Retirement Visa Thailand for Spouse & Dependents Services

No. This is an important strict rule: Thai immigration has no policy allowing a tourist visa to be changed to a Retirement Dependent Visa (Non-O Dependent) within the country. Applicants must apply for this Non-O visa from abroad through the online system only.

The correct and fastest solution is to have ethaivisa check that your relationship documents are complete, then travel to a neighbouring country (such as Laos or Malaysia) and submit an online visa application to the Royal Thai Embassy in that country. Once approved, you fly back into Thailand on the Dependent Visa.

There are slight differences. If the main holder has a Non-O-A, Non-O-X or LTR visa, dependants must apply for their visa from abroad only. If the main holder has a standard Non-O retirement visa, in some cases the local immigration office may allow a change of visa type to be filed together with it. However, do not take the risk on your own — we recommend checking the updated 2026 criteria with us before applying.

No, you do not need to send your original passport. The system is now 100% E-Visa. Once the application is approved, the visa document is sent to you by email. Simply print it out and present it with your passport at immigration at a Thai airport.

No separate account is needed. The dependant can rely on the main holder's bank statement (e.g. a balance of 800,000 THB or 3,000,000 THB) as shared financial support, by attaching a letter confirming responsibility for expenses in the system.

It is an official letter in English, issued and signed by the main holder (the retiree), declaring to the embassy and immigration that they agree to take responsibility for all living, travel and health insurance costs of their spouse/children for the entire time they live in Thailand.

If you both have sufficient savings, we recommend each opening an account showing 800,000 THB, so that you both hold a main retirement visa (Non-O Retirement) separately. This gives you more independence: if either of you gives up your status, the other can remain in Thailand unaffected.

You need an official marriage certificate (Marriage Certificate) or marriage registration issued by the government authority of the relevant country.

You need an official birth certificate (Birth Certificate) that clearly states the names of the father and mother (with the main holder named as the father or mother).

If family documents issued by a foreign government are submitted as they are, the online system will reject them immediately. The documents must be translated into English or Thai and must be legalised (Apostille or Consular Legalization) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country or the embassy, to confirm they are genuine as required by immigration law.

On the first entry with a visa issued by an embassy abroad, the immigration checkpoint will stamp an initial temporary stay of 90 days, giving you time to prepare and submit your annual extension documents together with the main holder in the next step.

Yes, it should be done at the same time. When the main holder (the retiree) submits their deposit documents for the annual extension at the immigration office, the dependant submits a TM.7 form alongside in the same visit, and the officer will stamp matching expiry dates for the whole family.

The extension of stay application fee (TM.7) is 1,900 THB per person per application, the same as for the main holder.

Once your visa has been extended annually, you must obtain a Re-entry Permit every time before leaving Thailand (Single 1,000 THB / Multiple 3,800 THB). If you leave without a Re-entry Permit, your Dependent Visa will be cancelled as soon as you pass through the immigration checkpoint.

Yes — every person and every passport (including young children). If you stay in Thailand continuously for more than 90 days without leaving the country, you are required to file a 90-Day Report under immigration law.

Yes. A child holding a Dependent Visa can study at educational institutions in Thailand under their temporary residence status, without changing to an Education Visa (Non-ED). However, in some areas the immigration office may ask to see a student certificate at the annual extension.

The status ends immediately when the child reaches 20 full years of age (legal adulthood). The child can no longer extend as a dependant and must change to a visa type in their own right instead, such as an Education Visa (Non-ED) or a work visa (Non-B).

The wife's Dependent Visa ends automatically on the very same day, since the main sponsoring status no longer exists. The family must either leave the country promptly or contact ethaivisa urgently to plan a change to another suitable visa type.

Most rejections occur because the marriage or birth certificate was not translated or lacks legalisation stamps from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs across borders, the scanned image files are unclear, or the main holder's account balance was not held steadily for the required period. If an application is rejected, the embassy does not refund the fee under any circumstances.

Dependent Visas involve highly complex "international legalisation stamp" requirements. If translations are prepared in the wrong format, or the online submission timeline does not align with the main holder's expiry date, the whole family's visas can be disrupted and tens of thousands of baht lost for nothing. The Ethaivisa team takes care of everything, from checking cross-border legalised translations and drafting the Sponsorship Letter to managing the submission timeline and immigration queues in Thailand seamlessly — so you and your loved ones can enjoy your retirement in Thailand together as happily and smoothly as possible.