Seraphina

In England, I can’t speak for Glasgow, Scotland, only London can issue any type of O visa. It retracted O visa powers from Consulates last year according to my contact in Hull.

I can understand why you’re getting confused. The website and application form refers to an O visa based on retirement aged 50+, but the word ‘retirement’ doesn’t appear in your passport stamp. It simply says, “Non-immigrant 0”. So we all think we’ve got a retirement entry visa when, in fact, it turns out we’ve got a measly 90 day tourist visa (mine is a single entry, non-immigrant O) for which I had to submit a plethora of paperwork including proof of funds and residency before I even arrived in the country.

What the advisors here have omitted to tell you is that while it might seem simple to open a bank account in Thailand in order to transfer your precious 800k baht, it isn’t quite as simple as it sounds; at least, I haven’t found it so.

First, if you have questions about time deposits and rollover systems, you have to find someone who speaks a reasonable level of English unless you’re lucky enough to have a translator. Second, staff will indubitably ask you for a work contract or permit not realizing that the word, ‘retirement’ means ceasing work. Some assistants also don’t seem to realize that you can provide a rental contract in lieu of a work contract…but if you’re travelling around the country solo like myself, this is going to be an issue – I haven’t solved this one yet.

I’m looking at an Embassy letter unless someone can proffer a cheaper, practical solution.

Hi Jackspade, I'd like to respond to your second question (the possibility of obtaining a new passport) because , so far, only Ubonjoe seems to have addressed it. I agree with him.

As a general rule, if you apply for two consecutive passports, they are always linked at the issue source. Therefore subservient databases will have the same information. If you have a valid visa in an out-of-date passport, you would have to present both passports.

I know it's possible to have two concurrent British passports because I had two whilst I lived in Dubai and so did my partner. My original passport was issued in the UK, the second in China. You just have to be very careful about which passport you use for the entry and exit stamps. So, for example, you can't present a new passport with no entry stamp when you're trying to exit the country or you'll have some explaining to do!

In summary, consecutive passports are always linked. You would have to provide a very solid backstory to your Embassy in order to persuade them why they shouldn't be....but it's possible.

On 23/08/2016 at 8:38 PM, daveAustin said:

Seraphina, you would be surprised at the prices (esp groceries, cars and mobiles), the level of service and how easygoing most people are. Jobs can be a hassle with big gaps in CVs.

Hi Dave, you may well be right. It's a good point too. I haven't actually lived there for such a long time and during my last visit (so long ago, I can't remember), I was quite surprised how cheap food was even at Marks and Sparks. I was comparing prices to France, not Asia - and certainly not China which has so far proved to be far cheaper than both Thailand and India.

I imagine the killers for me would be everyday things like petrol, drycleaning and good quality shoes/clothes as these carry VAT (and good dressmaking is difficult to find in the UK). Of course, there are the larger things such as buying a new car, buying a house or renting an equivalent property to what you have here.

It's so easy to get used to tax free living when it's sustained, but I agree with you, you could well shop around. I don't anticipate returning and I'm definitely out of touch! Indeed, I was very embarrassed just recently when I asked for 100 pound notes at a local exchange house the other day, only to be told they didn't exist!

Hi DennisF, I wish you a great deal of luck in pursuing your decision. I suspect it hasn't been easy. Your decision seems to be on the heels of the end of a relationship... and this may have somewhat coloured your recent perceptions, so the advice that one poster gave you (to put your stuff in storage in case you return) may well turn out to be pragmatic.

I confess to having lived and worked in a fair few countries (Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, UAE, Qatar and Egypt and so on); my latest stint was in France which I detested for some years, not because I didn't like the people or the language (though the food was particularly disappointing!), but because I found so few people in this environment who shared the same basic life values as me or with whom I could actually hold a reasonable conversation about subjects that mattered to me.  

I do not share the same value system as the French government (pretentious, bigoted and unable to face the major problems of immigrants from former African colonies among other matters), nor could I admire the French work value system (quoi?). I knew it was time to leave.  Nevertheless, I was also mindful that having lived outside the UK for nigh on 30 years, I am virtually an expatriate in exile. I suspect it would be almost impossible for me to re-adjust to the weather, the prices, the language used nowadays, the behaviour of the youth nowadays and even the generation before me. I don't think I could even get a job there anymore...!

As a professional psych, I know that you will have told your former clients that contentment boils down to coming to terms with/having coping strategies to handle your circumstances. Since all countries and cultures have their problems, perhaps it's more pertinent to ask yourself: do you WANT to come to terms with the problems of living in Thailand? This approach may well prove to be a more sound basis for such an important decision about your future. Whichever you choose, I wish you a great deal of luck in adjusting!

14 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

I am betting that you are confusing this situation with an application for a multiple Non O aged over 50 specifically in the UK. There is a UK only rule that multiple Non O (but not Non OA) visas are issued to retirees only if in receipt of a state pension. That condition, as far as I know, exists nowhere else.

