Somewhere between $600 and $1000 USD. You can enter Thailand on a tourist visa and pay an Immigration officer to do it. I'm not sure it's exactly legal. I forgot about the necessary process to obtain the proper visa while in the U.S. and that's what I had to do.

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warrior28
  1/29/2017 15:34 EST

See http://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-category-o/

It appears to me that you can apply to the Thai Consulate in Washington as the "Eligibility" section states "4. Having the nationality of or residence in the country where applicant’s application is submitted." So, you have the "nationality of...the country where applicant's application is submitted". The biggest issue is that you would be without your passport for 3-4 weeks.

swegolf
  1/29/2017 17:54 EST

Of course you can. The Thai immigration officer is being foolish. You must have three weeks remaining on your tourist visa to be able to apply for a 365 day extension.
With your application you will need a financial statement from the US embassy. You will need to make that appt on line the bring bank statements to the embassy appt. They will stamp them for a fee. It used to be $50. Bring a bank card.
Take that and your passport to the Thai immigration office in BANGKOK. (If you go anywhere else you open yourself to immigration corruption which is rife.)
Fill out the form at immigration for a visa extension of 364 days.
get in line.
It takes 6 hrs min.
Wait for your number to be called and pay the fee.
Once done in BKK it is less likely that you will have a bad experience in your town upon renewal.
Thai immigration is really messed up with racist little peckerheads. Watch your ass. They expect a bribe. I just shake my head and say I don't understand.
Hint: None of that crap happens in Vietnam. We moved to Nha Trang because Thai immigration is too jacked up with corruption.
It's easy here. A $25 letter and $145 at the airport gets you a 1 yr visa with three visa runs per year. Flights are cheap. If you take a carry on its $25.
Vietnam outscored Thailnd in every area. It's paradise compared to TH. We used to spend our winters there but it's gotten ridiculous with price gouging, immigration racism and bombs,
As I write from my $17 per night Oceanside hotel room a Christian womens choir is singing below in the church. It's 5am. and I can hear the waves lapping the beach. Beautiful. You're not going to get that anywhere in Thailand.

wealthychef
  1/30/2017 00:05 EST

I think the advice by swegolf are a mostly right but a bit wrong. Most importantly, you cannot extend a tourist visa by a year. First you have to change it to a retirement visa. The process at immigration is confusing the first time. Bring the letter mentioned by others from the US embassy regarding your income. Then go to immigration with your passport and this letter. First you go to the information window and tell them you want to **change** your visa to a retirement visa. They will give you a form to fill out which you do right there, following the instructions in the little kiosk behind you. Take the completed form to the second window and show them your form, They will give you a number to wait for a particular window. While you're waiting go downstairs to the copy room and ask for photocopies, and have your photos taken if you didn't bring any. The photocopy service does this all the time, so they will copy the right pages from your visa and the form as needed. Go back upstairs and wait for your number to be called. The change to retirement visa will cost you 1900 baht. You will have to wait a few weeks before you can come back for a re-entry stamp, which will basically cost you 1000 baht for each time you want to leave and re-enter the country.
That was my experience at the immigration office last month. Good luck and be happy to answer any questions, albeit perhaps slowly

tgibob
  1/30/2017 06:46 EST

Getting a visa in a country that is not your own can definitely be a problem. My Thai wife and I went to the Thai Embassy in Buenos Aires and asked if I could get a Non Immigrant Category O visa and they didn't quite know what to do. My passport was full of expired ones. She pretty much told me the same story you got. Immigration rules in Thailand are always in flux. Once I got a 1 year category O in Germany at an honorary consulate. I told the lady how to fill it out.

This is a long shot but it worked for a friend of mine. He came in on a 30 day tourist visa and when it was up he went to Panang, Malaysia and, with his Thai girlfriend pleading at his side, requested a 1 year O. And they gave it to him. He turned into a long stay and has been here for 12 years.

Keep me posted and maybe I'll see you here in Chiang Mai.

One other thing, check out Thaivisa.com.

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swegolf
  1/30/2017 07:44 EST

I've extended my tourist visa to 364 days twice. I didn't go on a border run to do it. Take your pick.

swegolf
  1/30/2017 07:44 EST

I've extended my tourist visa to 364 days twice. I didn't go on a border run to do it. Take your pick.

swegolf
  1/30/2017 08:31 EST

If you're still in the states it might be easier to get a retirement visa but it requires a lot of documentation. I've done that too.

swegolf
  1/30/2017 08:34 EST

The nationality portion means you need to hold a passport from your home country. USA.
I've heard Thai immi has been getting tougher on proof of income. Not sure what that means. It might be worth a call to the US embassy in BKK.

swegolf
  1/30/2017 08:34 EST

The nationality portion means you need to hold a passport from your home country. USA.
I've heard Thai immi has been getting tougher on proof of income. Not sure what that means. It might be worth a call to the US embassy in BKK.

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swegolf
  1/30/2017 08:34 EST

The nationality portion means you need to hold a passport from your home country. USA.
I've heard Thai immi has been getting tougher on proof of income. Not sure what that means. It might be worth a call to the US embassy in BKK.

