Retirement visa application - confused

[berybert]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

5 minutes ago, berybert said:

You can not get the tests done in the U.K because 2 of them don't exist. I ended up getting an email from a Harley Street doctor telling my doctor the tests were not something that is done in the UK before my doctor signed my form. All at not cost I might add.
Most doctors if you have been a patient for years will just sign the form without question but for a small fee. 
 

Yes you'd hope your GP would just sign the certificate but as a precaution get a 150 baht one whilst in Thailand

That is actually very good advice. I wasn't in Thailand for the year previous to doing my visa. But if I had of been I would have done as you did.

[chicowoodduck]

As someone will soon point out....it is NOT a VISA....just a permit to stay longer....lol....???

[Dene16]

13 hours ago, britishjohn said:

This is also on the Thai embassy website:  "Copies of bank statement, criminal record, medical record and marriage certificate must be certified by a Notary Public officer or solicitor"

 

Does this mean if I send in the originals I don't need to take the documents to a legal firm for certification ?

Make sure all your documents are correct before you take them to the embassy in London it could be a long double trip  if they are not correct 

I made a mistake by printing off my bank statements without my address on them and they were refused. Had to do the whole trip again

Your documents need to be signed by a solicitor (please note: they do not need to be notarised ) Notarised (different meaning in USA) just means signed by a solicitor and should only cost about £15 - 25

Not sure what someone else is talking about but an OA visa can only be applied for in London or country of the applicant

Yes you will need a medical, basic police check, proof of funds/pension

Once you have the visa you will have one/two years to get a Thai bank account for the money seasoning 

[TKDfella]

On 1/10/2018 at 4:59 PM, ubonjoe said:

The OA visa is a good option.

The higher fees at some law firms and agents is because they put the funds for you into the bank account. You can find some that will help with only opening the account and assisting with the paper work for the the non immigrant visa entry and extension applications for lower fees. 

To open account yourself just means trying at different banks and branches of the same banks.

After getting the bank account opened the applications are not that difficult.

I am a bit confused myself here. On post No. 9 berybert mentions other things required by the Embassy such as medical & criminal records. I thought such records were only required in the case of residency Visa application. Please correct me if I'm wrong...or have things changed over the past few years? Thank you in advance.

[Andrew Dwyer]

I am a bit confused myself here. On post No. 9 berybert mentions other things required by the Embassy such as medical & criminal records. I thought such records were only required in the case of residency Visa application. Please correct me if I'm wrong...or have things changed over the past few years? Thank you in advance.

These are required when applying for the O-A visa.

[tgeezer]

I can’t see the point of an elite visa. A fixed deposit of 800.000Bt makes interest of about 11000 per year. Take out 7000 for renewal and re-entry permits, you’re in pocket by 3000 Bt a year. Compared with an expenditure of 100.000Bt for an elite visa annually.
I renew in Bangkok but really don’t think that avoiding Immigration is worth 103.000Bt. I think that if I were having trouble then I would befriend an IO and spend the 3000Bt on a New Year gift.


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[ericthai]

On 1/12/2018 at 9:27 PM, Andrew65 said:

I'll put it in context. I used to do 3 visa runs a tear cost c.10,000 Baht each (I've lived here since 1997, you're not going to be "educating" me about anything here mate).

 

your saying back in 1997 it cost you 30,000B a year for visas?

[Andrew65]

8 hours ago, ericthai said:

your saying back in 1997 it cost you 30,000B a year for visas?

No, I wasn't needing to do visa runs then because I used to work 6 weeks on, in Algeria or Saudi, and 3 weeks off here. So, the 30 days on arrival was sufficient. This was true up until about 2008 when work became more scarce.

8 hours ago, ericthai said:

your saying back in 1997 it cost you 30,000B a year for visas?

 

[Lacessit]

The best advice I can give to the OP is to follow Ubon Joe's advice. He is the Bible in this field.

[ericthai]

21 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

No, I wasn't needing to do visa runs then because I used to work 6 weeks on, in Algeria or Saudi, and 3 weeks off here. So, the 30 days on arrival was sufficient. This was true up until about 2008 when work became more scarce.

 

I was going to say back then it was so easy to get a 1 year multi entry B visa. A simple letter from a thai company and that was it. 

