Thailand O-A retirement visa: money in the bank, or a monthly income?

The deposit above is not a balance you can top up on the day you apply: for the yearly extension, it must already sit in a Thai account in your own name two months before you apply, and stay there for three months after the extension is granted.

Renewers miss this: the test is a stretch of time, not a balance on one day. Two months before and three months after means the money is committed for about five months around a single application, and money moved in later does not count for that application. Once the three months have passed it may be drawn down, but not below the floor shown above for the rest of the year.

Offices can differ on the paperwork, so confirm the details with the immigration office that will handle your extension, in writing if you can, before you move money.

The deposit is the bank balance Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists for the Non-Immigrant O-A (long stay) visa, the retirement visa you apply for at a Thai embassy or consulate outside Thailand. It is your own money, shown on a bank statement with an original letter of guarantee from the bank. Nothing is paid over.

Deposit, income, or both

The ministry's rules accept three ways to show you can support yourself:

• A bank deposit of at least the headline amount.
• A monthly income of at least the monthly amount shown above, proved by an original income certificate.
• A deposit plus a monthly income that together reach the same amount over a year.

Each Thai embassy and consulate publishes its own checklist for the O-A, and the details differ from post to post: how recent the statement must be, which documents prove income, and what the health insurance must cover. Use the checklist of the post where you will apply, not a list written for another country.

Two places judge the money

When you apply abroad, the embassy looks at your statement or income certificate. When you extend your stay in Thailand after the first year, the ministry's rules ask for evidence of money transferred into Thailand, a deposit account in Thailand, or an income certificate. That is where the Thai bank account comes from: at extension the money is judged by the immigration office in Thailand.

The visa has other conditions too: you must be 50 or over on the day you apply, and the checklist asks for a criminal-record check, a medical certificate, and health insurance covering your whole stay. The minimum cover is fixed; check that any checklist you rely on quotes the one on the ministry's current page.

Reading an agent's quote

If an agent is involved, the quote should separate the charges paid to officials from the agent's own.

Paid to the government:

• The visa fee, paid to the embassy or consulate.
• The fee for each extension of stay, paid to the immigration office in Thailand.

Kept by the agent:

• The fee for handling the application or the extension, on its own line. Pay for the service, never for a bank balance or a document you do not have: the deposit and the income proof must be genuinely yours.

Ask these before you hand over money or move any:

1. Which embassy or consulate will you apply at, and what does its own checklist say about the statement, the letter of guarantee and the insurance?
2. Who will issue your income certificate, and will the post where you apply accept it?
3. If you plan to extend in Thailand, will the money be in a Thai account in your own name two months before you apply, and can you leave it there for three months afterwards?
4. Does your health insurance meet the checklist's minimum cover for the whole of your stay?
5. Does the quote itemise the visa fee, the extension fee and the agent's own fee?

If an agent has already sent you a proposal, the box below asks about it first, and goes through it line by line; no account is needed, and a PDF, a Word file or a photo will do. If you have no proposal, enter the savings or income you can show and the period it covers. It does not advise on your application; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.