SpokaneAl

Doe the Thai LA consul have a recommended local clinic in the SoCal area that can do the medical checks?


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If I might ask- how did you handle the Police clearance- and how long did it take?  It appears they will accept in LA only an FBI or State Clearance. Some of us long term in Thailand are now considering the O-A Visa they you are applying for but have not been back to the US for some years so timing would be important so as not to sped weeks waiting in the US.
 
In addition- regarding the medical  - realize the form is used= can any Doctor or clinic do it and could it be done in Thailand.
 
Thank you or others for any info on this.

Thank you Bernie622, I have a lot to do here. I am keeping my house in the US so arranging property management, switch insurance to landlord, doing some repairs to ensure fewer problems while I am away. I am packing now, to figure out what to take and what to put in garage sale this weekend. Packing is down to 2 boxes + 1 luggage (will be $137 extra luggage fee on plane) and garage sale pile is huge!! I get my visa next week and hope to be on a plane to Chiang Mai by late April. I have to run up to Oregon to see my daughter and brother before I leave. Whew, I have been dreaming of this all my life and working towards it for the last year (divorce, quit job, spent time "dropping bomb" on kids, managed finances, etc). It's so cool that it is finally coming to fruition.
 
Only thing I can share as far as "learning" anything... and I can't remember if it was on this thread or another, but an American gentleman mentioned he was having difficulty figuring cell phone service and he had the cheapest plan at ATT but that was still expensive. I did discover TING. I haven't signed up yet but they bill by usage. Base rate is $6 a line and then nominal fee for phone mins, text and data. They use both the Sprint system CDMA (I hear it is NOT good in Thailand) and the T-Mobile GSM system which I hear is pretty good in Thailand... you get to choose which system you want (at least that what their add says). When I checked how much my bill would be right now with my current usage in the US, it seemed to be just a bit cheaper than what I am paying with Verizon. So I plan to switch to TING for my American phone and not use much in Thailand and hopefully the bill will be $6-$20), and this will keep my US number and have US phone available for visits back. And then I plan to get a Thai SIM with second phone for Asia travel. Anyway, when I have some time later I will find that post and answer with this info.
 
Many thanks Bernie622 and maybe we will connect once I get over there. [emoji846]

There is a Ship to Thai store on Hollywood boulevard in Thaitown Los Angeles.They provide the standard box,you fill it and give address in Thailand..Provides a inexpensive way for bulky items if your not in a hurry.
 
 

Cool Cool. Good advice!! I do have time but 1) The websites are so confusing I'm not sure I have everything correct. I have found 3 different visa applications and don't know which one is correct. So I'll bring all 3 [emoji846]  And 2) My son lives in LA... nice excuse for a hug.

Thank you. You are correct. I have everything and will be driving the 8 hours to LA next week to get my shiny sticker. I was just checking to make sure I have everything before the long drive.
 
Regarding the rest of your post... OK, I am NOT a genius, haha!!! And I am "asking". If the sticker says valid until xx/yy/2020 with one year validity, how will I be able to stay 2 years?
 
And, my plan is once I am in Thailand and probably towards the end of the validity of the one (or two year?) visa that I am able to obtain in LA... in Thailand I hope to obtain a 5 year retirement (multi-entry) visa with $$'s in a Thai bank. My goal is to stay 11 years before I am forced to leave and get a new visa from outside Thailand (if I decide to stay longer than 11 years)? So, ....a one year visa issued before I leave, then converted to a 5 year retirement visa once inside Thailand, then renewal of 5 year retirement visa, then I will HAVE to leave Thailand to get another visa. Although I plan to travel all over the world as well as return for vacation to the US off and on in that 11 year span.
 
Again? Is my planning correct? Does it sound like I can do it this way?
 

Are fingerprints for OA visas a specific USA requirement? I have not read any reports on here of OA applicants at the London Embassy being required to provide fingerprints - and it is certainly not included in the list of requirements on their website!

 

http://www.thaiembassy.org/london/en/services/7742/84508-Non-Immigrant-visas.html#7

 

Fingerprints for a non imm o-a multi entry visa via a Thai Embassy or Consulate in the US are not an absolute requirement. I have obtained a number of these visas and have never been required to be fingerprinted.

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[mention=176603]SpokaneAl[/mention]
 
There are many pedants on TV.
Some correct people who talk about 'renewing their visa', and insist that they refer to an 'extension of stay' instead.
 
You have taken this to a new level, congratulations.
 
My use of the word extend implies my understanding of this.
 
 
 
 

 
It was the fingerprinting part I was thinking of mainly.... If you can only do that once you're back in the States, then you're having to wait for the processing and return mail turnaround time.
 
I have addresses in the U.S.  But if I have to wait to start the process until I go to have fingerprinting done in the U.S., that's going to require days of sitting around waiting for the return of the DOJ document, and only then can I go to the Consulate with my application package.
 

One question that occurs to me here is this:
 
How does someone who's actually living in Thailand, and making a trip back to the U.S. to apply for and obtain an O-A, best obtain the fingerprint/criminal records clearance QUICKLY without being stuck waiting in the U.S. for a long period waiting for the mailed return of the records history, and only then being able to go to the Consulate to apply, which has its own turnaround/waiting period?
 
Is there anyway to start the criminal records request process from Thailand so that the turnaround time in the U.S. is minimized?
 

[mention=174500]Gtto[/mention]
 
The OA visa will give you some time in Thailand without having to have money in a Thai bank, but to extend it annually, you'll have to deposit money, or use the income route.
 
