How can I apply for a Thai Non-Immigrant O-A Retirement Visa while living outside my passport country?

IndigoDolphin2392

1) you can get a non-O from any Thai embassy that accepts non-resident applications.

3) lease is not necessarily required for bank account. Most immigration offices will issue a residence certificate with just a TM30 from the property owner that shows you're staying there. Even hotels can work. But each immigration office and each individual bank branch have their own requirements.

4) you'll also need a Thai cell phone number registered to your passport to open a Thai bank account.

6) it's not like a visa. A visa is for entering a country. Once you enter Thailand your non-O visa is done. It's used and voided. The 90 day stamp in your passport is your permission of stay (not your visa). But makes sure you keep the visa printout since you'll need it for the bank and for your extension.

Stephen Woods "A non-o is ok and gives you 2 years" . . . . . nope. That would be the Non O/A visa, not the non-o. On a Non-O Retirement Visa you get stamped in for 90 days, and you can then apply for the 1-year extension of the stay permit, if you fulfill the requirements

@Peter ********

they are good for in country the extensions or non-os obtained in country. Not really relevant if applying outside the country

Ant W Tailor some people don't want to place 800k baht in a ThaI bank account. In this case it would be 160,000 baht in a Thai bank account. Whereas a Non OA would allow them to leave these funds in their own country for the two years that they would get out of this visa, earning themselves higher interest

Ant W Tailor that’s what the poster is saying can’t happen, because of where they are currently resident.

IndigoDolphin2392 do you have a Hong Kong ID card? You'll be lucky if they will process any visa application without one.

I understand that it is confusing because the information published by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration describes the national visa framework, while individual Thai embassies and consulates have discretion over which visa categories they will process, who may apply through that post, and what supporting documentation they require. As a result, what appears to be possible under the published rules is not always available in practice through a particular consulate.

From a practical perspective, a Non-O visa followed by a one-year retirement extension and a Non-OA visa ultimately achieve much the same outcome. Once the retirement extension has been granted, you have a one-year permission to stay in Thailand, which is effectively the same period of stay that the Non-OA provides. Both routes are then renewed annually, so neither offers a significantly stronger long-term immigration status than the other. Potentially thought you could argue that having your funds in a Thai bank account and already having an extension of stay indicates more commitment to the country than just having the initial visa. The more significant issue here appears to be Australian tax residency rather than the Thai visa itself. Under the ATO's domicile test, the key question is whether you have established a permanent place of abode outside Australia. That does not require a permanent Thai visa; rather, it requires evidence that Thailand has become your settled, ongoing home. My understanding is that the ATO is looking beyond the visa itself to the reality of the arrangement and the intention behind the move. If the plan is to relocate to Thailand on an ongoing basis, establish a long-term home there, spend most of the year in the country and build everyday residential and financial ties, then either the Non-O retirement extension or the Non-OA could support that position. Depending when you move if you have completed more than 180 days in a tax year in Thailand you can apply for a certificate of tax residency which may help your case. However, if the intention is only to spend a fixed period of around one year in Thailand before moving elsewhere or reassessing future plans, that may be a more challenging position to demonstrate, regardless of which Thai visa is held. In other words, the issue appears to be less about whether the visa is a Non-O or a Non-OA, and more about whether the overall circumstances demonstrate that Thailand has genuinely become your permanent place of abode outside Australia. It's kind of rough in the current day and age that you have to be fixed in one place to be considered non domiciled in your home country!

That one requires mandatory insurance from certain companies only, the Non O doesn’t require insurance, you can find your own cheaper if you need it