Retirementt visa - in need of an idiots guide!

[chazzer]

In July i am hoping to apply for a retirement visa and i have been reading up on the best way to do this but somehow the advise is vague and at times contradictory. Here is what i hope to do and please if i am heading for failure please let me know.......

 

1.   I am already a condo owner so i have residence available.

2.   I have a thai bank account.

 

3.   3 months prior to departure i will transfer 800000 baht across to my thai bank account.

4.   Prior to departure i will obtain an 8 week tourist visa from theThai embassy in the UK.

 

I wish to obtain the tourist visa from the Jomtien office so the 8 week visa will enable me to do this????????

 

5.   I will take to the immigration office......Proof of residence........passport........ proof of deposited funds and bank book

6.   Medical report. Do I get this from a Thai doctor......where and how much?

7.   Passport sized photos........how many.

 

In the year i will want to make 2 return visits to the UK. Is it ok to do this with this visa?

How much will the visa cost me?

Have I forgotten anything?

How do prove that I have no criminal record?

 

Many thanks

 

[tweedle-dee]

Jomtien office just have a brief with Mr Tum   ploblem solved

[Edge]

In July i am hoping to apply for a retirement visa and i have been reading up on the best way to do this but somehow the advise is vague and at times contradictory. Here is what i hope to do and please if i am heading for failure please let me know.......

 

1.   I am already a condo owner so i have residence available.

2.   I have a thai bank account.

 

3.   3 months prior to departure i will transfer 800000 baht across to my thai bank account.

4.   Prior to departure i will obtain an 8 week tourist visa from theThai embassy in the UK.

 

I wish to obtain the tourist visa from the Jomtien office so the 8 week visa will enable me to do this????????

 

5.   I will take to the immigration office......Proof of residence........passport........ proof of deposited funds and bank book

6.   Medical report. Do I get this from a Thai doctor......where and how much?

7.   Passport sized photos........how many.

 

In the year i will want to make 2 return visits to the UK. Is it ok to do this with this visa?

How much will the visa cost me?

Have I forgotten anything?

How do prove that I have no criminal record?

 

Many thanks

 

Not bad but................

 

3. Good - needs seeding 2 months first time.

 

4. TVs are 60 days or METV 6 months, but an O Non Imm is much better because.......

 

5 You cannot convert your TV to O at Jomtien, which you would need to do before you can apply for an Extension.

 

6. No Medical required to apply for Extension of Stay (Retirement) which is what you will be doing.

 

7. 2.

 

1900 Baht for Extension (add 1900 if you come in on TV for conversion).

 

Add 3800 for Multi Re-entry Permit or 1000 for each Single Re-entry.

 

There is no CRC for Extension of Stay (Retirement).

 

You will need a Bank Letter confirming your account balance plus take bank book.

[eanto]

I came out on a 60 day tourist visa and got my O visa and extension of stay (retirement) in Thailand. In the UK you need medical/police checks for the O visa but they're not needed over here.

[piloter]

 

This is a pretty good guide

 

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/ExtendingStay.pdf

 

 

You don't need the criminal record check if you get your visa in Thailand.

[eanto]

This is a pretty good guidehttp://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/docs/ExtendingStay.pdfYou don't need the criminal record check if you get your visa in Thailand.

I thought the Thai authorities needed to confirm you are a criminal before they'll issue?

[chazzer]

many thanks best to get o a visa sorted in london then can  just pop into Jomtien to get sorted.........ta

[piloter]

I thought the Thai authorities needed to confirm you are a criminal before they'll issue?

I'm sure they run a criminal check on you when you apply. However if you apply from outside Thailand you're responsible for going to your local police and getting them to certify that you don't have a criminal record.

[Edge]

many thanks best to get o a visa sorted in london then can  just pop into Jomtien to get sorted.........ta

 

As I said (see edit) get an O Non Imm Visa - check out requirements online before you go.

[Elvis 28]

Yes U need a O non imm visa. Akso U nred at lest 15 days left on your tourist visa

 

Sent from my SM-G7102 using Tapatalk

[Edge]

Yes U need a O non imm visa. Akso U nred at lest 15 days left on your tourist visa

 

 

 

Yes, to convert to O, but if he comes in on O he doesn't need to go to Bangkok to convert he can do it all at Jomtien.

