It should be, but these days nobody can be certain what they will be walking into when they go to immigration for the retirement visa. You probably would be better trying to get a first-time retirement visa from the Thai embassy in your home country. Since you mention Social Security, I assume your home country is the USA.Originally Posted by dab69
For whatever method you use in order to get the retirement visa, you must have a Thai bank account. You're not going to get the retirement visa without one. That's getting more and more difficult for foreigners to do. As far as I know, the easiest Thai bank that will allow foreigners to open an account is Kasikorn Bank, aka K-Bank.
For the 65,000 baht per month method, you have to be able to prove the money has been deposited into your Thai bank account every month for at least a full year before applying for the visa, and you also have to prove the money was deposited from a foreign source. Proving the money was deposited from a foreign source won't be a problem if direct deposits are going into your account from Social Security.
The problem is immigration has been rejecting that method for several people, and it's difficult to know why.
The only method that you can be certain immigration will accept is the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account. Immigration is accepting that method, but there are a few rules you have to follow. At least 800,000 baht has to be in a Thai bank account and it must already have been in there for at least 3 months before applying for the visa. Despite the fact that the rules say the money has to be in the account for at least 2 months before applying, many immigration officials have been insisting that it be there for at least 3 months.
After they grant the visa, the 800,000 baht must remain in the account for at least 3 more months before you can withdraw any of it. After the 3 months, you can withdraw from the account, but at least 400,000 baht must remain in the account and cannot be withdrawn. If less than 400,000 baht is in the account at any time during the year, then the following year they won't grant the visa. Pattaya immigration has been requiring those who used the 800,000 baht method to return 3 months later with their updated bank passbook to prove you never let the account drop below 400,000 baht. As far as I know, Pattaya immigration is the only immigration office in Thailand doing that.
These rules about the 800,000 baht and the 400,000 baht are on my "I Don't Get It" list. I see it as a Catch-22. The reason for the requirement in the first place is so immigration knows you have enough to support yourself. But if something happens that necessitates withdrawing the money, now they won't grant the visa the following year even if you top up the account back to 800,000. And if during the year immigration finds out the account dropped below 400,000 baht, they can immediately revoke your visa. I gave up trying to figure out that logic.
As it stands right now, those, supposedly, are the rules. Now that just recently the chief of immigration has been replaced, nobody knows if rule changes will be forthcoming yet again. If the rules do change, I hope they at least will make more sense.
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