Apply for Non Immigrant O visa in Thailand

[DrunkAdvice]

As far as I know you can apply for a Non Immigrant O visa at an immigration office in Thailand in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai. (Or apply to change the visa you have)

My questions are: Is this correct? And are there other immigration offices in Thailand where you can apply?

[glegolo]

As a ground-rule you can NOT apply and get a VISA inside Thailand. BUT if your aim is to in the end having a 1 year extension of stay, than you can apply for a so called conversion from what you have, getting a Non Imm O and then an extension of stay..

 

glegolo

[JackThompson]

Bangkok is now requiring local offices to do conversions and no longer accepting applications from those not living in their service-area.  But, some local-offices are more cooperative than others in doing conversions.  The process for a conversion is generally more difficult than applying for a Non-O in a Thai consulate nearby - but the justification for your Non-O is a factor in where (what consulate or locally) you want to do this. 

 

Is your intention to convert to a Non-O for retirement, marriage, or other?  What local office do you wish to use?  From there, we can provide more precise option-information.

[ubonjoe]

38 minutes ago, DrunkAdvice said:

My questions are: Is this correct? And are there other immigration offices in Thailand where you can apply?

Whether it is correct or not depends upon what basis you will be using the 90 day entry to apply for an extension of stay. Retirement, marriage, being the parent of a Thai and couple of others are OK.

It is not a visa you can apply for and then use for an entry. It is only valid for the date it issued and immigration stamps a new 90 day entry as soon as visa stamp is done.

You can apply for one at any immigration office now according to a directive from immigration done this year.

[DrunkAdvice]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Whether it is correct or not depends upon what basis you will be using the 90 day entry to apply for an extension of stay. Retirement, marriage, being the parent of a Thai and couple of others are OK.

It is not a visa you can apply for and then use for an entry. It is only valid for the date it issued and immigration stamps a new 90 day entry as soon as visa stamp is done.

You can apply for one at any immigration office now according to a directive from immigration done this year.

Thank you :) Is there any chance to find this directive from immigration, online?

[DrunkAdvice]

7 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Bangkok is now requiring local offices to do conversions and no longer accepting applications from those not living in their service-area.  But, some local-offices are more cooperative than others in doing conversions.  The process for a conversion is generally more difficult than applying for a Non-O in a Thai consulate nearby - but the justification for your Non-O is a factor in where (what consulate or locally) you want to do this. 

 

Is your intention to convert to a Non-O for retirement, marriage, or other?  What local office do you wish to use?  From there, we can provide more precise option-information.

Thank you. :) I am asking for a friend who was denied converting his 60 day tourist visa to a Non Immigrant O "Retirement" visa in Rayong and was told to apply in Pattaya. Looks like they are not updated in Rayong then. But Pattaya is not far. 
(Hope he is not denied there then, since he does not live in their service area)

Does the thai immigration put this information anywhere online?

[JackThompson]

16 minutes ago, DrunkAdvice said:

Thank you :) Is there any chance to find this directive from immigration, online?

There are "official" requirements for doing the conversion, originating from Bangkok, but your local office may or may not follow them.  A copy of the official-list is in this post:

Note, this is for someone married to a Thai.  I see you just posted it is for retirement, which will vary. 

 

Here is a post about someone who tried a retirement-conversion at Jomtien (possibly the worst place to do a conversion in Thailand), and what he was put through  :

 

 

 

[steve187]

9 minutes ago, DrunkAdvice said:

Thank you. :) I am asking for a friend who was denied converting his 60 day tourist visa to a Non Immigrant O "Retirement" visa in Rayong and was told to apply in Pattaya. Looks like they are not updated in Rayong then. But Pattaya is not far. 
(Hope he is not denied there then, since he does not live in their service area)

Does the thai immigration put this information anywhere online?

I was also told no can do at Rayong. was told to go to Laos or London

[DrunkAdvice]

4 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

There are "official" requirements for doing the conversion, originating from Bangkok, but your local office may or may not follow them.  A copy of the official-list is in this post:

 

 

Thank you :)

[JackThompson]

2 minutes ago, DrunkAdvice said:

Thank you :)

Please see my edit/update to that post, since you mentioned retirement.

[scotsman]

It is near impossible to get this done in pattaya they want you to use a agent the only way to get one is either to use an agent or try penang Thai consulate but you wont get one in pattaya by yourself.

