Non Immigrant O - retirement

[penboy]

I intend to spend 5 or 6 months of the year in one visit every year over the UK winter. Is it worth me getting a Non Immigrant O based on retirement whilst in the UK and then getting an agent to do the annual extension of stays once I am in Thailand.

I am 57 but don't receive any pension but I do have the required £10k in a UK bank account.

The alternative (for me) is to arrive on a SETV and then pay around 27k baht for the agent to do everything.

I have a Kasikorn account and could put 800k Baht in to that if it helps reduce agent fees.

I intend to arrive in Oct/Nov 2022. 

[worldpunter]

3 minutes ago, penboy said:

I intend to spend 5 or 6 months of the year in one visit every year over the UK winter. Is it worth me getting a Non Immigrant O based on retirement whilst in the UK and then getting an agent to do the annual extension of stays once I am in Thailand.

I am 57 but don't receive any pension but I do have the required £10k in a UK bank account.

The alternative (for me) is to arrive on a SETV and then pay around 27k baht for the agent to do everything.

I have a Kasikorn account and could put 800k Baht in to that if it helps reduce agent fees.

I intend to arrive in Oct/Nov 2022. 

Yes , this is exactly what I do  , October to april over 8 years now  . The thai summers are too hot for me and the green and pleasant land of the Uk is preferable 

[penboy]

18 minutes ago, worldpunter said:

Yes , this is exactly what I do  , October to april over 8 years now  . The thai summers are too hot for me and the green and pleasant land of the Uk is preferable 

Which visa have you got and how did you go about getting it?

[Billy Shears]

If your only going to spend 6 months a year here, an alternative would be to get a 2 month tourist visa, then your extra 30 days for 1900, and then take a short trip somewhere like Phnom Penh or Manila to get another tourist visa, plus after 3 months it's nice to go somewhere else for a few days. Assuming most of the Covid rules go away of course. 

I did that routine for a solid 2 years here, before Covid was invented.

[davidge]

8 hours ago, penboy said:

I intend to spend 5 or 6 months of the year in one visit every year over the UK winter. Is it worth me getting a Non Immigrant O based on retirement whilst in the UK and then getting an agent to do the annual extension of stays once I am in Thailand.

I am 57 but don't receive any pension but I do have the required £10k in a UK bank account.

The alternative (for me) is to arrive on a SETV and then pay around 27k baht for the agent to do everything.

I have a Kasikorn account and could put 800k Baht in to that if it helps reduce agent fees.

I intend to arrive in Oct/Nov 2022. 

As you say, entering on a Tourist Visa (TR) then converting to a Non O for Retirement in Thailand is the obvious option. If using an agent, then the first time is around the 27k you mentioned, possibly a bit lower, but subsequent years will be lower - especially if you have the 800k in the bank. 11-15k maybe.

 

Another option, if you are a bit flexible with travel dates, is to get a Non O-A in the U.K. once every 2 years. It does require a Medical Certificate and Police check which will be a cost, it also requires Health Insurance but if you were planning to get travel insurance then the cost might not be a lot more?

You’d need to enter for the second time before the visa expired so would have to plan your dates.

eg

25 October 2022 - visa issued.

4 November 2022 - enter Thailand. You can stay up to a year so covers 6 months easily.

24 October 2023 - visa expires. As long as you enter Thailand again before this date then you can use the same visa.

October 2024 - start all over again.

You would avoid the local Health Insurance requirement as you wouldn’t be getting an Extension of Stay. You wouldn’t need to keep money in a Thai bank either. 

 

Personally, I’d use the Non O and agent route but the Non O-A is an option.

[worldpunter]

3 hours ago, penboy said:

Which visa have you got and how did you go about getting it?

I have a non immigrant O visa , got it in london embassy  , started as a 90 day visa and extended . But in the past have come on 6 month tourist visas and A-O 

[penboy]

5 hours ago, WhiteThai said:

If your only going to spend 6 months a year here, an alternative would be to get a 2 month tourist visa, then your extra 30 days for 1900, and then take a short trip somewhere like Phnom Penh or Manila to get another tourist visa, plus after 3 months it's nice to go somewhere else for a few days. Assuming most of the Covid rules go away of course. 

I did that routine for a solid 2 years here, before Covid was invented.

Thanks, I should have said that I want to avoid the visa runs. Once I'm in Patts. I get very lazy  

[penboy]

On 20/02/2022 at 15:48, worldpunter said:

I have a non immigrant O visa , got it in london embassy  , started as a 90 day visa and extended . But in the past have come on 6 month tourist visas and A-O 

Had a chat with the visa agent here in Pattaya today. He advised that if I could get a non immigrant O visa it would save me nearly 15,000 baht when I return and convert to retirement in-country.

Is it relatively easy to do the non imm o in the uk?

[Kale]

On 19/02/2022 at 22:55, WhiteThai said:

If your only going to spend 6 months a year here, an alternative would be to get a 2 month tourist visa, then your extra 30 days for 1900, and then take a short trip somewhere like Phnom Penh or Manila to get another tourist visa, plus after 3 months it's nice to go somewhere else for a few days. Assuming most of the Covid rules go away of course. 

I did that routine for a solid 2 years here, before Covid was invented.

I think they were starting to crack down on that pre-covid though.  There were some reports of guys getting denied re-entry because of doing that too much.  You could probably get away with it for 2 years but after that it sounds like it starts to raise eyebrows.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Kale

[Kale]

3 hours ago, penboy said:

Had a chat with the visa agent here in Pattaya today. He advised that if I could get a non immigrant O visa it would save me nearly 15,000 baht when I return and convert to retirement in-country.

