If you wish to retire in Thailand then speak to us about obtaining your retirement visa for you while abroad and having the visa extended while in Thailand for 1 year. The process is complex and time is limited as you have to apply for the extension.
When applying for the retirement visa in Thailand you need to understand that Thai Immigration no longer allows you to apply beforehand for the visa in terms of age. The day they recieve your application you already need to have turned 50 years of age. Before they never had an issue if you turned 50 by the time the visa was granted however that has since changed.
The first stop is an application for a 3 month visa at the Thai Embassy. This can be done from Thailand for you and sent to you via DHL to simply hand in the documentation. Once you arrive in Thailand you will be granted 3 months in order to extend this visa. By this time - being your application for the 1 year extension you need to be 50 years or older.
You should also not have a criminal record in your home country when applying for this visa. Speak to one of our attorneys with regards to such criminals records as DUI. These can be worked around as it does not appear to carry much weight with Thai Immigration. You also need to provide a medical certificate to show that you are not ill as in having HIV/AIDS or any other transmittable illness.
Finally there are the financial requirements which takes a while to process. You need to be able to show Thai Immigration that you have at least 800,000 Baht in your Thai bank account. They will however also accept that you can show a monthly income of at least 65,000 Baht a month. This is usually a pension and you need a letter from your embassy to confirm your monthly pension. As of late they do also accept a combination of the two. Speak to one of our staff to calculate what you would need in a combination of deposit and monthly income to complete the financial requirements of the retirement visa.
The retirement visa does not allow you to work in Thailand. If you do decide to work in Thailand then you would lose the visa status and have to start from scratch with the application again. The retirement visa also known as a Non-Immigrant “O-A” Retirement visa is well suited to most expats in Thailand. With offices in all the major tourist cities in Thailand walk into any of our offices in Thailand or speak to us on live chat on our main website for more information. You can also call our US or UK tollfree telephone numbers.
Talk to us today about retiring in Thailand - do it now!