Tod Daniels

The two consulates that definitely issue year long multi entry non o based on marriage to a Thai in Southeast Asia are Savannakhet Lao and Penang Malaysia Both require proof of funds 400k baht in a Thai bank account in your name only for two months before you apply,or the equivalent of that in a bank account in your country. It appears that proof of the equivalent of 400K baht in a bank account in your country is no longer accepted. Sorry for the bad info 😞 Neither consulate will issue year-long visa for Thai child, only 90 day single entry There are no reports I could find of people getting year multi non-o from HCMC or Hanoi.

Those two borders are still closed. If you're up in northwestern Thailand and need to do a border bounce you could use the land borders with Lao in Chiang Rai province: Chiang Saen/SEZ (special economic zone) <- which you cross by boat or Chiang Khong/Huai Xai <- which you cross by bridge

I think you're confused, Immigration officers don't like to see people flying back in on ED visa with reentry permits, because if you're on an education visa they feel you should be here studying not flying in and out. Plus they know every Tom, Dick, and Somchai jumped on the back door, under the table, bs, education visa during the covid lockdown so all education visas now are given extra scrutiny.

You knew your previous entry/stay history when you decided to fly in and you picked the worst possible airports to fly into (BKK / DMK). Face it milking covid extensions free stamps and tourist visas is not a viable long-term way to stay here. You could have gotten two free 30-day entries by land in a calendar year and extended each of those by 30 days, and the good news is Jan 1 the calendar resets and you can have two more free Visa exempt entries by land. You would have skated through on a land entry with the tourist visa without any issue at all you just didn't want to take the time to do it. At least now you know at some point in time trying to come back in by air especially in Bangkok is most likely going to get you denied entry and shipped back. Glad you made it in live and learn, thanks for the update

they are feeding you a line of crap, there are NO new rules, they just don't want to do it is all.. and the fact you've funneled money thru your wife's bank account doesn't cut any ice with them in the least Just curious how could you NOT get a 90 day single entry Non-O visa from the US using the eVisa website for the consulate that serves your area where you lived in the US? It's all ONLINE, you upload the documents, pay and they approve the visa and email you a PDF

Okay no matter what anyone on here OR at a bank branch you visited and couldn't get an account at believe me there are NO NEW BANKING LAWS as far as foreigners opening a bank account here on a 30 day free entry or a tourist visa entry or an extension from one of those The RULES that control whether a foreigner can or can't open an account are made by the MANAGER of the branch you're standing inside of when you go to apply It's nothing but a numbers game any more, hit enough banks and you WILL find one that will let you open an account. So my advice is put your big boy pants on, get out there and pound the pavement, bank after bank, branch after branch. In Bangkok it takes about 12 tries to open an account. SO I can imagine in Nakhon Nowhere (aka Khon Kaen) it could take some traveling.. post on an Isaan or Khon Kaen related f/b page and ask, believe me you're not the first foreigner up there who needs to open a bank account

they never issued year-long, multi-entry Non-O based on thai child at that consulate (even before covid) not with money in the bank not with parental rights, it was NOT a reason they offered that visa, all you can get is a 90 day single entry Non-O, come in get 90 days, take the one 60 day visit thai family extension at your immigration office, then go get a new 90 day Non-O from Savannakhet.. I know people who had done it like that (get a new Non-O 90 day every 5 months) from Savannakhet for years and years before covid

you don't need any proof of funds in Savannakhet to get a 90 day Non-O based on having a half thai child, just birth certificate, mother's thai i/d, house book of the child and mother and your passport pages. NOR do you need legal custody to get that visa there either, just your name on the birth certificate is enough

I would say you're dreaming thinking you're going to bounce out and back easily at the Aranyaprathet Poipet border. It was a bad border before the lockdowns, and it's a terrible border now. Suck it up, go to Ban Laem or Ban Pakard. You'll get out and back with no issues at either of those borders.

