Retirement visa question

[Super Joe]

Hi, sorry if covered before but cant search as on mobile, friends retirement visa up soon, does not have the show money or income, so needs to get new visa not an extension.
Aus national, can he get new visa in Penang or another Asian place or have to go back to Aus to get ?

Thanks for any help,

SJ

[lomuamart]

I reckon he should be OK for a single-entry Non O on the basis of checking the country out for retirement purposes in Penang. I've had two from there recently on the basis of marriage.
I very much doubt he'll get a multi-entry. Penang, and other neighbouring countries are not issuing them easily any more. There might be a chance in KL, but I don't know anyone who's been there for retirement, only marriage.
Here's the details of the agents I use in Penang. They're well known and havn't let me down:

NJ Book Centre
Chulia Steet
Georgetown
Penang
email: njbookscentre@hotmail.com
tel: 0604 2616113
mob: 016 4306474

They've been good at replying to my emails in the past.

If your friend is actually after a "retirement visa" that, strictly speaking, is a Non Imm OA that gives an entry stamp for a year on entry to Thailand. Normal 90 day reporting requirements apply. Has to be applied for in home country, money in a bank somewhere necessary and health/police certificates required. If you want more info on this let me know and I'll link you to the relevant Thai Imm/MFA sites that give chapter and verse.
PS, your friend really should check the visa agents first. Penang may want to see some money for the Non O for retirement. They havn't needed it for mine for marriage.

[Super Joe]

thanks Lomu i had a hunch it would be you, he is currently on the one year multi-entry based on retirement, do you think that will affect his chances as it will be apparent he does not have the income requirements to simply extend ?
I'll pass your advice on.

Thanks,
SJ

[Nereus]

Hi, sorry if covered before but cant search as on mobile, friends retirement visa up soon, does not have the show money or income, so needs to get new visa not an extension.
Aus national, can he get new visa in Penang or another Asian place or have to go back to Aus to get ?

Thanks for any help,

SJ

Without being pedantic, or detracting from what Lomu has written, there is no such animal as a "retirement visa". The process is an" extension of stay" of an original Non O visa, based on retirement if you can meet the criteria. The only exception is as Lomu has written, OA visa, which still needs the money requirement. He may get a multple entry, one year Non O visa in Singapore, or KL as Lomu has stated. Perth is probably a better bet, as the last that I heard they were still issuing them there.

Would be interested in hearing about the outcome of this, as there are probably others than cannot come up with either the income, or the
800k in a Thai bank.

[lomuamart]

Unfortunately, I think it might affect the chances, but not necessarily first, or even second time round.
An application to visit a Thai wife (supported by all the docs) will be much harder legally to turn down than a potential retiree who may be viewed as a "permanent tourist", as they can't meet the financial requirements to extend. I'm not trying to be judgmental here, simply trying to look at it through the consulate's mind in the present day.
A chink of light, however, is that I've heard that the consul who was causing so much trouble issuing multi entry Non O's and even Tourist Visas lately (including my two trips there), has been removed. Don't know how true that is, so it's definitely worth an email to the agents to get their view.

[Super Joe]

Thanks again, will pass on info.

SJ

[Roel]

In theory a good idea lomuamart to get the view of the local agents. However their answer will probably be "no problem" and you will find out if this answer was correct once you are there and did the apllication and not before that.
Although Mr. NJ Book Shop (I forgot his name) is a very helpful and friendly guy and so are his 12 brothers but he really is not in a position to clear matters upfront. He also replied to my email in which I asked him what documents I should bring for my visa apllication when I was between jobs. The answer was not very helpful "yes, you can come here and we make visa for you".
Because the rules and the interpretations change by the hour and differ from case to case I would suggest checking out some alternative internet sources (cannot mention any links here). What was the experience of people in a similar situation who have been to Penang or elsewhere very recently. All this first hand information is available on the web. If I was Mr. NJ I would probably not advise people they better go to Kuala Lumpur.

[lomuamart]

Quite right, Roel. A visa is never guaranteed and you'll never know what the daily situation is until you apply. That's the case worldwide.
However, as the effort to get information is only the time it take to send an email, I can't see the harm in it. Mr Ali (and his brothers) have been helpful on both occasions I've contacted them and the first time even suggested I bring an extra document that I hadn't thought of. Nothing's guaranteed though.
Alternative sources of information are important too, especially with this case, as it would appear that no-one on the forum has been through the same thing before. The OP has had a PM about that already

[Roel]

Hi lomuamart. I agree an email won't hurt. I am only saying do not rely too much on information provided by a local agent who makes a living assisting with visa applications.
I met a French guy on my last visa trip to Penang who was convinced that he would get a 1 year multiple O this time because Mr. Ali had told him that by email. When he asked again once he was there Mr. Ali changed the "yes" into "sometimes". And the "sometimes" changed into "not this time" when he went to collect his passport. I had the impression Mr. Ali knew this from the start, but maybe I am just paranoid.

[Super Joe]

thanks for input everyone, he's decided to try Malaysia will advise how he gets on.

SJ

[jimflan]

how did he get on in Malaysia ?

[PET]

My one year vias ( retirement) expires in February and immigartion told me I had to report for renewal one month earlier.
I have the required income letter from the British embassy and I suppose I need to show my residence contract, photocopy of passport front page and passport photos.
Can somebody confirm what is needed as this is my first renewal/extension?

[lomuamart]

I did mine in September and all they looked at was:
Passport/visa
Embassy letter
Rental contract for house
Hand drawn map of where the house is.
2 copies of everything, I would suggest to be on the safe side, although they just took the originals.

I had bank statements from the UK in case Imm asked for backup to The Embassy letter, but they didn't.
The whole process took about 45 minutes. The longest part was waiting for the boss to turn up, check everything and sign the extension off.
It's normal for Imm to ask you to apply during the last 30 days of any visa or entry's validity. That way, if you are missing anything, there's time to rectify the situation.

One thing I'd ask is how long ago did you get the Embassy letter? There's no hard and fast rule about how current it needs to be when you apply, but they might not like it if it's a number of months old.

PS: Do I assume that you have a Non Imm OA visa and this is your first annual extension of it?

[PET]

As usual, very many thanks ' lomuamart'.

I obtained the embassy letter 6 weeks ago, so that should be ok.

Yes, I do have a Non Imm OA visa and this is my first extension.

[Nereus]

As usual, very many thanks ' lomuamart'.

I obtained the embassy letter 6 weeks ago, so that should be ok.

Yes, I do have a Non Imm OA visa and this is my first extension.

Along with that which Lomu has written, have a copy of the OA visa and the entry stamp that goes with it. Each year they ask for a copy of the ORIGINAL entry stamp. You can get photo copies done at the small place that is part of the Immigartion building, (unless this has changed recently), but it is better to have the correct copies to start with.