Hi fellow seekers.

I have previously settled on using a  1 year, multi entry, Non 'O' (marriage) visa to stay 179/180 days (+) in Thailand as the simplest way to cover all my bases for on my annual visit. 40 years married, 15 years on 6 month stopovers in Thailand with wife.

 

I won't rant (too much) about how the new 'system' has thrown our lives into chaos - though i really, really want to.

 

This year, I fortunately found out in time that major changes were afoot and called the Thai Embassy (London) whose traditionally (allegedly) rude and irritable staff recommended a 90 day Non O visa which could be extended in Thailand - they did not say for how long.

 

... Cut to 5 hour Chaeng Watthana ordeal without description of procedure to amass all documents ...

They would only give me a 60 day extension (leaving me 30 days short) and recommended doing a border run via an airport to get a 30 day visa on arrival upon my return. Another money pit.

 Gnashing of teeth. ????

 

The questions arising ...

1. Am I likely to have difficulties requesting a 30 day stamp/visa on arrival (at Swampy international) if I do as the Immigration officer suggests (after 90 day visa + 60 day extension) ? - Any experience/es anyone?

2. Would a land border run (at say , Kanchanaburi) be less likely to be successful? 

3. Assuming I do not want to be involved with bank deposits and health insurances in the future, am I stuck with this regime or perhaps going abroad after 90 days to get another 90 day Non 'O' (or other) visa at a thai embassy?

4. The Multiple entry option was not available when I applied online - despite the button showing on the screen - is this likely to be a permanent feature of non 'O' visas?

I might be flying to Vietnam or Penang at the end of February so I'll report back. 

 

Would appreciate some feedback in advance tho'.????

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do a border run and obtain another 60 day VISA at any embassy/consulate.  

Edited January 9, 20206 yr by Tounge Thaied
Didn't read original comment properly, needed to provide better advice.

In future go to Savanakhet Laos and obtain a Multi Entry Non Imm O Visa based on having a Thai wife.

This will give you unlimited entries of 90 days for a year.

5,000 Baht.

 

A simple border run will give you 30 days and can be extended by 60 days if needed this time.

 

Edited January 9, 20206 yr by fishtank

1 hour ago, fishtank said:

In future go to Savanakhet Laos and obtain a Multi Entry Non Imm O Visa based on having a Thai wife.

Or the consulate at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Neither of them require financial proof.

Penang witn 400k baht in the bank.

Yes, applying for a Multi-Entry Non Imm O - marriage Visa in a neighboring country is probably your best option as you can squeeze almost 15 months of stay in Thailand out of it (and can be extended for another 2 months).

> I PM-ed you some practical information on how to apply for it in Savannakhet, Laos / HCMC, Vietnam / Yangon, Myanmar.  So you can choose most convenient option.

Cheers and success!

Note: To access your PM-messages click the letter icon next to your profile when being logged in to the Forum.

On 1/9/2020 at 11:18 PM, magpie3 said:

I have previously settled on using a  1 year, multi entry, Non 'O' (marriage) visa to stay 179/180 days (+) in Thailand as the simplest way to cover all my bases for on my annual visit. 40 years married, 15 years on 6 month stopovers in Thailand with wife.

 

I won't rant (too much) about how the new 'system' has thrown our lives into chaos - though i really, really want to.

Me to!  finished work early, first half of 2018, not quite chaos, but everything configured to use the ME visa, including pension configurations, so more awkward. The difference is I would prefer to be in Thailand less than 90 Days at a time and back to the UK. (The marriage extension can be complicated and very unlikely to be obtained in my visit timescales). The 60 Day extension sounds ok. HCMC consulate in Vietnam is still doing non-ME visa's but I wonder for how much longer....

Edited January 11, 20206 yr by UKresonant

Should have stuck with the one year visa you originally settled on.  Oh well, live and learn, eh?

Edited January 11, 20206 yr by SiSePuede419

Originally I t orhought that I would retire in Bangkok and live there full time,  I previously worked in Bangkok for 12 years and have been involved with Thais and Thailand for almost 40 years.  Still visit on a regular basis.  However, over the past five or so years I kind of like living where I do.  I seem to be shortening the amount of time that I want to stay in Thailand.  Now I'm thinking maybe just stay in in Thailand from early November to late March which would be approximately five months and miss most of the northern winter.  Instead of going the retirement visa route I was thinking 90 day non-immigrant and then extending for 60 days/another 90 day non-immigrant whichever is easier to obtain.  I already have Thai banks accounts, housing sorted out, etc.  How easy is this to do?  

