Retirement Visa for American friend

[jackcorbett 2]

My friend is 62 and he lives in Los Angeles.

 

The way I went is I got my retirement visa at the Chicago Thai Consulate and after that I have renewed it with Pattaya Immigration twice now. With no problems. In fact, if one is American you go to the American Embassy in Bangkok where you get a letter attesting you have income of 60,000 baht per month or more.

 

In the U.S. I had to get proof from my U.S. bank I had over 800,000 baht in the bank, there was a police report giving me a clean bill of health, there was the doctor's report and that was about it.

 

Upon renewal with Pattaya Immigration I had to show my Thai bank book, a letter from my Thai bank, the same doctor's form filled out this time by a doctor here in Pattaya, a form procured from Immigration proving my residency here in Pattaya, and the letter from the American Embassy attesting to my monthly net income. In fact I could use the same letter and can continue to do so until my passport expires.

 

My question is can my friend use the normal 30 day Visa or a 2 month visa, come to Pattaya, get his form from Immigration showing his residency, get the doctor's report, letter from bank and letter from the American Embassy attesting to his monthly income in the U.S. and get his retirement visa the first time around? For one thing....there is the matter of the police report. Or does he have to initially get his retirement visa in the U.S. from the L.A. Thai Consulate?

 

Perhaps he procures his police report in the U.S., then comes here and sets up a Thai bank account, goes to the American Embassy for his letter proving his monthly income, gets his doctor's report here in Pattaya gets his residency paper at Immigration and his letter from his Thai bank and he's all set to go.

 

How shall I advise him?

[redwood13 56]

My friend is 62 and he lives in Los Angeles.

My question is can my friend use the normal 30 day Visa or a 2 month visa, come to Pattaya, get his form from Immigration showing his residency, get the doctor's report, letter from bank and letter from the American Embassy attesting to his monthly income in the U.S. and get his retirement visa the first time around? For one thing....there is the matter of the police report. Or does he have to initially get his retirement visa in the U.S. from the L.A. Thai Consulate?

 

Perhaps he procures his police report in the U.S., then comes here and sets up a Thai bank account, goes to the American Embassy for his letter proving his monthly income, gets his doctor's report here in Pattaya gets his residency paper at Immigration and his letter from his Thai bank and he's all set to go.

 

How shall I advise him?

 

 

Yes, he can use the 30 day stamp to begin the process to obtain a one year extension for retirement.

 

In Thailand he doesn’t need a police report, medical clearance or a “residency paper”.

 

He needs to open a bank account with a Thai bank and obtain from them a letter for Immigration. The balance shown in the letter should match the balance shown in his bankbook. He should obtain the statement of verification that he has a monthly income of 65,000 baht from the US Embassy in Bangkok. No documentation of this income is required, but I’d suggest he have it with him just in case Immigration should ask for it. If they don’t ask I certainly wouldn’t offer it to them.

 

He’ll first have to apply for a single entry O visa and once he has that then apply for a one year extension of that visa. He’ll need photos and copies of his paperwork and the applications. The folks in the shop to the left of the entry into Immigration will usually know what’s required. All this will probably take a couple of hours or more and he’ll possibly have to return the following day to pick up his passport.

 

If he wants to leave Thailand he needs a re-entry permit – either a single or multiple - which he can buy once he has his extension of stay. Or this can be purchased later. If he leaves Thailand without a re-entry permit the extension of stay is canceled.

 

If he is in Thailand for more than 90 continuous days he needs to report his address to Immigration. The first instance of this would be 90 days after his first arrival in Thailand assuming he doesn’t leave prior to that time.

 

He might want to consider what time of year he applies for his retirement status as he will have to be here each year on about the same date to apply for an extension. That is, he might not want to be here during Christmas/New Year or during the US summer period for example.

 

-redwood