[piloter]

and I'd advise not getting an O-A (not imm) visa in your home country because it's a lot more work

 

1. you need to provide bank statements from your local bank. That seems intrusive to me

2. you need to get medical check up if you get the O-A in your home country or in Thailand and I found

that getting one in Thailand was an order of magnitude cheaper than in the US (but you're from a different country and

your costs are different than mine).

3. You need to get the criminal check done yourself (and that's likely to cost you..or at least take some time).

4. the paperwork is daunting.. check out a Thai embassy web site for details.

 

The folks in Jomtien cannot issue the O-A any more but you can drop off the forms there and they will send them

to Bangkok and they process it in a few weeks. So start the process of getting the O-A when you first get to

Thailand (assuming you enter on a 30 day permission to stay without a visa).

 

The O-A gives you 90 days to get the Extension of Stay done..

[sulu]

I thought the Thai authorities needed to confirm you are a criminal before they'll issue?

 

       (Sowwy)

[kansuwan]

What Edge said above.

 

Service at the Thai Consulate  in Hull is very good - take a look at its website here for details of procedures, document requirements and what-not.  Helpful on the phone and it's worth a day trip there to get yourself sorted.

 

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com

[mcginley]

The rules have changed. Just rock up to immigration with your New Nordic 25k per month contract and you get a retirement visa

[ricktoronto]

I thought the Thai authorities needed to confirm you are a criminal before they'll issue?

They check in Thailand if at all. That's why you do all this in Thailand and not in your home country.

 

For a medical check send your  TG to her doctor with the form and 200 Baht. 

 

The things they ask for include a disease that has not been seen in the western world for 100 years. 

[Edge]

They check in Thailand if at all. That's why you do all this in Thailand and not in your home country.

 

For a medical check send your  TG to her doctor with the form and 200 Baht. 

 

The things they ask for include a disease that has not been seen in the western world for 100 years. 

 

You are presumably kidding?

 

Just to confirm - for an application in Thailand for an Extension of Stay (Retirement) no CRC or Medical Certificate is required.

[sulu]

They check in Thailand if at all. That's why you do all this in Thailand and not in your home country.

 

For a medical check send your  TG to her doctor with the form and 200 Baht. 

 

The things they ask for include a disease that has not been seen in the western world for 100 years. 

 

 

You are presumably kidding?

 

Just to confirm - for an application in Thailand for an Extension of Stay (Retirement) no CRC or Medical Certificate is required.

 

Not sure what rick was referring to with the "TG to her doctor" remark as that has nothing to do with a foreigner getting a "Retirement Visa" but I think rick was referring to the medical check and having the RV done IN Thailand as opposed to say, the USA, where the Thai Embassy DOES require a medical certificate (and a USA background check).

 

Presumably the 15 days minimum requirement between applying for and actually getting a RV IN Thailand is for the Thais to DO a "background check" (presumably ONLY in Thailand ?)

[Edge]

Not sure what rick was referring to with the "TG to her doctor" remark as that has nothing to do with a foreigner getting a "Retirement Visa" but I think rick was referring to the medical check and having the RV done IN Thailand as opposed to say, the USA, where the Thai Embassy DOES require a medical certificate (and a USA background check).

 

Presumably the 15 days minimum requirement between applying for and actually getting a RV IN Thailand is for the Thais to DO a "background check" (presumably ONLY in Thailand ?)

 

I posted because I thought for nebies he was muddying the waters, but I'm not sure you've helped much either.

 

I'm not going to comment on whatever it was you said about Medical checks because they are simply not required for an Extension of Stay (Retirement) which of course you can only get in Thailand.

 

Now you've introduced the idea of a "15 days minimum requirement...." during which Immigration can do a background check?

Again, no idea unless you are now talking about Marriage Extensions, where I thought they allow 30 days ?

If you get the Retirement application right you will get the stamp in your Passport by (usually) next day.

 

All this waffle & nonsense is not much help to the OP or any other newbie IMO.

I think when he said an "idiot's guide" he meant for an idiot........  

[chazzer]

the original intention of the post was to see whether it would be easier to purchase a retirement visa (no thai wife!) in pattaya or in the uk?

[just hanging]

Retirementt visa - in need of an idiots guide!

 

you have come to the right place then........ i would help you but other idiots got there before me.....

[Goolabert]

the original intention of the post was to see whether it would be easier to purchase a retirement visa (no thai wife!) in pattaya or in the uk?

 

You're actually talking about two different things.

 

Non- OA Visa - 1 year entry stamp. Multiple entry visa. No re-entry permit needed if going in and out.

 or

Extension of Stay (Retirement) - 1 year extension of stay. re-entry permit needed if leaving Thailand or it is lost on exit.

