Have you ever wished to stay and enjoy your retirement in Thailand? If the answer is yes, then this article would help you to understand essential type of applicable retirement visas and the legal requirements that you must be satisfied in order to obtain such retirement visa and happily stay in Thailand after your retirement.

Non-Immigrant Visa Type O (“Non-O Visa”)

The first common type of retirement visa is “Non-O Visa” – same visa type as the Dependent/Spouse Visa – which allow an applicant who meets the following qualifications (“Eligible Applicant”) to apply:

·        Must be 50 years of age or over; and

·       Must have the following financial evidences:

(a) a minimum of THB 800,000 (local) cash deposit with a Thai bank account at least 2 months prior to the submission of the application;

(b) a letter guarantee issue by a local or overseas Embassy or Consulate proving monthly income of THB 65,000; OR

(c) evidence of the (local) cash deposit and letter of guarantee (for 1 year) showing the total amount of not less than THB 800,000.

·      Must provide a Rental Agreement between the applicant and the landlord, a copy of house registration, a location map of the house, and a rental receipt of the past three months.

In order to apply for the Non-O Visa, the Eligible Applicant can either (i) obtain the 90-day Non-O Visa from Thai Royal Embassy or Consulate in overseas and proceed to extend for 1-year (renewable and applicable to apply for multiple re-entry permit) Non-O Visa in Thailand; OR (ii) enter into Thailand with an On-Arrival Visa or a Tourist Visa and apply the Non-O Visa in Thailand.

Long Term Resident Visa – Wealthy Pensioners

Alternative type of retirement visa is Long-Term Resident Vias – Wealthy Pensioner (so-call (“LTR Retirement Visa”).

LTR Retirement Visa is suitable for an applicant (“LTR Applicant”) who:

·        has retired,

·        is 50 years of age or older;

·      has stably earned personal income of a minimum of USD 80,000 per year at the time of submitting the application – in the event of the personal below USD 80,000 per year but not less than USD 40,000 per year, the applicant must invest at least USD 250,000 in Thai government bonds, or Thai property; and

·        has health insurance with at least USD 50,000 coverage or social security benefits insuring treatment in Thailand or at least USD 10,000 deposit.

The essential privileges offered under LTR Retirement Visa are as follows:

(1) 10-year renewable visa (i.e. 5 years initial permission plus 5 years extension);

(2) Enjoy Fast-track Service at the international airports;

(3) 1-year report instead of 90-day report, and exemption of multiple re-entry permit requirement;

(4) Eligible to work (under digital work permit) in Thailand; and

(5) Highly skilled professionals will be eligible for 17% personal income tax rate, and tax exemption for incomes derived from overseas.

The LTR Applicant can appoint us to apply his/her the LTR Retirement Visa from overseas via online system.

 For further information, please contact [email protected]: 

Mr. Bunnasomboon Chaiparinya (Aaron)

Partner / Head of Corporate Department

Email: [email protected]