Do I need a Non-O visa to apply for a retirement visa in Thailand and what documentation is required?

Yes for sure. If the comments help and it can be done without an agent then all good. I avoid agents whenever I can. As you said yourself in your comments, Korat is known for problems. I hope he can get it without the agent. If not, then it is agent time.

@Gary ******

That's not quite right. You're confusing getting a Non-B inside the country with getting a Non-O. They are totally different. I know down here in Bangkok some Non-B applications can go under consideration for 30 days before you go back.

Most immigration offices that do the Non-O from a 30 day visa exempt entry or a 60 day tourist visa entry require at least 15 days on the current stamp. That's because it goes under consideration for 14 days before you go back to get the Non-O and the new 90 day stamp inked into your passport.

They can do it for being married to a thai, being over 50 and supporting children. I have never seen them issue one for a "trailing spouse" <- where the wife of someone legally working here or retired here needs a Non-O to "piggy back" onto their spouses extension.

@Ga**

, Okay, first off there is NO such animal available at a thai consulate or at an immigration office called a "retirement visa". Even though they stamp the word retirement on your extension in your passport that is the ONLY place the word ever appears.

The real clause for those visas or extensions is based on being over 50 and "living out the end of your life" :O <- that's what the thai actually says ;)

All extensions of stays based on being over 50 (retirement) are issued for a year from the date your current extension or admitted until stamp expires. You don't lose any days by applying early (in chiang mai and bangkok you can apply for a new yearly extension when you have 45 days or less left on your current stamp). My first yearly extension expired on April 5 and no matter when I've applied for the last 7 yearly extensions after that they expire on the same date just a year later.

I was able to apply for a 90 day single entry Non-O based on being over 50 (retirement) when I was still 49 (about two months before my 50th b-day) in Vientiane using just the "verification of income" notary from the US consulate. They did it because by the time it'd come up for me to apply for my first yearly extension I would already be 50.

I think you're NOT gonna get an immigration office inside the country to do the same thing though. They're hard as nails about you meeting the criteria, and seeing as you're not 50 yet, you don't.

i recently just filled out a stat dec saying i earned x amount, it was accepted by Aust Embassy Bkk, and my visa company says fine. I recommend go to a visa company, the handle all the bs, expensive, but worth it to me

David, It figures :/