 

regards and good luck 

 

Scotsman  

[Whitson]

I converted a tourist visa into a non - immigrant 'o' and then into a retirement extension at Jomptien this year. No problem at all. Just followed the procedure they gave me.

I have been using this office for the application.last 12 years for a range of services.

Never found them to be anything less than super kind and efficient.

Sorry you are having problems but it is a clear procedure and well documented. Not sure how the IO is blocking your application.

Ask to see a section head.

[JackThompson]

22 minutes ago, Whitson said:

I converted a tourist visa into a non - immigrant 'o' and then into a retirement extension at Jomptien this year. No problem at all. Just followed the procedure they gave me.

I have been using this office for the application.last 12 years for a range of services.

Never found them to be anything less than super kind and efficient.

Sorry you are having problems but it is a clear procedure and well documented. Not sure how the IO is blocking your application.

Ask to see a section head.

I am curious why your experience differed so much from the one others have reported, including my own:

• When did this happen?
• What "clear procedure and well documented" was provided to you? 
• Did you have to pay a large "extra fee" of some sort to get that office to cooperate (as others have reported being asked to pay)?
• Was an agent involved?

My personal experience applying based on marriage:

• I was given a made-up list (no official document number or format) which in no way reflected the official list (linked above) handed out at the front-desk.  
• "Income" was not on the made-up list at all, and my income-stat-doc, which I even had MFA certified, was not accepted (though is on the official list).  Offering to prove the income was valid, via bank-book records I had with me, was not accepted.
• I was told only seasoned money in the bank could be used for a conversion, though seasoning is not required for conversions (only required for 1-year extensions).

Solution:  I went to a nearby consulate and obtained my Non-O (single-entry) there without issue. 

[Bill Miller]

On 11/25/2017 at 10:40 AM, JackThompson said:

I am curious why your experience differed so much from the one others have reported, including my own:

• When did this happen?
• What "clear procedure and well documented" was provided to you? 
• Did you have to pay a large "extra fee" of some sort to get that office to cooperate (as others have reported being asked to pay)?
• Was an agent involved?

My personal experience applying based on marriage:

• I was given a made-up list (no official document number or format) which in no way reflected the official list (linked above) handed out at the front-desk.  
• "Income" was not on the made-up list at all, and my income-stat-doc, which I even had MFA certified, was not accepted (though is on the official list).  Offering to prove the income was valid, via bank-book records I had with me, was not accepted.
• I was told only seasoned money in the bank could be used for a conversion, though seasoning is not required for conversions (only required for 1-year extensions).

Solution:  I went to a nearby consulate and obtained my Non-O (single-entry) there without issue. 

Largely my experience. I was told that due to "changes" the documentation I had used in the past was no longer sufficient, mostly having to do with proof of residence.
It was suggested that 16,000 baht would ease the situation for what until now was a 2,000 baht procedure.
The nearby agent wanted more than 20,000 baht.
I found it cheaper and more interesting to take a Yellow Bus and visit the Royal Consulate in Savannakhet.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, Bill Miller said:

Largely my experience. I was told that due to "changes" the documentation I had used in the past was no longer sufficient, mostly having to do with proof of residence.
It was suggested that 16,000 baht would ease the situation for what until now was a 2,000 baht procedure.
The nearby agent wanted more than 20,000 baht.
I found it cheaper and more interesting to take a Yellow Bus and visit the Royal Consulate in Savannakhet.

Interesting is one way to describe the yellow-bus experience.  I took that bus once, and "VIP" it isn't (though they call it that).  When going to Laos for visas, I recommend heading up to Bangkok first, to get a "real" VIP bus at MorChit.  They have better buses to Vientiane, if you only need a single-entry, but the ones to Mukdahan are ok / 3-seats across.

[Bill Miller]

7 hours ago, JackThompson said:

Interesting is one way to describe the yellow-bus experience.  I took that bus once, and "VIP" it isn't (though they call it that).  When going to Laos for visas, I recommend heading up to Bangkok first, to get a "real" VIP bus at MorChit.  They have better buses to Vientiane, if you only need a single-entry, but the ones to Mukdahan are ok / 3-seats across.

Thanks, I'll check that out in future.
Next trip we are flying to Vientiane, because the Missus wants to go along.
We are going to check out some of the famous temples there.