My experience getting a retirement visa in Canada

[dragonrider]

So, this was a long, drawn out and somewhat painful process. Took much longer than I anticipated. Started the process on June 9 and got the visa today (June 27). So be warned. Do not leave it to the last minute. My flight is July 4th, so I did have a little time to spare.

1) Medical Check

One of the things is a TB test. Had to go to a special travel clinic (twice to get this done). Cost me $50 CDN (multiply by 25 to get baht). Got that one June 12 and brought the form to my doctor. Took him like 4 days to fill it out and he charged me $150.

2) Criminal Record Check

The cop shop is across from my doctor. Go in there and they say they only do it online now and they will mail it to me. Go to the website and fill out the form. Pay them $75. Get a mail Sunday night it is done. Wednesday I call the cops and they say it's been mailed but nobody mails stuff out on Monday. It shows up on Thursday.

3) Bank Statement

So, you have to show you have 800K. I make an appointment at the bank I have been dealing with for over 50 years. I expected them to print out the same thing you see on your computer screen or phone, stamp and sign it and give me a letter saying the information is correct. Wrong. I go in there and show him what I need. Nope. We don't do letters. He has to order an statement from the head office. He says they will mail it to him and he will forward it to me. This is Tuesday. I call on Friday. No answer. Go in at 9:30am on Monday. Poke my head into the manager's office. She said to wait a minute. While I'm waiting I ask if my guy is coming in today. Nope. He doesn't work Mondays. I go in to the manager's and she is totally useless. She tries to check my guy's emails but she doesn't know how, She says they can't put down joint accounts or my retirement funds. Damn. That's where all my money is. I just got an increase in my line of credit, so I transfer 35 thousand Canadian (880K baht give or take) into my checking account. She prints that off and writes me the letter she said she couldn't write.

4) Thai Consulate

Not easy to find but I finally stumble upon it.  She is going through the papers and asks for the Criminal Records Check. Damn, it's not there. She takes my $200 and everything else. I drive the 30 miles back home, grab the paper from the coffee table and head back down to the Consulate. Give that to her and she says it will be ready in a week (not the 2-3 days I was expecting).

5) Thai Consulate

Pick up my Mom from the airport and rush to the Thai Consulate (you need to drop off or pickup visas between 9:30 and 12:30). Go in and my visa is ready. I am feeling totally relieved now that it is in my hands. Phew.

 

[Insomniac]

This seems a complicated and expensive system. I have a marriage visa, but my mate just went into Thai Immigration with details of money in bank and picked up visa extension next day. Didn't know they'd give a retirement visa. This is just a Non- Immigrant.

[moucher]

I don't, compared to the US visa process, sounds like a piece of cake

Sent from my LG-V521 using Tapatalk

[Insomniac]

10 minutes ago, moucher said:

I don't, compared to the US Visa process, sounds like a piece of cake

Sent from my LG-V521 using Tapatalk
 

Why bother. For 20,000 baht you can get 15 month visas on retirement grounds even if you have nothing in the bank!

[Oukiva]

2 hours ago, Insomniac said:

// my mate just went into Thai Immigration with details of money in bank and picked up Visa extension next day. Didn't know they'd give a retirement Visa. //

1 hour ago, Insomniac said:

Why bother. For 20,000 baht you can get 15 month Visas on retirement grounds even if you have nothing in the bank!

You should be more precise/specific when talking about Visa:

• You cannot get a "Retirement Visa" (O-A) from inside Thailand
• There is no "15 months Visa"
• There is no Visa costing 20'000 baht

etc.

BTW a Visa non-O multiple entry costs about 5'500 baht "only" (usually rounded up in your local currency) and give you up to 16 months in Thailand. The multiple-entry is not available in all country and non-O more and more often require proof of revenues.

And for the OP, asking a Non-O in your country and then an "Extension for reason of Retirement" in Jomtien is usually a lot easier and cheaper than getting a Non-OA in your country

 

[Insomniac]

9 minutes ago, Oukiva said:

You should be more precise/specific when talking about Visa:

• You cannot get a "Retirement Visa" (O-A) from inside Thailand
• There is no "15 months Visa"
• There is no Visa costing 20'000 baht

etc.

And for the OP, asking a Non-O in your country and then an "Extension for reason of Retirement" in Jomtien is usually a lot easier and cheaper than getting a Non-OA in your country

 

I did not say there was a visa costing 20,000 baht. I said you could get one for 20,000.

The 15 months is the length of Non- Immigrant plus extension.

I don't know if you live in Pattaya and I would not be more specific on an open Forum. Lots of friends and acquaintances have these and also 3 year business visas,although with these you have to get passport stamped every 3 months.Don't say they don't exist as my mate is doing his border run on Saturday.

 

 

[rhodie]

5 hours ago, dragonrider said:

So, this was a long, drawn out and somewhat painful process. Took much longer than I anticipated. Started the process on June 9 and got the Visa today (June 27). So be warned. Do not leave it to the last minute. My flight is July 4th, so I did have a little time to spare.

