Retirement visa - New Problems

[sargeant]

sorry all the word or was supposed to come out in red ink

[Onlyme]

A deep look into your eyes,

Or a crystal ball if they have one?
Some other posters have pointed out the correct procedure.

You will definately need a valid visa upon application, forget a tourist stamp.

If you're going down the marriage visa ( supporting spouse ) and want to know the "score."
Please feel free to PM me.

Onlyme.

[hogus]

.....hey Onlyme,

it was really happened to my mother some days ago!
Ok, she's in a healthy condition, old enough, and wasn't scare about a "deep look into her eyes"!

By the way, mate, you can upgrade a 60-days-visa (tourist-visa) to a non-imm (marriage, business, retirement...) inside TH (Immigration)....if you have all required papers.

It's simple and very cheap !

[Wanderlust]

hogus,
I have not been down the retirement visa route as I am not old enough, but I have to query a couple of things you have said, because I have been told differently; one is that you don't have to show either a certain sum (800k baht) or a monthly income (65k) in a Thai bank coming from oberseas - I am sure you do have to show that; the other is that you can change a tourist visa into a non immigrant one, and again I have never come across that before from anyone. Have you done either of these things yourself, or have you just been told by someone? If it is the latter, I think it is completely wrong. If the former, can you go through the exact procedure you had to do?

[hogus]

Wanderlust,

I've done these things by myself together with/for my mom.

In former times we showed both to the immigration, a Thai-account-book (bank-statement) AND a letter of pension, certified from the embassy.
When we renewed the retirement-visa for my mom on 25th September the Hua Hin Immigration-officer told us, it's absolutely not necessary to show a Thai-bank-account, if the pension is not less than 65,000 Baht, BUT this must be certified by your embassy.

Additional I never ever heard about a law, which says that you have to transfer your pension to a Thai-account.
(IMO, those are one of these useless rumors within the expat-society)
You just have to submit an income certificate as proof that your pension is high enough to support yourself under Thai-law requests.
Further information you can find under:

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/12.php
(most important point IV. Recommendations for the aliens while staying in the Kingdom)

The change/upgrade of your type of visa can be done at the Immigration in Bangkok, if you have all required papers for the different cases (marriage, business, retirement, educational purpose etc.)
Since 1 July 1997 there is "One stop Service Center", 3-5th floor, located on 207 Rachadapisek Road, Krisda Plaza,
Dindaeng, Bangkok 10310, Tel 02-693-9333-9 and Fax. 02-693-9340.
To see about the different required documents, please, take a look under:

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en ... ge=service

Hope my information was helpful and could update you a little bit!?

[Norseman]

I think you both are right.
Last year, and all previous years, I had to show my bankbook + a statement from my embassy who verified my income.
This year however, they did not want my bankbook, only the letter of statement from the embassy.
(Retirement visa of course).

[sargeant]

Just t update my post of 30th sept

My mate went to vienntiane couldnt get non o got a 2 month tourist visa

he went to hua hin immigration monday (with his girl) told he needs to take pension papers to brit embassy get said letter going friday
retuning next tuesday for appointment
Was told they will do it all there will keep you posted as to how he gets on

[Onlyme]

BUT this must be certified by your embassy.

Just as I said in a previous post.
Go to the Embassy and get things down on paper.
Onlyme.

[sargeant]

Just to update friend got back from BKK monday with letter from embassy
Tuesday went to Immigration Hua Hin
2 hours later walked out all smiles and full of praise for thai imm staff complete with first year stamp retirement visa

[troopie]

The medical is superficial last time weight blood pressure and a quick chat with doc

I asked the boys in yellow (they no longer wear the brown, it seems) when I last did my 90-day thing. If you are going the lump sum route (rather than pension), they said the medical was no longer necessary. However, the lump sum must be in your account for 90 days BEFORE you apply. I suppose this is to stop people borrowing the money for a couple of days to get the visa, but it makes me curse not applying as soon as I turned 50 -- which was before the rules changed!

[sargeant]

Same regret here troopie wish i had done it earlier ie 9 years ago problem was i was 50 and the age then was 55.
I am on my 3rd year now and have had to have a medical every time up to and including sept this year (not for the 90 days only for the yearly stamp)
I do hope that the medical is finished sahto because it was a bluddy farce

[Guess]

What muddies the waters on this topic is that not only do different officials have different interpretataion of the rulings but the rulings themselves are changing almost daily.

What is happening is that adjustments are being made constantly to patch holes in the vague definitions that were in place under Taksin.

Taksin going when he did is coincidental to the fact that the immigration laws werr under review.

Also I as have said many times in the past, we are not anything like as important in the eyes of the Thai aytorities that we think we are. The only places we even show on thr radar are in highly farangised aareas such as here, Phuket, Pattay and Koh Samui. Even then we a area majority.

I senior officlial from Sing Korn told me that the major task for them in Prachuap was Burmese illegals. The frang were only a secondary concern.

There are many Thai people in Hua Hin who are processing visas for farang and they are struggling to keep up with it. Anybody needing advice may well be adbised to talk to one of these people. There is one name that can be mentioned and that is Porn of P & P bar who will point you in the direction of Pond (the other P of P & P) who is well au fait with the current situation.

[lomuamart]

The medical is superficial last time weight blood pressure and a quick chat with doc

I asked the boys in yellow (they no longer wear the brown, it seems) when I last did my 90-day thing. If you are going the lump sum route (rather than pension), they said the medical was no longer necessary. However, the lump sum must be in your account for 90 days BEFORE you apply. I suppose this is to stop people borrowing the money for a couple of days to get the visa, but it makes me curse not applying as soon as I turned 50 -- which was before the rules changed!

I couldn't understand that change. If you transferred 800k, say a week before applying, then got your extension and transferred the money out of your account, you'd have problems with imm in the second year.
I appreciate that some people might have been "borrowing" money, but that would only have been a short-term solution. The next year would have been difficult, so the safeguards were always there.

[sargeant]

Lomu
I queried that myself because for the last 2 of my 3 years i have had to show my bankbook with 70,000 a month coming in from abroad.
I also think that all visas will eventually be based on funds from abroad
the operative words being from abroad.

But i also totally agree with guess that the officials while trying to operate in a straight line only have a bamboo stick to draw it and are interpreting things differently (with no malice as i see it) just confusion and they all seem to have a different way of doing it. I will say that Hua Hin immigration have a very helpful attitude and a nicer personality to soi suan plu.

AS i related i gave my best advice to a friend and he sailed through only 2 weeks ago (still needed a medical though)

[Guess]

..........(i.e. not an alcoholic or drug addict, and that you haven't got leprosy, TB, elephantiasis or syphilis).

So in other words they don't check anything.