Ok all you Visa Gurus, Sorry if this has been covered before(i did have look ) but im confused by two different sets of official thai info(! ) On the thaiembassy site it says 800,000 bht OR income of 65000 month.But on an info form i got from HH immigration it says i have to have BOTH 800,000 bht AND 65000 of income...so which is it? Now for me im 'retired' but im pre pension(age 54) so my other question is , if i can prove i have income(bank interest etc) does that qualify as income or does it have to be income from pension/social welfare(as also indicated on info form from HHImmigration? which in my case i definitley wont have. I suppose in a roundabout way what im asking is can you get a retirement visa if you are retired but NOT receiving a pension(because youre too young). I would be applying there in HH from December onwards and plan to deposit the 800k shortly. As always replies much appreciated.thanks
It is either 800,000 Baht OR 65,000 Baht/month income. As far as I know the source doesn't really matter, so long as you can prove your income to the British Embassy.
If you have 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank you don't hav to prove anything.
If you have 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank you don't hav to prove anything.
Ah, there are SOME immigration officers that will demand you prove where the 800K came from.
As you are supposed to bring it in from overseas, it is a good idea to get a copy of the inward transfer from your Thai bank.
It is only a requirement to "prove" that you have a monthly income of 65K. It would need to be documented so that your Embassy can issue a letter to that effect. It does not matter where it comes from, and does not need to be from a pension.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
thanks to both, Bigboy refers to British Embassy but in my case im far too young(!)to apply for Retirement Visa in UK as have to be 65(or married to to Thai) so in my case its a Thai application only! I will assume if have the 800k i'll be ok but in any event its not needed for my forthccoming winter trip as that will done with Multi Entry, its for future years that im looking at as it saves on the full day trip to Ban Phu Nam Ron(Hot Water Village).
thecolonel wrote:thanks to both, Bigboy refers to British Embassy but in my case im far too young(!)to apply for Retirement Visa in UK as have to be 65(or married to to Thai)
Big Boy wrote:It is either 800,000 Baht OR 65,000 Baht/month income.
You sure about that 'OR'? I've used what's commonly called (on the site that cannot be mentioned) the 'pension plus balance' method, e.g., 400,000 baht AND 32,500 income.
The rule is that you have to have at least 800,000 Bat in a Thai bank or that you can prove that you earn at least 800,000 Baht per year or a combination of these two (such as 400.000 in a Thai Bank and earnings of at least 400,000 per year. With respect to the money in a Thai Bank it must have been there for at least 3 months before the visa application. This has to be proved by getting at letter from the Thai Bank (normal cost 100 Baht) and showing an updated bank book (they still use bank books for all Thai bank accounts). With reference to your earnings you will need a letter from the pension company or employer showing how much you earn and probably a copy of part of a bank statement showing the money has been deposited (to verify the letter). You will have to show these to the British Embassy in Thailand to get a letter or to the Thai Embassy in England if you apply for your visa there. When you apply for your visa in Thailand, Thai Immigration wi not only want to see the letter from the Embassy but also the letter(s) fro pension company/employer and bank statement from English Bank. The age for a retirement visa in Thailand is 50.
Extra. Immigration are not interested in the source of the 800.000 Baht in the Thai Bank but if you try to transfer to much money from a foreign bank to a Thai bank in one transaction then it will be intercepted and you will be asked all sorts of questions about the money.If you keep the transfers under 20,000 pounds per time (I am not sure what the actual level is) then no questions will be asked.
expat71NL: You need to be sure about what you are posting, as some of your post is just bollocks.
if you try to transfer to much money from a foreign bank to a Thai bank in one transaction then it will be intercepted and you will be asked all sorts of questions about the money.If you keep the transfers under 20,000 pounds per time (I am not sure what the actual level is) then no questions will be asked.
There are millions of foreign currency being transferred in daily. Do you really think the Thai Banks are going to question everyone that transfers funds? If you wish to buy a Condominium as an example, then you MUST transfer all the funds in one lot.
You will have to show these to the British Embassy in Thailand to get a letter or to the Thai Embassy in England if you apply for your visa there.
I think that you will find an "O" visa is issued, if on the basis of retirement, no funds are required to be shown in the country where you apply.
When you apply for your visa in Thailand,
If you arrive with a visa of what ever type, then you do not apply for a visa in Thailand.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Nereus wrote:I think that you will find an "O" visa is issued, if on the basis of retirement, no funds are required to be shown in the country where you apply.
When I requested the "O" visa for retirement in Penang 6 years ago, the Thai consulate confounded everyone the day before by asking for a Thai bank account passbook. They'd changed their requirements overnight. I had mine, having read consulates and embassies did that before. The only certainty about Thai immigration regulations is they will change unexpectedly. Be prepared.
Be aware that they *may* ask you for an additional letter/stamp from MoFA in Bangkok to prove your embassy income letter is valid. This may depend on who you get, which way the wind is blowing, and whether the day you go has a 'T' in it or not.
Hua Hin Irritation Dept is a lottery.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
"Thai Immigration will not only want to see the letter from the Embassy but also the letter(s) fro pension company/employer and bank statement from English Bank."
Not true. Documentation has already been checked by the British Embassy which is sufficient. I did mine only this Monday for the umpteenth time and no change in procedure.
Letters from the US, Australian and some other embassies do need verification from MoFA who will need to see documentative evidence of your income. This is because the income letter from these embassies are in the form of a sworn affidavit which, unlike the British Embassy, proves nothing!
) but im confused by two different sets of official thai info(! 
) On the thaiembassy site it says 800,000 bht OR income of 65000 month.But on an info form i got from HH immigration it says i have to have BOTH 800,000 bht AND 65000 of income...so which is it? Now for me im 'retired' but im pre pension(age 54) so my other question is , if i can prove i have income(bank interest etc) does that qualify as income or does it have to be income from pension/social welfare(as also indicated on info form from HHImmigration? which in my case i definitley wont have. I suppose in a roundabout way what im asking is can you get a retirement visa if you are retired but NOT receiving a pension(because youre too young). I would be applying there in HH from December onwards and plan to deposit the 800k shortly. As always replies much appreciated.thanks
