Hi all. I'm a new poster to Udon Map. I've been reading this forum and also ThaiVisa. I have enjoyed most of the posts but am somewhat confused about some things.

First, some info on myself.

I live in Melbourne Florida USA with my Thai wife of 33 years. We are contemplating moving to Udon some time next year. My wife is making a trip to Udon in February 2007 to check on property and other things.

My confusion is concerning some of the retirement visa rules (i'm over 50 -way over 50!! ) I understand most of the requirements as to what I have to submit to get the visa but I have read some posts that confused me. I am talking about bank accounts. Is it OK (by Nhon Khai standards) to have a joint account with my wife and put our money there or is it necessary for me to have my own account. I have read where some say it must be in my name only and some say a joint account is OK. Can anyone enlighten me on what Nhon Khai Immigration people accept?

I'd like to know so when the wife goes there next year she can make the proper account changes. By the way, we already have a joint account at the Bangkok Bank in Udon.

I hope I have made everything clear. Anyway, I would appreciate any assistance. I will save any other questions and present them as the arise.

I really enjoy the forum and hope to be a more active member in the future (even if I have to take a few hits from time to time). Sorry for the lenghty post.

Cheers everyone and thanks.

I know one couple here in Udon had joint account for convenience, he is home bound. Were told they would have to have twice the deposit required for single account. BTW if your wife is a US citizen it will also effect cash flow/deposit requirements.

There are at least three couples here in Udon with your same status. Maybe one will post. I could give my opinion, but why mislead. Two are on retirement visa's and one couple is on a year muliti-entry Non "O".

The latter might be a good idea for the first year, while you decide if you want to stay. Might also be a good idea to rent for that year.

I think I am the one Dakota is speaking of on a Non-Immigrant "O" multi entry visa.

You meet all the riquirements as explained in your post for this type of visa. Married to a Thai (does not matter if wife is US citizen or not) and that will be all you need. You will not have to worry about bank accounts or any of the rest. You will have to leave the Kingdom of Thailand every 90 days to keep it current.

This will allow you to be able to come to Thailand and see if you like living here with the least intrusion by immigrations in your private life. As I have been married for 36 years I will assume you have kids in the states. It might be a good chance to see if being seperated from them will work. I have seen that being Grandma is important to my wife. We will stay awhile but have made up our mind to return to the States one of these days. Saying that, I do not know when. We do enjoy our time in Udon. The visa above allows us to stay and enjoy without the hassels of banks, criminal checks, Embassy letters etc to do this.

I will say if you are sure of your stay will be permanent, and you qualify for the retirement visa (which we do) I would look into it. However the way I am doing it now is so much easier and less intrusive into my personal business. That is just me.

Hopefully someone on the retirement visa will speak up. The best advice that can be had is to visit the consulate where you live or the Embassy in Washington. It helps if you find a nice person to deal with (which you can not be sure will happen) but if you do they will discuss the situation you are in and guide you on this. Call the consulate in Houston. The lady there is extremely helpful. Just tell them you are in Texas. It does not really matter but you don't want them to tell you to call Florida as I have heard they are not so helpful.

Good luck on your choice.

i was also on multi non O married, 90 day reentries. very easy, as mention, not intrusive. never extended the marriage, when found out available, i qualified for retirement, and was no longer married. married and retirement extensions are fairly the same, one year w/90 day reports, no reentries, just a paper to immigrations saying you still have a pulse and nothing changed. married financial is 400,000 baht savings/income per yr retirement is 800,000. one or 2 pieces of paper for married. the thai embassy websites, at least the one in los angeles had up to date accurate info. both need med report, but wait till here, do at aek udon hosp. they check for a pulse, that's about it, 60 baht. if done out of country, police report, someone said in country need also first time, but they never asked me for one. financial statement form embassy verifying income. savings bank statement verifying present balance, that must say the money comes from out of country, and it must be addressed to nong khai immigrations. not a copy of statement w/stamp and signature, a typed letter to NKI, saying deposits come from out of country. easily done. can't think of anything else, of course if married, certificate of marriage and half the financial requirement. the extension is done in country, if on a visa, you can not apply until 30 days before your present visa expires. if not approved within the next 30 days, they will give you a free extension stamp. then next 30 days, same if not done. mine was done in 5 minutes by nina, if heard others wait 3 to 6 months. but i was already here for over 4 yrs on multi non O.

hope that helps, actually quite easy.

