Questions: from non O-A to retirement extensions

[Barley]

Hello,

I wanted to check with you much more experienced people if I can proceed with my plans as I have envisioned.

 

I have a non O-A visa which runs out end of September.

 

Here are the points about which I have questions:

 

1. I will be back in Chiang Mai by the beginning of September, and I assume I have to apply for my first retirement extension before my non O-A becomes invalid?

 

2. I need to have 800.000tbh in my Thai bank account 3 months before I apply?

 

3. The amount of 800.000tbh can be spread over several fixed and savings accounts, as long as it was deposited more than 3 months before the application?

 

4. In this first year on my non O-A visa I will have been in the country for around 110 days, but since I never stayed 90 or more days in one stretch I never filed a 90 days report. I am renting a studio when I am here by the month (always same place). I intend to continue with this routine for the next few years. Will that be a problem?

 

(I know I could do this routine as a tourist with less hassle, but I have my private reasons why I want to do this with a retirement visa)

 

I hope you can help me with these points and give me some reassurance that my plan will work and I have checked all points.

[jimn]

Why dont you use the 2nd year of your OA when you return in September. As long as you re enter Thailand before your visa expires, you will be given a 12 month permission to stay stamp. You will if you leave Thailand again before the permission to stay stamp ends need a re entry permit to keep the 12 month stamp valid

[onera1961]

3 hours ago, Barley said:

I have a non O-A visa which runs out end of September.

Your visa runs out not the Admitted Until date, right?

 

3 hours ago, Barley said:

1. I will be back in Chiang Mai by the beginning of September, and I assume I have to apply for my first retirement extension before my non O-A becomes invalid?

When you enter Thailand in September, 2019, your Admitted Until date will be September, 2020. You will gain one year. So, there is no need for extension.

 

3 hours ago, Barley said:

2. I need to have 800.000tbh in my Thai bank account 3 months before I apply?

You don't need anything in Thai bank if you're admitted untilSeptember, 2020

 

 

[Barley]

Sorry, I think you misunderstood. I will only be staying until beginning of November 2019.

Yes, my visa runs out in September.

[Barley]

Why dont you use the 2nd year of your OA when you return in September. As long as you re enter Thailand before your visa expires, you will be given a 12 month permission to stay stamp. You will if you leave Thailand again before the permission to stay stamp ends need a re entry permit to keep the 12 month stamp valid

Could you please elaborate on this?

I thought I need to apply for a retirement extension before my visa expires.

But you think I can extend that until I leave in November, then get a multple reentry permit instead of a retirement extension and come back for my March/April stay, and maybe possibly for my September/October stay in 2020,and only then need to apply for a retirement extension?

Do I need to have 800.000TBH for the multiple reentry permit? Is the paperwork easier than the retirement extension or what would be the advantages?

[partington]

2 hours ago, Barley said:

 

 

Could you please elaborate on this?

I thought I need to apply for a retirement extension before my visa expires.

But you think I can extend that until I leave in November, then get a multple reentry permit instead of a retirement extension and come back for my March/April stay, and maybe possibly for my September/October stay in 2020,and only then need to apply for a retirement extension?

Do I need to have 800.000TBH for the multiple reentry permit? Is the paperwork easier than the retirement extension or what would be the advantages?

 

Each time you use your O-A visa to enter the country you are given  permission to stay for one entire year. Therefore if you enter the country the day before the "use by" date on your visa you will be given a one year permission to stay.

 

If  the "use by" date on your visa is, say, 10th September 2019, then leaving the country and reentering on the 9th Sept 2019 will result in you being given permission to stay until 9th Sept 2020. 

 

What isn't clear is whether when you say your visa "runs out", you mean the "use by" date, or the date you were allowed to stay until when you last entered the country. This is an important distinction.

 

If, as others have said, your "use by" date is in September 2019, then there is no problem. You will get another year permission to stay, by leaving and re-entering just before that date,  and then before you leave in November you must buy either a single (1000B), or a multi- (3800B) re-entry permit at immigration in order to keep that year permission to stay active. Buying a re-entry permit is the only requirement.

 

If you are past your "use by " date this doesn't apply.

[Barley]

Thank you for all your kind help.

Yes, the non O-A visa was issued in September 2018 and expires in September 2019, at which time I can get permission to stay until September 2020.

So then I would be able to get a multi reentry permit without having 800000tbh in a Thai bank, without health check etc. - just simply go to immigration, pay 3800tbh without big paperwork and be done with it?

What about my last concern in my original post:
"In this first year on my non O-A visa I will have been in the country for a good 100 days, but since I never stayed 90 or more days in one stretch I never filed a 90 days report. I am renting a studio when I am here by the month (always same place). I intend to continue with this routine for the next few years. Will that be a problem?"

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, Barley said:

Yes, the non O-A visa was issued in September 2018 and expires in September 2019, at which time I can get permission to stay until September 2020.

So then I would be able to get a multi reentry permit without having 800000tbh in a Thai bank, without health check etc. - just simply go to immigration, pay 3800tbh without big paperwork and be done with it?

As long as you exit and re-enter on or just before the Visas 'Enter before date' (in Sept), you'll be granted permission to stay until Sept 2020.

 

Then obtain a multi re-entry permit from Immigration (3,800 baht).

Then between Sept 2019 - Sept 2020 you can exit/re-enter as many times as you like.

On each re-enter you'll be stamped in until Sept 2020.

 

90 Day reports are only required if staying continuously in the Country for 90 days or more.

If you never stay 90 days consecutively, you never need to file a 90 day report.

