Can I get a retirement visa in Thailand without having 800,000 Baht in my bank account?

Thai Visa centre!

People here won’t like my advice but there are many good agents who can get you a retirement visa easily

Cost is about 30 to 35 k in bhat

They can open a bank account for you

Get you re entry stamp if you want to go out of Thailand for a while

Hundreds or even thousands of expats use this method and have done for a long time

Some will comment it’s illegal what these agents do….

But prostitution is also illegal in Thailand…..duh !

Peter Merchant . . You can do EVERYTHING by yourself, you do not need an agent . . . . . You can use your original income documents of your home country over the 80,000 THB you are earning, for the application to a 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Visa, through the e-visa online system in your home country. You will need a police clearance, an international health insurance and a medical check.

There is no need for an embassy issued income affidavit - not for the visa itself.

However for the application to the Extension, you would need the 12-months bank statement. What I am trying to say is – you can start everything on a fully legal route: get a Thai bank account opened as soon as you have entered, on the Non-O/A visa, and start transferring the 65,000 THB every month.

Then just before the one-year stay permit expires, exit Thailand without a re-entry permit. The visa validity will already be expired. By this, you are free to apply for any other visa.

Now you can apply through the e-visa system of the Thai embassy in Australia for the 90-days Non-Imm-O visa, using your original income documents.

Then re-enter on this 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit, and up from 30 days before the 90-days stay permit expires, apply for the 1-year Extension with the 12-months statement

But you will have to find out if "your" Immigration allows the use of the 12-months bank statement for your FIRST extension (because AFAIK, not all Immigrations allow it!)

Thai Visa Centre

Grace

Thai Visa Centre

It was easy to deposit the 800,000b in a Thai bank which eliminated The need to buy private medical insurance which gets canceled the moment you start using it, what a waste of money! Once the money is deposited in the bank then you can start adding $65,000 baht or about $2,000 USD a month into the same account. When you've put in 12 deposits, in the second year you can qualify for the income method. Overall much cheaper!

Perhaps consider obtaining a Non O-A visa, pay the premiums for Thai insurance, then after arriving you open a bank account, deposit funds, and then convert to a Non-O in country when the Non O-A expires.

There is also the Privilege VIP visa options. Gold level for 5 years is $24,000USD. No banking deposit needed. Lots of perks . look at Siam Legal website

If you get an agent to do the whole process for you, they will deposit the 800,000K into your bank issue the visa, this takes about 4 to 6 weeks. Then its with drawn. When you have received the Non 0 RETIREMENT VISA as soon as you enter Thailand, immediately start paying 65,000bht into your account every month that first year. After that first year when you renew your 1 year visa immigration will see you have kept up the monthly 65,000bht payments and you will no longer need to deposit 800,000K bht yearly into your bank account. ONESTOP SERVICES at Soi 6 Pattaya are brilliant and his name is Mark. They sorted my Visa, Driving and Bike License. It's about £1,000 but we'll worth it.

Get the OA visa , you don’t need a Thai bank account so can have your money back home in a high interest account.

But you do need Thai health insurance.

If you want to be legitimate and avoid agents that operate under the counter get yourself a Non-OA visa. It does require police check, insurance, etc but does give you time to open a bank account and build income history. You can get almost 2 years out of this visa before you need to apply for an extension if you do a border bounce just before it expires

I walked into a visa agency and enquired about a retirement visa & the savings situation they told me that's not a problem cost wat just over 1000 uk pounds best bet just go there & visit various visa agencies

The short answer is yes. the visa you are referring to is the Non O visa. There is also a Non O-A visa. Dont start your search on Facebook. First educate yourself by going to the Thai Embassy and Thai Consulate websites.

Contact Grace at Thai Visa Centre she is a highly recommended Visa consultant. You won’t need the 00 baht. But there is a charge of currently of baht. Also they look after re entry visa’s and 90 day reporting. A lot of expats use them including myself. I for the past 9 years. Check there website on FB.

1st year of "ext of stay for 365 days for purpose of retirement", must have 800,000 in bank. Must be banked 2 months before the 1 year visa starts. That is why one gets a 90 day non-o first. You must be getting minimum 65 thousand Thai baht every month about same time each month. Not exactly sure, but I think it must be from international source. Just went through the procedure early this year.

If you’re making ฿80k a month in pension why is it so hard to save ฿800k

Agent nate

If you get the non-O visa based on your monthly income before you go to Thailand, you can pay an agent to get you the annual extension without showing money in the bank.,