BritTim

Like many who use agents, you do not understand the stamps in your passport. You are currently in Thailand on a one-year temporary extension of your permission to stay based on retirement. The 90-day reports are a completely separate issue from your permission to stay. You must ensure that your permission to stay is extended again prior to its expiry. Separate from that, continue to do your 90-day reports (that are not directly connected to your permission to stay).

Fly to Vientiane and enter immediately by land using the valid visa. Phuket immigration had no business denying your entry with a valid visa on those grounds. The denied entry stamp might cause you grief in the future, but it does not stop you from immediately trying to enter again.

That should be all immigration needs to see to tidy up your old permission to stay based on working. Assuming you left on or before June 27, there should be zero issues.

I would not worry. They probably have assigned your case low priority as it is a long time until you actually need the visa. Since you applied from home country, it will not matter if you are actually elsewhere when they finally get around to emailing you the visa.

As is often the case in Thailand, officials will try to avoid doing work. The fact is that essential stamp transfer can be done at any airport, land crossing or immigration office, in general, if this is a prerequisite for some other immediate action. What they should not do is transfer stamps that were not issued by them, and which remain valid in the old passport (though that can often also be arranged if the officials agree). The rules on this are complicated, and immigration's computer system will sometimes try to prevent actions that, in theory, should be allowed.

I do not think you will get that stamp terminating the previous work extension without some cooperation from your old employer. Immigration will want to verify that you left the country when your previous employment ended. Many people assume that they can stay on a work extension until it expires without being employed, but that is not the case. If your relationship with the old school is good, explain the situation to them, and try to get a letter from them specifying the date you left Thailand as the last day working for them. You may also want to ask the local Labour office (I mean local to your old school) for advice on resolving this.

If you think about it, the "immediate" cancellation of the permission to stay does not occur when you drop below those limits. If it did, then people who accidentally had their account drop short (and had their next extension refused) would be regarded as on overstay, subject to a 500 baht per day fine, and blacklisted from Thailand. We know that, thankfully, that does not happen.

That does seem rather long. What date did you specify as your intended day of arrival in Thailand?

At a land crossing, you must actually enter the other country before returning to Thailand. At some crossings (notably all those with Laos and Myanmar) you can turn around and return immediately. At others, you are supposed to stay at least one night, but can often pay a bribe to be allowed to return the same day. By air, you also should enter the other country officially before returning to Thailand. However, when faced with a late arrival of my flight from Thailand (and worried I would miss my booked return flight) I have gone through the line for connecting flights, and returned to Bangkok without being hauled up for this. I think it is not supposed to be allowed, but is tolerated in practice. If you have a multiple entry Non O visa, you should have no problems using this an unlimited number of times without gaps in between. The only exception is when using the rogue land crossing from Poipet to Aranyaprathet. With a multiple entry tourist visa, it is prudent to enter by land (not at Poipet/Aran, of course). Although I recall no recent reports, historically, there have been some denied entries at some airports where the immigration officials disagreed with an embassy's decision to issue you a tourist visa.

In the US, everything is now done through the e-visa system online. Nothing is mailed in either direction. You upload required documents electronically, and you receive a visa as an attachment via email which you print before travelling.

If willing to stay officially married, but not wanting to live together, only a bit less convenient is multiple entry Non O visas from Savannakhet. There is no requirement, when using these, for you to cohabit with your wife.

If leaving by air, allow extra time at the airport. You will need both your new and old passports. The officials will transfer some information from the old passport and stamp you out. If you have an existing permission to stay that you want to protect, in addition, you will need a re-entry permit if you do not have one in your old passport. You can purchase a re-entry permit at the airport. If not leaving via Suvarnabhumi, ensure you have a photo for the re-entry permit application.

Would you care to explain the purpose of the very official TM87 and TM86 forms specifically designed to apply for a visa at an immigration office? You can go to almost all immigration offices in Thailand and use those forms. Perhaps, you believe that these were simply created by corrupt immigration officials, and the under consideration period (where your application is scrutinised at Division headquarters) is simply a clever scam to allow the corrupt agents and officials to extract more money. They very cleverly also have an official price list which lists the visa at 2,000 baht, and produce a very official looking receipt. To me, that nationwide conspiracy looks like a great deal of effort to go to for a measly 2,000 baht each time.

Most immigration offices impose the insurance requirement if you entered on a Non O-A visa, regardless of when the entry was made. Phuket is one of the few offices that does not.

