What are the pros and cons of processing a retirement visa at the Thai embassy in the USA versus in Thailand for those over 60 with IRAs?

You won’t want to take 800k Baht out of your IRA Account.

It will be Taxed as income. More than likely putting into a different Tax category.

All my friends used "

@Lawyers *******************

" for their retirement visa, all good for them... they haven't blocked 800k in the bank account... they help for all legal needs and expatriation.

Welcome to Thailand

If you have $80k a year in retirement income (pension, etc), $100k in the bank or health insurance that covers you in Thailand?

Go with the Long Term Resident Visa which is ten years if approved (5 year renew check up).

They don’t require the 800,000 baht to sit in a Thai account.

This is the best retirement visa by far if you qualify

Leave your money in the IRA. Come to Thailand, then visit Chang mai, Pattaya, or Hua Hin and find an agent who will lend you the money and do all the legwork for less than 1k usd

Can someone confirm this: IF I get a non-O visa in the US, purchase the insurance needed, I'll be issued a one year multiple entry retirement visa. Then I deposit 65,000 per month in a Thai bank account for one year. At that time I can renew my retirement visa based on the 65,000 income.??? And so forth for the next years.

The deposit is THB 800,000 which is about USD 21,724 not USD 800,000.

The ONLY way to not have to show 800,000 in a Thai bank account is if you apply for the non-OA Visa in the US before going to Thailand. This is a 1 year multiple entry visa and it has a large insurance requirement to make up for not having to show money banked in Thailand.

Otherwise you're looking at the 90 day non-O visa. You can either get this from the embassy, or apply to convert to it in Thailand. If you apply in Thailand you'll need the 800,000 in the bank already to apply, and it can be difficult to open a bank account if you're not already on a long term visa.

If you travel to Thailand with the non-O then you would open a bank account and deposit your 800,000 and then after that's been in your account for 2 full months you can apply for the 1-year extension. Your pension income is irrelevant because the ONLY thing immigration will accept is embassy certified income, and the US embassy has not offered this for many years.