And I only stated how it really works in REAL life at the land borders on ED visa extensions :) The O/P could FLY out without cancelling that extension before hand and have no problem getting or OR flying back in but they are highly unlikely to get out by a land crossing on an "open" ED visa extension

Totally okay to bounce at Chiang Saen / SEZ (Special Economic Zone) up in Chiang Rai province with Lao. Only thing is you have to take a boat across and back because there is no friendship bridge where you can take the bus.. Other than that no issue at all bouncing out and back there to activate a new entry on a currently valid METV

There is no "test at the borders (air or land) to get back into the country ESPECIALLY seeing as what you're doing is getting OFF an existing ED visa extension and comin' in as a 'tourist' on a free 30 day entry stamp..

Careful spouting off on stuff you might or might not know anything about @DrJoy, Simply exiting on an ED visa extension DOES NOT officially cancel the extension (no matter what you posted saying otherwise). In order for people on an ED visa extension to bounce out and back like @driveout wants to they need to get documentation from their school saying they stop studying on xxx date (usually the day the extension expires), go to the immigration office that issued the extension about a week before that date, CANCEL the extension, immigrations will give them a stamp that lets them stay until the date on the paperwork from the school.. That's how you "officially" cancel an ED visa extension THEN they can leave any time up to or on that date... There are more than a few land borders that won't even let people on ED visa extension stamp OUT of the country without having cancelled it officially at the immigration office beforehand. And there are more than a couple borders that won't let people back in to thailand who bounce out, instead they tell them to slog to Phnom Penh or Siem Reap and fly back. What it sounds like the O/P wants to do is just bounce out and back to get NOT a tourist visa (seeing as you can't get tourist visas at the border but on a new free 30 day entry stamp.. <- called a visa exempt entry.. They say they're in pattaya SO they should FIRST cancel the extension they're on, and THEN look for a SERVICE that runs people to the border. The services that do that already have the wheels greased at the border they take their clients to so people can stamp out of thailand, stamp in&out of Cambodia and then stamp right back in to thailand after that.. Trying to do it by themselves to "save a few baht" is gonna be like watching a slow motion train wreck

Okay lets see if we can't give the O/P some answers and improve their understanding of what they're talking about.. It is obvious from the comments the O/P made that they are NOT talking about a year long multi-entry Non-O visa from a thai consulate in another country. So we can rule that out They mentioned agents, and what the agents call a 15month retirement visa Now what it really is (whether the O/P agrees with it or not is irrelevant) is a 90 day (3 month) Non-O visa and then a 12 month extension tacked on <- giving the 15 months. I think the confusion is that the O/P doesn't know visa terminology . Agents typically get these visas for the first year for people who are here on 30 day free entry OR 60 day tourist visa entry. They bank the money for the person and in some cases get the visa and the year extension issued in ONE DAY :O so when they get their passport back it has a stamp that's valid for 15 months What we have seen is agents have put the brakes on getting these visas right now because of the end of the year shuffle at the immigration offices and those back door, under the table 'we bank the funds for you for a day' visas/extensions are at this time unavailable. It happens every year for a period of time when they shuffle the section heads and people running the various immigration offices. Takes a couple weeks to a month for the 'dust to settle' and things to go back to business as usual at the immigration offices. As a general rule it seems Jomtien is the least affected by this shuffle and they seem to still be cranking out 3+12=15 visa/extensions It goes without saying but I will say it anyway, AFTER that first year of the 3+12 all you get the following year is a 12 month yearly extension. I have found that in Pattaya the "3+12 visa/extension" is about 25k from agents, and that in bangkok it's about 10k more.. Then after that first year the extensions in Pattaya are about 12k-15k and in bangkok they're about 17k I wish good luck to the O/P @cubism001 in their search for the 15 month retirement visa.. Sorry this post was long, perhaps it was marginally helpful in solving the conundrum and misunderstanding and in helping the O/P know what they're talking about

Keep in mind people the O/P said they're in Bangkok, which a year or so ago STOPPED asking for the bank book to be updated when you went back to get the year extension inked in AND went to a 3 week under consideration stamp. While it is okay to keep the funds in it is definitely NOT required at Chaengwattana,

The immigration office in Bangkok no longer checks proof of funds when you go back to get the year extension in section L-2 on the date your current under consideration stamp expires. Just show up with your passport and that blue green receipt they gave you that shows you paid 1,900 baht. Get a queue ticket from the counter for section L-2, they'll ink the extension in.