[aussieinphuket]

On 13/01/2018 at 10:27 AM, berybert said:

500,000 Baht for 3 or 4 hours work. I'll stick with the renewals. And the train to the airport.

your prerogative ... you wish to go through the hassles and have plenty of time on your hands fine well done..

[berybert]

6 hours ago, aussieinphuket said:

your prerogative ... you wish to go through the hassles and have plenty of time on your hands fine well done..

Its probably as much hassle to go to an agents as it is to go to immigration. Once you have been there a few times its all pretty much easy.  But if your life is so busy every minute counts one must wonder why you live in a country that is so laid back.

[britishjohn]

So I visited the Thai embassy today to apply for the O-A visa. I had double checked and triple checked everything and had stuck rigidly to their rules. Firstly their website states 1 additional form, which I had supplied, but apparently she wanted 2, this was easily rectified.

 

Then she turned up her nose up at the current account statement despite having twice the required funds balance. These funds had only been transferred into the account a few days before the statement date, but that didn't seem to be a problem. She was unhappy because the statement didn't go back far enough.

 

Fortunately I had brought a savings acc  bank statement too just in case. But that wasn't good enough either because the last date on the statement was 15th Dec.

 

Then I noticed that luckily I had stuffed some old current accounts statements in my briefcase which went back 2 months, and finally she was satisfied. All it showed was a small balance and a number of minor payments for groceries and fuel etc, so how that helped her I have no idea !

[scubascuba3]

So I visited the Thai embassy today to apply for the O-A visa. I had double checked and triple checked everything and had stuck rigidly to their rules. Firstly their website states 1 additional form, which I had supplied, but apparently she wanted 2, this was easily rectified.
 
Then she turned up her nose up at the current account statement despite having twice the required funds balance. These funds had only been transferred into the account a few days before the statement date, but that didn't seem to be a problem. She was unhappy because the statement didn't go back far enough.
 
Fortunately I had brought a savings acc  bank statement too just in case. But that wasn't good enough either because the last date on the statement was 15th Dec.
 
Then I noticed that luckily I had stuffed some old current accounts statements in my briefcase which went back 2 months, and finally she was satisfied. All it showed was a small balance and a number of minor payments for groceries and fuel etc, so how that helped her I have no idea !

Don't the requirements specify you need £ equivalent of 800,000 baht in the bank for 2-3 months? I checked a few months ago but can't remember

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎1‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 10:39 PM, JackThompson said:

When applying for an O-A, go by what is said by the Thai Consulate where you will apply.  Every consulate runs its own show / own rules.

I though O A are only done at the embassy. Non O done at consulate.

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I though O A are only done at the embassy. Non O done at consulate.

An embassy or a official Thai consulate can issue an OA visa and some will issue a non-o visa. A honorary Thai consulate cannot issue a OA visa.

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I though O A are only done at the embassy. Non O done at consulate.

"Official" consulates can do O-A, in some countries, I believe.  Though O-A are always limited to the residence or passport country of the applicant.

 

It is the "Unofficial" / "Honorary" consulates that are barred from multiple-entry and non-o visas, generally - with some exceptions, where it has been reported that they can do with with a "sign-off" from the official branch.

[britishjohn]

I don't think you need the funds in your account for any period when applying from your home country.  I didn't and I know someone else who did the same as me, just had the funds in the account for one day only. 

Anyway I picked it up today, I just need to be clear about the rules now. Initially I was under the impression that time starts ticking the moment I first enter country. But I'm guessing  I'm wrong in thinking that.

I now assume that my initial year starts from when the visa is granted and not when I first enter the country ? Mine says expiry date 28 Jan 2019. Does that mean it's the last date I would be able to enter the country ? 

But at the same time I get an extension up to a year everytime I enter the country up until the 28 Jan 2019, so in theory I could take it up to 28 Jan 2020. Is that correct ?

 

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, britishjohn said:

I now assume that my initial year starts from when the visa is granted and not when I first enter the country ? Mine says expiry date 28 Jan 2019. Does that mean it's the last date I would be able to enter the country ? 

As long as you do an entry on or before 28 January 2019 you will get a new one year entry, After that date you would need a re-entry permit to keep the last entry valic if you wanted to travel.