On 1/9/2020 at 11:18 PM, magpie3 said:

1. Am I likely to have difficulties requesting a 30 day stamp/visa on arrival (at Swampy international) if I do as the Immigration officer suggests (after 90 day visa + 60 day extension) ? - Any experience/es anyone?

2. Would a land border run (at say , Kanchanaburi) be less likely to be successful? 

1. You might have problems going for a 30-day visa exempt entry by air, though you would most likely be OK.

2. On the contrary, a visa exempt entry by land is almost certain to be successful.

I like the OP and others only spend 6 months a year or less in Thailand (for the last 10 years with 2 exceptions of 18 months each).  I am getting tired if jumping thru the hoops for immigration on my retirement extension and want to drop it next year.  Does anyone see a problem applying for a 3 month tourist visa from Canada (actually 2 months plus a 1900 baht extension) then heading to Vietnam for a holiday.  In Vietnam I can apply for a another 3 month visa from a Thai Embassy and exit from Thailand to Canada after 2 months with no 1900 baht extension.  Theoretically I can continue doing this without keeping 800K + THB in my Thai bank.

Edited January 11, 20206 yr by gerry1953

It would be nice if there was a "snowbird visa" that would allow a 6 month stay to escape the northern winters. The danger with a 90 day non-imm visa with extension in Thailand is that an airline might not allow you to board. The best choice seems to be the 1 year non-imm for family visit (if appropriate) and do a border run shortly before the 90 day point.

3 hours ago, HannahD said:

extension in Thailand is that an airline might not allow you to board.

Then buy an airfare that complies and allows changes, even Air Asia offer that!

4 hours ago, HannahD said:

It would be nice if there was a "snowbird visa" that would allow a 6 month stay to escape the northern winters. The danger with a 90 day non-imm visa with extension in Thailand is that an airline might not allow you to board. The best choice seems to be the 1 year non-imm for family visit (if appropriate) and do a border run shortly before the 90 day point.

no return flight required with a visa

20 hours ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Originally I t orhought that I would retire in Bangkok and live there full time,  I previously worked in Bangkok for 12 years and have been involved with Thais and Thailand for almost 40 years.  Still visit on a regular basis.  However, over the past five or so years I kind of like living where I do.  I seem to be shortening the amount of time that I want to stay in Thailand.  Now I'm thinking maybe just stay in in Thailand from early November to late March which would be approximately five months and miss most of the northern winter.  Instead of going the retirement visa route I was thinking 90 day non-immigrant and then extending for 60 days/another 90 day non-immigrant whichever is easier to obtain.  I already have Thai banks accounts, housing sorted out, etc.  How easy is this to do?  

if married/Thai family why not do either a multi entry 'O' visa from savannakhet or HCMC, or a yearly married extension, if staying for 5 months a 'O' visa + a 60 day extension

if not married/Thai family than you can not do any extension on a 'O' visa other than a yearly extension

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by steve187
added 'Thai family'

Apologies for going missing - been a bit unwell.

Interesting to read the responses above - and the extensive details in the PM from Peter Denis.

 

She and I  have been taken under the wing of my extended family and booked on a 3 day trip to Vietnam at the critical time when my visa is running out.  Despite the family's favourite travel agent's assurances, I am slightly apprehensive about the re-entry into Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa waiver/exemption thingy.

Am I risking a neckdeepinbrownstuff experience?  

 

I will take ALL paperwork they could possibly want with me,  but in the twilight zone that is Thai immigration is my 30 day allowance as a tourist valid after the 90 day visa with 60 day extension??

I would take enough cash to persuade them I am of independent means - how much would anyone suggest?  Not including the tea money of course.

 

Hope someone is still following this post after my disappearance.????

 

 

 

8 hours ago, magpie3 said:

I am slightly apprehensive about the re-entry into Thailand on a 30 day tourist visa waiver/exemption thingy.

You will not have a problem getting a 30 day visa exempt entry with your history.

Dependent where you spent your 3 day stay in Vietnam  you could of applied for a multiple entry non-o visa at the embassy or consulate in Vietnam with no financial proof needed.

May I suggest an alternative solution to your predicament.

Assuming you spend the UK winter months in Thailand, Oct - Mar.

 

Next time obtain the single entry Non Imm O Visa, which allows a stay of 90 days, so if you arrived beginning of October 2020, you'll be permitted to stay until end of December. 2020.

