Hello all and thanks in advance for any help.
I am (M) married to a Thai (F) for 6 years. Previously I had a Non-O Visa based on marriage which was converted from a tourist visa in Chon Buri and then yearly extensions (about 5 of them) also issued in Chon Buri. I have since moved to Isaan, with Nakhon Phanom being my closest immigration office. Due to a myriad of reasons that I don't really want to cover (but non of them would have any impact on my ongoing immigration status), I left the country a day before my extension of stay expired last week and returned the day after, receiving a 60 day visa exempt stamp at BKK.
I now want to start the process of getting a new Non-O, and then further 12 month extensions thereafter. What I've now seen is that, to get a Non-O, I must now first leave the country and then apply on the evisa site, a process which might take 15 working days (according to the site). I really don't want to have to spend 3 weeks or so out of the country, so would like to know what my options are:
1.) Is it possible (even if it's a bit tricky), to convert a 60 day visa exempt stamp into a Non-O?
2.) If not, are there still embassies / consultates in neighboring countries that offer a face to face appointment system with a successful visa being offered in just a few days?
3.) If not, what is my next best option to spend as little time outside of Thailand as possible?
Info to be aware of:
1.) Nakhon Phanom immigration will be my local office. I really don't want to have to travel to other offices in the future, although I am happy to in this first instance.
2.) 400,000k+ has been sat in my Thai bank account since at least October last year.
3.) I really, really don't want to have to use an agent unless it's my only option, and then ONLY if I am not commiting to using that agent for every immigration interaction thereafter.
4.) If I MUST leave Thailand for more than just a few days, my preferences (for business reasons) would be to stay in Delhi India or Manila Philippines.
5.) I am a British citizen in my mid 50s.
6.) I'm not interested in the past, so telling me what I should have done before my previous extension expired will not be of any interest (If I'm in a similar position again in the future then I'll sure ask though).
Thank you again.