According to my reading of Reason 2.18 in the Police Order on extensions of temporary stay, both 2.18 (4) and 2.18 (5) apply. If so, you can only use a Thai son as the reason to stay if your son is under age 20, and you are staying in the same household. You also need to show 400,000 baht in the bank on the date of application. However, others disagree with me vehemently, and believe a Thai child living with the alien (in 2.18 (4)) was a scrivener's error with the real intended meaning is an alien child living with a Thai parent. They presumably believe you can be living anywhere, and the age of the child is irrelevant. Here is the whole of Reason 2.18 (which everyone seems to agree is the relevant Section: You could read it carefully and see what you think it means. Note that the "or" between 2.18 (4) and 2.18 (5) is not implied in the original Thai version. I think the translator erroneously added that. 2.18 (5) adds conditions for some who qualify under 2.18 (4) and 2.18 (6) adds conditions for 2.18 (3) In the end, it will be the interpretation of the Thai officials reading the Thai version which counts. You need to ask them. Meanwhile, is there any member who has successfully applied for a one-year extension of stay (not a visa at a consulate, or 60-day extension to visit) based on being the parent of a child over 20. I have not, though I know of two cases where an elderly foreign father successfully received an extension to be under the care of an adult Thai child.

If you have an extension of stay based on marriage, this is correct. Your permission to stay based on marriage ends on the day your divorce is finalised. However, the rules with a Non O visa from an embassy/consulate are different. An entry using a single or multiple entry Non O visa issued while you were still married is still permitted, and gives you a 90-day stay.

If your extension was based on retirement, you could do it before you left. Because of the "under consideration" period associated with a marriage extension, this would be too risky. Get a single entry re-entry permit and do the extension after your return.

It is only necessary if you cannot satisfy all the rules now needed to open a bank account normally in Thailand. For those working and with a work permit, it is easy. Otherwise, you probably cannot meet the official requirements, and need to sweeten the deal by agreeing to purchase the insurance (where the bank employees get a small commission). Even then, only a few branches will play.

The bible on the PR process is this extremely long thread: https://aseannow.com/topic/74654-cameratas-guide-to-the-permanent-residence-process/

There is no need for someone to be a long stay resident of a property for a TM30 notification to be necessary. Foreign overnight guests must be notified, and no one expects them to have a lease agreement. The person specified on the lease is a householder under the meaning of the law. They, logically, ought to be the one responsible for notifying Immigration about short term foreign guests (or, in your case, additional residents).

What you plan is doable. If you run into a complete roadblock in Nan, here are two alternatives: Go to Savannakhet Laos, and apply for the Non O visa there (which is placed in your passport the next day). It is possible to apply for a Non O visa at Chaengwattana in Bangkok from a hotel. They accept the explanation that you are newly arrived and still looking for somewhere permanent to live. However, this will require three visits to Bangkok (application, return after under consideration period, and first extension). Surely, a single visit to Savannakhet will be more convenient unless you have other reasons to come to Bangkok.

I would be interested in knowing where in North America you can realistically live on US$300 per month which (while I would not want to try it myself) is just about possible in Thailand. In most parts of North America, just being warm in winter costs more than that.

Let's look carefully at this: I do not believe this is talking about an extension of stay for a Thai child under the age of 20 living with an alien parent. Even by Thai standards, that would be ridiculous. It is surely saying that the alien can get an extension of stay based on their relationship with a minor Thai child. Reason 2.18 (5) is noting additional requirements when qualifying as a parent of a minor Thai child under 2.18 (4) or as an elderly parent being supported by an adult Thai child. It is similar to (6) being an additional requirement when you qualify under 2.18 (3). The counter argument is that the translation has an "or" between 2.18 (4) and 2.18 (5). I believe that is an error. The original Thai does not imply that (4) and (5) are alternatives. The whole wording of reason 2.18 is horrendous, and ought to be justification to have the lawyer who drew it up disbarred. However, a careful forensic examination still enables the meaning to be deciphered.

It depends on the ATM card daily limit. The usual default is 50,000 baht which implies at least 16 days to pull 800,000 baht. However, you can be allowed a higher limit.

In my opinion, being a homeless beggar in San Francisco is not better than living in a 3,000 baht per month room, and eating street food in Thailand ... and those are sometimes the realistic alternatives. Of course, it is different if you are a national of a country with a strong social safety net, like the Scandinavian countries.