Within the last 30 days of that stay, you apply for a 1 year extension to your permission of stay at your local Immigration office based on marriage to a Thai.

The 1 year extension costs 1,900 baht.

 

There is a financial requirement though to qualify for this extension, this being either 40,000 baht per month transferred into a Thai bank throughout the year (not recommended in your situation), OR 400,000 deposited in a Thai bank for 2 months prior to the date of your extension application.

You'll obviously require funds for your stay in Thailand anyway.

Once the extension is granted you can withdraw and spend the 400,000.

 

So, you enter October, deposit 400K in a Thai bank, apply for the extension in December.

The 1 year extension will give you permission to stay until January 2022.

An extension is a permit, not a Visa, it does not allow entries into Thailand unless you purchase a re-entry permit to keep any existing permission of stay valid.

(Single entry 1,000 baht, multi entry 3,800 baht from Immigration)

 

In October of 2021 you no longer need apply for a Non O Visa from the Thai Embassy in London.

You'll already have been granted permission of stay until Jan 2022 and when entering with the re-entry permit you will be stamped in until Jan 2022.

You renew your extension in December 30 days before it expires and obtain permission to stay for a further 12 months - repeat each year.

 

You'll never need to apply for another Non O Visa from London or elsewhere, provided you apply for a new extension and a re-entry permit each year from your local Immigration office. 

In the long run it will save considerable time and effort to stay several months per year in Thailand.

Not exactly an option to stay for 6 months in Thailand with your wife, but here's a visa-free suggestion:

You and your wife go live in Malaysia for 2.5 months (Malaysia grants 3-month social visit passes for citizens of many countries), then go back together to Thailand for one month and then back to Malaysia for another 2.5 months.

A snowbird option would be 1 month in Malaysia, 1 month in Thailand and then 1 month in Malaysia.

Cost of living is lower in Malaysia than in Thailand.

Quote

 

 

On 1/30/2020 at 2:49 AM, Tanoshi said:

You'll never need to apply for another Non O Visa from London or elsewhere, provided you apply for a new extension and a re-entry permit each year from your local Immigration office. 

In the long run it will save considerable time and effort to stay several months per year in Thailand.

 

Impressive. A very efficient solution! - perhaps founded on personal experience ...?  

I would only wonder whether the much criticised Thai Health Insurance requirement could become an issue? (if not now, then when they find revenues slipping through their fingers). Payment for that would come from "my cold dead hand" - to coin a phrase.

Having 10,000 quid hanging around in a Thai bank account would not be the end of the world I suppose - I am guessing this would require topping up at some stage, perhaps 2 months before submitting the request for the 12 month extension?  

 

Hmm.. may yet find cause for a smug smile at immigration in Bangkok ????

 

Another thought born of ignorance - do re-entry permits require declared leaving or re-entry dates?

 

Thanks to all for the responses so far.

 

 

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

I would only wonder whether the much criticised Thai Health Insurance requirement could become an issue? (if not now, then when they find revenues slipping through their fingers). Payment for that would come from "my cold dead hand" - to coin a phrase.

Doesn't and never will apply to extensions based on marriage.

 

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

Having 10,000 quid hanging around in a Thai bank account would not be the end of the world I suppose - I am guessing this would require topping up at some stage, perhaps 2 months before submitting the request for the 12 month extension?  

400K in a Thai bank 2 months prior to the application date.

Once the extension is granted you can withdraw the lot if needed, or stick it in a Fixed term account for 12 months and get 1.5% interest.

 

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

Another thought born of ignorance - do re-entry permits require declared leaving or re-entry dates?

The re-entry permit is valid for the duration of any permission of stay granted, or until used.

Enter Oct on Non O, Extension granted Jan - Jan. Re-entry permit valid for your entry the following Oct, renew extension in Jan - repeat.

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

Impressive. A very efficient solution! - perhaps founded on personal experience ...?  

I am on my 12th consecutive extension of stay based upon marriage. As long as you meet the requirements every year you will never need to get a new visa or leave the country unless you want to.

 

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

Having 10,000 quid hanging around in a Thai bank account would not be the end of the world I suppose - I am guessing this would require topping up at some stage, perhaps 2 months before submitting the request for the 12 month extension?  

You would on need to have the 400k baht in the bank for 2 month prior to the date you apply for the extension. If you want to use it during the year all you have to is top it up at least 2 months before the day you expect to apply for the extension.

 

9 hours ago, magpie3 said:

Another thought born of ignorance - do re-entry permits require declared leaving or re-entry dates?

