Visa Criteria, Procedures Clarified

PHUKET TOWN: The superintendent of the Phuket Immigration Office, Pol Col Phirojana Praesakul, confirmed to the Gazette this morning that the financial requirements for the non-immigrant ‘O-A’ visa are as follows: 1) at least 800,000 baht in liquid funds in a Thai or overseas bank (the definition of “liquid” was not immediately available, so it was not clear whether fixed deposits of 3, 6, 9 months, etc, would qualify); or 2) income of 65,000 baht per month; or 3) a total of 800,000 baht when combining annual income with bank deposits. Thus, if annual income were 500,000 baht and (liquid) bank deposits were 300,000, a candidate would in principle meet the requirements. The superintendent emphasized that deposit and income numbers must be documented to the Immigration Department’s satisfaction, and that applications for the O-A visa must be submitted outside of Thailand. They may be filed in any country that has a Thai embassy, he said.