What are the main differences between the Thai O-A and Non-O Retirement visas?

TM 30

Is supplied by your hotel or host

Not at the airport.

So I if merry my theiland girlfriend it makes thing so much easier is that what your saying?

Very sorry but you are mistaken regarding receiving your TM30 from Immigration as you enter.

The TM30 is a registration system that is completed by the owner/representative of the accommodation at which you are to be accomodated.

Request a copy of the completed form from the operator or the front desk before you check out of the accommodation. If you are staying in your own private or family accommodation then the responsibility for lodging the form is the property owner.

They are subject to a penalty of a fine if they fail to do so, however, at the end of the day it is your responsibility to ensure it has been lodged and can be fined by Immigration if it is not lodged.

No, you do not receive a TM30 at the airport upon arrival. A TM30 is a "message" from the landlord where you are residing to the local immigration office. And they stamp it and give you a recipe for it. In other words: it is a proof that you live at a certain address.

since you mentioned at a later point that you wish your wife and daugther coming with you, this changes the above advices slightly. Most embassies won't issue a Non-Imm-O Dependent Visa if you have a Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa. Most embassies however allow your wife and your daugther to apply for the Dependent Visa, if you have been issued a Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa. The age of your daugther also is relevant. If she is older than 18, she must apply for a visa on her own.

The disadvantage of the Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa begins the very moment when you have exhausted the stay permit that you can get out of the visa, which is almost 2 years.

The moment you need to apply for the 1-year Extension of Stay, you need a Thai tgia-listed private health insurance – in some instances an almost worthless insurance in case you had pre-existing conditions.

You will need:

EITHER a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account,

OR prove finances with a 12-months bank statement of 12 consecutive monthly transfers from abroad over a minimum of 65,000 THB.

Some Immigrations do not accept the 12-months-of-transfers method, but only either the deposit method, or the embassy legalized income affidavit.

What you need to know: after 2 years which you started on the Non-O/A Visa, you have to fulfill the same requirements you would have to fulfill if you started on a Non-Imm-O Visa.

There is no difference, except the disadvantage that when you start on the Non-O/A visa, you are caught up with a mandatory Thai private health insurance for the rest of your stay in Thailand.

If you started on the Non-O Visa, you keep your freedom of choice regarding the health insurance, you could get insured internationally, or you could also be self-insured.

People who want to leave their funds in their home bank account need to fly back to their home country before the second-year stay permit expires, and re-start from scratch and apply for the next Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa, including all requirements (police record, thorough medical check, foreign health insurance with an appropriate required coverage).

*** The 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa: You can lay the groundwork for your planned longstay while still in your home country. Submit the online e-visa application for the "90-Day Single Entry Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa/Over 50 Visa."

*** The normal processing period is from 5 to 15 workdays on most embassies. Some embassies can take up to 4 weeks.

You can apply for the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa in almost every country of the World, depending on the requirements shown on the website of the Thai embassy in the host country.

You should not apply any earlier than three months before your intended flight to Thailand.

For this visa, you must upload proof of

EITHER

three months of account statements showing a minimum balance of 800,000 THB equivalent (approximately € 21.600.-),

OR

proof of a monthly income, pension, or retirement income of at least 65,000 THB (approximately €1.760.-).

Upon entry on a Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa based on "over 50 years old/retirement," you will receive a 90-days stay permit stamped in your passport.

The "O" stands for "other." Some of the reasons for issuing this visa are:

- Marriage to a Thai national

- Raising a half-Thai child

- Raising a foreign child

- Being a dependent spouse

- Being over 50 years old

All 90-days Non-Imm visa categories are issued as "90-days single entry," meaning they can only be used for one entry.

Upon entry, the visa becomes invalid! You are then in Thailand not "on a visa," but on a "stay permit."

*** there is no health insurance required for the "90-day Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 Visa." It however is in your own interest to have one.

*** To stay beyond 90 days, you must apply for an extension.

Within the last 30 days of your 90-days stay permit (45 days on some Immigration offices) you can apply for a "1-year extension of temporary stay permit based on retirement/over 50"

The requirements for this application vary slightly from one Immigration office to another. You should visit “your” Immigration office as soon as possible, ideally immediately after arrival, and ask for the "handout list of requirements" for applying for a "retirement visa extension."

*** For the application to the "1-year extension of stay" you must, among other things, provide proof of sufficient funds.

This is

*** EITHER you use the "deposit method"—at least 800,000 THB must have been held in a Thai bank account in your sole name for at least two months prior to the application date.

For getting a bank account opened, the minimal requirements are the “certificate of residence” issued on Immigration, and a Thai mobile phone number registered in your name and passport number.

You must open your Thai bank account ASAP right after entry, and transfer at least 800,000 THB into it, in order to meet the two-month "seasoning period" required on the day you apply for the extension, using the bank letter (rab roong thanakan) that confirms the seasoning.

*** OR you use the income method – you will need a certified income affidavit from your country’s embassy in Bangkok or from a consul confirming a monthly income/pension of at least 65,000 THB.

