Need a visa.

[mahjongguy]

It can be done on a Visa Exempt arrival followed by a 30 day extension. You'll just need to deal with the fact that your airline probably won't let you board without possessing an onward air ticket during the first 30 days. That usually means buying a throwaway 1-way fare to Laos or Malaysia.

So, it's easier and most often cheaper to start by getting an SETV before you go.

[mahjongguy]

You can be gone for as long and as often as you want. You just need to show up once a year in time to apply for renewal.

[windwalker]

If I understood all the previous post, sounds like the best way is to simply enter with the one month exempt visa on arrival and apply in Jomtien for the non-immigrant O visa.

The best way would be to get a 90 day Non-immigrant Type O visa in USA. The next best is to get a 60 day Tourist Visa in USA which can be extended to 90 days. Both of these visas give you plenty of time to apply for extension to stay (retirement) or just return home.

Yes, you could come on a 30 visa waiver and extend it and apply for Type O visa and then permission to stay. This method restricts your options.

The more you do your "homework" in USA the easier it will be to secure your retirement status in Thailand.

[2lz2p]

The Pattaya City Expats Club has an rather extensive section on Thai Immigration requirements including extending your stay in the Kingdom http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/ex ... ngStay.pdf - page 5 has the following information about entering on Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa and then obtaining a Non-Immigrant "O" Visa (from page 5):

You will need to apply for an extension with the Immigration Office that has jurisdiction for the area where you live. The requirement for a “retirement” extension is that you have a Non-Immigrant “O” or “O-A” Visa. If you entered Thailand on Visa Exempt status or with a Tourist Visa, you can apply for a Non-Immigrant “O” Visa at the Chang Watana Thai Immigration Office in Bangkok PROVIDED you meet the age and financial resource requirements (See the information on the Two-Step Process for Visa and Extension below). Note: Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration will take your application and documents and send them to Bangkok Immigration for processing and return to Pattaya Immigration Office. CAUTION: Whether applying for the Non-Immigrant “O” Visa in Bangkok or in Pattaya, you will need more than 15 days remaining on your permission to stay to apply – if you have previously received a 30 day extension to you Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa permission to stay, you cannot extend it again and If you do not have the minimum days remaining, your application will be refused and you will have to depart Thailand before your permission to stay date expires.

They also have an update page linked from their weekly Newsletter, which has the latest information they have received from their members and other Expats on their experience with Pattaya Immigration - it notes that Immigration was requiring a Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp verifying the authenticity of Embassy income letters (it mentions this is only when using it to apply for the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa - it is not being required for extensions of stay or renewal of the retirement extension) - this update is located at http://www.pcecnews.com/permNL/THAI%20I ... 20NEWS.pdf and has the following updates for applying for Non-Immigrant "O" Visa:

RECENT REQUIREMENTS AT PATTAYA IMMIGRATION FOR NON-IMMIGRANT “O” VISA APPLICATIONS FOR USE IN EXTENDING YOUR STAY BASED ON RETIREMENT -- We have received reports (3/16) from Expats applying for a Non-Immigrant “O” Visa as part of the two step process to get a long stay retirement extension having arrived in Thailand on Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa status. If using an Embassy letter certifying income to meet the financial requirements, Immigration wants the Embassy Letter to have been verified by the Department of Consular Affairs (located in Bangkok in the Chaeng Wattana Government Complex – 3rd Floor). The Legalization section will place a stamp on the document, the cost is 400 baht (regular) or 800 baht (express – same day). NOTE: This stamp IS NOT being required as of August 2016 if using the income letter when renewing your annual extension OR when applying for first time and you entered Thailand with a Non-Immigrant Visa.


UPDATE ON PROCESS WHEN APPLYING FOR BOTH A NON-IMMIGRANT “O” VISA AND EXTENSION OF STAY FOR PURPOSE OF RETIREMENT – We received a report August 7, 2016 from an individual applying for the Non-Immigrant “O” Visa using 800,000+ baht in a Thai bank, that they are no longer doing both applications (for Visa and for Extension) at the same time. He was informed that when the Visa is received back from Bangkok, he will have a 90 day permission to stay from date of issue, and should return to apply for the one year extension 30 days before permitted stay ends.

Their report on the Ministry Stamp requirement was back in March and they apparently have not rec'd any updates from someone using an Embassy income letter since that date - it is well known that Immigration can require one thing one day and something else on another - so if entering on Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa and using the Embassy Income letter, you may want to inquire with Immigration if they are still requiring the stamp - if yes, it will entail a trip to Bangkok to get the stamp - the Update page includes a map of the location of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Consular Department in the Chang Wattana Government complex.

If you have 800,000+ baht in a Thai bank account - the process is smoother as you need only a letter from your bank and photocopies of your bank book face page and perhaps pages showing activity (for initial applications for an extension of stay based on retirement, using the 800k+, the money is required to be on deposit at least 60 days) - when applying for the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa, the money does not have to be there for 60 days - this is because a permission to stay of 90 days will be stamped in your passport along with the Non-Immigrant "O" Visa when it is issued. So, there is time for the money to be on deposit for the 60 days before applying for the one year extension of stay.

