Thai Retirement Visa

[Tel 0]

I am looking to retire to Thailand later this year from the UK. I have a Thai wife and two children. All except myself has dual nationality (UK and Thai).

 

I have read various sites on visas and how to change them but the more I read the more confused I become.

 

Has someone gone through the process recently and can explain it to me.

 

Questions are:

 

1. What visa do I need for first entry?

 

2. How do I change to retirement and when?

 

3. What do I have to do on an ongoing basis, i.e. every so many months or every year?

 

4. Is there any way I can have a long term visa?

 

5. If I do work outside Thaliand while on a retirement visa are there any issues?

I may do contract work elsewhere.

[SunnyValentine 173]

Have a look at www.thaivisa.com for full details.

 

In short:

1.) Best would be an O Visa you should be able to get in the UK.

2.) About 4 weeks before the expiry of your admission to stay, go to Immigration (In Pattaya this is on Soi 5 Jomtien Beach road) with:

* A medical certificate, issued by a Thai Hospital. (Takes 10 minutes, costs maybe 300 Baht)

* Your Thai Bank book, and a letter from your Thai Bank, stating that you have more than 800000 Baht, coming from abroad. (In order to get this, make sure you make an arrangement with your home bank that you can transfer money via SWIFT to a Bank in Thailand. You might have to sign some extra papers, so do this before you leave. If your bank tells you this is impossible to be done from abroad, change your bank!)

* Two passport fotos, and a filled out form (you get this at Immigration). Don't forget your passport too!

* You have to be over 50 Years old at the day of your application!

* You should get a one year extension on the spot, or maybe within the next day.

 

Work outiside Thailand while on retirment might be illegal, or not, but so far nobody cared about it, as long as you keep it for yourself.

 

At the moment it looks rather impossible to get a residency permit for a retired person, but that topic won't come up until you are here for 3 or 4 years, and by that time everything might have changed anyway.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Sunny

[Kev 173]

Check out the Pattaya Wiki - good article in there on retirement visa.

 

Kev

[ronpet 0]

take a look at the expats club web page lots of helpful info even ow to get a drivinglience step by step

[Kev 173]

take a look at the expats club web page lots of helpful info even ow to get a drivinglience step by step

Huh he doesn't want to know about driving licences????

[wacmedia 277]

take a look at the expats club web page lots of helpful info even ow to get a drivinglience step by step

Hi,

 

Too much Mekhong today have we ?

[Eneukman 1]

Just to add to Sunny Valentine's reply, you will also need photocopies of your bank passbook, medical certificate and letter from the bank. There is a small shop next to Immigration and they will copy everything you need for you. The cost for the retirement visa is 1,900 baht.

 

As you may know, if you want to leave the country for a holiday, you will need to have a re-entry permit or your retirement visa will be invalidated. For this, you need copies of the relevant pages of your passport, one photograph and a completed application form. A multiple re-entry permit costs 3,800 baht. I went to Immigration at about 10.30 and was told to go back after 3.00 pm the same afternoon to pick up my passport.

 

Once you have your retirement visa, you MUST report your address to Immigration every 90 days. When you receive your visa, you will be told when you next have to report. All you have to do is complete a simple form and present it along wih your passport at Immigration. This should take no more than 5 or 10 minutes. If you leave the country, the 90 day period will start from when you re-enter Thailand.

 

As Sunny Valentine said, go to Immigration 3 or 4 weeks before your initial 90 days are up, your first retirement visa will be backdated to the date you last enetered Thailand so effectively it will only be valid for 10 months. Future visas will then be valid for 12 months.

 

Alan

[Owen` 2]

The 3800 baht for multiple re-entry . . . is that an annual expense and is it unlimited re-entries? And is the 3800 in addition to the retirement visa's 1900? And is that 1900 also annual?

 

I should spend more time on the FAQ, but text tends to get glib and general.

[Soi7 1]

Owen,

 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

[Owen` 2]

Owen,

 

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

Thank you, sir. You are superior to any FAQ.

 

[Tel 0]

Thanks for the replies. Particularly the details from SunnyValentine.

 

They have helped a lot. Particularly the multi-entry requirement which I did not know.

 

My big problem will be remembering all the renewal dates. I will need a big calendar on the wall to remind me.

 

On the driving licence - that may be useful. Although my wife has a Thai driving licence. I am not sure about being in the car when she is driving!!!!!

