soisanuk

The validity period for the Visa as mentioned is 6 months from date of issue. However, your permission to stay in Thailand be 60 days from the date of entry which can be extended for another 30 days at Thai Immigration. If you depart and return to Thailand prior to the expiration date of the "Visa", you again receive 60 days which can again be extended. For example, if your METV "Visa" expires on October 15, 2022 and you enter Thailand on October 14, 2022, your permission to stay stamp will be until October 12, 2022 and extended for an additional 30 days until January 12, 2023.

Back when Chase introduced their Global Transfer, I did a comparison using it vs using Wise. Although Chase's fee was only US$5 (all transfers) to Wise's cost of around US$15+ for about US$2,000, Chase converts the dollars to baht before the transfer. Their fee may be low, but their exchange rate is in essence a hidden fee due to their exchange rate resulting in less baht actually being received when compared to Wise. When I did my comparison for a transfer on the same date, Wise even after their higher fee would have deposited the 1,600 more baht in my Bangkok Bank account.

As mentioned, the O-A visa cannot be obtained in other than your country of residence. However, as also mentioned you can accomplish your desire to retire in Thailand by obtaining the "O" category visa in Thailand which will grant you a 90 day permission to stay from the date it is issued by Thai Immigration. You wait for 60 days then you apply for a one year extension for the purpose of retirement. A big advantage to obtaining the "O" Visa in Thailand over the "O-A" obtained in your country of residence is there is no health insurance requirement to obtain the "O" Visa or extend your stay. If you obtain the "O-A" there is a requirement for you to have the equivalent of US$100,000 health cover to obtain it (from Thai Embassy/Consulate, the policy can be non-Thai - however, to extend your stay in Thailand, Thai Immigration currently requires holders of "O-A" Visas to show proof of health insurance from a Thai company -- this could change as there has been some news articles about this happening in October this year, but there is no assurance that it will).

Correct for Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration. There is really no need to pay an agent to do it for you, although that of course is up to an individual's preference. So long as you have the required documents, obtaining a renewal of a retirement extensions is fairly easy - for myself, it has never taken more than 25 minutes including the time i was #6 in the queue. The Pattaya City Expats Club provides a checklist for documents needed at Pattaya Immigration - go to their website (www.pcec.club) and hover your mouse over the "Thai Immigration" topic to see another drop down menu - then hover it over "Extending Your Stay" and click on "Checklists" to go to the page with the information on documents required.

Although having proof of onward travel within the initial 30 days of a "Visa Exempt" entry is a requirement for entry, it is seldom if ever checked by Thai Immigration. The above is correct - many airlines will deny boarding if you can't show a ticket for onward travel within 30 days of your arrival because their computer system shows it is required for entry into Thailand unless you have a "Visa" (Tourist, Non-Immigrant, etc.). They don't know that Thai Immigration doesn't enforce this requirement. As far as they know, you could be denied entry and the airline would be on the hook for putting you on another flight (their cost) and possibly get a fine. Many facing this situation just buy a cheap throw away ticket to a neighboring country so they can show evidence of onward travel while others buy a refundable ticket they can later cancel.

Free government provided vaccine doses including boosters are available until 31 July at Royal Garden shopping mall, 1st floor - from 11:00-15:00 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday . You can choose the type of vaccine you wish to inject, Phizer, Astrazeneca, Sinopharm, or Covovax.

Marcos in Jomtien - https://www.marcospattaya.com/

A good question as each Immigration Office has their own requirements. Chonburi (Pattaya) Immigration does not require you to attach photo to TM.7 - they do it for you (I usually get my photo next door just before going in to do my extension without attaching it). Further, they require only one photo for retirement extensions.

That it may, BUT each Immigration Office has their own requirements which may differ as to what type of document they may accept. To get more accurate information, it helps if the poster states which Immigration Office they will be using which may result in a response from someone who has used that particular Office for the same purpose(s).

Dependents of those granted extensions for retirement, education, etc. need to obtain a Non-Immigrant Visa from a Thai Embassy or Consulate outside of Thailand.