# VISA Service



## viscusod

Hi All,

I will be moving to Thailand in February and am looking for a reliable agancy to expidite aquiring a Retirement VISA when I get there. I meet all the requirements but don't want the headache of doing it myself. I have talked to 3 service providers. SIAM legal International, Siamese VISA Service and Speedy-VISA. Dose anyone recommend any of these are had bad expereiance?... Anyway thanks for your help...


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## AndyFTH

I don't have any personal experience, but SIAM is well known and trusted.

Even if they are more expensive I would still choose them. Because if you pick up somebody cheap without enough experiences, it will be you who will pay for they mistakes. You will end up being rejected for providing wrongly filled forms etc. or being prosecuted for providing misleading informations.


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## joseph44

Usually, if an agency is doing things the legal way, you have to take care of all the details and documents. That's no different from DIY.
As the OP said: it's just to avoid the headaches and running around, but if you do it the wrong way, you'll be running up and down the agency.

Apart from agencies, lawyer can do the job too.

Not sure about the cost, but apart from the visa-fee (THB 1,900) the cost of the agent can be up to THB 5,000.


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## happy aussie

Hi being a retired Aussie living in Thailand the simple answer to a retirement O visa is DIY go to any immigration office with the following paperwork. 2 copies of each passport main page, 2copies of the form tm6 (departure form in your passport) 2 copies of your place of residence ie lease or power bill and your bank book with 800,000 baht in credit or a statuary declaration from your embassy showing that you receive 60,000 baht per month pension or superannuation there is a 2000 baht application fee and the visa fee of 1900 baht total of 3900 baht. You will have to report to your nearest immigration office every 90 days and the visa is valid for 12 months. You will have to do the paperwork yourself even if you use an agent so why spend the extra money. The process is very simple and easy to do. Good luck and it hope you enjoy life here. Cheers Happy aussie


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## sweepy1900

It's normally much easier to get visas for Thailand in your country from the Thai Embassy. I would really recommend doing that, than doing it here because you have to leave the country anyway to get the visa.


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## tod-daniels

I hate to be a nay-sayer but, "sweepy1900" is totally WRONG! You don't leave the country to get a Non-O visa based on being over 50 (called retirement). You get them at Chaengwattana Immigrations in Bangkok. I've shepherded many many people thru the process! 

If you show up here on a 30 day visa exempt stamp (that means you just arrived without having bought a visa from a Thai embassy first, and get 30 days to stay on arrival), it's a three step process. 
The process goes like this

Come in on a 30 day visa exempt stamp
Go to Immigrations and apply for a Non-O 90 day visa 
2 weeks later go back and get the visa stamped into your passport
2 months later go back and apply for a yearly extension of stay based on being over 50 and meeting the criteria.
DONE!
My suggestion which cuts two steps out of the above list is; get a hold of one of the honorary consulates in the US and ask for a 90 day, single entry Non-Immigrant Type-O visa because you're going to extend it in thailand when you arrive here.. 
If you're American, here's the link to the Royal Thai Honorary Consulates;
Royal Honorary Thai Consulates US

Email them and ask for exactly what I typed. Try Coral Gables or Houston, they're easy to deal with. DON'T try for what I suggested at Chicago, LA or New York they're hard as nails. 

IF you show up with that 90 day Non-O visa it's a relatively simple process to extend it for a year based on being over 50 and meeting the criteria for that type of extension of stay. 

Even if you're NOT american, you can contact the nearest Thai embassy or consulate to where ever you are and ask for what I typed out exactly.

You certainly DON'T need to use any of the places you listed to do such a simple thing. It requires paperwork but it ain't splicing the human genome or rocket science. You certainly can do it yourself with a little research..

Send me a P/M if you have questions.
Tod Daniels


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## PAUL-UK-BKK

very good advice tod-daniels


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