[christianpfc]

I usually get the one month exempt visa because I'm from the US. I'd like to stay for four months from November 3, till March 3 coming up. Do I have to apply to my nearest Thai Embassy for a 60 day visa, which would let me stay for November and December, and then extend it 30 days more when I'm in Thailand? It sounds like I can only stay for three months, not four, which would still be ok.

And do I have to show them my purchased airline ticket when I apply. Why would one buy a ticket before being approved?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

You should check the requirements of the embassy you are applying at (embassy's website and Thaivisa forum), requirements vary from embassy to embassy (and sometimes they want stuff that is not on their website). If proof of funding with bank statement over 7000 USD is required, they might not accept your 3 mio THB (e.g. Thai embassy in Saigon accepts only USD for visa fee). Exact address is now generally required, when I applied for visas either hotel booking or my rent contract, and I spotted attendants at the immigration queue pointing out to tourists to fill in address in the arrival/departure form.

As a precaution, I now enter Thailand always with enough cash (1000 Euro), hotel booking or current rent contract, and flight out of Thailand.

For your situation, I recommend single entry tourist visa with one extension and one visa run with visa-free entry.

[Smiles]

" ... If you have 800,000+ baht in a Thai bank account - the process is smoother as you need only a letter from your bank ... "

Since my first annual extension back in 2008 I have used the income letter from the Canadian Embassy option. But I'm thinking to switching to the money-in-a-Thai-bank option.

Some questions regarding this bank letter: is there a special Immigration form which one's bank needs to fill in? If so, would the bank have such a form on hand, or would I need to make a trip to Imm to get it?
And if not ... is the bank form simply a regular letter stating the amount in your account and then signed by a bank official?

[Gaybutton]

Some questions regarding this bank letter

I don't know how it works in Hua Hin, but in Pattaya all you need is to present your passbook and passport to the bank and tell them you need "letter for immigration." They have the rest and they do the rest. I use Bangkok Bank. My branch even organizes the letter and all the additional paperwork for me. The fee is 100 baht.

You only need the letter and your updated passbook, along with the usual paperwork when you go to immigration. It's best to get the letter and updated passbook the same day you go to immigration.

[2lz2p]

Each bank has their own form letter I believe. As GB says, present your passbook and request the letter for Immigration. Different Immigration Offices have their own requirements as to how old the letter may be - Pattaya has been 7 days, whereas others I've seen reports on was 3 days and even reports of some that want it the day before or same day. One thing to remember, update your passbook before or immediately after you get the letter - as most Immigration offices seem to want the ending balance in the passbook to be in agreement with the balance shown on the bank letter.

There are some Expats that put the 800k+ in one bank account and let it remain from year to year without any withdrawal or deposit activity - I have heard from two Expats that did this, but when they went to Pattaya Immigration this year, were told that they needed to have some transactions for it to be acceptable - both went to their banks and made some deposits and withdrawals on same day (not letting balance fall below 800k) - updated their passbook and then got a new bank letter - this seemed to satisfy the Immigration Officer (this, of course, could be the whim of the particular IO that was examining their paperwork, and not a regular policy). One report was from a few months ago and the other was fairly recent (within last month or two).

[Gaybutton]

this, of course, could be the whim of the particular IO that was examining their paperwork

That's exactly what it seems like to me. The requirement is a minimum of 800,000 baht is in your Thai bank account at least 3 months before applying for the retirement visa. I know of no requirement that says there must also be transactions. If the money is in the account for at least the minimum amount of time, and you can prove it, what difference does it make if there has been any transactions? And what difference does it make how long the money has been in the account provided it has been there at least 3 months? Even if the money has been in the account for 20 years, it's been there at least 3 months, hasn't it?

So much is at the whim of the officer you're dealing with. For all you know, it might not even be his whim. He might have been ordered to do that from someone higher up the ladder.

You can either comply or argue. I have yet to see an argument get anyone anywhere with immigration, but I have seen people kicked out when they argue. If it were me, I would smile and just comply, regardless of whether the officer is right or wrong and regardless of the inconvenience to me. I don't know what kinds of consequences could result if you get an immigration officer angry with you and I don't want to find out the hard way. It may be a pain-in-the-ass, especially if you know you're right, but just complying is the safest thing to do. I'm not about to have an argument, especially when I know no matter what I'm not going to get him to change his mind, somehow coming back to haunt me later.

[Alex]

I think the reason is that you cannot update the passbook if there hasn't been any transaction. So to fulfill their requirement that the passbook was updated within the last 3 or 7 days, personally I'd just walk to one of their cash deposit machines, deposit 100 baht, then update the passbook and ask for the letter. That should cover it all. Some brilliant people have WITHDRAWN money instead, only to realize later that they fell slightly below the magic number (800,000 baht).