Retirement Visa

[hhfarang]

^ You can if it is 65k baht per month or more...

[HHTel]

That's very high for a state pension. I don't know anyone getting anywhere near that. The basic UK state pension isn't much over 100 quid a week. I managed to double that due to various options available through my working life. Even so, if it wasn't for other pensions, I'd be dead in the water. So which country gives a state pension equating to 65K baht?

[chaspul]

Getting back on Topic

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/1 ... -Visa.html The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site is the over riding authority. I found it extremely useful when applying for our "OA" visas and can be quoted if there is a problem with your application.

You both qualify for a non immigrant "O" visa, normal validity 3 months, fairly easy to obtain I understand. If over 50 this can be an "OA" (recommend Multi entry) long stay for 12 months, covered on another page of the MFA web site. Extra hoops to jump through, but would strengthen your case. Funds do not have to be in Thailand.

The link states that if multi entry, the "O" which your wife qualifies for, can be issued for one year, this would be "to accompany my husband in our retirement home". She would use the same funds as long as you have a valid marriage certificate.

On arrival you will be given a permission to stay stamp in your passports. If you manage to get both visas with a one year validity, then leaving and re-entering Thailand a few days before the visa expires will give you another one year permission to stay stamp, with no need to show funds in Thailand.

I would deal directly with the Embassy, as they have more powers than the consular offices.

Chas

[lomuamart]

Just to clarify, if the OP and wife get a multi entry O visa, it will be valid for a year but they will have to exit Thailand every 90 days. They'll get 90 days on entry. They can get an "additional" 90 days by exiting just before the visa expires making it last for approx 15 months.
The OA visa is as chaspul says. Also valid for a year but gives a year permitted to stay on arrival - no need to exit every 90 days but need to report. The multi entry variety leads to a second year if used correctly.
For the OA visa, there's no alternative but to apply at the Embassy. Consulates don't deal with them.

[hhfarang]

Sorry, double post edited out!

[hhfarang]

So which country gives a state pension equating to 65K baht?

My Social Security (U.S. national pension) is about 60k baht at the current exchange rate and I started taking it at 62. If I had waited until 65 years old to get the full pension it would have been well over 65k baht, but the amount you get not only depends the age you take it, but how long you worked and how much you paid into it. I paid into it for about 40 years and paid the maximum for about the last 15 years of my career.

Anyway, I've strayed off topic again...

[sand_dancer]

Lomu

The OA visa is as chaspul says. Also valid for a year but gives a year permitted to stay on arrival - no need to exit every 90 days but need to report. The multi entry variety leads to a second year if used correctly.

Could you please clarify for me.....

I have a multi entry visa " for reasons of Retirement "

In the above quote.... Are you suggesting that I could get a further year by leaving and coming back into Thailand just before the Visa is due to expire......?

Secondly..... I also have a Thai $ account..... Can I use that account for my financial declaration for Immigration..... Or does it have to be my Thai Baht account.....?

Many Thanks

[Dannie Boy]

Lomu

The OA visa is as chaspul says. Also valid for a year but gives a year permitted to stay on arrival - no need to exit every 90 days but need to report. The multi entry variety leads to a second year if used correctly.

Could you please clarify for me.....

I have a multi entry visa " for reasons of Retirement "

In the above quote.... Are you suggesting that I could get a further year by leaving and coming back into Thailand just before the Visa is due to expire......?

Secondly..... I also have a Thai $ account..... Can I use that account for my financial declaration for Immigration..... Or does it have to be my Thai Baht account.....?

Many Thanks

Sounds like you must have an O-A visa which is commonly referred to as a retirement visa, even if technically no such designation exists. What happens is that within the first year of arrival, you can exit and return on the visa and upon return they stamp your passport to say that you can remain for a further 12 months, so if you arrived on say the 1st June 2014 and left the country (as many times as you like) but on the last occasion you left and returned on say the 30th May 2015, they would stamp your passport to say you can remain until 29th May 2016, so effectively 2 years.

Not sure about the answer to your $ question! but I'm sure somebody will confirm.

[lomuamart]

As above. If your visa is a multi-entry OA then it works as DB has said. Just make sure that you make your last exit before the visa expires. Don't confuse that date with the permitted to stay stamp you'll have that will extend beyond the visa's validity.
Once you're in your "second year" and the visa has expired, you'll need re-entry permits if you exit or your permitted to stay time will be lost. 1,000 THB single re-entry, 3,800 THB for multiple.
I'm not 100% sure about the dollar account. It would have to be in Thailand and you would have to have immediate access to it. If that's the case, I don't see that it's, in practice, any different to a Baht account but you'd really need to check that with Imm.