[Soi7 1]

Thank you, sir. You are superior to any FAQ.

 

Glad to help

[redwood13 56]

On the driving licence - that may be useful. Although my wife has a Thai driving licence. I am not sure about being in the car when she is driving!!!!!

Thai driver's license is also handy to have for ID purposes.

 

Went to the post office here the other day and found a notice in my box that a package had arrived from the US. The guy asked for ID, either a passport, which I didn't have with me or a Thai driver's license which I've never bothered to obtain. He ultimately accepted my Bumrungrad card

 

BTW, package took 4 months surface mail, though judging from a date scribbled on the box I think it had been in the post office for about a month

 

-redwood

[leemo 0]

Clarified already, but to confirm, the 3800 multiple entry fee is in addition to the 1900 retirement visa fee.

 

Useful if you plan on four or more external trips, and also convenient because you do not need to present yourself for a re-entry stamp before each exit.

 

And for the record, my first multiple entry retirement visa set me back 11k+! Live and learn!

 

 

leemo

[bob2005 0]

There is a small shop next to Immigration and they will copy everything you need for you

 

Watch the guy in there, when he took photocopies of my passport he removed the Departure form from it's staple and put it into his pocket.

 

 

if you want to leave the country for a holiday, you will need to have a re-entry permit

 

You can get this at Bangkok airport too, but it takes a halk hour or so.

[Eneukman 1]

On the driving licence front it will, I am told, save a lot of hassle if you obtain an International Drivers Licence in your home country first. I obtained mine from the RAC. Posted the application on Monday morning. Got the International one on Wednesday morning.

 

One question on UK driving licences. I seem to recall reading something somewhere that said you should return your licence to the DVLC in Swansea if you moved abroad to live on a permanent basis. Has anyone actually done this? Or did you do what I did, change your address to a relation's address?

 

Alan

[doolish 14]

Hi,

In Jan. papers over here they said they are going to stop the retirement visas and bringing in a alternative which should be easier but i've heard nothing more. I've just been settling into my house in Udon Thani and have not had the time to follow it up.

By the way last year I was told by the Thai Con in Hull that you had to have had a O type visa before you can get a retirement visa.

 

Cheers Doug.

[redwood13 56]

Since the OP is married to a Thai he could also apply for an O visa and obtain a one year extension on the basis of supporting the Thai wife instead of retirement. Advantage being only 400,000 baht is required to be brought into Thailand and he'd be eligible for a work permit. A bit more paperwork is involved.

 

-redwood

[Eneukman 1]

Hi,

In Jan. papers over here they said they are going to stop the retirement visas and bringing in a alternative which should be easier but i've heard nothing more. I've just been settling into my house in Udon Thani and have not had the time to follow it up.

By the way last year I was told by the Thai Con in Hull that you had to have had a O type visa before you can get a retirement visa.

 

Cheers Doug.

I got my non-Immigrant O visa in Hull with no hassles whatsoever. I did telephone the Glasgow Consul and was told in no uncertain terms by their Mrs. Wishart ("I have been doing this job for 25 years so I know all the rules") that the ONLY way to obtain a retirement visa was to obtain it in the UK. She stated that it was impossible to get it in Thailand.

 

I don't know how she got that idea into her head - maybe that was the rule at some time in the distant past but it certainly is not the case now.

 

The rules seem to change all the time and I think I would rather go for the non-Immigrant O visa rather than the 60 day tourist visa.

 

I have heard some talk about making it easier for us farangs who have retired in Thailand (probably also to give them less work ) but being Thailand, nothing will happen for a few years.

 

Alan

[Tel 0]

Redwood,

Can you please explain what you mean by the phrase "easier to get a work permit". Does this mean if I have a visa on the basis of being married to a Thai, I can easily qualify for a work permit. If so what is required? Do I still need to find a job first?

[redwood13 56]

Redwood,

Can you please explain what you mean by the phrase "easier to get a work permit". Does this mean if I have a visa on the basis of being married to a Thai, I can easily qualify for a work permit. If so what is required? Do I still need to find a job first?

You may be eligible for a work permit if you are SUPPORTING a Thai wife, i.e. just being married to a Thai isn't enough.

 

Yes, you need a job before you can obtain the work permit as the WP is job specific.

 

Thaivisa.com is a good place to reseach this if you think it might be useful to you.

 

-redwood