Any country that uses the Thai eVisa system discontinued issuing the year-long, multi-entry Non-O visa (for retirement OR marriage) that choice is not available on the eVisa system.

People who are permanent residents of Lao and can legally work in that country are allowed to apply for the 6 month METV for Thailand at the Thai consulate in Vientiane There is no issue at all and you will have no issue using that visa for unlimited entry to Thailand on 60 day stamps for 6 months from the day it's issued METV Vientiane

You get the link to book an appointment at every immigration office in the country from the main immigration website https://www.immigration.go.th/ For Bangkok they send you an OTP by email to book

If you're in Bangkok how about you just contact SWD Transport. They run to the Cambodian border and back almost every day at 4:30am from the On Nut BTS Lotus's parking lot. There's no need to slog all the way to Nong Khai just to activate an entry on a valid METV. If you're going to try a land bounce from Bangkok definitely use a service.

The year-long, multi-entry Non-O visa based on marriage to a thai or being over 50 (retirement) is no longer available as a choice on ANY thai consulate that uses the eVisa online system to issue visas for thailand Non-O Retirement Non-O marriage to a thai/raising thai child

Have them make a booking for the first 60 days of that METV online at a hotel then cancel it once they approve the visa Also some people are getting denied that METV because they don't show what the reason is for getting it I recommend booking a flight out of thailand about 2 months after you arrive and then a flight right back in a day or two later <- that will more than meet the "reason you need an METV" requirement You can cancel that booking once they approve the visa too 😮

Just a quick follow up to the topic at hand It appears that the thai consulate in Savannakhet is not at all concerned about any seasoning of the funds. You can show the funds just hit your account and they'll accept it. It also appears they will accept either a thai bank account in your name only OR a foreign bank account with the equivalent of 400K baht in it as well. They will also take financial proof that's a day or so old.. So you can update your thai bank book before you go and it'll be accepted. There is abso-tively, posi-lutely NO ISSUE at all getting a 90 day single entry Non-O based on marriage or raising thai children without any proof of funds. So if people can't show proof of funds, get the 90 day single entry, then once you're here take the 60 day visit thai family extension at your immigration office for 1900baht for a total of 5 months stay. It's better than nothing 😊

On that we agree 😮 Let's try it one more time slowly AND let's leave the work permit out of it completely 😕 because a work permit doesn't let you STAY in thailand it lets you WORK in thailand when you have the correct VISA or extension of stay from a visa.. So if you're married to a thai, there are two paths to take You either 1 - get a 90 day Non-O visa THEN a year extension based on marriage from the IMMIGRATION OFFICE in thailand by meeting the proof of funds, etc. On this year extension you do not have to leave the country, if you're in country for 90 days you file a 90 day report (for free) at the immigration office AND if you want to exit/re-enter thailand you BUY a re-entry permit at either the airport when you fly out or at the immigration office where you got your extension issued. OR 2 - you find a consulate that will issue a year-long, multi-entry Non-O visa based on marriage, (by meeting what ever requirements the consulate you're buying it from HAS) This visa is good for a year from the date it's issued, it's good for unlimited entries during the validity and every entry gets you stamped in for 90 days. When that 90 days is up you go to the border, stamp out of thailand, stamp in-n-out of another country and right back into thailand. You do that for the whole year the visa is valid for and you can stay 15 months (in 90 day increments) on a visa that lasts a year (you can actually stay 17 months if you get the 2 month "visit thai family" extension on the last entry you make on the visa.

A 'guardian visa' is one issued because you have a foreign child legally here on an ED visa and it requires the 500K baht in a thai account in your name only for 30 days before you apply for the FIRST yearly extension and then for every subsequent yearly extension the funds need to be in the account for 3 months