 
 
 

Specifically, local police are excluded.  It must be state or federal. 

14 hours ago, Gtto said:

Mosan,

  Thanks for all that. Was it required to get the stuff from the FBI or will local police do? Could you leave the application  in person or did you have to do it by mail? I was going to go to the consulate in NY. The crazy part is that I will be there in three weeks but I have less than 12 months on my passport and no time to get a new one before I go or after I get there. That means I will have to fly back there when my extension runs out.

I am from WA state and request a background check via the Washington State Patrol web site. I pay $10 extra and receive a notarized copy within a few days via the USPS, with no fingerprint cards required. The key point when requesting a background check is to be sure they will check histories of both felony and misdemeanor issues.

I have done this over several years with no problems.

P.S. The OP listed the required documents from the Thai Embassy in WA DC. Know that the requirements are a bit different in other locations. I use the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles and there are differences in the numbers of required copies etc from what the Thai Embassy wants.

Be sure to enter Thailand using your Thai passport.  I have a dual national Thai friend who made the mistake of presenting his U.S. passport when entering the country and kept doing retirement extensions for several years.  He was denied access to the Thai medical system even though he had a Thai I.D. and was listed in the house book of his sister.  He had to make a short trip to out of Thailand and switch passports in order to be accepted by medical providers and save himself a fortune for his kidney dialysis.

Thailand seems to me to be one of the least healthiest places to live. Hot, dirty, chemically laden fruits and vegetables - it takes real effort to exercise regularly and maintain one’s health.

I live in Korat where there is a nice lake with separate running and bicycle paths circling it for me to use every day, as well as a very nice bicycle path in another part of the city which allows me to knock out 60k rides at as hard a pace as I desire. I have have a nice 50 meter pool nearby which is usually empty.

But then again, it does not sound like the OP really means what he says when he asks for a healthy place to live.


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We really like ceiling fans and have in each of our bedrooms as well as the living room back in the US. There are really some fine ceiling fans being made these days and we much prefer them to traditional fans that blast you each time they rotate through their cycle.

That said we looked and looked for a decent fan over here in Thailand and it seemed, to us anyway, that the majority of choices moved little or no air and were purely for their (limited) esthetic value.

We finally purchased the larger three bladed fan shown in several posts here and found in many local restaurants. It moves air.


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Just before leaving in April 2019, you would go to any other country and back, to get a new 1-year permitted-stay stamp - until April 2020.

 

Then get a re-entry permit for that permitted-stay, so that when you next leave and return, you maintain your "permitted until" April 2020, covering your next Thailand-visiting period.

I agree. However, we are pretty much in the dead center of Thailand and have no desire to do a border run days before leaving Thailand which, while giving us that extra year, would limit our departure date options in the following year. Add the cost and time involved of the fairly distant border run, with no airport close by us, plus the reentry permit cost; getting a new non imm o-a visa on my timeline while back in my own country seems a simpler, more elegant solution - for me anyway.

Thank you, everyone, very much for your thoughts on my issue.

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During this extra year, you can do another 6 month stay here before you need to visit the embassy again. 
 
 

I got what he is saying, but even OAs are bounded by dates just like re-entry permit.  But that 30 bucks at the airport lets him come back after that OA expired to stay for 6 months, possibly more without a visit to the embassy.     

 

Is that not correct?

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If what you are doing now works, no need to change anything.  A new Non-OA Visa every year will work.

 

But, a re-entry permit does not relate to the "enter before" date on the visa - only to the "permitted stay" stamp-date currently one one's passport when they apply for the re-entry permit.  One's "permitted stay" can be further in the future than their visa's "enter before" date - up to a year further in the future, in the case of a Non-OA Visa.

 

What he was suggesting, is you could do an "out/in" border-bounce prior to your longer trip out.  That run would get you a fresh 1-year "permitted-stay" from your Non-OA Visa.  Then, you would get a re-entry permit, which keeps that "permitted stay" alive, past the time where the Visa is still valid (after the "enter before" date has passed).  If you will be traveling out often during the 2nd year, a multiple re-entry permit is 3800 Baht, vs the 1000 Baht for a single-use re-entry permit.

That is true, but we could have problems on one end or the other. Getting a re-entry permit could cause us to be limited on our return six month period, unless we did a border bounce at the last possible minute before we depart Thailand, or else we would need to depart from Thailand earlier the following year.

Again, the non imm o-a every year gives us maximum flexibility on when return and when we depart to/from Thailand. I like and appreciate that and if it costs a bit more over the long run, I am good with that.

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In that case no visa is going to work for you since they all have validity periods.  Visa exempt makes more sense and costs nothing.
 

You can always get a re-entry permit on your last visit out at the airport, about 30 bucks.   

 

Yes, but I think you are missing my point. Even with the purchase of a re-entry permit, we would still be locked into returning to Thailand prior to the enter before date/enter prior to date on the original non imm o-a visa. That does not work for us.

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Timed properly, you could have done these past 6 years with 3 non imm o-a multi entry visas and not 6.
 

Check my figures.  Roughly 10,000 baht per visa.  7,000 baht application fee and 3,000 baht for doctors and mailing and such.  So 6 years would have cost you 60,000 as opposed to 1,900 three times for 6 years or 5,700 vs 60,000 because you don't want to spend an hour every other year crossing a border and walking back in?  That's 54,000 baht or 162,000 baht per hour is what it costs you not to cross a border.  Wow.