 

The period of visa validity is different from the period of stay.  Visa validity is the period during which a visa can be used to enter Thailand.  In general, the validity of a visa is 3 months, but in some cases, visas may be issued to be valid for 6 months, 1 year or 3 years.  The validity of a visa is granted with discretion by the Royal Thai Embassy or Royal Thai Consulate-General and is displayed on the visa sticker. 

On the other hand, the period of stay is granted by an immigration officer upon arrival at the port of entry and in accordance with the type of visa.  For example, the period of stay for a transit visa is not exceeding 30 days, for a tourist visa is not exceeding 60 days and for a non-immigrant visa is not exceeding 90 days from the arrival date.  The period of stay granted by the immigration officer is displayed on the arrival stamp.  Travellers who wish to stay longer than such period may apply for extension of stay at offices of the Immigration Bureau

http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15405-General-information.html 

 

[Barley]

Since I will only need to reenter twice, would it be possible to save 1800 Baht by getting a single reentry in September, then another one in April, or is such a thing not possible?

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Barley said:

Since I will only need to reenter twice, would it be possible to save 1800 Baht by getting a single reentry in September, then another one in April, or is such a thing not possible?

Yes you can do that.

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, Barley said:

Since I will only need to reenter twice, would it be possible to save 1800 Baht by getting a single reentry in September, then another one in April, or is such a thing not possible?

Why do you need a re-entry permit in Sept?

According to your post your 'Enter before' date of your Visa is towards the ned of Sept.

When you arrive back at the beginning of Sept you'll be given permission to stay until the beginning of Sept 2020.

If you absolutely want to maximise your Visa, do a border run on the day, or day before the 'Enter before' date on your Visa, then you'll be given permission to stay until the end of Sept 2020.

You don't need a re-entry permit for the border run.

 

You'll then only need a single re-entry permit for your April trip.

 

At the beginning of Sept 2020, or 30 days before your permission of stay is due to expire, then you can apply for an extension based on retirement from local Immigration.

[Barley]

I will leave Thailand in October 2019, come back in March 2020, leave again beginning of May, come back in September 2020.

 

I think those are two reentries for which I will need 2 single reentry permits or one multi reentry permit.

 

Please correct me if I made a mistake.

 

Is there a 30 day rule that I don't know about?

[Tanoshi]

23 hours ago, Barley said:

I will leave Thailand in October 2019, come back in March 2020, leave again beginning of May, come back in September 2020.

 

I think those are two reentries for which I will need 2 single reentry permits or one multi reentry permit.

 

Please correct me if I made a mistake.

 

Is there a 30 day rule that I don't know about?

Correct, only two single re-entry permits required.

When returning in Sept 2020 make sure it's before your permission to stay date if your applying for an extension based on retirement next and make sure your financials are seasoned.

[Barley]

Thanks, just to be sure here would be a time line example:

My permission to stay (2nd year from my non O-A visa) will end September 15th 2020.

I will apply for an extension based on retirement on September 10th, 2020.

800.000 TBH will have to be in my bank account by June 10th, 2020.

Everything correct so far?

Applying on September 10th 2020, will my extension be valid until September 9th or 14th of 2021 or some other date?

[lamyai3]

8 hours ago, Barley said:

Applying on September 10th 2020, will my extension be valid until September 9th or 14th of 2021 or some other date?

Extension would be until September 15th 2021, even if you applied early. It's possible in Bangkok to apply up to 45 days early (some other offices are 30 days) potentially giving you a permission to stay of 13½ months at the time of application. Pre-seasoning of the 800k has been cited as 2 months under the new rules in the event of a first extension, but if in doubt three would give a safe margin. Things are now weighted more heavily towards meeting the post-seasoning requirements, but it's not yet clear how they plan to apply this.

 

The first two years of the Non O/A are excellent if you use them to proper advantage, so you're in a pretty good situation in having a reliable visa right now (as long as you remember the re-entry permits in the second year). New regulations have been thrown out with alarming frequency in the past six months, but by September next year the dust should have settled, and clearer more consistent procedures should be established by then. 

[jacko45k]

On 5/1/2019 at 12:54 PM, Barley said:

In this first year on my non O-A visa I will have been in the country for a good 100 days, but since I never stayed 90 or more days in one stretch I never filed a 90 days report. I am renting a studio when I am here by the month (always same place). I intend to continue with this routine for the next few years. Will that be a problem?"

If you are in compliance of the 90 day regulation I see no issue. If you stay in Thailand more than 90 days you are required to report. Have you submitted a TM 30?

[rhodie]

If you are back in your home country in Sept 2020, why not apply for the O-A again and get another 2 year. No money needed in Thailand.

[Barley]

Yes, the place I am renting from submits TM30s automatically.

If you are back in your home country in Sept 2020, why not apply for the O-A again and get another 2 year. No money needed in Thailand.

That might be an option, but it might not, since I may give up my residency in my home country. Also the embassy takes a long time processing it, so my passport would be tied up too long.

I also don't mind at all to put the money in a Thai bank.

So it seems that the retirement extension is an easier way to go for me.

[rhodie]

6 hours ago, Barley said:

Yes, the place I am renting from submits TM30s automatically.

That might be an option, but it might not, since I may give up my residency in my home country. Also the embassy takes a long time processing it, so my passport would be tied up too long.

I also don't mind at all to put the money in a Thai bank.

So it seems that the retirement extension is an easier way to go for me.

Bummer that they take so long. Only 3 days in Aus. Really works well. Good luck.

[onera1961]

On 4/30/2019 at 2:15 PM, Barley said:

Sorry, I think you misunderstood. I will only be staying until beginning of November 2019.

So what? You stay and leave whenever you want. Thailand does not expose any restrictions. If you have a valid visa or reentry permit, you will be admitted. It is nothing new.