Can I obtain a Non-O Retirement Visa using monthly income instead of the 800,000 baht requirement?

You will not get the 1-year extension issued, because you cannot present a 12-months bank statement over consecutive monthly transfers over a minimum of 65,000 THB, month for month, not having missed one single month, in the past 12 months.

Your INCOME is totally irrelevant to Immigration.

Your income documents cannot get legalized by your embassy in Bangkok, but this is what Immigration wants to see.

You CANNOT use your income for proof of finances for the application to the 1-year extension of stay.

Instead, you need accumulated 12 months of transfer for the proof of finances. Before you have not collected 12 months of transfers, you need the 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account.

You NEED the 800,000 THB deposit for proof of finances. There is NO WAY AROUND IT for you, at least not for the first year.

Sadly, you are not listening to all the people here, you are not willing to learn. You are going to learn the lesson the hard way.

You should have transferred 800,000 THB into your Thai bank account right after you got that account opened. As it seems, it is already too late for that.

For the application to the 1-year extension of stay, the minimum of 800,000 THB needs to have been sitting in your account for 2 months, you need the bank letter that confirms it

You will have to leave Thailand before your 90-days stay permit expires, or you will be in "overstay" which can get you arrested, deported and blacklisted

“I was told when I got here that the only way to get the Non-O Retirement was to have 800,000 baht, and I had to put that in a bank - but foreigners can't get a bank.“

*** You misunderstood something.

*** in order to get the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa issued through the e-visa online system in your home country or in any other country, you can

EITHER

prove 25,000 US Dollar in your home bank account

OR you prove with original income documentation that you earn a minimum of 65,000 THB (equivalent) per month.

*** After you have entered Thailand on this 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, you can get a Thai bank account opened on it.

*** However, in order to get the 1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit Based on Retirement” issued on Immigration inside Thailand, you need

EITHER

A minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, on the day you apply it needs to be seasoned for 2 months

OR

You use the certified income affidavit of your home country’s embassy in Bangkok, over the minimum of monthly 65,000 THB income

*** If your embassy does NOT supply such an income affidavit (the U.S. Embassy does not), there is no way for you to use your income as proof of finances, at least not for the first “1-year Extension of Stay”

Then, for the application to the first 1-year extension, you would need the 800,000 THB deposit.

***if you want to get those 800,000 THB back, you need to switch to the 12-months of bank transfers method.

*** in the meantime, you must start monthly transfers of a minimum of 65,000 THB equivalent, into your Thai bank account. These transfers must be coded in your bankbook as having come from abroad!

***Once you have accumulated 12 months of consecutive transfers, month for month, not having missed a single month, you can use the 12-months bank statement on Immigration for the application to the follow-up 1-year extension of stay, and take the 800,000 THB out of your account.

The monthly 65k is now getting more difficult to get specially if one use wise for transfers. Now these transfers are not considered international transfers, if you're using any bank other than kasikorn bank. I was using bkk bank but half the time they go through k bank then to bkk bank, witch is seen as a domestic transaction.

I now have opened a kbank to see if this will satisfy immigration.

Also don't forget there is the 400k in the bank and prove income for the rest.

So, Guy, the consensus here seems to be "No".

But, what you haven't told us (yet) is whether or not you've gotten your FIRST "1-year extension based on retirement" yet, using the monthly method.

THAT would seem to be the question. It's unclear where you exactly are at this time.

You've gotten IN for 90 days. Get the 1-year extension yet ? THAT is what inquiring minds want to know.

Can you use checking account showing over baht from home country in account for over 3 months?

Reading this comment gives me the shivers. 23 years ago when i emigrated at 51 after i retired at 50. There was no facebook. I looked thai embassy website london. I got a 1 year O visa allowing me to come and go cos mother was still alive. I always went back on 89th day thus no 90 day checkin. Opened a thai bank account, deposited 1 million baht and that was that. There are some very helpful knowledgeable people in this group who do help, no buts. YOU do your own research and act on it. Nobody told me to do this next bit.....i had 3y to go on my passport so i thought get a new passport easier to do than renew in thailand. But now thank god there's ....Marks Sending Machine....great price to. My great thai wife of over 20y phones up immigration to ask what this years requirements are. Follow your instinct, follow your research.