1) Medical Check

One of the things is a TB test. Had to go to a special travel clinic (twice to get this done). Cost me $50 CDN (multiply by 25 to get baht). Got that one June 12 and brought the form to my doctor. Took him like 4 days to fill it out and he charged me $150.  

Just went to local clinic and doc filled in form. Cost nothing on Medicare. 

2) Criminal Record Check

The cop shop is across from my doctor. Go in there and they say they only do it online now and they will mail it to me. Go to the website and fill out the form. Pay them $75. Get a mail Sunday night it is done. Wednesday I call the cops and they say it's been mailed but nobody mails stuff out on Monday. It shows up on Thursday.

Online and delivered to my address in 1 week. $39

3) Bank Statement

So, you have to show you have 800K. I make an appointment at the bank I have been dealing with for over 50 years. I expected them to print out the same thing you see on your computer screen or phone, stamp and sign it and give me a letter saying the information is correct. Wrong. I go in there and show him what I need. Nope. We don't do letters. He has to order an statement from the head office. He says they will mail it to him and he will forward it to me. This is Tuesday. I call on Friday. No answer. Go in at 9:30am on Monday. Poke my head into the manager's office. She said to wait a minute. While I'm waiting I ask if my guy is coming in today. Nope. He doesn't work Mondays. I go in to the manager's and she is totally useless. She tries to check my guy's emails but she doesn't know how, She says they can't put down joint accounts or my retirement funds. Damn. That's where all my money is. I just got an increase in my line of credit, so I transfer 35 thousand Canadian (880K baht give or take) into my checking account. She prints that off and writes me the letter she said she couldn't write. 

Had a similar problem with bank letter. Had to order by phone. Took a week to arrive, but no letter, just a 1 line statement with balance as at the last day and a 3 month statement. With bank stamp. Bank said they do not write a letter even though I offered to pay. Consulate accepted what I had.

4) Thai Consulate

Not easy to find but I finally stumble upon it.  She is going through the papers and asks for the Criminal Records Check. Damn, it's not there. She takes my $200 and everything else. I drive the 30 miles back home, grab the paper from the coffee table and head back down to the Consulate. Give that to her and she says it will be ready in a week (not the 2-3 days I was expecting). 

Went before submission to check bank statement was good and got the nod.

5) Thai Consulate

Pick up my Mom from the airport and rush to the Thai Consulate (you need to drop off or pickup Visas between 9:30 and 12:30). Go in and my Visa is ready. I am feeling totally relieved now that it is in my hands. Phew.

Submitted in the morning and received the afternoon after the next day.

A bit stressful worrying when dealing with Govt, but no problem in the end. Glad it worked for you. Above is my experience at the Sydney Thai Consulate this month as well. Only paid $39 for police clearance and $225 for the visa. A bargain that will give me 2 years, then rinse and repeat.  

[dragonrider]

42 minutes ago, Oukiva said:

And for the OP, asking a Non-O in your country and then an "Extension for reason of Retirement" in Jomtien is usually a lot easier and cheaper than getting a Non-OA in your country

 

In theory, this should have been a lot easier (but definitely not cheaper). 15 minutes at a bank that doesn't have stupid policies, fill out a form online for the cops, get the doctor to say you don't have leprosy

I know if you get it in Jomtien, you don't need the medical/criminal checks. You do have to show them 800,000 baht however. Not sure how you do that. Can you open a bank account on a regular tourist visa ?

Anyway, now I have it, I don't have to scramble around rounding up 800K baht for another year. Next May/June I need to go to the US Embassy in Bangkok (with a side trip to Soi Cowboy) to get a letter about my Social Security and I should have several hundred thousand baht in the bank by then.

[Kenjataimu]

1 hour ago, Insomniac said:

Why bother. For 20,000 baht you can get 15 month Visas on retirement grounds even if you have nothing in the bank!

why ? because he has a legitimate visa and you 'friends' have suspicious/suspect ones.  Some people don't give a shit and some people do... I happen to be of the latter persuasion and was particularly interested i  the Aussie experience posted as well...

[dragonrider]

9 minutes ago, rhodie said:

A bit stressful worrying when dealing with Govt, but no problem in the end. Glad it worked for you. Above is my experience at the Sydney Thai Consulate this month as well. Only paid $39 for police clearance and $225 for the Visa. A bargain that will give me 2 years, then rinse and repeat.  

Damn, that was a much better experience (kind of more like what I was expecting). No idea why the Thai Consulate in Sydney is more efficient than one in Vancouver.

[Kenjataimu]

2 minutes ago, dragonrider said:

Can you open a bank account on a regular tourist Visa ?

Yes but you have to be comfortable with... greasing some palms to do it, it doesn't sit well with me so I don't but others are OK with it.

[rhodie]

1 minute ago, dragonrider said:

Damn, that was a much better experience (kind of more like what I was expecting). No idea why the Thai Consulate in Sydney is more efficient than one in Vancouver.

Well, we do know one thing about Thai rules, and that is that they are all applied differently depending on the office.

 

[Insomniac]

3 minutes ago, Kenjataimu said:

why ? because he has a legitimate visa and you 'friends' have suspicious/suspect ones.  Some people don't give a shit and some people do... I happen to be of the latter persuasion and was particularly interested i  the Aussie experience posted as well...