laphanphon wrote:i was also on multi non O married, 90 day reentries. very easy, as mention, not intrusive. never extended the marriage, when found out available, i qualified for retirement, and was no longer married. married and retirement extensions are fairly the same, one year w/90 day reports, no reentries, just a paper to immigrations saying you still have a pulse and nothing changed. married financial is 400,000 baht savings/income per yr retirement is 800,000. one or 2 pieces of paper for married. the thai embassy websites, at least the one in los angeles had up to date accurate info. both need med report, but wait till here, do at aek udon hosp. they check for a pulse, that's about it, 60 baht. if done out of country, police report, someone said in country need also first time, but they never asked me for one. financial statement form embassy verifying income. savings bank statement verifying present balance, that must say the money comes from out of country, and it must be addressed to nong khai immigrations. not a copy of statement w/stamp and signature, a typed letter to NKI, saying deposits come from out of country. easily done. can't think of anything else, of course if married, certificate of marriage and half the financial requirement. the extension is done in country, if on a visa, you can not apply until 30 days before your present visa expires. if not approved within the next 30 days, they will give you a free extension stamp. then next 30 days, same if not done. mine was done in 5 minutes by nina, if heard others wait 3 to 6 months. but i was already here for over 4 yrs on multi non O.

hope that helps, actually quite easy.

Lapha you quite often have some good information in your posts, but it is all lost and the post rendered unreadable by a lack of capital letters and paragraphs.

Any chance of helping out the old folk with fading eyesight, and taking a couple of extra minutes when you write.

I for one would appreciate it.

Regards

jack

I was also on multi non O married visa, 90 day re-entries. Very easy, as mentioned, not intrusive. Never extended the marriage visa, when I found out it was available, I qualified for the retirement visa and was no longer married. Married and retirement extension visas are fairly the same. One year with 90 day reports to immigrations with fill in the blanks form of theirs, no re-entries, just the paper saying you have a pulse and nothing has changed. Marriage visas financial requirement is 400,000 baht savings and or income per year, although in Nong Khai, they want both, statement of income and working bank account with deposits on a fairly monthly basis. The bank letter, is not a copy of your statement, with stamp and signature. It must be a letter, addressed to Nong Khai Immigrations, stating amounts of deposit and money has come from out of country. Retirement financial is the same, with exception of amount, which is 800,000 baht. Both need a medical certificate stating you have a pulse and are in good health, which can be obtained in Udon Thani at AEK Udon Hospital for 60 baht day of application. A police report, which I was not asked for, but have been here on multiple non O visa for few years. Others have been required to have. If applying for marriage visa extension, you will need you marriage certificate. Extensions for marriage visa must be applied for in country. Retirement can also be applied for in country or out. If not approved within 30 days, you will be given a free extension of visa, and again in another 30 days until approved. My retirement visa took all of 5 minutes for approval by Nina, but as stated, I was already here for few years. Others have taken 3 to 6 months. So don

Thanks everyone for the quick responses and la thanks for the LA link. I find it much better than what's posted at the Thai Embassy site in Washington. I have to do some thinking about what to do but I think I will lean towards the retirement visa. My wife and I have no children so that is not an issue. Once I leave the good ol' US I plan to stay. Nothing for me here and the way things are going here in Florida -the insurance rates mostly - makes it difficult to live here on a fixed income. The only thing I can see that will keep me here longer than I want is trying to sell our home. The market is pretty stale at the moment.

I will have the wife check with the bank and immigration when she goes there in February. Maybe by then they will have some new rules - perhaps some that are not so prone to interpretation.

Thanks again all.

Be posting again soon. I have many things on my mind that I'd like to put out for comment and discussion.

Cheers

dcas

dcas

Good luck with your house sale. I think your mind set will assure you folks success when relocate to Thailand. My planing for retirement here was way, way, conservative. Had I stayed in Honolulu I would have had an existence, here I live the good life and have cash in my pocket. I've heard quite a few negative things about the LA consulate, but also a few positive. A friend who was living in California used the Portland OR consulate and was very satisfied. I went through the Honolulu consulate and although it went very smoothly there was a mix up as to the number of entries allowed with my retirement visa.

I am glad you posted on here about a question on Immigrating to Thailand. However I am really happy that a lot of folks are now saying to visit the Embassy/Counsulate to get definative answers.

The ones that are mainly in for a shock are the ones that only get advice for immigration from a forum no matter whose forum.

Good luck. There is a vast knowledge base on the forum. Tap it and good luck with your move.

jetdoc - I hope I have all bases covered before I leave so perhaps things will go more smoothly. I have always been one to do all the research I can before jumping into something as important as this move. The forums have been a great deal of help to get me started in the right direction. I am anxiously anticipating the move and hope that it will go well.

banpaeng - As I said to jetdoc, I really try to study situations from all sides so I don't have any surprises. There are a lot of angles to cover in a move like this so I'm glad I have plenty of time to get all the information I may need.

Thanks again for all the info. I hope I will get to meet most or all of you guys sometime next year. If I get any info that I think may be of interest to you all I will post it.

dcas