Non O based on being in Receipt of UK Pension possible in Thailand ?

[Jumbo1968]

My Extension of Stay/Retirement Visa was due to expire on the 14th of this month, I let the period of seasoning in the bank run out hoping the Brexit situation would be sorted unfortunately it hasn’t.

My intention was too start again with a Non 0 Immigrant based on being in receipt of my UK State Pension at Hull which I got whilst in the UK. I went there on the 4th  of December, they would only make the start date from then.

On arrival at Bangkok yesterday the IO appeared very confused because I had 2 Visas. She called a colleague over who took me too the side, no hassle really both were woman. I explained what my intentions were and she stamped everything and let me go saying I could have got the Non O in Thailand.

Hindsight is great but could I have got a Non O based on me being in receipt of my UK State Pension here ?

[Justin Side]

No.

[lopburi3]

OK so you were allowed in on a re-entry permit until the 14th?  Or you were allowed in on a visa exempt entry?  You still have the non immigrant O visa from Hull?

 

You can not obtain non immigrant O visa in Thailand except from a visa exempt or tourist visa entry with proof of financials for retirement.  Just having a pension would not count.  If you entered on a re-entry permit just exit on 14th and return with that non O visa from Hull.  

[Jumbo1968]

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

OK so you were allowed in on a re-entry permit until the 14th?  Or you were allowed in on a visa exempt entry?  You still have the non immigrant O visa from Hull?

 

You can not obtain non immigrant O visa in Thailand except from a visa exempt or tourist visa entry with proof of financials for retirement.  Just having a pension would not count.  If you entered on a re-entry permit just exit on 14th and return with that non O visa from Hull.  

No the IO stamped me in on the Non O valid till the 3rd of March.

[BritTim]

54 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

No the IO stamped me in on the Non O valid till the 3rd of March.

If you have a fresh entry on the Non O, with your permission to stay valid until March 3rd, you have time to season 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for a one-year extension if you want. This will be a first extension that requires seasoning for 60 days.

However, if you got a Non O from Hull, this might well be a one-year multiple entry visa. If so, as an alternative to applying for a one-year extension, you could do border bounces every 90 days to get fresh permissions to stay. Any of those new permissions to stay could be extended in the future, with the same financial proof, if you decided this was preferable.

[007 RED]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

....  However, if you got a Non O from Hull, this might well be a one-year multiple entry visa. If so, as an alternative to applying for a one-year extension, you could do border bounces every 90 days to get fresh permissions to stay. Any of those new permissions to stay could be extended in the future, with the same financial proof, if you decided this was preferable.

Sorry to correct you Tim, but the Thai Consulate in Hull are only able to issue single entry Non-O visas.  Multi-entry Non-O can only be issued by the Thai Embassy in London.

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/non-immigrant-visas.php

[Jumbo1968]

52 minutes ago, 007 RED said:

Sorry to correct you Tim, but the Thai Consulate in Hull are only able to issue single entry Non-O visas.  Multi-entry Non-O can only be issued by the Thai Embassy in London.

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/non-immigrant-visas.php

Correct my 90 Day is a Single Entry, it expires 3rd of March, my next flight is the 19th of March. 

Are there any alternatives too getting an Extension of Stay too cover me for the additional 16 days apart from doing an overstay? 

I would be returning too Thailand in May and hopefully the exchange may have gone up.

[beavenlen]

i believe as a uk state pensiiner that you can get non o ,just need pension letter which i have used for over five years year before last was informed that i could switch to non o me saving valuable space in my passport, a uk state pension makes life here very easy if you follow the rules be nice and if problems arise smile and go away to sort them.  thank god i di not have some of the money some expats have and all the problems that seem to arise. usually leading tl freefall experiance from their lavish condos....an immediate apology to all you poor wealthy expats.

[Olmate]

9 minutes ago, beavenlen said:

i believe as a uk state pensiiner that you can get non o ,just need pension letter which i have used for over five years year before last was informed that i could switch to non o me saving valuable space in my passport, a uk state pension makes life here very easy if you follow the rules be nice and if problems arise smile and go away to sort them.  thank god i di not have some of the money some expats have and all the problems that seem to arise. usually leading tl freefall experiance from their lavish condos....an immediate apology to all you poor wealthy expats.

