RTE London are pretty good and can be flexible. If you are both applying for your own visas then you will both need to meet the individual requirements though.

You can both try submitting the same joint bank account statements and they might accept them. If you already have a pension then you can use that as proof of funds but your wife can show 3 months of least £10k in the bank.

I showed a travel insurance policy when I applied for the Non O. You only need 90 days of coverage. You won’t need Health Insurance for annual Extensions.

You can try applying without a return flight and if they insist just buy a cheap flight out of Thailand within the time frame, or one you can cancel.

You can show a hotel booking for a few days or so as proof of invite/address.

@Andrew ********

that’s wrong. You can get a Non O outside of Thailand as well. I got one last November from London.

The airline might insist on one before letting you board. It’s very unlikely that Thai immigration will ask.

You didn’t say what visa she entered on? If it was a Tourist Visa then around 28k for an agent is correct. It will be to convert the Tourist Visa to a Non O and to do the first 12-month extension at the same time, so your friend will be ok for 15 months.

Unless she wants to mess around and leave the country then she needs to use an agent just this time. If she transfers the money over now, and keeps the required amount for the next 15 months, then she can do the next Extension herself if she prefers.

Get a Tourist Visa.

@Thomas ********

Bety, very bad advice. Whatever dodge you use you do not own the house/land and can end up losing it - as a number of people have discovered over the years.

More than one option applies to me!

I’m renting long term but don’t actually live full time in Thailand. Lots of people in my condo building are similar. Eg Scandinavians own condos here and visit each winter for a few months. It’s much quieter in the building now than it was in December/January.

No, you don’t have to do anything. The legal requirement is for the place you are staying to notify Immigration of any foreigner staying there. Hotels generally do it automatically online. If you’re staying in rented accommodation such as a condo then it is the owner/agent of that condo that does it. If staying with Thai family then they should do it.

If you don’t intend to go to Immigration for an Extension then you really don’t need to worry about it.

If you are going to Immigration then they might fine you (though it should be the property owner) for it not being done.

At the airport you theoretically need to have proof of accommodation to enter the country but I’ve never been asked in 36 years of visiting Thailand.

Get a Tourist Visa, you’ve plenty of time. You app,y online. Do it 2 months or so before travel. You could have problems when you check in at the airport and, in any case, you don’t want to overstay if you can help it.

You can convert to a Non O visa ‘for Retirement’ and then do annual Extensions of Stay. You can come and go as you want as long as you get a Rentry Permit each time. You need 800k in a Thai bank account for the Extension. You might need this for the initial one depending which Immigration Office you are dealing with.

One of you can piggyback on the other’s visa but that means leaving the country and returning.

(You can pay an agent and avoid the cash in bank etc but it’s not cheap. Probably 25-35k each)

Edit: sorry, just saw you said partner not husband so you can’t piggyback)