Live in Phuket long-term from age 50. We manage the bank-deposit timing, the application, the immigration appointments and every annual extension, so your retirement stays exactly that.
It is a long-stay visa for foreigners aged 50 and over who want to live in Thailand without working. Once granted, you extend it one year at a time at Phuket Immigration, so you do not reapply from scratch or leave the country each year.
Thailand is one of the world’s most popular places to retire, and Phuket, with its beaches, private hospitals and a large, settled expat community, is where many choose to do it. In practice the “retirement visa” is a small family of visas built around the same age and financial rules: the Non-O (the route most retirees use), the Non-O-A from your home country, and the long-term Non-O-X for eligible nationalities.
The requirements are not complicated. What trips up do-it-yourself applicants is the timing: when money must be in the account, how long it has to sit there, and how recently the bank paperwork must be dated. Get one wrong and the appointment is refused.
The essentials, before we get into the detail.
All three are for over-50s and share the same headline finances. They differ in where you apply, how long you get, and how much paperwork the embassy demands up front.
| Feature | Non-O | O-A | O-X |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Where you apply
|
Convert in Thailand, or embassy abroad
|
Home-country embassy only
|
Home-country embassy (eligible nationalities)
|
|
Initial stay
|
90 days, then extend to 1 year
|
1 year on entry
|
Up to 10 years (5 + 5)
|
|
Financial test
|
฿800,000 or ฿65,000/mo
|
฿800,000 or ฿65,000/mo
|
฿3,000,000, or ฿1.8M + ฿1.2M/yr
|
|
Health insurance
|
Not required by law
|
Required
|
Required
|
|
Police clearance
|
No
|
Yes (within 3 months)
|
Yes
|
|
Renewal
|
Yearly, in Thailand
|
Yearly, in Thailand
|
Report every 90 days
|
|
Best for
|
Most retirees — flexible, low cost
|
Year granted before arrival
|
Long horizon, higher capital
|
Insurance is strongly recommended for every retiree regardless of route — private hospital care in Phuket is excellent but not free.
The headline figure is ฿800,000 in a Thai bank, but the money has to be the right money, in the right account, sitting there for the right length of time. There are three ways to qualify.
This is the single most common reason a first application is refused. The money cannot simply be transferred in the week before your appointment.
| Stage | What must be true |
|---|---|
|
Before first application
|
The full ฿800,000 in the account for at least 2 months.
|
|
Before each yearly renewal
|
The full ฿800,000 seasoned for 3 months.
|
|
Just after approval
|
Keep the full ฿800,000 for a further 3 months.
|
|
Rest of the year
|
The balance may drop for spending, but must never fall below ฿400,000.
|
|
The account
|
Sole account, in your name only — a joint account is not accepted.
|
|
Bank letter
|
Confirms the balance and is dated within 7 days of your appointment.
|
The order of operations — open the account, deposit, wait, get the bank letter dated correctly, then book the appointment — is everything. We map your exact dates backwards from when you want to be approved.
Exact requirements vary slightly between the conversion route and the embassy route, and between offices. This is the working set we prepare with you.
Most common.
On the conversion route, the 90-day Non-O plus the 12-month extension often add up to around 15 months from a single first-time application before your first true renewal.
It depends on your route, but going without it is a poor idea for any retiree in Thailand.
The O-A and O-X visas require health insurance that meets Thai immigration’s minimum coverage, shown at application and renewal. The in-country Non-O extension carries no legal insurance requirement, but Phuket’s private hospitals are excellent and priced accordingly — a single serious admission can cost more than a year of premiums.
Minimum coverage amounts and the list of approved insurers are updated by the authorities from time to time. We confirm the current figure for your route before you buy a policy.
A retirement visa is not “set and forget”. Four small obligations keep it valid. We handle all of them for our clients.
| Item | Fee | When |
|---|---|---|
|
Conversion to 90-day Non-O
|
฿2,000
|
Once, if converting in Thailand
|
|
1-year extension of stay
|
฿1,900
|
Every year
|
|
Single re-entry permit
|
฿1,000
|
Per trip abroad
|
|
Multiple re-entry permit
|
฿3,800
|
Covers the visa period
|
|
90-day report
|
Free
|
Every 90 days
|
|
O-A / O-X embassy fee
|
Varies (approx. USD)
|
Paid abroad at application
|
The retirement visa buys a comfortable, renewable life in Thailand, but it is explicitly a non-working visa.
Over-50 and not planning to work? Retirement is usually the simplest fit. Depending on your income, wealth and work plans, another long-stay visa may suit you better.
| Visa | Who it’s for | Length | Rough financial bar | Work? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Retirement (Non-O)
|
Over-50s not working
|
1 yr, renewable
|
฿800k or ฿65k/mo
|
No
|
|
LTR
|
Wealthy retirees, professionals
|
10 yr
|
Income / assets tiers
|
Yes (permit)
|
|
Privilege
|
No financial proof or age limit
|
5–20 yr
|
From ~฿650,000
|
No
|
฿800,000 held in a Thai bank and seasoned before you apply, or a monthly income of ฿65,000, or a combination reaching ฿800,000 across the year. You must also be 50 or older.
No. The one-year extension is renewed inside Thailand at Phuket Immigration. We prepare and attend the whole renewal for you.
It is required on the O-A and O-X routes and must meet Thai immigration’s minimum coverage. The Non-O extension does not legally require it, but it is strongly recommended.
Yes. Proven income of ฿65,000 per month qualifies you, and you can combine income and savings to reach the ฿800,000 annual threshold.
No. It does not permit any employment, paid or unpaid. To work, look at an LTR or a Non-B with a work permit.
Yes. A spouse under 50 can apply for a dependent Non-O tied to your visa, so you both stay under one financial requirement.
After approval you keep the full ฿800,000 for three months, after which it may fall for spending but must never drop below ฿400,000 for the rest of the year.
On the conversion route the 90-day Non-O takes about 3–4 weeks and the extension about 1–2 weeks, on top of the seasoning period beforehand.
You can buy a condominium within the foreign quota and lease houses or land, but you cannot own land outright.
To help you find the perfect fit for your move to Thailand, we invite you to book a free consultation with one of our relocation experts.
