First Time Retirement Visa

[francois]

No, if you look at your original 1 year visa if you got it in Thailand as I did it will be noted as an O-B visa as I did, If your initial 1 year visa was gotten at a Thai embassy in the U.S. U.K. etc. it will be noted as a O-A visa.

I got my visa in Thailand and it was a Non-O Visa (retirement) which I get annual extensions.

Here is a listing of types of visas available per LA Consulate in USA; I don't see a Non0-B listed?


Visa types and purpose of visit


Visa types Category Purpose of visit
Diplomatic Visa D to enter the Kingdom of Thailand for diplomatic purposes.
Official Visa F to enter the Kingdom of Thailand for official purposes.
Transit Visa TS to transit to another country or to re-enter his/her own country
S to participate in sports activities
C the person in charge or crew of a conveyance coming to a port

Tourist Visa

TR (Single) to enter for tourism purposes
TR (Single) to enter for training (boxing, scuba diving, and yoga training) – Suspended –
STV to enter for tourism purposes (permitted to stay up to 90 days)
MT
to enter for a medical treatment at hospitals / medical facilities – Suspended –
METV to enter for tourism purpose (Multiple entries)
Non-Immigrant Visa
NON – B
to work (Working)
NON – B
to conduct business by invitation (Business)
NON – B
to work as a teacher (Teaching)
NON – IB
to conduct business as Investor through Board of Investment (BOI)
NON – ED
to study
NON – ED
to do an internship
NON – F
to perform official duties in Thailand
NON – M
to work as a film-producer
NON – M
to work as journalist or reporter
NON – O to perform duty or mission in the family of an alien.
NON – O to stay with family in Thailand
NON – O
a person who used to have Thai nationality to visit Thai relatives
NON – O to perform volunteering duties
NON – O to receive medical treatment for more than 60 days – Suspended –
NON – O to be a sport trainer as required by the Thai Government
NON – O to be a contestant or a witness for the judicial process
NON – O
to stay in Thailand after retirement (at least 50 years of age)
NON – O-A Long Stay retirement (up to 1 year) (for at least 50 years of age)
NON – O-X Long Stay retirement (up to 5 years) (for at least 50 years of age)
NON – RS to conduct scientific research / training / teaching in a research institute
NON – R
to perform religious / missionary works (single entry)
NON – RA to perform religious / missionary works (Multiple entry)
Special Entry SE Thailand Privilege Card (Elite Card) holder.
Privilege Entry PE Thailand Privilege Card (Elite Card) holder.

SMART Visa


T to enter as Highly skilled professionals
I to enter as Investors in technology-based business
E to enter as Senior executives in technology-based companies
S to enter as Technology-based startup entrepreneurs
O to enter as legal dependents of Smart Visa holders

[Dodger]

......having said that however if your plan is to travel to Thailand multiple times each year for extended periods then the Non O-A "retirement visa" may be your best option to exploit.

Great overview of the complexities of "Thai Visas".

I elected to switch from using a Tourist Visa to an O-A Retirement Visa 5 years before I actually retired which worked out extremely well.

I routinely visited Thailand twice a year for 3 month stays. This way I avoided going through the renewal process twice a year and just had to deal with an annual extension of stay. The 12 month extension of course covered both holidays I would be taking that year. This was several years before the changes involving financial verification took place, when the process was fairly simple and straight-forward.

Fortunately, when I did actually retire and move to Thailand I was able to arrange for monthly deposits of my pension (and other funds) directly into my Thai bank account - so financial verification wasn't a problem for me. As a side note: I would never have agreed to the 800k method. This seems to work out OK for some people, but it's not my cup of tea.

As far as the health Insurance mandate goes, I was able to pick up good coverage (Pacific Cross) which exceeded the minimums set by Immigration at a very reasonable cost...about 1/3rd of what it would cost in the U.S.

I met with the Commander who runs Chonburi Immigration when they first introduced this Health Insurance mandate (400k IP & 40k OP coverage) due to the tremendous amount of confusion regarding this at the time. He informed me that only O-A visa holders would be effected by this mandate at that time, although other visa categories could possibly be included down the road. I'm just saying this to caution anyone who may be in the process of evaluating these various visa categories, that having health insurance, which includes Covd coverage, could possibly be a requirement for everyone in the future.

