Can I get a retirement visa in Thailand with my Social Security and annuity income?

Yep Sir , you will be absolutely fine for certain , I'd sort it all out here , vastly easier for certain .

Don’t listen to any one on here! Things change very quickly! Go to You Tube check out Retiring in Thailand and search for any video by a guy named Cal. He can answer your question!!

Excellent detailed Visa explaining- thank you!

I got my second Thai bank account without tm 30

Lucky you enjoy

Just get agent for the £500 they charge worth it no hassle

DS-82

get the visa

get the 800,000 baht in a thai bank account

then it's simple to apply for the extension of stay for retirement.

u dont need an agent

You got no chance.

If you are over 50 yo, and you probably are, you are all set up. With 157,000 US$ per month, you can live like a king.

Yes.

Next Step Hua Hin Expat Services can help you with that

@https://www.facebook.*********************

What is social security meaning exactly ?

Wow! That's amazing

Philip Allen or just feel good about helping others…

You should be in a pretty good position with that income. An agent can definitely make the process easier, especially the first time around.

I'd also spend some time looking into healthcare options before the move, as that's something a lot of retirees leave until later.

Agent. 40baht a day and then never any immigration office nightmares.

Is that before or after taxes?

No need for an agent. Particularly if you are applying well in advance. If there are issues you can hire an agent to handle it. I did my own and the thai bank account too. The agent fee is a relatively large amount here in Thailand particularly for those who do the 90day, bank account and yr extension package. I'd recommend getting a WISE account and start setting up all the funds there. The visa app process walks you through everything. Toughest part is assembling your financial documents. I used acrobat to create around a 35 page combination document with bank statements and included my lease here in Bangkok and any additional info i thought they might possibly want. I was applying in Laos so it is different there. I wish i had been able to get it done while in the US!!!

I went through this process without an agent two months ago with no issues.

Get an agent no stress

A wonderful factual explanation. 100% correct in every detail.

Thank you.

Don't use an agent, do it yourself. It's easy. Don't move near Jomtien or Pattaya. Hua Hin, Sam Roy Yot , Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan District, Prachuap Khiri Khan those last 2 places are fabulous

Yes. I'm get about 75% of yours combined and I had no issues. I recommend an agent. You can do it yourself but why take the risk? It's really nice to have an English speaking Thai agent to smooth the process. 👍

Thai visa Bangkok

For $5K a month you can live beautifully in the U S. too, near your family

Yes, you have enough income NOW. Why the fixed annuity? And what if SS runs out of money in 7 years. You need some funds allocated to growth. You may be retired for 40 years.

Pretty sure governments publish requirements for each visa.

Just fly here and get an agent (worked for me)

I would read Andreas Mueller's reply and although it is possible to do it yourself his answer is the reason I use an agent. Yes it costs a bit extra but it cuts through the language problem.

Use an agent its simpler ok it cost a small amount more but saves any issues that can and often do pop up .

Take a agent

If/when the petrodollar chrashing it can be harder. The currency rate is important for all expats.

another thing I would have done is to renew your passport before you leave. even if you have 5 years left. Just another thing not to worry about for 10 years.

You can apply by yourself on the Thai evisa site and you can use your SS benefits letter as proof of income as I did. There's no reason to pay an agency unless you have something in your past or are computer illiterate.

Fairly easy and we did this ourselves without an agent. With that sort of income you should have the funds available to deposit the 800,000 baht ($.13 USD using today's exchange rate) into a Thai bank.

We just updated our visa at Hua Hin yesterday - we had to show our bank statement showing we each maintained 800K baht during the required times, our lease, our landlords Thai ID, TM30 (your address notification, 90-day check-in (TM47 for renewal) for long-stay foreigners to confirm their current address every 90 days. Took 45 minutes and cost us 1900 baht each. Easy peasy.

The first step is to get the 90 day non O then open your bank account quickly which can be challenging - go to each bank until you find one happy to open an account - once the funds season - after that you extend for a year, first 90 day check in must be in person, after that, unless there is an issue, you can do it online. Repeat each year.

Once you have the bank account set up, I would put in the 800k and leave it there. My experience was,,,,,, I was doing the 65 k a month transfer. A couple of my transfers ended up not showing as a foreign transfer. I went to extend my OA visa and it was denied. I was unable to get the docs I needed to show. I went to an agent and he " fixed it" .. the next year I went to extend my visa and was denied the extension. Immigration did not like how it looked the way they could tell it was fixed. Denied again. Had to go to another agent to fix it. Got it fixed and then changed to the LTR visa, no problems. I would put in the 800k and not let it go below for any reason. Just my 2 cents, everyone has different outcomes. But it did appear that immigration was looking closer at these "fixed" extensions.

I just went through the process for this six months ago.

I had a very good visa agent in Hua Hin

If you’re interested, I can forward you the contact 

Read what Andreas Mueller posted

The road to a successful retirement in Thailand.

You need to apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa through the E-Visa online system of the Thai embassy in your home country, before you fly to Thailand.

After you entered Thailand, you need to get registered in your accommodation per TM30 within 24 hours of arrival in the premises. If you rent or live in a friend’s accommodation, the landlord or the friend has to register you.

Immigration will only service you if you are properly registered in your accommodation by the TM30.

You need this TM30 so you can ask Immigration for a “certificate of residence”, a document you need if you want to get a Thai bank account opened.

On arrival, you will get stamped in for an admitted stay of 90 days. The visa will become invalid for further use.

Within this 90-days stay permit, you have maximum two weeks of time to arrange the opening of the bank account.