I Don't believe you !

May I summarize all the worthless junk advice in this post?

If you have averything right you should be OK".

Most respondents here assume that the OP wants a extension to his Non-O visa stay. It is not necessary. I have been using the Non-O for years to get two 90-day stays annually. I have never tried to get an extension of stay. Works fine for me.

This guy is using a movie star picture for his profile, I’m thinking he is Not real

You only got a permit dude. You now have open bank acct and put 25k in bank to get your 1 year.

You cannot get your retirement visa with what you have done, that only got your non o approval, you know need to deposit 800,000 baht into a Thai bank after you get it opened, you need to work fast on this, read the rules and you will understand

To make a long story short, if your embassy in Bangkok certifies your required income, your chances of a 12-month extension increase

You trust those "agents"? I was told by immigration not to......Maybe the want rather the 800k to dissapear than 65k....

Is everyone waiting for an educated response from Guy Here ?

This GUY!!! I can’t wait till he goes to get his 12 mth extension after his 90 day Non-O expiry comes up and no 800K in the bank and no proof of 12mths of 65K deposits 🤦🏽🤭😩🤣

Guy here: had you shown a bit of humility in your post, you wouldn't be getting whacked left, right and center by others here. Getting the initial 90-day Non-O visa in your home country or any Thai consulate in other countries is the easy bit.

You then have 90 days to apply for the 1 year extension. I'm not going to repeat what others have said here but you still need to deposit 800k baht for a minimum of 2 months prior to your application for the extension. The clock is ticking and hopefully you are still within the first 30 days of your entry and you need to quickly transfer the 800k and have it seasoned for 2 months. Failing which, your application will be rejected and you will have to leave the kingdom to start all over.

Please try to be less conceited in future and you are likely to be better off. Good Luck!!

By the way: I hold a Non-OA immigrant visa which has an entirely different set of requirements.

Or you can go to Malaysia every 90 days and do the same process again.

What country's Passport do you have?? is this an U.S. Passport Book we are talking about here?

Arrogance before the fall…

I think you may have out smarted yourself buddy.

Your smugness is a little premature. What you did was easy peasy and is not the reason why people hire agents anyway. You secured a 90 day non -O, not the 1 year extension as to which the monetary requirements apply.

“I was told when I got here that the only way to get the Non-O Retirement was to have 800,000 baht, and I had to put that in a bank - but foreigners can't get a bank account.”

*** they told you right, because you arrived on a tourist visa or visa-exempt. You CANNOT get a Thai bank account opened on a touristic entry.

If you do not already have a Thai bank account with 800,000 THB already sitting in it, you CANNOT apply for the “change of visa type” from the touristic entry to the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa, inside Thailand.

*** an agent will be able to make Immigration and the bank turn a blind eye, get a bank account for you and get your touristic entry “changed” to the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa. This has but a very high price, starting at 60,000 Thai Baht (the $1700 USD you mentioned)

*** you should have applied for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa in your home country before you flew to Thailand, because on this visa type, you CAN get a Thai bank account opened and are able to immediately after, transfer a minimum of 800,000 THB into it because you need it seasoned for 2 months in order to be able to apply for the “1-year extension of (the) stay permit based on being over 50/retired” (which many people wrongly call “retirement visa”)

You are definitely going to need a plan B.

The requirements for getting an in-country non-o, and an out of country non-o are somewhat different. The funding requirements for getting your first in-country extension are strict and don't allow for the monthly income method unless you get an embassy letter or go the agent route.

You haven't been given the proper information.

There are several roads leading to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa and to the subsequent “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit based on retirement”, which is a long-term stay permit

MIND YOUR WORDING:

you do not apply for the “retirement visa” on Immigration after you have entered Thailand on the “90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa” you obtained through the E-Visa online system outside of Thailand.

When you enter Thailand on the 90-days “Non-Imm-O retirement visa”, you get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. The visa itself will become invalid or “used”. It cannot get “extended”. This is technically just not possible. Don’t fall for the wrong wording used by Thai Immigration, for whom a visa and a stay permit erroneously are the same thing.

