I was informed this morning that the Thai Consulate in New Orleans will no longer issue long term visas, including retirement visas. Checked with the Thai Embassy in Washington and they confirmed that these visas will only be issued by the embassy and not its consulates.

Oh well, that's one way to solve the inconsistency problem. I guess they didn't say why the consulates are going to stop issuing long-term visas. I wonder if that's just in the USA or if Thailand is stopping all consulates worldwide from issuing the visas.

 

At least the Thai embassy will still issue the retirement visa.

 

Actually, I don't consider it to be such a big loss. You can get the retirement visa just as easily right here in Thailand. The problems are the fact that it will be more expensive since applicants will have to pay to have their visas converted and will probably also have to make a trip to Bangkok to get the proof-of-income statement from the embassy and pay for that too.

 

The thing is, the immigration offices within Thailand won't issue the retirement visa to people who don't have a Thai bank account and most Thai banks are refusing to permit people who don't hold a retirement visa to open an account. How do applicants get around that little Catch-22?

 

The consulates in foreign countries issue the visa even if the applicant does not already hold a Thai bank account. If they're all being stopped, then the only way I can see to get around the problem if you don't already hold a Thai bank account is to apply for the retirement visa through the Thai embassy. So, you better hope the embassy won't require a Thai bank account and unless you live in the Washington, D.C. area, you also better hope a personal appearance at the embassy isn't required.

 

For years I've been urging people to open a Thai bank account while they still can. For those who didn't listen and couldn't be bothered, you can't say I didn't warn you.

 

We'll have to wait and see how this one plays out.

The Thai consulate in Toronto has never issued "retirement visas". It used to issue the 3 month non-immigrant visa, but not anymore. I always recommend my Canadian friends to get the retirement visa here, less costly and less hoops to navigate. A recent arrival got his at Jomtien, converted from a tourist visa, within 20 minutes.

The "Consul" in New Orleans is an "Honorary Consul" as are many others in various cities in USA. The Consulates in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles are regular consulates staffed with Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel. These Consulates' websites show they are still issuing the Non-Immigrant O-A Visa (called either long stay or retirement visa on their websites).

 

I agree with GB that the process here in Thailand for retirees is much simpler (and probably cheaper since getting the O-A requires a medical certificate (USA doctor fee), police clearance (costs vary), and some require bank letter/retirement letter be notarized). As for Thai bank account - not all bank branches require a Non-Immigrant visa to open an account - shop around.