Can I apply for a Non-O visa in the USA without a Thai bank account or health insurance?

If you've never been here, come for 4 months on visa exception find a girlfriend and travel around to nearby countries. Now is the time to decide if you will be bored here

Apply at home for the 90 days Non-immigrant O Visa based on retirement. No need for a thai bank account,yet. When you arrive in Thailand, you have 30 days to open a bank account and transfer ฿800k from back home. That transfer has to show up as international in your account/bank book. These ฿800k must be in your account at least 60 days prior to the day you apply for the 1 year extension. No need for a law firm or agent if you meet the requirements.Its just a waste of money.

Have you checked their fees? They wanted 14,000 to open a bank account for me. Crazy money. I did it with help from a Thai person. How much have siam legal quoted to do paperwork for visa?

Apply yourself...only get assistance if you run into major obstacles...

Get the Non Imm O in the US. It makes the process so much easier when you get to Thailand. No need for the money in a Thai bank account for this visa if you apply in the US and it will make opening a Thai bank account so much easier

@Sharron ******

hi Sharron, I'm planning on retiring to Thailand in the near future when I have reached Aged Pension age. I won't claim to know anywhere near as much as many in the group, but have been reading a lot of posts for the past year and a half to learn as much as I can.

Get your Non-O visa (not the OA or OX, right?) in your home country, as it will make opening a bank account in Thailand considerably easier. With the Non-O Visa, there's no health insurance requirement, unless the Thai Embassy/Consulate in your home country specifies that it is. If there's no mention in the Embassy/Consulate website, then if you prefer, you can get insurance when you arrive in Thailand. When you're ready to do that, ask in a separate post for opinions on what insurance companies others have used and you'll get plenty of responses. In fact, you could first do a search in the group for health insurance and you'll probably find plenty of opinions. As far as changes go, I don't believe there's been any mention of changes to the Non-O visa. The OA & OX Visas, the minimum amount of Insurance coverage, I believe has, or will shortly be reduced.

I realise that you want to get help with opening your bank account. Perhaps contact Siam Legal and ask how much they would charge you to help open an account for you (you will need to be with their representative at the bank anyway). Quite a few foreigners use Agents to help opening bank accounts and it seems the average that they charge is around 5000 Baht. Once you arrive in Thailand, you will want to get that done asap, because your initial Visa is for 90 days and the 800,000 Baht must be in a Thai bank account for two months minimum before you apply for the first 1 year "Extension of Stay". When exactly you apply for the "Extension of Stay", I'm not really sure, other than it's before your 90 day visa expires. You do that at the Immigration Office in the Province you will live in and each may have their own rule about when you need to apply. If you specify what city or Province you'll be living in, someone will give you more specific information. Hope that helps a little 🙂

Have you ever stayed more than a couple of weeks in Thailand ?

If not you have to start by doing a testrun ex. 60 day touristvisa + 30 day extension, to figure out where to stay, and if can you live on the budget you will have avaiable.

Everyday life may be very different from holiday life, so don’t burn your bridges yet.

If you are so keen on using a law firm why do you ask here? It makes no sense whatsoever.

There's no reason to use a law firm as they cannot do anything without your passport and you being in Thailand.

You do not need a Thai bank account or health insurance to apply for the 90 day non-O visa. You use the evisa system and choose the non immigration visa, pensioner option.