My visa was issued in France and I had to prove residency in France even for a single entry, 50+ non-immigrant O visa. The bank attestation about the status of my account had to be less than 15 days old as well. It seems that there are some very slight differences between countries.

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I posted the requirements for applying for an extension of stay based upon retirement at an immigration office.

You are confusing an extension with applying for a OA visa at an embassy or consulate which requires you to to be a resident.

Yes, I'm getting rather confused. At the time of writing, I was testing the idea that a person could apply for a different visa after the first one had expired and once they were outside Thailand again.

14 hours ago, BritTim said:

 

I am betting that you are confusing this situation with an application for a multiple Non O aged over 50 specifically in the UK. There is a UK only rule that multiple Non O (but not Non OA) visas are issued to retirees only if in receipt of a state pension. That condition, as far as I know, exists nowhere else.

Yes, I think so. Thanks for the clarification.

On 15/08/2016 at 1:32 PM, ubonjoe said:

I certainly never wrote you still need proof of income if you use the 800k baht in the bank option.

It is money in the bank or income or a combination of the two totaling 800k baht.

From clause 2.22 of police order 327/2557

 

It appears that there's been a miscommunication somewhere because I thought others had told me I wouldn't qualify as I don't have a pensionable income. It would appear that you need either the 800k OR the 65k monthly income or a combo.

Interestingly, the rules also say that you must be 'resident in the country of application', so I'm not sure how that works!

Hi BritTim, thanks for your reply. Your approach is of great interest to me! 

To clarify, I was informed on this forum that I would NOT qualify for a one year non-immigrant OA visa - even if I met the 800k baht working account deposit requirement - because I have no pension income and this is a pre-requisite for this type of visa. Indeed, I have no income of any type.

I appear to be estopped by the lack of pension/income, so I wouldn't want to waste my time organising the money transfer unless I could be more than 70% certain.

However, if you're telling me that the powers that be would overlook this rule in favour of the 800k baht, I would certainly investigate this approach further.

Is this what you're saying? I don't disbelieve you, but it does go against what everyone else has told me on this forum - including Ubonjoe, so I'd be foolish not to ask you to clarify....

(thanks in advance)

In fact, I have no income, period. That's why I would stumble if I tried to apply from the UK.

I have simply retired early, but have no pension as I'm too young to draw one. I have no intention of working here, not least of all because it's illegal. Too long in the tooth for this type of shenanigans.

I'm assuming then, my options are rather limited?

Addendum:

Hi Unbonjoe, I've just stumbled across your post about applying for an O visa in Penang, the place of my birth - I hold a British passport having been naturalised at age 2.

I'm going to Penang in October. I'll look up the immigration place if you suggest I might try there. I have no itinerary so I can stay for as long as the paperwork requires, but all my banking stuff will be in French!

It would be irksome having gone through the paperwork exercise, to have to return to my country of origin or try and do the 30 day renewal thing, which I understand is limited anyway.

Many thanks for your rapid response. I have indeed picked up the wrong end of the stick as I have a single entry visa.

To obtain a three month multiple entry visa, would I have to return to my country of origin? Or would it be possible from here? Is there a website I can go to for information?

Is it then impossible to apply for a one year OA retirement visa from one's country of origin? It looked possible on-line, but the agent who did my visa said it would be too difficult - I think for them, rather than me.

Here, I would fall down on the government or private pension income requirement, but this isn't actually a requirement in France (my country of residence). I did find it a bit odd that their requirements are different...I would have to triple check that part as it might be that they forgot to insert it on the French website!

Hi, I came in to Thailand on a three month non-immigrant, O retirement visa. My passport says, "Permitted to stay until 12th October, 2016". I'd like to check two things, if I may.

i) I intend to travel to Malaysia and then return to Thailand. The last time I was on this forum, someone wrote that if I left Thailand before the three months was up and then returned, I would only be granted the unused time on my visa - in my case, it'll be four days. I'm confused because from what I've read, it seems a person is normally granted another three months upon re-entry with this type of visa. Which of these scenarios is the correct one?

ii) I keep seeing advice on this forum that a person on a three month visa has to report after 60 days and then extend for a month to make use of the three month stay. However, there is nothing on my visa or in my passport that tells me to do this. Have I picked up the wrong end of the stick?  

If I have to get to the immigration bureau in BKK, would I take the skytrain to Mo Chit and then a taxi. The buses to this place seem convoluted.

Thanks in advance.

The cops arrested him near his condo. And the OP still hasn't answered why? If it were a random check, there'd be hundreds of reports of this happening. There aren't. So, what has your chum been up to? Besides having a dodgy visa, that is?

There is something verrry fishy about this entire "story". I'm not at all convinced either the OP or the 'felon' are being truthful. Like you said, there's a good deal of cherry picking here. Why has the OP not said why he was very specifically picked up outside his condo. There's little randomness about that!

I meant how low can the pound go before you can no longer qualify, others must be worried as well. Glad I have always kept 800k in the bank here, that was 12k sterling when sent over

I am not concerned about the pound for myself. For me it is the USD and it would have to down a lot for it to be a problem for me. I do my extension based upon marriage so only need 40k baht income.

