What are the costs and processes involved in obtaining a retirement visa and a non-B visa for New Zealand passport holders in Thailand?

Rip off big time.

800k in the bank for 3 month prior to visa application. The actual fee is very small 1900baht I think. Then also re entry stamp if you intend to leave Thailand at any time, multiple entry is best.

Takes about 2 weeks now as things have all changed recently.

get a new lawyer and post his law firm on facebook, dudes a scammer

I don't understand why people go to lawyers. Go to a visa agent.

It might help to list the area you are in so people can recommend a trusted agent - that price is WAY too high but being an attorney you'd be paying for the knowledge and ease of getting through the process.

It does depend on a lot of things though - do you have the required 800,000 baht each to deposit in a Thai bank? If the agent has to do that for you the price is higher.

Do you both match the age requirements? For a non O if you tick all the boxes and have all the required documentation and meet all the criteria it only costs 1900 baht to do it yourself, so pricing is based on what they have to work around and fix.

Ask Immigration Office for a list of all the requirements, they usually have one

Your lawyer is crazily greedy

0 baht each in a thai bank wait days let someone correct me lol then apply cost 1900 baht as stated before

25,000 for a non-o and a year extension re entry is extra and they take care of everything

My solicitor charges me 8k .

I have all paperwork / money in the bank / tambien ban and so on .

I Send it her all , she check with her contact at immigration that it s all there and make an appointment for us .

I just pop in , sign countless pieces of paper , take a picture and am done .

Yes I could pay 2k instead of 8k doing it all by myself but the 6k extra is worth it to have it all streamlined and building a good relationship with a local solicitor who can make things a lot easier with various administration when needed .

Your getting ripped big time... First Retirement with no money is 23ish each.

Email Hua Hin visa services, they did mine no problem:



093-698-2969

Soi 94

The visa is 1900 baht.

The non-B is normally done by your employer. The retirement one you could do by yourself for 2,000 baht, but if you're the spouse of a non-B visa holder you may as well get the spouse visa. The employer takes care of that as well.

Easy way go to a agent or if you have funds to put in a bank as stated ..then it's also easy. The cost of your retirement visa will be 1,900 bht. You are being wel over charged ..

60 days visa exemption on arrival FREE....border bounce for another 60 days to Cambodia...all-inclusive 3300baht...repeat every two months. Send them 120k to me lol

I’m came on a NZ passport as a tourist and had no problem getting retirement visa and bank account through paying an agent in Soi 94. Not as much as you’ve been quoted but it was done and dusted in a day. The women at Anna’s take care of everything. So worth it. Get a quote. There’s two agents pretty well next door to each other.

Non imm visas from Immigration Offices are 2000bt a pop.

A non b visa is a business visa this is the visa you need to get a work permit.

A non o visa is a retirement visa.

These are completely different types of visa and the costs involved getting them are different.

With a non b visa if you are setting up your own company that you will be working for you will need a lawyer to set up the company, you will need to employ at least 4 Thai staff and pay their social security insurance you also need all the relevant licenses for your business. It's a massive ball ache and at least for the first time better to use an agent.

If you are working for a company they should do all the paperwork for your non b and work permit, you don't need a lawyer if this is the case.

For a non o the process is much easier if you have all your paperwork in order and the money sat in a Thai bank account you can do it yourself.

do it yourself.

I used an agent in year 1 and paid around 55,000 baht.

Year 2, I did it myself for 1,900 baht.

Contact Thai Visa Centre. They arranged very well for us. Price very reasonable.

All comments are valid. A solicitor is not the place to go. What do we do anywhere in the world - avoid solicitors as much as possible because of inflated pricing and, yes, Thailand is the same. Doing it yourself the cost is virtually nothing. I was concerned, though around agent costs because they vary substantially according to where we are talking about - and we don't know! Simply, the THB 15K sounds wildly optimistic if we are talking about Bangkok. The only way to find out is by asking around for your location.

You need 800,000 baht each in a bank account or an income of 65K baht per month and in your account for 3 months, if you are on a 'tourist visa' you can switch from that to Non O and then retirement, do it yourself, take your time and work with the immigration office who are there to help you.

the fee for the "change" to the initial visa, is 2000.- THB. the fee for the 1-year extension of stay, is 1900.- THB. you must hold a rental contract, and you must be able to prove the financial requirements

Do it yourself

For what you need to do (hopefully it is not already too late as you need a minimum of 15 workdays on your current stay permit left in order to apply)

Ckeck the requirements for your intended visa change, on this Immigration website

*** For the “change” from the tourist entry to the Non-Imm-B, cklick number one or number two

*** For the “change” from the tourist entry to the Non-imm-O Retirement visa, click number nine

nothing except the 1900 baht fee, if you do it yourself

In country retirement visa 3 months 2000 baht. 1 year extension of your 3 month retirement visa 1900 baht. Ignore lawyers and agents, get some research in and do it yourself.

Your lawyer is ripping you off.

There is no price to "break" a tourist visa. That's not even a thing.

You just apply for whatever you need to apply for. All visas are 2000 baht paid directly to immigration, and all extensions are 1900 baht paid directly to immigration.

So for a retirement visa you would need to have at least 14-21 days left on your entry stamp in order to account for the under consideration period, and then you would just apply with all of the requirements and pay 2000 baht to immigration.

For business visa you would likely need a whole lot more paperwork, but the price would be the same 2000 baht paid directly to immigration.

If you don't meet all the requirements, that's where the "lawyer" comes into play in order to bribe the immigration officers to ignore that you are missing things or don't qualify for things.

But once again there's no such thing as a fee to "break" a tourist visa except to take money from gullible people.

Do you have funds? Or want visa agent? Which city are you in?

Way too expensive.. Have you gone and asked Immigration.?