Is it relatively easy to do the non imm o in the uk?

One thing I was told is that you are better off coming in on a tourist visa and then converting to a non 0 in country.  I think one of the advantages is you don't need the travel insurance for the whole time like you do when you get it before entering.  I think that also means you won't need to get it for a whole year when renewing.  That could all change if they start requiring people renewing in country to have medical insurance at all times.

Edited March 3, 2022 by Kale

[Billy Shears]

7 hours ago, Kale said:

I think they were starting to crack down on that pre-covid though.  There were some reports of guys getting denied re-entry because of doing that too much.  You could probably get away with it for 2 years but after that it sounds like it starts to raise eyebrows.

Yea, but the OP is only coming for 6 months a year. So 1 visa run per year and then go back to home country will never raise any eyebrows. The OP rejected the idea anyways, so it's a non-issue.

[Fired Up Paul]

On 20/02/2022 at 11:47, penboy said:

I have a Kasikorn account and could put 800k Baht in to that if it helps reduce agent fees.

If you deposited at least 2 months ahead of your arrival, your money would be "seasoned" enough to satisfy Thai Law.

It would give you the option of going down the DIY route when converting a TR to Non Imm O.

But, yeah, lazy 555.

[Kale]

14 hours ago, 1500B said:

If you deposited at least 2 months ahead of your arrival, your money would be "seasoned" enough to satisfy Thai Law.

It would give you the option of going down the DIY route when converting a TR to Non Imm O.

But, yeah, lazy 555.

I believe that if you get the Non O out of country you will also need to get covid insurance for the entire length of the visa. 

Edited March 4, 2022 by Kale

[davidge]

55 minutes ago, Kale said:

I believe that if you get the Non O out of country you will also need to get covid insurance for the entire length of the visa. 

Health Insurance (not just Covid insurance) has been added to the requirements, yes. It’s a 90-day visa so you’d need cover for that period of time.

[artie1234]

How much USD will that cost? Cheers 

[leeds]

Money doesn't need to be in Thai bank for2 months for first o 12months extension but does for renewal s after,mate got a retirement visa from agent recently 90 day o then extended for a year 15months in all 27000baht ,agent sorted bank issues too.

[Fired Up Paul]

12 hours ago, leeds said:

Money doesn't need to be in Thai bank for2 months for first o 12months extension

If you have an Agent.

[davidge]

12 hours ago, leeds said:

Money doesn't need to be in Thai bank for2 months for first o 12months extension but does for renewal s after,mate got a retirement visa from agent recently 90 day o then extended for a year 15months in all 27000baht ,agent sorted bank issues too.

 

Just now, 1500B said:

If you have an Agent.

2 months before initial conversion/extension, 3 months before each subsequent extension IF you are doing it yourself. If using agent then normal rules don’t apply.

[penboy]

On 20/02/2022 at 15:48, worldpunter said:

I have a non immigrant O visa , got it in london embassy  , started as a 90 day visa and extended . But in the past have come on 6 month tourist visas and A-O 

Is this the one where you need to have a state pension?

[worldpunter]

1 minute ago, penboy said:

Is this the one where you need to have a state pension?

No , No mention of anything like that  , 

[penboy]

28 minutes ago, worldpunter said:

No , No mention of anything like that  , 

Thanks, I've just done a dummy run on the Thai Embassy E-visa website and can't actually find Non-immigrant O in the listing. I looked through the ''non immigrant'' listing.

There is Non-immigrant O-A and there is also a 90 day Retirement visa.

There is also a visa for visiting family and friends?

[Soi7]

12 hours ago, penboy said:

90 day Retirement visa

  huh ? new one on me😯

[penboy]

2 hours ago, Soi7 said:

  huh ? new one on me😯

It is single entry and you have to be in receipt of the state pension. Not sure if it can be extended.

This might actually be the non immigrant O that I want. I don't get a state pension so according to the criteria, cannot get it. I'll e-mail the London Embassy and see what they say.

Edited March 12, 2022 by penboy

[Just Browsing]

On 12/03/2022 at 07:51, penboy said:

It is single entry and you have to be in receipt of the state pension. Not sure if it can be extended.

This might actually be the non immigrant O that I want. I don't get a state pension so according to the criteria, cannot get it. I'll e-mail the London Embassy and see what they say.

What you're describing is the the Non-Immigration O Visa that you want, it's not officially called a "Retirement" visa but a lot of Embassy sites list it as that. As you say, to get one in the UK you have to be receiving state pension so (Pre-Covid) most people would pick one up from a neighboring country (I got mine in Penang/Malaysia), I guess converting in-country is easier nowadays.

Once you have the Non-Imm O, then extensions are typically 8,000 if you can show the money in the bank/monthly transfers or 12,500 otherwise.

If you were going to go down the Non-Immigration OA route then an Agent can "help you" with the Health Insurance" part for an additional 2,500 THB 

 

[penboy]

7 minutes ago, JB300 said:

What you're describing is the the Non-Immigration O Visa that you want, it's not officially called a "Retirement" visa but a lot of Embassy sites list it as that. As you say, to get one in the UK you have to be receiving state pension so (Pre-Covid) most people would pick one up from a neighboring country (I got mine in Penang/Malaysia), I guess converting in-country is easier nowadays.

Once you have the Non-Imm O, then extensions are typically 8,000 if you can show the money in the bank/monthly transfers or 12,500 otherwise.

If you were going to go down the Non-Immigration OA route then an Agent can "help you" with the Health Insurance" part for an additional 2,500 THB 

 

Thanks. The embassy in London replied to my query and confirmed that I do NOT need to be in receipt of state pension. £10k in the bank is sufficient.