AN O-A VISA IS NOT A RETIREMENT VISA

I have noted that many Australians and USA citizens refer to an O-A visa as a retirement visa. Aside from there being no such thing as a retirement visa anyway, an O-A visa is not it!

GETTING YOUR NON IMMIGRANT O VISA

The most common pathway to getting the extension based on retirement is to obtain a Non Immigrant O Visa (90 day validity) from your home country before you arrive Thailand. You can obtain this visa in Thailand, but then that's an extra step that you will have to go through with immigration before applying for your extension of stay based on retirement. It really isn't difficult to get from your home country either, so it is advisable that you do this. Here are the requirements for the UK Thai Embassy. Please note that requirements may differ slightly from country to country. Visa application form Passport or travel document with validity not less than 6 months and at least 2 blank pages, as well as the photocopy of passport. The actual passport must be submitted with visa application form. Two (2) recent photos (taken within the past 6 months) Supporting documents for the purpose of visit to Thailand. (Please see details for each type.) A copy of pension statement if the applicant is a pensioner, or a copy of 1-month bank statement showing your income from pension, or 3-month bank statement of at least £10,000 Once you have your Non Immigrant O Visa, you can enter Thailand and stay for 90 days. You will have to wait 60 days before you can file your retirement visa application at the immigration office and follow the steps laid out in this post.

RULES FOR THOSE RETIRING WITH A SPOUSE (DEPENDENT)

It may be the case that you're a foreign couple who want to retire to Thailand. In this situation, there are two possibilities for obtaining the visa: Each partner obtains a retirement visa by following the financial requirements laid out above: that is ฿800,000 in a Thai bank account two months prior to applying; or proof of ฿65,000 income per month, as verified by your embassy; or a combination of the two. One of you obtains a retirement visa and the other receives a visa as his/her dependent. The visa holder is generally the male party. The easiest route is for you to both independently get visas. One reason for this is that if the main visa holder were to pass away then the dependent's visa would be immediately void. This could be problematic because it would present you with a visa issue to overcome at a time when you would be going through a lot of grief and having to sort out a lot of other things in your life. In this situation, you could essentially leave the country and come back in on a 30-day exemption stamp, or get a tourist visa from a Thai embassy in a neighbouring country. But this still might not give you the time you need to get all your affairs in order and take care of probate. It sounds quite morbid, but it is worth considering – because at a time like this you would not want the hassle of sorting out visa issues. The other reason to avoid going down the dependent visa route is that Thai immigration has moved the goalposts on this visa are a couple of times over the last decade. Both times they have reverted back to the original rules, but it can cause confusion and be problematic. In the case of a dependent, immigration requires the financial aspect of the extension to be provided by the male party and not through a joint bank account. Similarly, if you are using a letter from your embassy to prove your income to extend your visa, this must solely be in the man's name and not in joint names. In other words, the income is verified as the man's income and not a joint income. It is also worth noting that if you are seeking to obtain a dependent visa for your spouse and your spouse is not yet 50 years old, your spouse must enter Thailand on a Non-Immigrant O Visa. This is because a 30-day on arrival stamp cannot be converted into a Non-Immigrant O Visa inside Thailand, if you are not yet 50 and seeking an extension based on retirement.

HOW TO RENEW YOUR RETIREMENT VISA

Your retirement visa (extension of stay based on retirement) will last for one year. But don't wait until that year is almost up before you start planning to renew it. In fact, you can renew your visa up to 45 days before it expires. Remember that you need to ensure that your Thai bank account balance does not fall below the ฿800,000 threshold three months prior to renewing your visa. Also consider that if you need a proof of income letter from your embassy, you should plan this at least a few weeks before you apply for your visa. Some embassies require you to make an appointment and they may be busy at the time you apply. Don't worry though, the letter from your embassy will be valid for six months, so is perfectly fine to obtain the letter up to a couple of months before you need to renew your visa.

90-DAY REPORTING

Once you have your retirement visa, there are two important rules that you must follow to ensure that you do not overstay your visa or invalidate your visa. You must conduct 90 day reporting. This means you must report to an immigration office in Thailand every 90 days. This is because Thailand has a law that states that a foreign national must produce his/her address if staying in the kingdom for 89 or more days. The address is reported on a TM48 form. Perhaps the most common mistake foreign nationals make when living in Thailand on a retirement visa is leaving the country without getting a re-entry permit. A re-entry permit can be obtained from an immigration office or the airport before leaving the country. This permit will be stamped in your passport and protects your visa from expiring while you are outside of the country. If you do not get a re-entry permit, then your visa will be invalidated and when you re-enter Thailand you will get a standard 30 day exemption stamp. As noted, you can obtain a re-entry permit as you are leaving the country. However, if you are able to plan in advance, it may be better to get one a few days before you leave to ensure that you get it done in time and don't miss your flight if you are in a rush to the airport. The re-entry permit form is known as TM13.

WHAT DOCUMENTS DO I NEED FOR A RETIREMENT VISA?

To obtain the extension based on retirement, you will need to attend an immigration office, such as the office located at the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Bangkok. On the day you will need 5 things, as follows: Passport with Non Immigrant O Visa inside. Photocopies of: photo page of passport, page showing visa, page showing last entry date into Thailand. TM.7 (extension of stay form completed and signed). Attach a passport photo and include phone number by your signature. Departure Card (TM.6) (make a photocopy) 2 passport size photos Proof of funds and or proof of income (letter from bank/embassy). Bank letter cannot be more than 3 days old. If using the lump sum application route, you'll need an updated photocopy of your bank book page that shows the balance. Obviously take your bank book along too. Proof of address (copies of rental agreement, and utility bills (if you have them)) Application fee of ฿1,900 THB

WHAT IF I DON'T MEET THE FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS?

Perhaps you don't have an ฿800,000 lump sum of money to put in a Thai bank account, or a monthly income of ฿65,000. In this case you can still meet the financial requirements by combining the two. For example, let's say that you earn 50,000 a month. That would equal ฿600,000 a year. In this case you would only need to deposit ฿200,000 in your Thai bank account to make up the required ฿800,000. However, you would need to provide both the letter from the bank and the proof of income letter from your embassy