I am talking about the most common misunderstanding regarding the rules for applying for the “retirement visa” and the subsequent “one-year extension of stay permit based on retirement”. Misunderstandings happen because a “retirement visa” can mean seven (!) different visas and stay permits, but please let’s remain on topic. The most erroneous wording is from people who call the 1-year extended stay permit a “retirement visa” – a mistake that always makes me cringe.

*** The best way is to show up in Thailand on a “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 visa”. It will get you stamped in for 90-days stay permit. Within this 90-days period, you have plenty of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year extended stay permit”.

The important fact is, that entering on this visa-type enables you to get a Thai bank account opened. If you enter on a tourist visa or visa-exempt, you cannot get a Thai bank account opened any more since February 2025. Only a handful of agents offer a service around the law, and it costs up from 60,000 Baht and I have already been quoted 90,000 Baht.

There is NO mandatory health insurance or a police record check or a medical checkup required for the Non-O visa-type. These are requirements only for the application to the 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa, which is a completely different visa-type.

You will need the Thai bank account in case you want to convert the 90-days stay permit into a “1-year extension of the stay permit”.

You can theoretically fly on a one-way ticket because this visa allows you to receive a long-term stay in Thailand. Some airlines might not accept this explanation and will ask you for an onward travel proof out of Thailand within these 90 days, that’s why you should communicate with them by email and see what they say.

In order to apply for the “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O retirement visa” through the online E-visa system at the Royal Thai Embassy of your home country or any other country, you can

EITHER

use proof of income of a monthly minimum of 65.000.- THB, by using your original pension or other income documentation,

OR

you can use a deposit of a minimum of 800,000 THB or the equivalent in your home country currency, or on your home bank account, or on your Thai bank account (if you got one), or just anywhere in the World – as long as it is in your sole name.

Most Thai embassies will require 3 months of account statements. You need to check the website of the embassy you will use for the exact info.

ATTENTION! . . .For the application inside Thailand to the “1-year extension of the stay permit based on retirement”, the financial proof will be slightly different. You cannot use any original income/pension documents from your home country.

If you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Bangkok does not issue a certified “income affidavit” any more –

(which are the embassies of USA, Canada, UK, Norway and Australia)

you would need a “12 months bank statement” showing that for the past 12 months, you have been transferring from abroad to your Thai bank account a minimum of 65,000 THB, consecutively month for month, not missing a single month.

If your embassy still issues a certified affidavit of income, you can use it for the financial proof. You would need a monthly income or pension of a minimum of 65,000 THB.

For British, Canadian, Norwegian, Australian and U.S. citizens, in the first year there is no other way around than depositing a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account - at least in the first year

The alternative would be, if you don’t have that kind of money or are not willing to deposit 24,000 Dollar in a Thai Bank account, is paying an agent to “arrange” the requirements to get around the law.

As soon as you have accumulated 12 consecutive months of 65,000 THB transfers, month for month, you can apply for the next 1-year extension of the stay permit, using the 12-months bank statement. After been issued the next extension, you can theoretically take your 800,000 THB out of your bank account.

There is a fee of 1900 THB for the application to a 1-year extension, and you can theoretically do it all by yourself. You are free to accept the help of an agent for the simplified legal service.

NOTE: It is income OR deposit.

There is a third method, called the “combination method”: A combination mix of income and deposit.

Some immigrations don’t allow the combination method in the first year.

And some Immigrations want the deposit part to exceed a minimum of 400,000 THB.

The combination method means that the sum of the deposit AND the monthly income exceeds 800,000 THB in one year.

But let’s continue with the “normal method” (visa issued in your home country, followed by the application to the 1-year extension inside Thailand):

On the day of application to the 1-year extension, the 800,000 THB must have “seasoned” in your account for two months, and this has to be confirmed with the “bank letter of guarantee” (in Thai: rab roong thanakan).

After been issued the “1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement”, the 800K need to remain in the account for 3 more months. After these 3 months, the deposit shall never go under 400,000 THB. And before the 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.

