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Answereda year ago

What are the requirements and process for applying for a 1-year retirement visa in Thailand without an agent?

Polat *******
asked Jun 18, 2025
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I arrived in Thailand on a 3-month Non-O visa. After securing a lease and getting a letter from immigration, I was able to open a bank account. (Bangkok Bank refused me even with the immigration letter, but Kasikorn Bank accepted.)

Now Iโ€™m preparing to apply for a 1-year retirement visa. I have a few questions for those who have gone through this process, especially without using an agent:

1. Is medical insurance required for this visa?

2. How long do I need to wait after transferring the required funds before I can submit my application?

3. After the extension is granted, do I need to keep the full amount (or part of it) in the account, and if so, for how long?
Answer summary
The post discusses the process of applying for a 1-year retirement visa in Thailand after initially arriving on a 3-month Non-O visa. Key queries include whether medical insurance is required (it's not for Non-O), how long to wait after transferring required funds to submit the application (2 months), and the necessity of maintaining a certain balance in the bank account after the extension is granted (keep 800K baht for 3 months, then minimum of 400K thereafter). There are also comments about the conditions concerning married applicants and health insurance requirements for different visa types.
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Michelle *****************
Michelle *****************
Can I ask then when does the health insurance become mandatory on what visa
James ********
James ********
@Michelle ****************
There is a health insurance requirement for the OA Visa for retirement which you apply for in your home country before you travel to Thailand

Also the LTR VISA and OX Visa have health insurance requirements.

Check the website of the Thai Embassy or Consulate where you are going to apply for a Thai Visa for it's requirements.
Michelle *****************
Michelle *****************
John ********
John ********
Question. If you are married then you just need 400k baht is my understanding. Can you also draw that down or have to keep it at 400K?
Wannikea *********
Wannikea *********
@John *******
400K for marriage visa doesn't need to be maintained in the bank after the extension is granted, you can spend it. It does need to be back in the bank 2 months before the next extension is applied for.
James ********
James ********
@Wannikea ********
correct โœ…
James ********
James ********
@Wannikea ********
but It's best to keep the 400k in the bank account during the Under Consideration time period and the one year extension of stay is stamped in the passport.
Roland *********
Roland *********
@Wannikea ********
married with Thai spouse
John ********
John ********
David *******
David *******
No medical insurance required two months seasoned money in the bank in your name only I believe you have to keep it in the bank for three months after your extension is granted then you can take it down to 400,000. Donโ€™t go below that or you will lose your visa and have to reapply and then I believe two months before your visa expires. You have to have the full 800 again for me. It was just easier to leave the 800,000 in the bank all the time for me. Welcome to Thailand up to you on the funds.
Greg ***********
Greg ***********
@David ******
everything correct, except you should exchange the wording "visa" with "extension of the stay permit" because he will not be on a "visa" as there is nothing such after he got issued the 1-year extension of the stay permit. The "visa" itself will already expire when he enters Thailand. When you enter on a 90-days Non-Imm-O visa, you get a "90-days stay permit" stamped, not a visa
David *******
David *******
@Greg **********
yes I always seem to forget that. Thank you for refreshing me.
Shirley *********
Shirley *********
I have a question. Do both my husband and I have to each put 65,000 into our account so 130,000 each month or ?
Ellie *******
Ellie *******
@Shirley ********
, depends on what reason for the extension for each of you.
Stuart ***********
Stuart ***********
@Shirley ********
65,000 each.
Tod *********
Tod *********
๐Ÿญ - ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฎ?

no there is no medical insurance requirement for a Non-O visa/extension

๐Ÿฎ - ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—œ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—œ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป?

You need to "season the funds" in a thai bank account in your name only for 2 months (date to date) before you apply for the yearly extension

๐Ÿฏ - ๐—”๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐—œ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜ (๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ถ๐˜) ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜€๐—ผ, ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด?

You need to keep the 800K baht in the bank account for 3 months after your yearly extension is granted and after that the balance can't go below 400K for the rest of the year (before you get it back to 800K 2 months before your next yearly extension

You should GO to your immigration office and get the hand out listing the requirements for the yearly extension based on retirement at that specific office well before you're going to go for the extension, that way you know what copies, documents, bank letter, statement, updated bank book, map, photo, etc you need to get together
22
David *******
David *******
@Tod ********
I guess I did OK answering that not as thorough as yours, but I think I did it right I didnโ€™t see yours until now.
Tod *********
Tod *********
@David ******
you did just fine (y)

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