ATTENTION: citizens of countries, whose embassies have discontinued issuing certified income affidavits, must chose the 800,000 THB deposit method in the first year. These countries are U.K., Australia, Canada, U.S.A., Norway, Belgium and a few others. Applicants from these countries can start transferring from abroad a minimum of 65,000 THB, month for month not missing a single month. So, for the second 1-year extension they are allowed to use a 12-months bank statement

*** As soon as the 1-year extension is granted, the 800,000 THB must remain in the account for another three months. During the remainder of the year, the account balance must not fall below 400,000 THB. Then, two months before applying for the next 1-year extension, at least 800,000 THB must be back in the account.

*** The other route, the so called “Change of Visa Type” using an agent, explained:

You can theoretically also apply for the initial 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa on Immigration inside Thailand, after you have entered on a tourist visa or visa exempt.

However, for this you need EITHER an already existing Thai bank account with 800,000 THB already sitting in it, OR your embassy in Bangkok needs to provide you with the embassy certified income affidavit.

*** If none of these requirements can be fulfilled, you have the opportunity to pay “tea-money” for an agent to get around the existing laws and rules. The price for such a service, however, starts at 60,000 THB and I have seen prices quoted as high as 90,000 THB.

It is easier and cheaper to do it the legal route, the route I have outlined for you above.

*** It's also important to know: The "extension of stay" which must be re-applied for every other year, is a stay permit, it is not a visa, although many people refer to it as “retirement visa”. The only real “retirement visa” is the 90-days Non-Imm-O visa on which you entered Thailand, and this visa became invalid for further use when you entered.

Even Immigration officials refer to the extension incorrectly as a "visa extension". It is wrong wording, because they are not extending any visa, they are simply extending the stay permit.

*** When getting issued the "1-year extension of temporary stay permit based on retirement" stamp, you should purchase a re-entry permit on the same day, because if you plan or need to leave the country during this one-year Extension period, the re-entry permit keeps the stay permit alive & active.

A single re-entry permit costs 1,000 Baht on Immigration and is valid for one re-entry.

A multi-entry permit costs 3,800 Baht and allows for unlimited exits and re-entries.

You must bring two passport photos to immigration for your application to the re-entry permit. A re-entry permit is always valid until the expiry of the stay permit it was bought for.

In case you have any more questions, you are welcome to ask.

The non-OA has a few advantages and obviously a few disadvantages

Advantages:

Can be used for essentially close to 2 years. You get stamped in for a year or up to insurance expiry when you enter, leave and return before the 1 year validity is up and you get another year

No need to have funds in Thailand during this time

Can apply for a non-o dependant visa for spouse/children

No stress to open bank account, signing lease etc etc

Disadvantages

Criminal and medical certificates

Insurance requirement

I'm a firm believer that the non-oa is the best route to follow. But that's me and my 5 cents

The big difference between the type O visa, and the type OA visa is that for the type O one year extension you must have the bt800,000 in a Thai bank account. For the type OA visa, which gives you a one year stamp every time you enter Thailand with it, is that you never have to have any money in Thailand, which is basically why people get it instead of the type O visa/extension. The only extra requirement is that your length of stay is never longer than the validity of your insurance with the type OA.

Yes..all correct... Or Just come with a entrystamp..make all in 1 day in bkk..convert stamp to Non o + 1 yr Extension+multi re .easy only cost little Money🤣save all time

So you are trying to avoid the police background check??? 🤔🤔🤔 I mean you will need insurance when you are in Thailand anyway.

Not only can you only apply for a non-OA visa outside of Thailand, you can only apply for it from your home country. That's not the case for the non-O visa, which can be applied for from any Thai embassy that accepts applications from non-residents of the host country.

The 1-year extension of the non-O and the non-OA do provide the exact same result, but the non-OA also has an additional requirement of specific insurance. That's why the non-O is better for most people. The non-OA does make sense for a few people, but only in special cases.

For a bank account, the TM30 is needed, but not for the bank. You need the TM30 so you can get a residence certificate from immigration. The bank does not want to see your TM30, they want to see your residence certificate from immigration. The TM30 is filed by the owner of where you are staying, you do not get it from immigration at the airport. The only thing immigration at the airport gives you is your entry stamp in your passport.

What ive seen people do is apply for the 90 day non-o visa based on retirement showing the funds in their home bank equalling the thai requirement.

Come to thailand with the 90 day visa to open thai bank ( do not use bangkok bank they are a nightmare for immigrants ) move the money into thai bank then get the documents from bank to show balance extend at immogration for 1 year.

During this time frame every month move over at least 2000 USD a month or 65,000 thb a month and then at the end of the year you can use the monthly income to extend the visa for another year if you choose.

The 90 day Non-o doesnt require background checks or applicable health insurance to apply.

Note you can also do the 90 day non-o in country from a tourist visa if you want to come here first and check things out

There is just a 15,000 baht conversion fee for it.

If you want a good insurance agent contact

@Robert ********