On the day you get issued the “1-year extension of stay permit”, you should buy a re-entry permit.

A re-entry permit will keep your 1-year stay permit alive and valid in case you want to travel around and exit Thailand before the expiry of the extension.

A single re-entry permit is 1000 THB on Immigration. A multi re-entry is 3800 THB. On a multi re-entry permit stamped, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you wish during the whole 1-year stay permit period.

Again, watch your wording, because many people fail in doing so: the re-entry permit is not a “re-entry visa”. It is just a permit.

Guy Here

There will be a hard awakening for you when you are going to apply to the “1-year extension of (the) 90-days stay permit based on retirement” on Immigration inside Thailand

***Does your embassy in Bangkok certify your income?

If not, then you need a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, seasoned for 2 months on the day you apply for the 1-year extension of the stay permit.

*** while not only you, but actually EVERYBODY can use his original income documents for an application to the 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa OUTSIDE of Thailand, there still is NO WAY to get the 1-year extension issued by Immigration, at least not in the first year, without the 800K in your Thai bank account.

*** the mistake is, that most agents, like Thai Immigration, are unable in their BAD English, to make a difference between a visa and a stay permit.

For them, the 90-days visa is the “retirement visa”

For them, the 1-year extended stay permit is the “retirement visa”

For you, two different things now seem to be the “retirement visa” . . . you fell into the trap of wrong wording.

*** Good Luck on Immigration so far . .

because if you haven’t already transferred a minimum of 800,000 THB into your Thai bank account so they can season for 2 months while your 90-days stay permit is running down, you will need to exit Thailand before the 90-days stay permit expires, and start the process of applying for the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, all over again, outside of Thailand.

Initialy extension you need 0 in bank as montley transfere need to show 12 months of transfering . But you can start monthly transfere now and change over at 2. extension to free up the 0

You have actually cost yourself more doing this. You should have applied in your home country for the initial visa, then came here and opened a bank account. That would have saved the trip to Malaysia. You now have to prove 12x monthly 65k deposits in under 3 months. There was a time when an income letter from your embassy would suffice but that ship has long sailed as less and less of them will now do this.

You havent got extension yet

Oh dear....a shock on its way..

Great for your initial 90 day. Good luck with your extension on the monthly salary. Ain’t gonna happen.

😆 you better do some more research

Obviously knows more than everyone else . When he doesn’t have the 800k seasoned for 2 months and applies for his extension and they reject extension I guess he starts all over again . Yep he’s definitely smarter than the rest of us

Please update this once you successfully receive your 1 year extension. As others have posted, that is different than your initial 90 day visa. I hope it works for you. Good luck.

Good luck with the one year extension 👍

If only. Sadly you are confused or subject to wishful thinking. The correct information has already been supplied on this thread, pay attention to it, or you will be unable to get the 12-month extension of stay.

The big mistake was listening to an agent. What you ended up doing is actually the best way to do it. However, you only got the initial 90 day non-O visa and bank account. You now have to deposit 800,000 baht into your bank account so it’s there at least 2 months prior to doing your one year extension. The monthly income option is ONLY available if your embassy will issue an income letter. Unfortunately most don’t anymore. You can do the monthly income option with monthly deposits for your second year if you transfer in every month. Note that you still have to meet the banked funds requirements for that whole first year.

You can use monthly income to get the initial 90 day Non-O visa at any consulate outside of Thailand, you just can't do it inside Thailand. However, unless your embassy in Thailand will provide an income certificate you are still going to have to put a minimum of 800k baht into your thai bank account and allow it to season for 2 months before you can apply for a 12 month extension of stay, it has to remain in the bank for 3 months after you receive the extension and can't drop below 400k baht at any point in the 12 months. For your 2nd and subsequent extensions you can use monthly income only if you have International transfers of a minimum of 65k baht each month for the full 12 months immediately prior to applying for the extension.

Your mixing up getting the actual 90 day visa to getting the 1 year extension. Also applying in Thailand compared to applying outside of Thailand rules always been different.

The 800k in thai account is for the extension