Thailand has three retirement visas that open at 50, and a fourth route for wealthy pensioners run by a different agency on different terms. Three of the four test your money in baht.
The first three come from the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Los Angeles’s page, last updated on 1 September 2026 and read on 23 September. The consulate is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ network of missions. The wealthy-pensioner route comes from the Board of Investment’s own LTR site. Requirements specific to applying from the United States, such as the FBI record, are marked as such.
The four routes
| Non-O (retirement) | O-A (long stay) | O-X (long stay) | LTR Wealthy Pensioner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stay granted | 90 days | 1 year | 5 years, twice (10 in total) | 5 years, extendable by 5 |
| Minimum age | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Nationality limit | None stated | None stated | 18 countries only | None stated |
| Money test | 800,000 baht deposit, or 65,000 baht a month pension | Same as Non-O | 3 million baht in Thailand, or 1.8 million plus 1.2 million a year income | US$80,000 a year passive income |
| Health insurance | None on this page | THB 3,000,000 per policy year | THB 3,000,000 per policy year | US$50,000, or an alternative |
| Work | Prohibited | Prohibited | Prohibited | Work permit available, 3,000 baht a year |
The consulate’s fees are US$80 single entry or US$200 multiple entry for the Non-O and US$200 for the O-A. Processing takes at least 15 business days. The LTR carries a processing fee of 50,000 baht per person for ten years.
The money test is in baht
For the Non-O and the O-A, the consulate lists three ways to pass: a bank balance of no less than 800,000 baht, an income certificate showing a monthly pension of no less than 65,000 baht, or a combination of deposit and pension.
The consulate’s page prints the combination as totalling 80,000 baht, a tenth of the deposit route above it. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own O-A page resolves it: there, deposit plus pension must total not less than 800,000 baht, and the police order governing extensions in Thailand uses the same 800,000 figure. Treat the consulate’s 80,000 as a dropped zero and plan on 800,000.
The O-X test is heavier. It wants 3 million baht in a bank in Thailand, or 1.8 million baht on deposit plus an annual income of no less than 1.2 million baht. The deposit must be kept in full for at least a year, and after that must not fall below 500,000 baht.
Once you are resident, bringing that money into Thailand can have a tax consequence, set out in Thailand’s tax on the pension you bring in. If your pension is paid in pounds, euros or dollars, an exchange rate you do not control measures every threshold, and how the currency sits inside the test has its own page.
The O-X is open to 18 nationalities
The consulate lists the eligible passports as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Anyone else is limited to the O-A and the Non-O, whatever their money.
Health insurance and the certificate
The O-A and O-X both require health insurance for the whole stay with a total sum insured of THB 3,000,000, stated as US$100,000, per policy year, including cover for COVID-19.
A policy from a Thai insurer is accepted on its own paperwork, and the consulate points to a list of participating Thai companies at longstay.tgia.org. A policy from a foreign insurer must come with the original policy document and a Foreign Insurance Certificate, in the form stipulated by Thailand’s Office of Insurance Commission, completed, signed and stamped by the insurance company.
Before you pay, ask the insurer whether it will sign Thailand’s certificate. A policy that clears three million baht of cover is useless to this application if the company will not complete the form.
The O-A application also asks for a medical certificate showing none of the prohibited conditions listed in Ministerial Regulation No. 14, and a criminal record check. Both must be no more than three months old. From the United States, the record is an FBI certificate.
The wealthy-pensioner route has the lower insurance bar
The Board of Investment’s Long-Term Resident visa includes a Wealthy Pensioners category for people aged 50 and over. It wants passive income of at least US$80,000 a year at the time of application. The BOI says salaries and other earned income do not count. Pensions, rent, dividends, interest and realised capital gains do.
An applicant with between US$40,000 and US$80,000 must also hold US$250,000 invested in Thailand: in Thai government bonds with at least five years to run, a Thai-registered company or Thai property. The BOI requires the investment to be made before applying. If the property is a condominium unit, the Land Office’s own conditions apply too, set out in buying a condominium in Thailand as a foreigner.
The LTR asks for health cover of US$50,000, half the O-A’s figure, or Thai social security, or US$100,000 kept in a bank account in your name for at least twelve months. It is the only route here where money can stand in for a policy.
The LTR’s other stated privileges include a one-year report in place of the 90-day report, a multiple re-entry permit, fast-track lanes at international airports and a tax exemption on overseas income. Applications go through the BOI’s own online system, where the BOI charges no fee for the endorsement, or through a paid service run by VFS Global. The tax line, the year-five re-check and the work permit are set out in what the LTR’s Wealthy Pensioner category asks and changes.
Where and how you apply
Applications are made through Thailand’s online e-Visa system. The consulate’s page requires you to hold the nationality of, or residence in, the country where you apply. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ O-A page also lists the Immigration Bureau’s office in Bangkok as a place to apply.
The Non-O also asks for a hotel booking or other accommodation arrangement and a flight itinerary. Once you live in Thailand, the address rules that apply to every foreigner still apply to you, including the landlord’s report covered in our guide to Thailand’s TM30 accommodation notice.
After the first year
Most retirees extend their stay each year at the immigration office where they live, under a police order with its own money timetable and, for O-A holders, its own insurance standard. The one-year extension in Chiang Mai sets out the process.
Compared with its neighbours
Malaysia’s programme asks for a deposit and a compulsory property purchase and no income at all, covered in what MM2H asks of a retiree. The Philippines opens its retiree visa at 40 and sets its pension test in US dollars. The retirement planning sequence puts the three countries on one page.