Can I just check something, when you apply for a three month O visa, the bank letter is from your country of residence, but upon renewal - as opposed to extension - this has to be a result of the deposit in a Thai bank, correct?

Thai Immigration said, I had abused the system & canned my 30 day stamp on arrival, as I was flying in and out of the country every four weeks for work, for quite a while

As you are, in your own words, working in The Thailand it is understandable that the immigration officer feels that you are abusing the system.

Never, have I said, "I was working in Thailand".

I was using Thailand as my base, and "Flying out of Thailand to go to work", not working in Thailand.

Never have I worked within Thai borders.

The Thai Immigration Officer said to me,

"Because I was coming and going so many times within a short period of time, I was not actually a tourist as such, and was using to the current system to my advantage, therefore I need to get a Visa if I wished to travel so frequently in and out of the country.

So you're commuting to work from Thailand....to where exactly? This sounds very fishy to me so I can understand why you would suspicious glances at immigration. Hope it works out with the mutlientry. No-one's explained how you can get 9 months out of a 60 day multiple entry visa, is it one extension of 30 days and two renewals. Can someone please verify? Thx

I'm genuinely surprised at the replies I'v read so far. I have two friends living here in Thailand who teach English to French students....never bothered about work permits.

Many times I'v read posts on here from people asking if they need a permit to sell stuff online to outside Thailand....the answers have almost always been...."who's to know what your doing"....carry on regardless (or words to that affect) .

Why is this OP's situation any different....do not the same principles apply?

As far as I know, also. I have been accepted to work online as a teacher. No permit required. I can teach from wherever I am living or staying.

Who is to know what you're doing?

To the original poster (not sure if that's the right term), you have decide whether you want to be legal and can live with yourself if you aren't. If you're working within a country, you need a permit. I can't imagine any type of exemption clause based on the nationality of the people you're working with or, indeed, training - in any country!

I can think of only two situations, if you're seconded or on a temporary project in Thailand. In such circumstances, a good company would arrange your visa and ensure you're legal. If they don't care, they're probably cutting corners in other areas of administration. Your risk. If you get caught, they're not really going to put their hand out to help you, are they?

Just to clarify, I have had four work permits from three different provincial labour offices attached to an extension of stay stamped retirement.

Hii Issangeorge, I'd like to know how this works. Can you please give us the gory details of how can you claim retirement if you're working? It doesn't make sense to me! Thx

I regard the risk of being denied boarding significantly higher than being denied entry by the IO.

I agree with DUS. The carrier won't let you on board if there's a good risk of your being refused entry as they have to bear the burden of returning you. There are LOTS of ways round this, not all recommended e.g. he can overstay and pay the fine. It sounds like the type of thing he'd do.

Quite frankly, people judge you by WHOM you mix with so the original person posting this question might start by asking himself some searching questions such as why he would want to entertain such a guest and how that reflects upon him!

Were you trying to apply for the OA visa at the embassy in Brussels or one of the honorary consulates. The honorary consulates cannot issue them.

Hi Ubonjoe, just letting you know that I got my non-immigrant O visa through Lyon in France for 37 euros (agency) + visa fee. The agency I used does both O and OA visas. It was just far cheaper than flying, driving or catching a train and then paying for a hotel.

For those who live in the south of France and don't want the hassle of flying, driving or catching a train to Paris or Lyon and then paying for a hotel on top of that, I obtained my visa through Lyon Visa Services who charged 34 euros. I paid 26 euros to get my passport sent back by Chronopost. They do both types of visas, non-immigrant O and OA visas.

<removed>

Not sure if this is a new topic as it was introduced in April 2016 according to the article. It appears on this website as a current topic.

Your initial thoughts?.....and your considered thoughts on the hidden motivation?

http://news.thaivisa.com/thailand/controversial-foreign-national-information-form-arrives-in-pattaya-being-rolled-out-nationwide/146311/

Crystal clear. Thank you. Merciiiii.

Thanks again, Jingthing. Yes, as a British citizen, I have applied for an O visa in France through the Thai Consulate in Lyon. They have told me there shouldn't be a problem and it'll only take one week to get a visa and return my passport. It cost 60 euros + courier.

The financial requirement for an O visa is apparently only 1000 euros in your bank account for 'foreigners' and 5000 euros for French nationals. There are slightly different exigencies for foreigners.

My first application was rejected because my bank letter was 2 weeks out-of-date. I don't know about the UK, but here, your bank attestation has to be dated within 15 days of your actual application so the Embassy knows the amount is current.

Without being funny, what do you mean by 'seasoned'? Do you mean show the account's been used for at least two months as opposed to 'just a recent receptacle for showing the requisite amount of money"? If so, that's very sound advice. I'll certainly do that! Thank you again.

FYI, the Rootadministrator said in March 2016, this forum is not open, go to the English forum!

http://fr.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1140-extension-visa-o-a/#comment-1142