[sand_dancer]

Lomu & DB

Thanks for the replies...... Confusion still reigns supreme..... Probably just me being super thick.....

However......

My Visa and multiple re-entry permit both expire on the same day..... No issues with that.....

I have left Thailand twice...... When I was stamped back in at Swampy..... The stamp has 2 dates on it.... The date of the day I returned..... And an " Until " date that is the same date as my Visa expiry......

Is this correct......? Or should that " Until " date have been 1 year from my re-entry into Thailand....?

Thanks

[Dannie Boy]

Lomu & DB

Thanks for the replies...... Confusion still reigns supreme..... Probably just me being super thick.....

However......

My Visa and multiple re-entry permit both expire on the same day..... No issues with that.....

I have left Thailand twice...... When I was stamped back in at Swampy..... The stamp has 2 dates on it.... The date of the day I returned..... And an " Until " date that is the same date as my Visa expiry......

Is this correct......? Or should that " Until " date have been 1 year from my re-entry into Thailand....?

Thanks

S-D, I have an o-a visa and in my first year my stamp on returning was valid for 12 months from the date I returned and in my case due to the date I returned, I got a total validity of about 21 months from first entry - have you checked to confirm that you do have an o-a visa?

[sand_dancer]

Lomu & DB

Thanks for the replies...... Confusion still reigns supreme..... Probably just me being super thick.....

However......

My Visa and multiple re-entry permit both expire on the same day..... No issues with that.....

I have left Thailand twice...... When I was stamped back in at Swampy..... The stamp has 2 dates on it.... The date of the day I returned..... And an " Until " date that is the same date as my Visa expiry......

Is this correct......? Or should that " Until " date have been 1 year from my re-entry into Thailand....?

Thanks

S-D, I have an o-a visa and in my first year my stamp on returning was valid for 12 months from the date I returned and in my case due to the date I returned, I got a total validity of about 21 months from first entry - have you checked to confirm that you do have an o-a visa?

DB

Yes I have an O & A Visa.... Commonly referred to as a retirement visa..... 800k in bank and 90 day reporting to Imm......

Its no major drama..... Before reading this thread...... I just assumed that I would rock up at Imm just before expiry date..... With all the relevant paperwork..... And get a years extension.....

On reading this thread..... It looked to me that I could take a trip out of Thailand before expiry and get another year from re-entry.....

I then checked the entry stamps..... And they had an " Until " date that is the same as my Visa expiry date..... This is what caused my confusion......

It now seems that these " until " dates should have been 12 months from the date of re-entry.....

Think I might need to make a pit stop at Imm and ask about these dates.....

Cheers

[lomuamart]

I don't see why your permitted to stay date fits exactly with the expiry date of your visa. The two dates almost always don't co-incide.
For instance, someone arriving on a TV, good for 60 days. Does so a month after the visa was issued. Their PTS stamp will go one month over the visa's validity. Same thing for a single entry O visa and OA - only the time periods are different.
Look at the visa and tell us what category you have. It's possible that the Imm officer has made a mistake with your entry stamp.
EDIT - our posts crossed and you've already guessed the correct course of action.
Is your OA visa multi-entry?

[sand_dancer]

Lomu

Visa is a whole PP page affair with the word " Retirement " hand written at the top.....

On the next PP page is my multiple re-entry permit.....

Both issued on the same day and both have the same expiry date..... No drama's with that.....

My confusion stemmed from the stamps from Swampy when coming back in to Thailand.... I would not have given them a thought if it had not been for this thread..... They both have an " Until " date that has the same date as the expiry date on my Visa and re-entry permit.....

As I said previously..... I would have rocked up at Imm close to Visa expiry date with the relevant documents and got extended by a year.....

This thread seemed to suggest that I could take a trip out of Thailand close to expiry time and get a permitted to stay for 1 year on the day of return to Thailand..... Therefore negating the need to go to Imm with all my paperwork etc.....

Or am I being thick and reading this totally wrong.....?

Thanks

[lomuamart]

The fact that you've got re-entry permits suggests to me that you've got a single entry OA not multi entry. Your visa will have an "s" or "m" somewhere on it.
If it's single entry then the visa was used/dead when you entered the first time. Only on multi entry can you do this trip out just before the visa expires and get another year. You're using the re-entry permits to keep your original year's permitted to stay alive.
That means that when you re-enter, you get stamped in until the date of your original permitted to stay. The re-entries don't give you any more time than that.
Perhaps you're mixing up the permitted to stay stamp you got at Swampy the first time with a visa? That stamp from Swampy is not a visa. If your entry stamps since then have an expiry date of the original entry stamp and re-entry permits and your visa is single entry then all is correct.