Current Australian resident and citizen. If all goes well, I'm intending to the apply for a Non O Retirement Visa when I reach retirement age and eligible for the Australian Aged Pension about 20 months from now.
I've looked at the website of the Royal Thai Embassy, Canberra, Australia and the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Sydney. The latter mentions Extensions to the Visa, but the Embassy in Canberra doesn't.
The questions that I have at the moment are these;
1) Does the Non O need to be applied for within my home country, or can it be done within Thailand? If it can be done from within Thailand, what Visa would be best to give me time to open a Thai bank account and get the money into it?
2) Neither of the websites mentioned above give any information regarding ' money in the bank requirements. Is there any website that has accurate information about this, that I can 'bookmark' for future reference? I've read in this and another Fb Group that 800k Baht in a Thai bank is required. Would I have to have that money in a Thai bank account before I apply for the initial Visa application within Australia, if I have to do it from here? If I remember what I've read correctly, with the money in the bank, there is a requirement referred to as 'seasoning', I think 800k Baht in account 2 months before and for 3 months and not fall below 400k Baht at any time after an application, but I don't remember if that was only for extensions.
3) When applying for the initial Visa, Health Insurance is a requirement, but is it required to obtain extensions?
4) With the Non O Retirement Visa, after the initial 90 days, extensions are yearly from what I've read. Providing requirements are met, can annual extensions be obtained indefinitely, as long as the Thailand government doesn't remove this type of Visa?
Sorry for the long post and for questions being asked that have been asked before, but searching groups, I've found can be time consuming, doesn't always bring up exactly what I want to find and can require reading through multiple past posts to get all answers needed. Posting these questions myself will also allow me to save my post with the answers to all my questions. Thanks in advance for helpful responses. Those that just comment with ridiculing or belittling comments, I will just block the member immediately.
** Late Edit; I've read that some people choose to use an Agent, while others say that it's easy enough to do without an Agent. Someone suggested to me privately, but not in detail about using an Agent at a cost of about 20,000 Baht as an alternative to putting 800k in a bank account. Is that legal, or is it one of those 'this is Thailand' things that are an accepted thing if not strictly legal? If using an Agent can I be sure it won't come back to bite me later? If using an Agent to start with, would it mean that I would need to continue to use an Agent each time it comes to doing an extension?
TLDR : Answer Summary
The user, an Australian citizen preparing for retirement, is inquiring about the application process for a Non-O Retirement Visa, including whether it can be applied for in Thailand or only in Australia, necessary financial requirements, health insurance obligations, and the process for renewing the visa. Comments from the community provide insights on applying for a tourist visa as a gateway to the Non-O, the financial requirements needed for extensions, the clarification that health insurance is not obligatory for the Non-O, and advice against using agents to bypass financial regulations.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
- Go to the Retirement Visa Section for information on requirements, including age restrictions, financial requirements, and necessary documentation.
- For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
- Explore recent discussions by using the Non-O Retirement Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
- Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