2 hours ago, britishjohn said:

But at the same time I get an extension up to a year everytime I enter the country up until the 28 Jan 2019, so in theory I could take it up to 28 Jan 2020. Is that correct ?

You get a new one year permit to stay (not an extension) every time you enter the country up to that date.  

If you did an entry on 28 January 2019 you would be stamped in until January 27th 2020.

[britishjohn]

Thanks for clearing that up. So let me just clarify a few other points.

In the period up to the 28 Jan 2019, I can come and go as often as I like with no restrictions ?

After the 28 Jan 2019 (assuming I have a permit to stay longer), I will require re-entry permits ?

And then once the permit to stay has expired I will need an extension ?

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, britishjohn said:

Thanks for clearing that up. So let me just clarify a few other points.

In the period up to the 28 Jan 2019, I can come and go as often as I like with no restrictions ?

After the 28 Jan 2019 (assuming I have a permit to stay longer), I will require re-entry permits ?

And then once the permit to stay has expired I will need an extension ?

Correct

If you plan on making several trips during the last year you can get a multiple re-entry permit for a fee of 3800 baht. A single is 1,000 baht.

[britishjohn]

Ah that's good to know, thanks

[Andrew Dwyer]

Thanks for clearing that up. So let me just clarify a few other points.
In the period up to the 28 Jan 2019, I can come and go as often as I like with no restrictions ?
After the 28 Jan 2019 (assuming I have a permit to stay longer), I will require re-entry permits ?
And then once the permit to stay has expired I will need an extension ?

Every time you enter Thailand from now until 28 Jan 2019 you will get an entry stamp for one year ( minus 1 day ), this is your permission to stay ( not an actual permit ).
So, theoretically you could enter on 27 Jan 2019 and receive an entry stamp stating “ admitted until 26 Jan 2020 “, this is how you achieve 2 years from the O-A visa .After this you need to apply for a yearly extension.

BUT REMEMBER: on 28 Jan 2019 your visa expires and you are then on permission to stay !! From this day onwards you need a re-entry permit to enter Thailand or you will just get 30 days and have to start over.

[britishjohn]

ok lets just say I messed things up and I do have to start over. What are my options at that point ?

[JackThompson]

If you left w/o a re-entry permit, you would not have a "non-imm" type entry to use to enter - so attempting would get you a 30-day visa-exempt entry.  There are several options for starting over, including applying for a new Non-OA Visa in your home-country, or moving to an option that would bridge you to a 1-year "extension of stay" issued by immigration.  The latter would involve, first, either trying to get a "conversion" to Non-O entry in-country (can be hard at some offices), or getting a Non-O single-entry at a nearby consulate. 

Much better not to forget, and get a re-entry permit during the 2nd year.

[Andrew Dwyer]

ok lets just say I messed things up and I do have to start over. What are my options at that point ?

As Jack says you would have to go with either of the options talked about in this thread . Doubt if you want to go through all this again !!

If you have a smartphone get your self an app such as Countdown and mark all your upcoming dates .
I use it for birthdays , holidays, 90 days report etc .

[britishjohn]

Ok thanks again. Just a couple more questions. 

Where do you obtain the re-entry permits ? If you get a multiple entry one will it last a year ?  Can you obtain this in advance of travelling out of the country ?

Also about obtaining an extension. What's the maximum length of time prior to the expiry of the permission to stay, you can you apply for this ?

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, britishjohn said:

Where do you obtain the re-entry permits ?

At the immigration office where you are registered or at the airport as you are leaving the country.

 

1 hour ago, britishjohn said:

If you get a multiple entry one will it last a year ?

It lasts until the end of your current permission to stay. If you get it at the same time as a one-year extension of stay, this will be approximately a year.

 

1 hour ago, britishjohn said:

Can you obtain this in advance of travelling out of the country ?

You must obtain a re-entry permit either before or as you are leaving the country. When you return, it is too late.

[britishjohn]

Sorry what I meant was how far in advance can I apply for an extension ?

[Lite Beer]

10 minutes ago, britishjohn said:

Sorry what I meant was how far in advance can I apply for an extension ?

Within 30 days before your current permission to stay ends.

45 days at some offices.