Retirement Visa

[ozpharlap]

On my last trip to LOS I ran into a season aussie expat, who seemed to know what he was talking about. He advised me that the retirement visa age requirement has now risen to 55, rather than 50 as it once was.

 

As I just hit the big 50 it is of special interest to me.

 

I have tried to 'google' it but most sites offering visa advice don't seem to have updated their web pages for quite awhile.

 

Any posters here aware of any such change?

[rookie]

...a season aussie expat, advised me that the retirement visa age requirement has now risen to 55, rather than 50 as it once was.

 

There has been _no_ change; the minimum age to obtain an 'OA-retirement visa' is 50-years of age.

Think about it...Thailand is suffering from a lack of tourist income, so why would they want to further restrict

long term retirement visas? We are just more cash cows [me included] to the economy

He is ill informed...was his response after having a few beers...?

 

http://www.thaiconsulatesydney.org/visa.html

 

 

 

[sanddawg1]

Agreed no changes, I will be getting my retirement visa next month I'm 52 and have all the arraingments in place.

 

S1

[eyebee]

Rather than getting an 'O-A' visa in your own country, it is MUCH easier to get a Non-Immigrant 'O', and then get an extension based on retirement in Thailand. Far fewer hoops to jump through.

[rookie]

True....

But there is an advantage (to some) for getting the OA in your home country.

 

If the OA is applied for in Thailand, you must show that you have opened an acount and transferred 800K-Bt to a Thai bank.

 

If applied for outside of Thailand, there is more paperwork (if all the rules are followed), but you only need to have a document from your home bank which shows you have at least the equivalent of 800K-Bt on deposit. No money needs to be in a Thai bank until a few months before your initial 1-year OA is due for renewal, and then you can have a minimal amount (10k-Bt+) in a Thai bank and use an income verification from your Consulate (in BKK) to validate that you have the required 800K-Bt.

 

I went this route, not wanting to tie up too much money in the Thai banking system, where I get a measly 1/4-1/2% interest on deposited funds.

[ozpharlap]

There has been _no_ change; the minimum age to obtain an 'OA-retirement visa' is 50-years of age ... Think about it ... Thailand is suffering from a lack of tourist income, so why would they want to further restrict

long term retirement visas?

Politics and logic are strange bedfellows.

 

Why, in Australia, there are growing concerns about our aging population and that there is not enough money to pay for the pending retirees (i.e., the pension) yet, the recent government is lowering caps on how much money you can top up your superannuation for a tax concession, also followed up by suggestions it would raise the concessional tax from 15% to 30%. Go figure.

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

He who told me was quite sober at the time and was a wealth of information on many things.

[ozpharlap]

True....

But there is an advantage (to some) for getting the OA in your home country.

 

If the OA is applied for in Thailand, you must show that you have opened an acount and transferred 800K-Bt to a Thai bank.

 

If applied for outside of Thailand, there is more paperwork (if all the rules are followed), but you only need to have a document from your home bank which shows you have at least the equivalent of 800K-Bt on deposit. No money needs to be in a Thai bank until a few months before your initial 1-year OA is due for renewal, and then you can have a minimal amount (10k-Bt+) in a Thai bank and use an income verification from your Consulate (in BKK) to validate that you have the required 800K-Bt.

 

I went this route, not wanting to tie up too much money in the Thai banking system, where I get a measly 1/4-1/2% interest on deposited funds.

Yes, obtaining a bank account and where to put the required savings amount - this is an important decision as well.

 

Last trip, after careful consideration of previous posts I took on the gauntlet to get a Thai Bank account - my difficulty was I had no work permit, some say it is considered a must to get the bank account.

 

I approached an old expat mate who lives in Bangkok outer districts (Lad Phrao). After a 1 hour bus ride to his bank, a Kasikorn Bank branch, him talking a little bit of Thai and a warm inviting smile to the bank teller from me, 1 hour latter I had the Thai passport bank account together with a plastic card in my hand. As I told her, I said I needed it to put in 800,000 baht to satisfy the retirement visa conditions.

 

As we walked out my old friend was proud he had got me this elusive document. However he did complain about how long it took. So, to appease him I shouted him lunch & a taxi ride to Soi Cowboy (he is as tight as a fishes asshole).

 

Early next morning I got a phone message to call the bank. I thought oh no, they will pull it. I went to my friend again and got him to call, as I don't speak thai. Anyways, the problem was they thought they got my name out of sequence, whereas we informed them it was correct, problem solved.

 

Well, blow me down I got an sms from the bank being grateful that they had fixed the problem. I sms back thanking them, saying that their service was great. Well, another sms back saying it was their duty. Well, with dutch curry I sms back saying, "no that the business is out of the way we can now play". tick tick tick ... sms comes back, you are cheeky but I like that.

 

Long story short:

 

1. she kept us at the bank for an extended time because she wanted to see and know me more;

2. after an initial courtship dinner date (no friend with her), she agreed to a second date to see a movie, she meet me at my place, we had to wait 90 minutes for the movie we wished to see to start, well, it is a long wait so bedroom Olympics were had.

 

With my bank book in hand, I went to 2 other banks and obtained bank books there as well (I do not want to have all my money in the one bank).

[Julian2]

[ozpharlap]

No one was more surprised then me however, I feel there is just 1 secret to achieving a good result with asian girls, smile, act and be happy.

[Julian2]

I had a girl in the phone shop put her number on my phone recently. "Just in case I needed any help"

 

Too close to home though, if the Mrs found out I'd really need help.