Are Bangkok visa agents necessary for retirement or not?

Be careful of visa agents. DO NOT use ***. Terrible service, lots of lies and difficult to get passport back from them.

90 day reporting is easy.

...So I would prefer doing the application by myself. However, on the other hand, I'm told that dealing with the 90 day reporting requirements and renewal process each year can become extremely bothersome and that's mainly why expats choose to use the visa agents.

My idea was to apply for the retirement visa by myself, do the bank by myself, but later use the agency for the 90 day reporting or renewal process, is this good thinking?! - @lenichan7

I'm in Vietnam, but my first cousin has been living over there in Thailand for about 12 years and he absolutely swears (positively) by his agent and their ability to keep him there on 1 year visas.

Up until this year he's only had about $1,000 Social Security and $250 VA pension bump for income but he was always able to get his visa and avoid doing the 3 month reporting in person.

Now, his VA (US Veteran) disability claim was finally approved and his income now puts him in the range where he is fully qualified for the retirement visa system (that I don't fully understand).

So I'm just saying he's managed to be there over a decade using an agent.

I think if you read back through the forum here you're going to find some long-time posters who can refer you to a trustworthy agent.

I never recommend that people just get a name off of Face.book.

Good luck and peace with your decision

I never understood why you should pay expensive agents to get your Extension of Stay ( it is not a visa when you renew it every year, your visa expires after the first 12 or 15 months) and 90 day Report. All info you can get on the Thai government sites. You need to be over 55 years of age. As I understood you are not married to a Thai so you need min. 800.000B in a Thai bank for two months certified by your passbook AND an affidavit from your bank written the same day go to Immigration. OR if your embassy states that you have an income, like pension from your country, of 65.000THB/month or more. Then you need a statement showing where you live in Thailand and a health insurance and pictures. There is more but I do not remember as I do the cheaper alternative with marriage to a Thai. You can als go to your immigration office and ask them. They will have an instruction paper for you. It is NOT difficult.

The 90 day report is very simple. You will have a paper slip in your passport from when you did the extension and it says the date for the next

report. You can go a week before that date and you will only need your passport. Give it to the officer who does 90 day reports and you get it back after a minute. Check the new date on the paper slip. Done.

Apologies I missed the replies, I did not login for a while.

As it turns out the 90 day reports are entirely online now so you don't even need to visit the Immigration office anymore so one less thing to worry about!

Thank you Racin and other comments, much of what I read has me more suspicious than ever about trusting my long-term safety in Thailand to a visa agent who may or may not follow the rules.

Most of what I read--why some are using agents is because they do not have enough savings in their bank and thus using agents to "fix" their paperwork. What a gamble! I cannot imagine using "magic" paperwork when I'm planning to live there for next 10+ years...

Most likely I will do everything by myself to avoid drama.... thank you all.

Remember, you can always go to your immigration office and ask an officer if you are uncertain about something regarding your stay. They have some leeway so information may difffer some between offices but if you go to the office you must use for your reports and they will tell you how they want you to  do it.

@lenichan7

Drama? No chance.. If you use a well known agent.

When you visit your local immigration for any reason... who will they love more... the visa holder who paid 1900 thb (DIY) or the guy that used an agent.... immigration IOs share 10 to 35k per applicant.

No drama.

Been living in Thailand over 17 years. Found a trusted accountant and she still does all my paperwork. If you try it yourself it might get very difficult. Avoid the drama and use an agent.