You will need to get a Thai bank account opened as soon as possible after you entered. On a Non-Imm-O visa, it is possible to get a Thai bank account opened, if you fulfill minimal requirements, which are:

*** a “certificate of residence” from Immigration (some banks accept a longterm rental contract)

*** a Thai mobile SIM-card registered to your name and passport number

*** many banks ask for a second identity document alongside your passport – like your driver’s license

In order to apply for the “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O retirement visa” through the online E-visa system of the Royal Thai Embassy of your home country, you can EITHER use proof of income of equivalent to 65,000 THB, by showing original pension statements or other income documentation.

OR- you show a deposit of a minimum of 800,000 THB equivalent in your home country currency, on your home bank account, or just on any bank anywhere – as long as the account is in your sole name.

However, for the application inside Thailand for the “1-year extension of the stay-permit based being over 50/on retirement” out of the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, you

EITHER

show a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, and when you apply, the deposit must have seasoned in the account for a minimum of 2 months, and you need the “bank letter of guarantee” (in Thai: rab roong thanakan”) that confirms it.

OR

If your embassy still issues a legalized affidavit of income, you can use it for the financial proof, as long as you can show a monthly income/pension of 65,000 THB.

If you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Thailand does not issue the “income affidavit” anymore (which are the embassies of the USA, UK, Australia, Norway, Denmark and Canada), you would need a proof by a “12 months bank statement”.

This statement must show that for the past 12 months, you have been transferring from abroad to your Thai bank account, month for month, not missing one single month, a minimum of 65,000 THB. The transfers must be coded in your bankbook as foreign transfers coming from abroad.

For above mentioned citizens, in the first year there is no other way around than depositing a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account and use this deposit for the financial proof.

*** If you don’t have these funds, there still is the option to use an agent who fronts the deposit in your bank account and pays “tea money” to the Immigration to ignore that you have no own funds. I do not recommend, however you should know this option exists and many expats do it by this way.

While they will claim this method is “legal”, I would rather say that the traditional Thai way of making obstacles go away by paying “tea money” to government officials should be taken with a pinch of salt.

It is very difficult to escape the “hamster wheel” of an agent regarding future applications, because from the moment on he removes the 800,000 THB from your account, you are technically in an “overstay” because you are violating the terms of the upkeep of the deposit.

Some Immigration offices have started to require that even when you use your embassy’s income affidavit, you at least have a Thai bank account and some money gets transferred into it from abroad. They might also ask you for the SOURCE of the income.

Many people wrongly refer to the 1-year extension as a “1-year retirement visa”, this is totally wrong. The one-year extension of the stay permit is not a visa, it is what the stamp in your passport says: an extended stay permit.

NOTE: It is income method OR deposit method.

There is a third method, called the “combination method”:

A mix of income and deposit. Many Immigrations don’t allow the combination method in the first year. And some Immigrations want the deposit part to exceed 400,000 THB. The combination method means that the sum of the deposit AND the monthly income is exceeding 800,000 THB in one year. You would have to ask your Immigration if they allow it.

I have NEVER heard of a US or UK citizen being allowed a combination of 12-months of transfers from abroad plus a deposit in a Thai bank account. People who are allowed to the combination, use the income affidavit from their embassies.

But let’s continue with the “normal method” (the Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa issued in your home country, followed by the application to the 1-year Extension of Stay inside Thailand):

What else do you need to show on Immigration?

*** Immigration might ask you to present your updated bankbook, and a receipt of a small sum withdrawal at an ATM of the same day.

*** a copy (and original) of your passport detail page signed in blue ink

*** a copy (and original) of the .pdf visa document signed in blue ink

*** a copy (and original) of the printed TDAC (if applicable) signed in blue ink

*** 1900 THB in cash application fee

*** the TM7 form you can fill out at the Immigration

*** Immigration will ask you to sign several “exclusion of responsibility” forms (STM2 and STM11)

*** some Immigrations have started to ask applicants for a rental contract (Hua Hin is known to ask)

*** some also ask for a screenshot or printout of your TM30 despite they can see a properly registered TM30 on their computer

*** some Immigrations ask you for a hand drawn map of the roads from your accommodation to the Immigration office.

You should visit your Immigration office ASAP after you have entered Thailand, and ask them for the handout list of requirements. This is important, because some Immigrations use their individual, own rules.

After been issued the “1-year Extension of Stay” the minimum 800,000 THB deposit needs to remain in the account for 3 more months. After these 3 months, the deposit shall never go under 400,000 THB. Before your annual application for the next “1-year Extension of Stay”, a minimum of 800,000 THB must have seasoned in the account for two months, again.

When you get issued the “1-year extension of stay”, you should always buy a re-entry permit for it while you are still in the Immigration office.

*** A re-entry permit will keep your 1-year stay permit alive in case you exit Thailand before the expiry of the 1-year stay permit.

A single re-entry permit is 1000 THB on Immigration. A multi re-entry is 3800 THB.

With a multi re-entry permit, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you wish during the whole 1-year stay permit period.

Good Luck and a great time in Thailand

Get onto offical thailand immigration website all the info you seek is on there. Make your application online. Once approved and you come to Thailand go to immigration and get their list of requirements to obtain extension of stay( this may vary between immigration offices). Complete requirements then apply for extension of stay.

Good enough if you don’t have a partner

You're going to need the 800k for at least the first year, or a visa agent, and then depends on IF that immigration office accepts the income method, not all will

The easiest method is put 800,000 in a bank account for two months before apply. And starting monthly add 65,000 baht per month into you bank account and the second time you can go off that, and don’t need the 800,000 to qualify. FYI HuaHin has terrible air pollution for six months out of the year.

Hua Hins nice, but you’re too young for Hua Hin, come to Jomtien! Lol