RoninTech

Agreed. However for our use case of annual travel between Canada and Thailand it appears to fit well.

The official Non-immigrant O page makes it sounds like one of the parties has to be Thai for the O visa. Neither of us is. Am I interpreting this wrong?

The official Non-immigrant O-A page says: We get bank statements every month so that part is easy. Are you saying that is all we need or that we can make up this guarantee letter? Thanks for the PM offer. I'll keep it on here for future searchers if that works.

Thanks Salerno. Can anyone expand on what this "guarantee letter" required from your home bank for the Non Immigrant O-A visa is? Hopefully once I understand I can better explain it to our bank (Tangerine), but their initial reaction was they have no idea and just use our monthly bank statement as proof. Would love to hear from any Westerner that has gone through getting this letter. This sounds really promising as far as being able to return to Thailand once a year. You lost me with the "Or" part though. Doesn't the initial Non-Immigrant O-A visa also require the 800K in a Thai bank? Wait, we don't have to move money into Thailand on a Non Immigrant O-A visa? The official site says: Do we interpret that as meaning we just have to show 800K THB in our Canadian bank and not move any to Thailand? I thought the Non-Immigrant O visa was only applicable when a Thai person was involved? Neither of us hold a Thai passport. It also says it is only for 90 days vs. almost 2 years or the O-A. I think we would be ok getting the medical and criminal paperwork once every 2 years if it means the Visa essentially lasts for 2 years vs. 90 days, unless O visa extensions are easy? Sounds like either way we should start the process in Thailand on a free visa exempt vs. paying for the 60 + 30 day tourist visa. Really appreciate the response and thanks for the help!

Forgot one more question. We have heard mention of a spouse being able to piggyback on certain visas. Would that be possible for us with this O-A visa?

We are a Canadian couple in our 50's looking to come back to Thailand for a minimum 6 month time period. Last year we came on a 60+30 day tourist Visa and stayed for a few months via the Covid extensions. It worked out great but it sounds like this is coming to an end and we don't want to deal with the stress of maybe having to leave early. We are not looking to work or go to school. Ideally we would like to spend half the year in Thailand and half the year in Canada. After looking at the options it appears that the Non-Immigrant O-A visa would be the way to go (please advise if we are missing other options). Some questions we have about this are: - Official page says "Financial evidence : a guarantee letter from the bank and a copy of bank statement showing a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 THB". "The bank" is in Thailand right? Wife is worried we have to get this from our Canadian bank who have told us they cannot provide a "guarantee letter". - We are not clear if we can leave and come back to Thailand with the O-A Visa? - Official page says says "Can be extended for 1 year every year". Does that mean after we receive the O-A visa we can get multiple extensions without re-applying all over again? - Can the annual extensions work with the afore mentioned ability to leave Thailand and come back every year? - In the past we were under the impression we couldn't open a Thai bank account while on a tourist visa. What is the typical "800K into a Thai bank account" process for people applying for the O-A while on a tourist visa? Thanks in advance for any info/comments on this stuff!