What do I need to know about applying for a retirement visa in Thailand from Australia?

Look into Non-OA if you want a 1-Year retirement visa. It is actually much better than Multiple Entry Non-O as you dont have to leave every 90-Day. The downside is the need for health insurance for a full year. It is multiple entry (no re-entry permit required), and you dont have to move money to Thailand, and can do with a monthly income in your home country.

There are several roads leading to the 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa and to the subsequent “1-year Extension of Temporary Stay Permit based on retirement”, which is a long-term stay permit

MIND YOUR WORDING:

you do not apply for the “retirement visa” on Immigration after you have entered Thailand on the “90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa” you obtained through the E-Visa online system outside of Thailand.

When you enter Thailand on the 90-days “Non-Imm-O retirement visa”, you get stamped in for a 90-days stay permit. The visa itself will become invalid or “used”. It cannot get “extended”. This is technically just not possible. Don’t fall for the wrong wording used by Thai Immigration, for whom a visa and a stay permit erroneously are the same thing.

I am talking about the most common misunderstanding regarding the rules for applying for the “retirement visa” and the subsequent “one-year extension of stay permit based on retirement”. Misunderstandings happen because a “retirement visa” can mean seven (!) different visas and stay permits, but please let’s remain on topic. The most erroneous wording is from people who call the 1-year extended stay permit a “retirement visa” – a mistake that always makes me cringe.

*** The best way is to show up in Thailand on a “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O Retirement/over 50 visa”. It will get you stamped in for 90-days stay permit. Within this 90-days period, you have plenty of time to arrange for the application to the “1-year extended stay permit”.

The important fact is, that entering on this visa-type enables you to get a Thai bank account opened. If you enter on a tourist visa or visa-exempt, you cannot get a Thai bank account opened any more since February 2025. Only a handful of agents offer a service around the law, and it costs up from 60,000 Baht and I have already been quoted 90,000 Baht.

There is NO mandatory health insurance or a police record check or a medical checkup required for the Non-O visa-type. These are requirements only for the application to the 365-days Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa, which is a completely different visa-type.

You will need the Thai bank account in case you want to convert the 90-days stay permit into a “1-year extension of the stay permit”.

You can theoretically fly on a one-way ticket because this visa allows you to receive a long-term stay in Thailand. Some airlines might not accept this explanation and will ask you for an onward travel proof out of Thailand within these 90 days, that’s why you should communicate with them by email and see what they say.

In order to apply for the “90-days single entry Non-Imm-O retirement visa” through the online E-visa system at the Royal Thai Embassy of your home country or any other country, you can

EITHER

use proof of income of a monthly minimum of 65.000.- THB, by using your original pension or other income documentation,

OR

you can use a deposit of a minimum of 800,000 THB or the equivalent in your home country currency, or on your home bank account, or on your Thai bank account (if you got one), or just anywhere in the World – as long as it is in your sole name.

Most Thai embassies will require 3 months of account statements. You need to check the website of the embassy you will use for the exact info.

ATTENTION! . . .For the application inside Thailand to the “1-year extension of the stay permit based on retirement”, the financial proof will be slightly different. You cannot use any original income/pension documents from your home country.

If you are a citizen of a country whose embassy in Bangkok does not issue a certified “income affidavit” any more –

(which are the embassies of USA, Canada, UK, Norway and Australia)

you would need a “12 months bank statement” showing that for the past 12 months, you have been transferring from abroad to your Thai bank account a minimum of 65,000 THB, consecutively month for month, not missing a single month.

If your embassy still issues a certified affidavit of income, you can use it for the financial proof. You would need a monthly income or pension of a minimum of 65,000 THB.

For British, Canadian, Norwegian, Australian and U.S. citizens, in the first year there is no other way around than depositing a minimum of 800,000 THB in your Thai bank account - at least in the first year

The alternative would be, if you don’t have that kind of money or are not willing to deposit 24,000 Dollar in a Thai Bank account, is paying an agent to “arrange” the requirements to get around the law.

As soon as you have accumulated 12 consecutive months of 65,000 THB transfers, month for month, you can apply for the next 1-year extension of the stay permit, using the 12-months bank statement. After been issued the next extension, you can theoretically take your 800,000 THB out of your bank account.

There is a fee of 1900 THB for the application to a 1-year extension, and you can theoretically do it all by yourself. You are free to accept the help of an agent for the simplified legal service.

NOTE: It is income OR deposit.

There is a third method, called the “combination method”: A combination mix of income and deposit.

Some immigrations don’t allow the combination method in the first year.

And some Immigrations want the deposit part to exceed a minimum of 400,000 THB.

The combination method means that the sum of the deposit AND the monthly income exceeds 800,000 THB in one year.

But let’s continue with the “normal method” (visa issued in your home country, followed by the application to the 1-year extension inside Thailand):

On the day of application to the 1-year extension, the 800,000 THB must have “seasoned” in your account for two months, and this has to be confirmed with the “bank letter of guarantee” (in Thai: rab roong thanakan).

After been issued the “1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement”, the 800K need to remain in the account for 3 more months. After these 3 months, the deposit shall never go under 400,000 THB. And before the application for the next “1-year Extension of Stay”, a minimum of 800,000 THB must have seasoned in the account for two months, again.

On the day you get issued the “1-year extension of stay permit”, you should buy a re-entry permit.

A re-entry permit will keep your 1-year stay permit alive and valid in case you want to travel around and exit Thailand before the expiry of the extension.

A single re-entry permit is 1000 THB on Immigration. A multi re-entry is 3800 THB. On a multi re-entry permit stamped, you can exit and re-enter as many times as you wish during the whole 1-year stay permit period.

Again, watch your wording, because many people fail in doing so: the re-entry permit is not a “re-entry visa”. It is just a permit.

Good Luck and a great time in Thailand

For the 65k they want to see monthly transfers to a Thai bank for at least 12 months. Otherwise you need 800k deposit into a Thai bank to start. If you have equivalent 800k Thai baht in Oz, you can apply in Australia, get your 90 day retirement visa, side in Thailand, transfer the 800k to a Thai bank to get your 1 year extension. For the 65k per month Australian embassy no longer issues a letter to confirm your pension, hence the reason for 12 months history.

“ multiple entry 60 days at a time “

Is a Visa something totally different

That option (although it was 90 days per entry) no longer exists. It disappeared with the move to the evisa system. There's still a Non-O visa based on being over 50 but it's only a 90 day visa which you can then extend for 12 months inside Thailand. You can use monthly income of 65k baht per month to apply for the 90 day Non-O visa or 800k baht both in your Australian bank account. But when it comes to the extension you have no option but to show 800k baht in a Thai bank account for 2 months before you apply for it. You can apply for a re-entry permit if you wish to leave and return which keeps the extension alive

This is the starting point for a Non-O

You are applying for a single entry Non-O visa

There is no Multi Entry as such , that is organised once you get here and fulfil the requirements for the 12 month extension