 

The Non-OA cannot be done in Thailand, only in home country

Extension of stay (Retirement) is done in Thailand. Needs a Non-O as a starting point. (can convert Tourist visa or exempt entry to Non-O at BKK Imm.)

 

 

The paperwork for the extension of stay is easier that the Non-OA.

[Edge]

the original intention of the post was to see whether it would be easier to purchase a retirement visa (no thai wife!) in pattaya or in the uk?

 

What Goolabert said above, but simple answer is definitely in Pattaya, as previously described, get an Extension of Stay (Retirement) here.

[sulu]

I posted because I thought for nebies he was muddying the waters, but I'm not sure you've helped much either.

 

I'm not going to comment on whatever it was you said about Medical checks because they are simply not required for an Extension of Stay (Retirement) which of course you can only get in Thailand.

 

Now you've introduced the idea of a "15 days minimum requirement...." during which Immigration can do a background check?

Again, no idea unless you are now talking about Marriage Extensions, where I thought they allow 30 days ?

If you get the Retirement application right you will get the stamp in your Passport by (usually) next day.

 

All this waffle & nonsense is not much help to the OP or any other newbie IMO.

I think when he said an "idiot's guide" he meant for an idiot........  

 

He responded to eanto's quote of " I thought the Thai authorities needed to confirm you are a criminal before they'll issue?" (which I thought was pretty funny) about the Thai's checking for a criminal record for a "retirement visa".

 

He was muddying the waters with his "For a medical check send your TG to her doctor" as "her" had nothing to do with somebody getting a "retirement visa". It *sounded* like advice to get a marriage,,,,,,, whatever,,,,,,

 

The "medical checks" are required when you apply for the Non O-A in ANOTHER country, e.g. the USA

 

See below

 

You're actually talking about two different things.

 

Non- OA Visa - 1 year entry stamp. Multiple entry visa. No re-entry permit needed if going in and out.

 or

Extension of Stay (Retirement) - 1 year extension of stay. re-entry permit needed if leaving Thailand or it is lost on exit.

 

The Non-OA cannot be done in Thailand, only in home country

Extension of stay (Retirement) is done in Thailand. Needs a Non-O as a starting point. (can convert Tourist visa or exempt entry to Non-O at BKK Imm.)

 

 

The paperwork for the extension of stay is easier that the Non-OA.

 

You seem to be contradicting yourself. First you say the Non OA cannot be done in Thailand and in the next sentence you say "(can convert Tourist Visa to Non O at BKK).

 

I admit being confused about the Non O-A and the Non O. In fact, at thaiembassy they do not even mention which you have to get or what the difference is. It appears though, if you check my later post that the Non O-A is the visa for "retirement". Non O is something else, apparently "family related .

 

If you do the Non O-A in, e.g. the USA, the Thai Embassy requires you have to get a "police report", presumably from your local police, AND a Medical Certificate as part of the paperwork you must send in to the Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. One MUST go to (or send to) the EMBASSY; a consulate (as in Miami) cannot do it. They claim it takes about 2 weeks to process and return the Non O, presumably with the Retirement extension/provisions/whatever,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

I you are already IN Thailand, as you mention, you can convert your Tourist Visa to a Non O-A and then get the retirement extension.

 

In order to convert the TV into a Non O-A you MUST apply for it at least 15 days prior to the expiration of your current "permission to stay". Otherwise Thai Imm will not accept the paperwork. i.e. Leave the country, come back in and THEN apply for the Non O-A.

 

I am assuming those 15 days are necessary for the Thai government to check THEIR records to see if you're persona non grata or if they'll grant the Non O-A.

 

Reportedly, if you have ALL the paperwork together and you're outside the 15 days you can go to Jomtien and they will send the paperwork to Bangkok for you - I expect one should allow a bit more than the 15 days though if one chooses this option.

 

What was NOT clear to me when I tried for the Non O-A, since I was LESS THAN 15 days to expiration of "permission to stay", was whether or not one can apply for the Non O-A AND the "retirement extension" at the same time or whether you first get the Non O-A and then, or even along with, apply and receive the "retirement extension".

 

Neither the ex-pats website, which someone gave a link to elsewhere on this site, NOR anyplace else I could find mentions this 15 day minimum window that must be met. I even sent an email to that ex-pat site saying as much and received no answer. 

[chazzer]

so is a non O different from a non OA?