Retirement Visa for Thailand

[Bren]

I'm hoping to retire and live in Thailand within the next year and have been looking at visa application forms, which seem a little ambiguous in places. Is it advisable to employ one of the legal firms who advertise on the web to perform visa applications? Or are the staff at the Thai Immigration Office in Bangkok helpful and understanding to people like me, who make mistakes ? Bren............in England

[synthia]

Immigration is ambiguous in Thailand. It is designed to allow, shall we say, flexible enforcement. I would not try the process myself. You will need a Thai lawyer. I'm not sure the internet is a good place to find one.

My advice would be to visit Thailand and talk to people who have retired there an actually bothered to get the visa. Find out what attorney they used. There are probably a lot of people applying right now, as the visa laws have been changed and enforcement tightened. It used to be quite easy to live there for years, taking a bus out of the country every thirty days and coming right back in. This has become a lot more complicated recently. Some people are going to a Thai consulate outside the country and paying for a sixty day visa, and repeating that process over and over. But there are stories of people not getting in even with the visa.

Look at Home - Thaivisa.com for information, and of course, the Thai consulate website for your country.

[retiredusn]

Bren, I would highly suggest that you get your retirement / multy entry visa in your home country prior to arrival in Thailand this way your ready to enjoy the country and what it has to offer. The renewal process after your first year is very easy. If you are on a pension this can be used for proof of income or your bank account in home country (if applying in home country). This way you will not need to as they say here"border hop" to get visa's
Good Luck

[Bren]

Thanks very much for your reply and useful info.

I will be visiting Thailand later in 2007 and will try to speak to people who have sucessfully gone through the visa process. I notice on the UK Thai Embassy web site that it's possible to obtain an "O A" one year retirement visa from their London Embassy. Think I'll try this when the time comes.

I also noticed on the Hull, UK Thai Consulate web site that it's NOT now necessary to hold the qualifying amount of money in a Thai bank. Hope this is true !!

[synthia]

Does the Hull website say that it is no longer true, or does it just look as if it has never been updated?

[Bren]

Hi Synthia. The Hull UK website was updated on March 1st 2007, so I assume it's a new condition. The info is on page 10 of the Hull retirement visa section. It should certainly make life easier if it's applied by all Thai Consulates. Bren.

[synthia]

If you live in England, it might be worth a trip to Hull. What does the London website say?

[Bren]

At Hull they only issue "0" visas (which can be processed by post) and say that the "0 A" has to be applied for once in Thailand. London is the only Thai office to issue "0 A" visas and make no mention of a Thai bank account so I assume they are only office to "do everything" but people have to apply in person.

[synthia]

It seems to change by the week. I've met several people in Malaysia who have just left Thailand because of the new visa rules. They left not so much because they were unworkable, but because they were so confusing and the situation seems to change so much.

You are smart to come in on a visas that allows you a full year's stay, just to avoid all the hassle others are going through.

[chicowoodduck]

I like all the helpful information posted by everyone on this site, thanks for all of your helpful suggestions. My questions is the value of using services such as Siam International Legal Group to obtain documents such as the Non-immigrant "O" visa, one-year retirment visa, etc.? They charge around US$540 for their asistance with the process and suggest that you obtain your "O" visa prior to arriving in Thailand.