What are the visa requirements for retiring in Thailand if I am 55 and my wife is 45?

Has anyone got details of a good agent to use for a Thai visa? Thanks

If you can't get the dependent visa for your wife, it may be worth looking into the new digital nomad visa. It was just announced and the details are a bit sketchy as of yet but it's meant to be extendable up to 5 years, which could get her across the line age wise.

A “dependent” or “trailing spouse” visa?

It's almost impossible to do this now.

Most embassies have stopped offering the non-O dependent based on marriage for retirement and it's impossible to do inside Thailand. For the most part, now both must qualify for their own.

Some embassies are willing to offer the non-O dependent if the primary has a non-OA though.

You will have to email the Thai embassy in your home country and ask them if the still issue a “trailing spouse” Non-imm-O visa for a wife that is under 50 years old

Allow me a short explanation of the difference between what many people call “retirement Non-O visa” and what they actually mean, the “1-year Extension of Stay based on Retirement”

If you plan to move permanently or retire in Thailand, or if your plan consists of hibernating regularly, I recommend that you first apply for a “single entry 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement/over 50 years old visa” via the E-visa system at the Royal Thai Embassy in your home country

The formal requirement for this visa category is that you are at least 50 years old. You do not necessarily have to be a pensioner to be able to receive this visa. Your wife and you each one needs to apply for their own Non-O visa, and each one of you needs to fulfill the requirements. Most embassies have stopped issuing "dependent" or "piggyback" visa for a a foreign wife. Your wife being 45 years old means that she cannot get a Non-Imm-O visa on her own. She will need a different solution.

The financial requirement is

EITHER

a monthly pension or income of a minimum of 65.000 THB or this sum equivalent in your home country currency. For the application to the initial visa, you can use official income or pension statements issued from authorities in your home country as proof

OR

Banked funds which equal a minimum of 800.000.- THB, or this sum equivalent in your home country currency. You can use your bank account at home to verify the funds, but you can also use a bank account in Thailand. For the application to the initial visa, the account can be on any bank worldwide, as long as you can prove it is in your name.

You will be issued a 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O visa, which will be good to use for 3 months for an entry into Thailand, from the date of issue.

You enter Thailand with this visa and will get stamped in for 90 days “admitted stay”

As soon as you have arrived in Thailand, you’ll need to open a bank account and deposit a minimum of 800.000.- THB.

In order to apply for your first one-year extension of stay, you will need the 800.000.- THB banked money proof, because if you are either a Brit, American or Australian citizen, your embassy doesn’t offer to issue an affidavit-of-income letter.

Your only option is to use the banked money method in the first year.

After one year, for your second application extension of stay, if you have collected 12 months of money transfers coming in from abroad into your Thai bank account, you can switch to the income method proof and don’t need any lump sum deposited in your Thai bank account any more.

For the application to the “1-year extension of stay” your Thai bank must issue a “12-months bank statement”. Make sure you ask your bank in time, as some banks need up to one week to produce this statement

For all future application to the yearly extension of stay permits, you just repeat this procedure.

When issued the extension stamp on Immigration, always buy a re-entry permit for the duration of the stay permit. The re-entry permit will keep your “extended stay permit” alive should you leave the country and re-enter before the extension expires.

A single re-entry permit costs 1000.- THB, and a multiple re-entry permit will cost 3800.- THB.

When you got a re-entry permit on your extension of stay permit, you can more or less come and go as you wish in the future as long as you’re back in time to apply for your next yearly extension of stay.

You will need to do a 90-days report while you are staying in Thailand. The 90 days report duty, however, will get suspended when you exit Thailand before the 90 days are up. When you re-enter Thailand, the 90-days clock restarts at day number 1

This I hope clarifies the difference in the wording “visa” and “stay permit”. Unfortunately, Thai Immigration doesn’t draw any difference. In their often uncomplete English, they call the extension of the stay permit a “visa extension”, regardless they don’t extend any visa

One hope's Wade you've been to Thai before like 6 times before.

Just doing mine now pretty easy .

Have you ever stayed more than a couple of weeks in Thailand ?

If not, you should first make trial run, for exampel 60 days tourist visa + 30 days extension, on the budget you will have when retiring in Thailand.

You may experience than everyday life is very different from holiday life.

First then go ahead with planning how to retire in Thailand.

The Thai Embassy in your country would process a non-immigrant O visa. Most require you to apply online, but all the requirements will be on their website. Each embassy seems to vary requirements slightly, so go by the one in your country, who will be processing it for you. This allows you 90 days from arrival (and one-way ticket would usually be fine).

Once you arrive, get an address (I used a one-month hotel booking, but it may only take you a few days to find somewhere to rent) open a bank account (use an agent for this as the banks seem happier to get the kick-backs agents give them!) Once you have a bank account and an address, you can apply for a 12- month extension. And for your wife, a Dependant visa.

For you the retirement visa and your wife can piggyback of that with a dependent visa. Check your local Thai Embassy site for the various types of retirement visa and the financial, insurance requirements.