[francois]

Dodger as you get older the cost of this insurance will increase until, at a certain age, you will no longer be eligible. I suggest you consider switching to an Non O visa and then do annual extensions. You would have to leave Thailand and return and then apply for the Non O visa and then extensions.

[Dodger]

Dodger as you get older the cost of this insurance will increase until, at a certain age, you will no longer be eligible. I suggest you consider switching to an Non O visa and then do annual extensions. You would have to leave Thailand and return and then apply for the Non O visa and then extensions.

Thanks, but the O visa just doesn't seem like a good fit for me.

I wouldn't want to be forced to leave the country every year just to maintain my visa, and Non O visa holders will almost certainly be required to carry health insurance in the future anyway.

The increase in cost of my health insurance as I get older has already been planned for, and I'm really not concerned about my eligibility going forward. A lot of scrutiny went into my selection of an insurer for this very reason, which is one reason I went with Pacific Cross.

MFAS, if you're reading this, I think they may have made a mistake when issuing your original long-stay visa. Unless you were working in Thailand at the time you should have received a Non O visa. B is for business.

[Manforallseasons]

Dodger did you get your initial 1 year visa in the U.S.? We both use the same insurance broker when the new need for insurance was mandated I was concerned as my insurance covers 1 million USD for inpatient only and the mandate states you also need outpatient coverage so I took my original passport with visa in it to our broker he showed me the Non immigrant O-B and said I was lucky I got it while in Thailand as some of his clients like yourself got it out of Thailand and only then were subject to the new mandate.

[Dodger]

Dodger did you get your initial 1 year visa in the U.S.? We both use the same insurance broker when the new need for insurance was mandated I was concerned as my insurance covers 1 million USD for inpatient only and the mandate states you also need outpatient coverage so I took my original passport with visa in it to our broker he showed me the Non immigrant O-B and said I was lucky I got it while in Thailand as some of his clients like yourself got it out of Thailand and only then were subject to the new mandate.

Yes, I obtained my initial O-A Retirement Visa while in the States.

When I first started coming to Thailand it was for business purposes and classified "B".

My policy with PC includes both In-patient and out-patient coverage (and covid) so I'm good-to-go with Immigration.

That "OB" on your visa remains a mystery. Maybe you had something else that started with "B" on your mind and just imagined it being there?

[Manforallseasons]

Yes, I obtained my initial O-A Retirement Visa while in the States.
That "OB" on your visa remains a mystery. Maybe you had something else that started with "B" on your mind and just imagined it being there?

No mystery as 3 friends here also got there initial 1yr visa at Jomtien also have 0-B……only mystery is that someone like yourself with a wealth of knowledge about everything Thai did realize you could have saved yourself some worry had you done your “retirement” visa at Jomtien.

[Dodger]

No mystery as 3 friends here also got there initial 1yr visa at Jomtien also have 0-B.

It's only a mystery because any classification with a "B" designation is for business purposes...not tourism...not retirement...business.

[bkkguy]

and of course no discussion of visa options is complete with mentioning the Elite visa - for an initial payment of just 600,000 Baht you get a 5 year multiple entry visa, each entry allows you to stay up to 12 months, executive lounge and airport transfers for all departures and arrivals, and all with no further interaction with embassies or Immigration offices, except:

- if a single stay is longer than 90 days then you still need to do a 90 day report - do online or by mail or the Elite people will do it for you for a small fee

- if a single stay is longer than 12 months then you need to do an extension of stay at Immigration in Thailand - the Elite people will help you with this

yes, I know you could do this for a tenth of that price using a NON-O or non-OA visa and extensions - I suppose it depends on how you value your time, the cost of your blood pressure meds, how much you hate dealing with embassies and Immigration offices, and of course your bank balance!

[christianpfc]

Another important point is that none of these visas granted entry during Covid. Nor did ownership of a condominium.

The O-visas are letter O, not number 0 = zero.