No suspicious/suspect visas. Were provided by Thai Immigration in normal way.

[dragonrider]

It says under number of entries "M" which I assume means multiple. I thought you needed some kind of special multiple entry visa that costs 3000 baht to be able to leave/re-enter. 

[Insomniac]

6 minutes ago, rhodie said:

Well, we do know one thing about Thai rules, and that is that they are all applied differently depending on the office.

 

Correct. Immigration offices are pretty much autonomous.

[Insomniac]

2 minutes ago, dragonrider said:

It says under number of entries "M" which I assume means multiple. I thought you needed some kind of special multiple entry Visa that costs 3000 baht to be able to leave/re-enter. 

You paid for the multiple entry in the cost of your visa.

[wingcom1]

2 minutes ago, dragonrider said:

It says under number of entries "M" which I assume means multiple. I thought you needed some kind of special multiple entry Visa that costs 3000 baht to be able to leave/re-enter. 

I believe the multiple re-entry permit is only required if you have a single entry visa.

[Oukiva]

24 minutes ago, Insomniac said:

No suspicious/suspect Visas. Were provided by Thai Immigration in normal way.

LOL

Except that Immigration is NOT authorised to deliver Visa !

Only the Minister of Foreign Affairs can deliver them, through Consulate and Embassies abroad.

( And before anyone make a remark about the non-O you can "get" in Jomtien when going to the yearly extension way, yes the Immigration can "change" a visa, like from a Tourist Visa or a Visa Exemption to a single non-O)

[dragonrider]

This is what is confusing to me:

3. Recommendations for foreigners with Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) while staying in the Kingdom (very important)

Upon arrival, holder of this type of visa will be permitted to stay in Thailand for 1 year from the date of first entry. During the one-year period, if he or she wishes to leave and re-enter the country, he or she is required to apply at the Immigration office for re-entry permit (single or multiple) before departure. In the case of leaving the country without a re-entry permit, the permit to stay for 1 year shall be considered void.

Guess I need to go to Jomtien after all. Guess I'll wait the 90 days to go report my address and kill two birds with one stone.

[davidge]

31 minutes ago, Insomniac said:

No suspicious/suspect Visas. Were provided by Thai Immigration in normal way.

These are NOT fully genuine visas. Officials are paid under the table to give the stamp even though the correct required paperwork isn't there. IF the authorities decided to do an audit trail & check they would see the paperwork was missing/incorrect and the visas would not be valid.

I know these visas have been happening this way for years, and will no doubt continue to do so, but there is a risk involved - however small that risk may be.

[Oukiva]

1 minute ago, dragonrider said:

This is what is confusing to me:

With your non-OA, you get a 1-year authorisation of stay every time you enter during the first year (validity, until 19 June 2018), so no need of re-entry permit.

To "optimize" you Visa, you should make a visarun just before its ends (18 June 2018?) to get a last authorisation of stay until (18 June 2019?). Then you will need a reentry permit if you decide to exit-return during this second year.

[rhodie]

5 minutes ago, dragonrider said:

This is what is confusing to me:

3. Recommendations for foreigners with Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) while staying in the Kingdom (very important)

Upon arrival, holder of this type of Visa will be permitted to stay in Thailand for 1 year from the date of first entry. During the one-year period, if he or she wishes to leave and re-enter the country, he or she is required to apply at the Immigration office for re-entry permit (single or multiple) before departure. In the case of leaving the country without a re-entry permit, the permit to stay for 1 year shall be considered void.

Guess I need to go to Jomtien after all. Guess I'll wait the 90 days to go report my address and kill two birds with one stone.

The M stands for multi entry. Each time you leave and re-enter your visa is extended for a year up until the day your visa expires. If you enter on the last day, you have an extension for a year. Your visa expires. You now need a re-entry permit to come back each time you leave.

[davidge]

You were lucky to get a multiple entry, OP. I was in the Thai Consulate in Cardiff last month and they said they'd been stopped from issuing any Multiple Entry visas.

[dragonrider]

Thanks for the replies guys. Like this stuff is not confusing.

My Mom is really old and I might need to make a sudden (and extremely expensive) trip back to Canada on a moments notice. Won't have time to run to Jomtiem at that point. I'd be really pissed if I come back from a funeral and they say my visa is no good.

I'll speak to the guy who handles the Visas for the Nightwish guys just to verify.

[Insomniac]

32 minutes ago, davidge said:

These are NOT fully genuine Visas. Officials are paid under the table to give the stamp even though the correct required paperwork isn't there. IF the authorities decided to do an audit trail & check they would see the paperwork was missing/incorrect and the Visas would not be valid.

I know these Visas have been happening this way for years, and will no doubt continue to do so, but there is a risk involved - however small that risk may be.

This is generally correct. However if someone thinks that any audit trail and check happens anywhere in Thailand they would wait a long time.As you say a small risk, but if you're not married and don't have 800,000 in the bank to tie up forever,one worth taking. People seem to worry about this but quickly go into Company property purchases.