first o/a obtained but some advice needed

[brianj1964]

I applied for an O/A based on retirement from London and it arrived within a week but I have some additional questions to ask.

Is it still the case that if I leave and return just before the expiry of the visa I get an additional year for free? if thats still the case, and my future extensions are going to be lump sum in the bank does that mean I would not have to show any money in the bank for the 20 months? can I use a FDA as my preferred way to deposit my money? as the pound has fallen through the floor against the Baht, im not keen on exchanging at this time , hoping at some point the pound will do better. and finally do I have to prove the money has come from the UK or can I carry it with me in my hand luggage? 

appreciate the advice

[LivinLOS]

Vital to this will be, when do you intend to arrive in Thailand ?

[lamyai3]

You get stamped in for a year on any entry within the one year validity of the visa, so yes if your visa was issued late in October 2019 and you arrive in late October 2020 before it expires, you should be stamped in until October 2021. If you wanted to extend using the lump sum method, you'd need to be thinking about this around July 2021. It doesn't matter how the money is deposited regarding applying for an extension, but a registered bank transfer would make it much easier to transfer the money back out of Thailand later if required.

[brianj1964]

11 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Vital to this will be, when do you intend to arrive in Thailand ?

this coming Monday the 4th, I got the visa 2 weeks ago and i had to enter within 3 months of issuance, the 12 months start from the day you enter..correct?

[Andrew Dwyer]

12 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

this coming Monday the 4th, I got the visa 2 weeks ago and i had to enter within 3 months of issuance, the 12 months start from the day you enter..correct?

I believe that you will have an “ issued date “ and a “ valid until or enter before “ date also on your OA which used to be 1 year ( -1 day ) from the issued date, unless that has changed of course .

You can enter anytime until your visa expires ( valid until or enter before date ) and will get a stamp for 1 year. You can come and go as often as you like for 1 year from the issued date and will receive a 1 year stamp ( “admitted to stay until “ ).

When your visa expires ( ( 1 year after being issued ) any entries have to be accompanied by a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay alive.

 

Hence, people re-enter the country just before the visa expires to gain almost 2 years from an OA visa.

 

NOTE: 
First year is using your multi entry OA visa
Second year is permission to stay and you require re-entry permits ( single or multi ) to enter.

At the end of the second year you can re-apply for an OA ( in your home country ) or get an extension of stay at your local immigration office, valid for 1 year. You will need to meet the financial requirements in a Thai bank for this extension and any after .

[brianj1964]

2 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I believe that you will have an “ issued date “ and a “ valid until or enter before “ date also on your OA which used to be 1 year ( -1 day ) from the issued date, unless that has changed of course .

You can enter anytime until your visa expires ( valid until or enter before date ) and will get a stamp for 1 year. You can come and go as often as you like for 1 year from the issued date and will receive a 1 year stamp ( “admitted to stay until “ ).

When your visa expires ( ( 1 year after being issued ) any entries have to be accompanied by a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay alive.

 

Hence, people re-enter the country just before the visa expires to gain almost 2 years from an OA visa.

 

NOTE: 
First year is using your multi entry OA visa
Second year is permission to stay and you require re-entry permits ( single or multi ) to enter.

At the end of the second year you can re-apply for an OA ( in your home country ) or get an extension of stay at your local immigration office, valid for 1 year. You will need to meet the financial requirements in a Thai bank for this extension and any after .

Thanks Andrew, the re-entry to stretch my O/A to 2 years, I do not need to show any money in a Thai bank, is this correct?

Can I then extend in future using £pounds in  a bank account and do I have to prove I sent the money from the UK or can I bring it with me?

[Andrew Dwyer]

28 minutes ago, brianj1964 said:

Thanks Andrew, the re-entry to stretch my O/A to 2 years, I do not need to show any money in a Thai bank, is this correct?

Can I then extend in future using £pounds in  a bank account and do I have to prove I sent the money from the UK or can I bring it with me?

Yes, first year use your OA as a normal visa coming and going, try to re-enter Thailand just before the visa expires although it’s not necessary to do this, I went on a little sightseeing visit to Kanchanaburi with the gf and crossed into Myanmar and back ( took about 30 minutes ) to get 23 months from my OA. After the visa expires you need to purchase a re-entry permit at Immigration ( or some Thai airports on departure ) to re-enter Thailand, without this you will have to start from scratch !!

 

Yes you do not need to even have a Thai bank until your first extension but a few months before you should look into the financial requirements needed ( 400k for married, 800k for retirement, income method etc ).

 

I’m not sure if you can have a foreign account here (£ or $ etc) i believe you can but not 100%.

 

If you have Baht in a Thai bank for your extension there is no requirement to prove where it came from, that is my experience at Ayutthaya Immigration, if this is not correct at another IO hopefully someone will be along to verify.

 

A visit to your IO closer to your extension is advisable as different rulings do apply at different IO’s and Immigration rules can change.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Andrew Dwyer