CanadaJoe

Great thanks I'll check it out.

great thanks 😀

Just to make sure I understand everything correctly — she could be granted an additional 12 months’ permission to stay in Thailand under the following conditions: She leaves Thailand in May. While overseas, she obtains a new Thai health insurance policy valid for one year, starting in August. She returns to Thailand before her current OA visa and permission to stay expire in August. Upon re-entry, she is granted a further 12 months’ stay (or until the new insurance expires). Before that new permission expires, she departs Thailand again. If she does not obtain a re-entry permit, her permission to stay becomes void. Since her original OA visa would have expired by then, she would be eligible to apply for a DTV visa from her home country. Have I got all of that right? thanks -

Yeah that would be nice, but I understand that the Thai's won't issue her a DTV while she still has a valid OA. 🙁

Thanks. Yeah I suppose she could fly somewhere for a week or two. It's really just an added expense and inconvenience she didn't want to deal with, especially as she'll be in her home country for 6 weeks in May/June. That would have given her plenty of time without having to rush or incur any additional travel expenses.

Thanks Dr Jack. She's secured a gig doing freelance work for a foreign company. She was hoping she could cancel her current OA visa and apply for the DTV while away in May/June rather than having to go to the expense and inconvenience of making another trip abroad in August. She understands that she could return in August before her current permission of stay expires and receive another year's stay, but that would mean buying another throw-away Thai insurance policy and having to cancel her freelance gig. The DTV seems like a better fit for her circumstances. So if we can't cancel her current visa, she may have to take another trip back home which sucks.

Thanks for the reply Sheryl. Her permission to stay expires in August, and that was based on the date her mandated "Thai" insurance expires. She goes back to her home country every 5 or 6 months to visit family, usually for 4-6 weeks each time. It ooked like the DTV visa with it's 5-year validity and multiple entries, would be a better option than renewing an OA each year, or transitioning to an O visa.

Does anyone know if you can cancel an OA Visa? If so, can you please chare details of how to do it? For reference, both my partner and I are here in Thailand on OA retirment visas. Her visa expeires in August and she wants to tranistion to a DTV. She already has a trip booked back to her home country for 5 weeks in May/June and was hoping to appply for the DTV while she was there. However, the consulate in her home country says that she can't apply for the DTV if she's still holding a current OA visa. She asked if they could cancel her OA visa and they said no. They suggested she go to the local immigration office (Phuket) which we did, and they also told us that they are unable to cancel the visa. I believe that exiting Thailand wityout a re-entry permit would automatically cancel her visa and solve the problem. However, her OA visa came bundled with unlimited re-entry permits and the Immigration officer we spoke to yesterday told us there was no way to cancel those either. She does not want to go through the time, expense and inconvenience of making another trip back to her home country in August when her current visa expires. So we'd really like to figure out a way to cancel her current OA visa when she leaves Thailand. Any advice on how to do this would be much appreciated. Or, has anyone been able to successfully tranistion over to a DTV while still holding a current long-stay visa? Thanks

Thanks again to all who replied and shared their knowledge and experiences. It's been very beneficial and I am now fully aware of what I need to do next year to cancel my OA and apply for the O. Thank you all.

Yeah, I'm not eligible for the LTR.

Thanks. Yeah, I now have the extension on my OA and will leave the country next year to kill it off. Yep, the bureaucracy is a bit frustrating, especially when you have to fork out hard-earned money for nothing. But as you say, it's just part of living in Thailand. I experienced the same thing in Mexico when I lived there for a couple of years. Lots of stuff that didn't make any sense at all, but just the way things were done there. I believe that initially I got poor advice from the consulate in Vancouver, but that's water under the bridge now. I'm looking forward to another year in the Land of Smiles.

Thanks for the tip. Yep, that's an option, but the cost of the agent significantly exceeds the price of the throwaway policy. Wherever possible I like to do the paperwork myself so I know exactly what's going on and can repeat the process in subsequent years.

I would say all or most of the companies on the list. I'm sure they are laughing all the way to the bank.

Cheers 👍🏻

I got the list from the Thai consulate website in Vancouver. longstay.tgia.org