Bit strange that , very believable tho!

[elviajero]

8 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

I explained what my intentions were and she stamped everything and let me go saying I could have got the Non O in Thailand.

Hindsight is great but could I have got a Non O based on me being in receipt of my UK State Pension here ?

Yes, it’s possible.

 

But only if your pension/s is/are over 65K baht pm and you got a letter from the British embassy confirming your income. OR you had a combination of annual pension income and cash in the bank totalling 800K.

[Geode]

3 hours ago, elviajero said:

Yes, it’s possible.

 

But only if your pension/s is/are over 65K baht pm and you got a letter from the British embassy confirming your income. OR you had a combination of annual pension income and cash in the bank totalling 800K.

I am an American, not British, but as it is probably now known by most everyone the other embassies followed what the UK embassy did in Bangkok and will no longer be supplying the letters verifying income from pensions. The American embassy said that it was being done because the Thai government knows that the letters do not really verify anything so would no longer be accepting them next year. The US embassy wrote on their website that as of October 26th that Thai immigration would be accepting financial statements directly from from those applying for the "extension of stay" but I found this is incorrect when I went in for renewal last week. They would not look at my statements and they required me to get the letter from the embassy. But two agents on two different days told me that next year the only option that will be accepted is having the 800,000 baht on deposit. The income method apparently is being done away with.

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Geode said:

I am an American, not British, but as it is probably now known by most everyone the other embassies followed what the UK embassy did in Bangkok and will no longer be supplying the letters verifying income from pensions. The American embassy said that it was being done because the Thai government knows that the letters do not really verify anything so would no longer be accepting them next year. The US embassy wrote on their website that as of October 26th that Thai immigration would be accepting financial statements directly from from those applying for the "extension of stay" but I found this is incorrect when I went in for renewal last week. They would not look at my statements and they required me to get the letter from the embassy. But two agents on two different days told me that next year the only option that will be accepted is having the 800,000 baht on deposit. The income method apparently is being done away with.

I was replying to a specific question about what could have happened.

 

Only four (not most) embassies have stopped issuing letters. There are threads discussing each on TVF.

 

And immigration have not done away with the income method. It is the embassies choice to stop issuing the letters.

[UKresonant]

14 hours ago, beavenlen said:

i believe as a uk state pensiiner that you can get non o ,just need pension letter which i have used for over five years year before last was informed that i could switch to non o me saving valuable space in my passport, a uk state pension makes life here very easy if you follow the rules be nice and if problems arise smile and go away to sort them.  thank god i di not have some of the money some expats have and all the problems that seem to arise. usually leading tl freefall experiance from their lavish condos....an immediate apology to all you poor wealthy expats.

It's very useful, the pension letter and the non O-A multi entry, that's what I use for Dad's application at the London Embassy every year, using the current year Pension Letter/statement. (Only to stay in Thailand 49% of the time though)

Couple of questions

So do they accept it in Thailand as well?  If so do you have to get it legalized in the UK?

I'm thinking it's proof of entitlement,  rather than confirming the value "ïn year"? so (a legalized?) proof of entitlement would endure year after year perhaps..

 

Just curiosity! 

[BritTim]

19 hours ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Are there any alternatives too getting an Extension of Stay too cover me for the additional 16 days apart from doing an overstay? 

Best would be a border bounce early March for a visa exempt entry.

 

(As an aside, only a delay in Brexit with the possible prospect of it being withdrawn would result in a significant recovery in the exchange rate by May. If a "no deal" Brexit becomes inevitable, it will decline further.)

[sandyf]

15 hours ago, elviajero said:

I was replying to a specific question about what could have happened.

 

Only four (not most) embassies have stopped issuing letters. There are threads discussing each on TVF.

 

And immigration have not done away with the income method. It is the embassies choice to stop issuing the letters.

But you sent the thread off at a tangent by answering a question that was not asked.

"Hindsight is great but could I have got a Non O based on me being in receipt of my UK State Pension here ?"

 

You meant the OP could get an extension of stay, not a Non O.

As someone has pointed out you can only convert a visa exempt or tourist visa. The OP already had an extension of stay based on retirement, so the answer to his question is "No".