What visa options do I have to stay permanently in Thailand if I don't meet the retirement visa requirements?

All of that sounds like far too much ordeal, esp. when it can be difficult to even open a Thai bank account without the right visas, papers, house docs etc.

Easy opt. Is to enter as Tourist visa, make an extension, then before that expires do a visa swap (from tourist to education). The school’s rep will assist & can provide Letter to assist for opening bank acct etc.

Contact school say 1.5-2months prior to your extension exp. date (or sooner for peace of mind). it’s 3-4weeks for the new visa & fee is approx 15k (to immigration) + school fees. &You will also pay for an extension at a later date.

the school I listed above offered best deal with cheapest fee. 1:1 classes 2x a week& great teacher =No drama, no stress, happy days 😆

Elite visa if you can afford it.

If not just pay agent in Thailand go sort out your retirement Visa .

Speak to your nearest embassy and get all the correct information on what is required as you will get one-sided information some for and others against as for the Philippines I weighed up the options of there or Thailand I choose the latter and I am very happy in my decision. as for English speaking Thailand has more than you require.

Pm send

Most of us Farang. After the 2018 visa rules were changed. Moved to Vietnam or Cambodia .. Then just take a $55 fight to stay in Thailand for 3 months or longer. ''And it has become a blessing '' Cheaper-hotels ''Cheaper Food'' ... Some of us think when things open Thailand will relax more on visa's . ''Cornhead has just about taken all the Thai's money anyway so they may need Farang ''

Come as tourist then exchange to student.B

@Phuket ***************************************************

have been accommodating for me. Can do 1:1 classes online with them which is ideal, no dramas. 😊

You can afford to stay in a quarantine hotel but not have the visa requirements?

Hi Gary

Grace at Thai visa center can get you a retirement visa - they fulfill your financial requirements if you do not meet the criteria

It’s 18,000THB to get a retirement visa



Cheers Robbie

If want to stay permanent you should be able to do the basic requirements for retirement visa

Just get here on an STV buddy. I’m sure we can hook you up with a wife within 3 months 😉

I did the business Visa for a few years... Not hard to get too. But that was a few years ago. Now I am on marriage Visa too. Or study Thai and make a student visa for e.g.

Somebody wrote it above. Come here, sort it out from here. There are several legal ways.

might wanna wait a few months until mass vaccines hopefully result in looser requirements for entering the country, unless you particularly want to spend $1k for 2 weeks in solitary

Get the Elite Visa. Expensive but not very many limitations

go live in the philippines its much cheaper and easier

Have you thought about coming on a tourist visa, eating Thai streest Food for 100baht/day, working illegally at a massage parlor making 200 baht a day. Then you could consider getting a letter saying you cannot go back home and get an amnesty To extend your visa. After about 11 years of doing this, you will have saved enough money to qualify for the financial requirements to get a retirement visa.

if you dont have retirement visa the next best thing but can be too expensive for some is the Thai Elite visa which is for 5 years and cost 500,000 though i did read they may have increased it to 600,000 because of demand... once you hit 50 you can apply for the retirement visa which is cost about thb8,000 for visa and re-entry visa and you can do yourself but you will need a minimum of 800,000 in bank account and dont touch it but must be maintained as a minimum 800,000 so put a little more incase bank fees deducted and you unaware as happened to a friend of mine... with the Thai Elite you dont require funds deposited into an account, there maybe other visas out there someone else can guide you on and doing visa runs but this is going to be a pain in the arse for a while... good luck

If you can't meet the financial requirements for a retirement visa/extension, then there is no other legal visa you can get, as they all have financial requirements greater than those for a retirement visa. Elite visa is minimum bt500,000 every 5 years, and starting a business is minimum bt1.5million in registered capital in order to get the required work permit.

@Ga**

, as

@And***

correctly pointed out IF you're unable to meet the requirements to get the retirement/long stay visa in your country before you come here then apply for a single entry regular tourist visa, come here, get stamped in for 60 days, go thru quarantine, then contact one of the many many MANY agents/agencies that will "push paper" and get you first a 90 day Non-O visa (based on being over 50/retirement) and then a yearly extension of stay for the same reason. Most of those agencies do it without you needing to show any banked money at all of your own.

SO your first steps are going thru the "entry request" process to get permission to enter the country, (100K dollars worth of covid insurance, fit-2-fly cert from a doc, 15 day booked stay in an approved quarantine facility here, repatriation flight, get the tourist visa, etc).

800k on a thai bank -

400,000 baht deposited into a Thai bank in your name only. Has to be deposited 2 months prior to visa application. That’s the main requirement.

Just get in here then sort it out here once you are here

The O-A is ok but the financial requirements are there as insurance ideally come on a TV convert to a non - o in country and extend that yearly