Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Retirement Visas. Specifically we are discussing conversion to a Retirement Visa. Now there has been a lot of talk about this in recent weeks. Folks basically saying: "Okay, I am going to come into Thailand. I am going to use like a Visa Exemption stamp or a Tourist Visa and then just convert into a Retirement Visa." It may be possible to do that but as we have stated in other videos, it is discretionary on the part of the adjudicating Immigration Officer as to whether or not that conversion will be perfected.

Recently we had a case, it actually wasn't our case, we had somebody come to us after they had attempted to convert and they had some real problems. I think ultimately we are going to find a solution but quite frankly it is going to be a pretty convoluted solution because that local Immigration Officer seemed to take a major issue with the notion of just being able to sort of walk into the country in one temporary status and just move over to a more permanent Thai Retirement Visa status. Remember, the overarching paradigm with respect to all Non-Immigrant Visas in Thailand is that Non-immigrants if they are changing status or converting status need to step out of the country. They need to basically leave, do a "border run", and then travel back in with a new Visa. Well you could call it a Visa Run; they have got to go to an Embassy, get a new Non-Immigrant Visa and then come back in. The presumption has never been that this is been something that should be done in-country. 

Now obviously there were exigent needs that came up as a result of the recent pandemic or I should say the Government response thereto especially with respect to border crossings or lack thereof, border closures, but the thing to understand is at the end of the day the paradigm is you are supposed to leave. Also, it is at the discretion of the adjudicating Officer. In this set of circumstances that Officer felt there was not a real need to convert and there were some issues that this person had when they were doing it themselves with respect to some of their evidence associated with the conversion that resulted in basically being told "yeah, no we are not going to do that, so move on!" essentially. Now again, they contacted us and I think ultimately we will have a successful solution but again it is pretty convoluted one. It is kind of a Gordian Knot. We are going to have to kind of go through a bunch of different steps to regularize this person’s status especially now that certain aspects of this have become somewhat irreparable. 

Leaving that aside, I think there is kind of an air of being able to convert is just a foregone conclusion. That is not necessarily the case. If you are looking to come into Thailand to retire, frankly the best way to do that is to get a Retirement Visa before coming in. Now if you find yourself in a set of circumstances which do arise where you come to Thailand thinking you were going to be a tourist and you want to change that and stay longer and you meet certain criteria associated with a Retirement Visa, it may be possible to convert status but understand it is not a foregone conclusion.