Thomazz59
  1/30/2017 09:14 EST

I'm a US citizen and initially obtained an O-A Long Stay ( 2 Years ) from the Royal Thai Embassy in D.C.,, I've been able to extend this visa annually as a retirement visa. Requirements are an address (Apartment or House) in Thailand and proof of either 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank or a monthly pension of 70,000 Baht. There are services in Chiangmai that :streamline" the process immeasurably. My recommendation would be Assist Thai Visa. They've been very good to me..

warrior28
  1/30/2017 18:50 EST

outofba, you apparently confused some of those who replied to your post. The way I read your post is that you are currently living in a country other than the USA or Thailand. Is that correct? If so, I think my previous response is valid.

wealthychef
  1/31/2017 00:19 EST

Interesting. Why would anyone get a retirement visa if you can stay just as long on a tourist visa?

swegolf
  1/31/2017 01:56 EST

If you're back in the US it's easier. Mail it off wait two weeks. No immigration, going to embassy, going through BKK immigration and waiting in line, getting a freaking taxi...

hawkesk
  1/31/2017 02:19 EST

As a U.S. citizen, if you don't do it in the states, there is a small mountain of paperwork to fill out (ALL in Thai, of course), and you have to make several trips to some awful place in Bangkok. Either do the paperwork in the states or prepare to pay approximately 20,000 Baht for a service to do it for you in Thailand.

thelindab
  2/16/2017 20:56 EST

I'm planning travel to Thailand this summer and called the Thai embassy in DC. I was told a retiree visa requires at least $25,000 and $2500 per month income. Too rich for my current circumstances, so I'll be using my passport and a travel visa.
This is the newest info I have.

ken24
  2/17/2017 09:01 EST

The retirement visa requires 800,000 baht in the bank for 3 months before applying...

OR

there is a monthly income requirement...

one or the other - please check again with the Thai consul as it seems there is a mistake unless the rules have changed recently but I think it is still the same.

ken24
  2/17/2017 09:20 EST

That was common practice in the past. I did the same thing in Penang but with no pleading. You filled out the forms and paid the fees. And as your friend, I just go to immigration and renew the extension every year... very easy.

caughtintheact
  2/17/2017 16:27 EST

You need to be 50 years old at a minimum to retire in Thailand. The financial requirements are

1. a retirement income of the equivalent of Thai Baht 65,000 per month (about US$185 at an exchange rate of B35=US$17. You must provide documentation to prove the source of the funds is legitimate.

2. Alternatively as Ken24 mentioned, you can put 800,000 Thai Baht in the bank.

3. Another option is a combination of 1. and 2. above If your monthly income is, for example, US$1500, multiply that by 12 months (US$18,000 per year) and multiply that amount by the exchange rate (approx 35-1) which would give you an annual income of 630,000 Baht per year. Subtract this amount from B800,000 and you would need to put only B170,000 in the bank as well as showing documentation for the monthly income.

There are non-financial requirements as well, - you can do a web search for requirements to retire in Thailand. Here are a couple of sites with good information
http://www.thaiembassy.com/retire/retire.php
https://chiangmaibuddy.com/how-to-get-a-retirement-visa-in-thailand/
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/969333-retirement-visa/

hawkesk
  2/19/2017 03:52 EST

It appears the embassy is referring to a new "Elite" visa. NOT as expensive as they told you. Most other comments I've seen are correct. I've been here nine years on a retirement visa. Each year I renew the extension of stay (MOST often incorrectly called "the retirement visa") and am required to make a personal visit to immigration every 90 days - VERY simple. You will save yourself a TON of trouble if you get the proper non-immigrant visa BEFORE entering Thailand through the embassy in D.C. Do NOT enter with a tourist visa and proceed from there. There is also a plethora of info and many people anxious to help you at ThaiVisa.com

Edgenaples
  3/15/2017 14:27 EST

I'm surprised to hear you say that. I've seen several expats that have lived in both places say that the Vietnamese people are not nearly as friendly as the Thai people. My wife and I are open to any place in SE Asia, pretty much, but that kind of led us to staying away from Vietnam. Thank you for your input.

Edgenaples
  3/15/2017 14:35 EST

new 10 year retirement visa ? I understand now that you can get a 10 year retirement visa, but that is 100,000 baht monthly income or 3 million baht in a Thai bank for a year.
I want to move to Thailand when I'm 62, but do not want to take SS until 67, so my wife and I would like to live off of savings, but if I have to put in 6 million baht for the two of us.....about $170,000...no way would I risk that much in a Thai bank. Suggestions ? Do I have this wrong ? Thanks !

caughtintheact
  3/15/2017 17:23 EST

As far as I can tell, the new 10 year visa has yet to be implemented, and it is up in the air whether or not the existing criteria will still be allowed. I've had money in two major Thai banks for nearly 40 years and have never had a problem. Regarding which country is friendliest, it will depend on your lifestyle, attitude, choice of friends, and ability to get along.

swegolf56
  3/15/2017 22:24 EST

edgenaples
We just spent 3 months in Nha Trang had great time. Food, clothes, beach view condo. 1/3 cheaper than our place in TH. Viets still love Americans as they are besieged by rude Chinese and drunk soviets constantly. Their parents talk fondly of US troops giving aid, food, nylons. ;)

swegolf56
  3/15/2017 22:28 EST

Rules say go to country of origin but reality is you cannot get once in Thailand. Many go to Vientenne, avoid Cambodia. Take notarized docs reqd from web site and BAHT only. They don't accept Lao currency. Might take USD, dunno.

swegolf56
  3/15/2017 22:32 EST

I've done it twice in Hua Hin. Apply for extension by filling out form. On form write 364 days in period of extension. You must have notarized income statement from embassy. Can't recall cost.... then you report to immi every 90 days. Done.

Thomazz59
  3/22/2017 10:03 EST

Go to a company in Thailand that offers to acts s a liaison between you and Thai immigration. If you live in Chiangmai then I'd recommend the firm Assist Thai Visa

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