Can you apply for a Non-O retirement visa in Thailand even if you haven't applied beforehand from your home country?

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You get o visa 90 days in your home country. Then come to Thailand open bank account and put money in the account. After money has been in account 60 days you convert you o visa 90 days into o visa retirement. Your first retirement visa can only be done with having 800,000 baht in Thai bank account.

Take away all confusion and speak

@THAI *****************************

“So in my reading, a non-o can only be applied for while you’re already in Thailand?”

*** wrong.

You can apply for a 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa through the online e-visa system of the Thai embassies anywhere in the world, as long as you fulfill the requirements, mainly the financial ones.

*** You can apply for the “change of visa type” from a tourist visa or visa-exempt entry, to an initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa on Immigration inside Thailand.

“I meet all requirements for age and finances, but I’m getting conflicting information on how to get a retirement visa”

*** Do you REALLY meet all requirements?

Because in case you want to do the “change of visa type” from the tourist visa to the 90-days Non-O visa inside Thailand, you need to be over 50 years old, and you need an already existing Thai bank account in your sole name, with a minimum of 800,000 THB already sitting in it.

The only other option, if you do not have any Thai bank account, would be the financial proof by an income affidavit from your embassy in Bangkok. Citizens of UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Norway CANNOT get any income affidavits from their embassies.

*** You could pay an agent to get around all laws and rules. So, if you enter on a tourist visa and wish to end up with the stamp of a “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit Based on Retirement” in your passport, you would need to pay tea money.

There was a promotion of 45,000 THB recently for the “full package” (bank account opening, 90-days Non-O visa and subsequent 12-months Extension).

This includes NOT using your own funds of 800,000 THB. So, you would need the agent, again and again, in the following years for the annual application to the next 1-year extension.

*** The usual agent’s prices range from 60,000 to 90,000 THB for the “full package”

“I’ve applied for a 60 day visa and it’s still pending, but once I arrive, I can apply with the non-O?”

***Like I detailed: you can, but you need to expect to pay dearly, as described above.

*** The alternative is arriving on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa obtained outside of Thailand. This will enable you to get a bank account opened and deposit your own 800,000 THB. By doing so, you do not need an agent, and the application to the 12-months extension just costs a fee of 1900 THB.

Hello all. My wife is 46 and I am 55. Can anyone guide me on what I need to do to get her a retirement visa with me?

Anyone had issues around the source of money to meet the requirements of the retirement visa?

I’m planning to transfer out a DB pension and this will be one of the sources. But my IFA suggested checking first if Thailand authorities want a guaranteed source like a DB vs a DC type. I can’t find anything that specifically states what is required.

You can use an agent and get your non o while here.

But its better to apply from the Thai embassy in your home country.

Agents will charge a fair bit to do it here.

I got my 90day Non O in Thailand at Udon Thani Immigration but I already had my Bkk bank account with my 800,000bt seasoned

Hi Robert, you should apply from outside of Thailand, enter on the NON (O) visa, and once in Thailand & ready, apply for the retirement visa prior to NON O expiring 👍

Do not confuse Non-O with Non-OA

Non-O is inside Thailand

Non-OA is home country

Read the differences carefully.

Get a non O instead of the 60 day visa. Problems solved.

Non o is what I used gor 20 years never laps . Always renew

Robert Stepenson, as you can see by all the experts arguing, asking this question on fb isn't the way to go. Contact a reputable visa agent (there are plenty around), all the info they give you will be correct and get your first extension through them.

That way it's very easy and prices are reasonable, worth it, good luck

Everything you need to know, from "The Horses Mouth" so to speak.

I just enquired and was told by an visa specialist in Hua hin to enter on a 30 day tourist visa and then they will do it for me. Takes a week they said.

We suggest to arrive with visa stamp 30 days and apply here for 15 months retirement visa

no you cant be in thailand during the process..When its approved you will get a 90 day stamp during that time you need to get a bank account opened asap deposit 800,000 thai baht and let it sit for 2 months then go back to the bank get a letter make a small deposit and then back to immigration the same day to get approved

You must be in your home country or a country where you have legal residence if applying through a Thai embassy or consulate; however, digital e-visas can often be applied for via Visum Thai regardless of your location. Here are the most common locations and methods for applying: Outside Thailand (home country/country of residence): Traditional applications via a Thai embassy require you to be a citizen or legal resident of that country at the time of submission. Online/Digital: Some services offer fully digital processing where you upload documents online, allowing you to start the process before departure. In Thailand: If you enter on a standard tourist visa or via visa-exempt entry, you can sometimes switch your visa type to a Non-Immigrant O (retirement) visa locally at a Thai immigration office, provided you meet the age requirement (at least 50 years old) and the financial requirements (e.g., 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account).

There are two ways to get your Non O Visa.

The usual method is to apply in your home country using the Thai E visa system.

The second method is you have to use an agent when in Thailand this means you come here as a tourist then use an agent to do the Non O Visa part.

The downside to doing it in Thailand through an agent its going to cost you $$$.

So its like anything in life anything is possible it just depends how deep your pockets are!!!!

Can do either way in or out

How do you start the road to a successful retirement in Thailand?

You first need to decide which type of “retirement visa” suits your particular situation. There are at least 4 different visa-types all referred to as “retirement visas”, that are: Non-Imm-O, Non-Imm-OA, Non-Imm-OX and the LTR Wealthy Pensioner visa.

The LTR Visa unquestionably the best - if you can qualify for it- and the Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa is the most commonly used. My following advice is based on the Non-Imm-O Visa.

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 period, you have only one, maximum two weeks of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit Based on Retirement”.

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

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

*** a Thai mobile SIM-card registered in the phone-shop to your name and passport number

*** many banks ask for a secondary identity document alongside your passport – like your national 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 use proof of income of a monthly minimum of equivalent of 65,000 THB, by showing your 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 in the World. You need to upload three months of account statements into your visa application.

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-O Retirement Visa, you

EITHER

show a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account, and on the day you apply, the deposit must have seasoned in the account for a minimum of two 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 this method for the financial proof, as long as you can show a monthly income or pension of a minimum 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 and Australia, Norway and Canada - AFAIK), 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 in 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 it, however you should know it exists and many expats do it by this way.

It is very difficult, however, to escape the “hamster wheel” of an agent, because from the moment on he removes the 800,000 THB from your account, you are technically in “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 – and 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. Actually, 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 U.S. or U.K. 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, are using income affidavits 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 an updated bankbook, and a receipt of a small 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

*** 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 theroad to your accommodation

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

Non-O is only available outside Thailand for 90-Day but can be extended in Thailand if you meet the financial requirements. Non-OA (retirement) is only available outside Thailand, but gives you 1 year upfront. Non-OX is only available inside Thailand but gives you 2 x 5 years.

There used to be a way to open a bank account as a tourist, although I have not revisited whether the rule on this has changed. I will share later if I find out about it.

Non o has to be applied for outside of Thailand

Don't know where you're reading that, but it's wrong.

You're meant to apply for a non-O visa from a Thai embassy before traveling to Thailand. Having that visa is what enables you to do the necessary things to prepare for applying for the extension in Thailand, like opening a bank account. You cannot get a bank account as a tourist so you need to get the visa first.

No you can get Non-O visas from outside of Thailand. You can convert in country if you have a Thai bank account or your Embassy still does the income affidavit AND your Immigration Office will allow that conversion.