Is there a Non-O visa that allows a one-year stay in Thailand without a bank account?

Mario De Mey Well, there are several roads leading to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa and to the subsequent 1-year extended stay permit based on retirement.

We are talking about the most common and persisting misunderstandings regarding the rules that come with 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 7 different visas and stay permits

The best way is to enter Thailand on a 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 Visa”, as it will get you a 90-days stay permit stamped. On this visa, you can get a Thai bank account opened. Within this 90-days period, you have plenty of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year extended stay permit”

On a Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, there is no mandatory health insurance, no police report and no medical check needed. These are requirements if you apply for the 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa.

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, you can use the 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 a Thai bank, or just anywhere in the World – as long as it is in your sole name

However, for the application inside Thailand to the “1-year extension of stay permit” out of the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa, if you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Thailand does not issue an “income affidavit” any more (these are the embassies of USA, U.K., Canada 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.

If your embassy still issues an affidavit of income, you can use this method for the financial proof, which needs a monthly income or pension of a minimum of 65,000 THB

For British, 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 and use this deposit for the financial proof which is required for the application to the “1-year extension of stay permit based on being over 50/retired”

The alternative would be, if you don’t have that kind of money or are not willing to deposit in a Thai Bank account is, paying an agent to “arrange” the requirements, which I, however, do not recommend

Or, as soon as you have accumulated 12 consecutive months of 65,000 THB transfers, all you need to do is apply for the next 1-year extension of the stay permit, using the 12- months bank statement. After you get the second 1-year extension issued, you could withdraw the 800,000 THB.

This application to a 1Year Extension costs a 1900 THB fee and you can theoretically do it all by yourself, or 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 Immigration want the deposit part to exceed 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 need to have “seasoned” in your account for two months, and this has to be proven with the “bank letter of guarantee” (in Thai: rab roong thanakan).

You need:

*** an up-to-date TM30 registration of your accommodation in Thailand

*** your passport. Copies of passport detail page and page with the entry stamp

*** your updated bankbook and the “bank letter of guarantee” and an receipt of an ATM withdrawal of a small amount on the same day

*** a TM7 form (you will get it on Immigration)

***you sign in blue ink on all copies

*** you sign forms STM2, STM11 and STM9

*** maybe you get asked for a copy of your TDAC (digital arrival card)

*** 1900 Thai Baht application fee

*** 1000 Thai Baht fee for the single entry permit

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

A re-entry permit will keep your 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 could exit and re-enter unlimited times during the 1-year stay permit period.

Mario De Mey well, if you were able to fulfill the requirements for the Visa, you can also fulfill them for the application to the 1-year extension of stay. You need those 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account since 2 months to be able to apply for the one-year stay permit

Jo Clemente I guess he has a bank account in his home country and a few credit cards for withdrawals at an ATM. . . .I guess his question was rather about a 1-year visa that requires no money in a THAI bank account. It is not fully clear what he meant