Can my grandfather combine his social security and savings to apply for a Non-O visa from the US for retirement in Thailand?

To be honest, $1500 a month is cutting it close as he will need health insurance which will eat up a significant amount each month. If he has plenty of savings then he can utilize the savings to qualify for the visa applied for from the states.

Not sure his age, but what about healthcare, if he needs it.

I need help i am finaly coming permanently to Thailand. I come from Australia, Qld. It appears that i will have to apply for a non 0 visa does anyone know how long it takes to get it

What you post tells me is he should reconsider.

Hire a visa agent here in Thailand, I did took 4 days to get me a retirement visa!

Is his " chunk in savings" a minimum 25k USD in his USA bank account?

Prepare for Summer weather Conditions.

Your grand father can apply either from home on thai embassy website or in Thaïland (i did in october 2025) but it's much easier and less stressfull from home.

Hé can get the 90 days Non-O visa with proof of the equivalent of 0thb in his bank account. The only purpose of the 90 days is to give you time to open à thai bank account to mâture your deposit for 60 days before the one year extension. He xould use his revenues instead of 0thb only if his embassy confirms it and they no longer do it.

Upon renewal if he has depisited 65 000bht every month(if he deposited 0thb every 3 months he would be shy 2 months out of 3). Thoses deposits have to come from ashore (with proof). At the Immigration officer's discrétion, he could use lets say thb every month and à deposit of 0thb. Again at the IO's discrétion. One more thing, he must be able to show 12 monthly deposit of 65 000bht not prior the effective renewal date but 60 or 90 days (not sure) before

Have your Grandfather maintain his us address. This will save lots of problems before they become an issue. He most likely will not qualify for a health insurance policy and will have to self insure. You say he has $1500 SSI which is ok but wont go that far based on someone's lifestyle. He would want to be near a hospital.Thailand is for ambulatory people and you can forget coming here if your not. Meds are available look up the US equivalent. Your best answer here will come from the moderators.

I would definitely recommend you go to a visa agent who will give you the best up to date advice. You will always get many many answers to your one question on this site, although very helpful and many answers can be correct, you will end up totally confused and it will not be in your best interest. I have just completed my retirement visa, bike & car driving licence with an agent. The major benefit of using an agent is that they will have all your documentation on file and any mistakes with paperwork will be their priority of correcting. The Thai visa laws are changing all the time. I've used One Stop Services in Pattaya (DETAILS BELOW) His name is Mark and he runs the agency with his wife. Pom. He will answer any questions you have by WhatsApp within 24 hrs. Brilliant service!

SOI 6, Beach Road, Pattaya, Thailand,



LINE: onestopvisa06

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I agree with most if the comments. But important questions need to be answered like his age, also are you in Thailand or will he live by himself? How is his health? Does he have medical conditions that need care because Thai Insurance companies generally do not accept people with pre-existing conditions and if he is on Medicare it is pretty much useless unless he has like maybe a Medicare Advantage Plan that will pay for someone who lives overseas. These questions should be taken in to consideration before anything else.

Is your grandfather a US citizen? If not, he might have to come back for 30days annually otherwise his benefits could stop. It happened to my friend’s uncle. He was a permanent resident. If he’s a citizen, no worries.

Assuming he hasn’t been here before: the most common recommendation to anyone is to come and spend 30-60 days in Thailand and discover the different parts, talk to agents, and get estimates

What is his total monthly retirement income?

How old is he?

Has he been here before?

He needs to apply for a non o in the US, using the Thai Embassy evisa site, you will be asked for information bank statements proof of address passport size photo etc it’s quite simple once you get started

Best to apply before he comes. I think (my opinion) is the Embassy website where you wish to apply will want ฿800,000 (or equivalent) in his home bank. Best ask your embassy

Use an agent for God's sake!

Certainly apply in USA and extend in Thailand. Age (min 50) and savings in local bank account equivalent of 800,000 baht (for whatever months required by local embassy) is really the only requirement; not the income. He may need an agent in Thailand to extend but at least he will have the visa already for 3 months.

I would advise to apply for the Non O from the US 🇺🇸 right now. Can be easily done online. The eVisa site will advise what financial evidence he will need to provide when applying.

Once in Thailand 🇹🇭, a Thai bank account must be opened and 800,000 THB must be deposited and will have to be seasoned for two months before going for the first 12 month extension (of the Non O visa)

After the first year of extension, it is possible to switch to the 65,000 a month method (deposit 65,000THB per month into your Thai 🇹🇭 Bank account every month for 12 months) and use that to satisfy the requirements for extension.

Good luck 😃

Just go and use an agent they will open bank account deposit funds to the whole lot

Probably better to use a agent once he arrives

Unless he already has a Thai bank account, he cannot get the non-O inside of Thailand. You are required to show the funds in a Thai bank account to apply in Thailand, and cannot open a bank account unless you already have a long-term visa.

He might be able to show a combination of things to get the non-O visa at the Thai embassy, but that won't help him once he gets to Thailand. For the first 1-year extension, the only option available is showing 800,000 baht in his Thai bank account, or embassy certified income. The US embassy does not do income certification, so the 800,000 in the Thai bank is the only option.

The other option he has is using a visa agent, but that's going to cost anywhere from 30,000-50,000 baht for the first year.