No it is does not. There is space on the application form but the dates mean nothing and is not shown the re-entry permit to stamp.

Many thanks  Tanoshi and Ubonjoe.

Clarity at last.

Real people with direct experience, relevant answers, no language barriers and no ambiguity.

Not sure how long it would have taken at Thai immigration or the London Embassy (or sifting through online resources) to reach the current conclusion!

An unforeseen event.

Re - the preceding triumphal conclusions...

My final 30 days staying in Thailand this year were due to be covered by a short trip to Vietnam (Ba Na Hills) and a visa exemption on arrival back at Swampy.

With the trip paid for, half of the accompanying Thai family has cancelled and due to the Covid virus scare.

My wife is aware and uncomfortable about the risk.

I Sympathise.

We could cancel too, but I am only 48 hours away from needing another stamp in the passport to allow me to stay until the flight back to UK.

 

Recap - I had a 3 month (non imm O) visa followed by a 2 month follow on. Immigration said I had to leave the country by air to return and collect a visa exemption on arrival.

 

The question is... could I achieve the same 30 days by doing my normal rapid turnaround at the Kanchanaburi border crossing.  2x 30 days are allowed per year, but are these adversely influenced by my previous recent entries into Thailand??

 

Again, the lack of trust in what the immigration personnel say is evident here.

Any info would be gratefully received.

  

9 minutes ago, magpie3 said:

The question is... could I achieve the same 30 days by doing my normal rapid turnaround at the Kanchanaburi border crossing.  2x 30 days are allowed per year, but are these adversely influenced by my previous recent entries into Thailand??

No problem to get a 30 day visa exempt entry there. 

Immigration at most border crossings only check to see if you have already done 2 of them.

Thanks for the timely reply Ubon,

Think we will use it as a backstop because discussions with the tour operator have confirmed airport screening checks and the hotels awareness of the issues. 

Personal hygiene is the most important issue, and we are more or less in control of that, so just keeping a level head should limit the risk significantly.

????

On 1/30/2020 at 9:49 AM, Tanoshi said:

apply for a 1 year extension to your permission of stay at your local Immigration office based on marriage to a Thai.

If that marriage was not in Thailand, you're faced with a multi-faceted goat rope to obtain a Thai marriage certificate (Kor Ror 22). I'll let you Google the particulars (several recent here in TV). But, if over age 50 and have 800k baht to put in a Thai bank, the retirement extension route may be the easiest way to go...

17 hours ago, JimGant said:

If that marriage was not in Thailand, you're faced with a multi-faceted goat rope to obtain a Thai marriage certificate (Kor Ror 22). I'll let you Google the particulars (several recent here in TV). But, if over age 50 and have 800k baht to put in a Thai bank, the retirement extension route may be the easiest way to go...

I'm well aware of the correct procedure to follow to legalise UK marriage documents, but that wasn't the question posed by the OP.

 

Why if married to a Thai, would you want to tie up 800K and subsequently 400K for several months in a Thai bank, when you only have to tie up 400K for 2+ months.

20 hours ago, magpie3 said:

An unforeseen event.

Re - the preceding triumphal conclusions...

My final 30 days staying in Thailand this year were due to be covered by a short trip to Vietnam (Ba Na Hills) and a visa exemption on arrival back at Swampy.

With the trip paid for, half of the accompanying Thai family has cancelled and due to the Covid virus scare.

My wife is aware and uncomfortable about the risk.

I Sympathise.

We could cancel too, but I am only 48 hours away from needing another stamp in the passport to allow me to stay until the flight back to UK.

 

Recap - I had a 3 month (non imm O) visa followed by a 2 month follow on. Immigration said I had to leave the country by air to return and collect a visa exemption on arrival.

 

The question is... could I achieve the same 30 days by doing my normal rapid turnaround at the Kanchanaburi border crossing.  2x 30 days are allowed per year, but are these adversely influenced by my previous recent entries into Thailand??

 

Again, the lack of trust in what the immigration personnel say is evident here.

Any info would be gratefully received.

The Kanchanaburi border crossing would work as confirmed by UbonJoe.

An alternative option could be not to cancel the trip to Vietnam but to combine with a 1-year ME Non Imm O - marriage Visa application at the HCMC consulate.

Two birds killed in one stone, when that option would be logistically feasible.

Note: When in UK again, you would then not need to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O - marriage Visa, as your 1-year ME Non Imm O - marriage Visa permission to stay will be valid for a full year.

When returning on that 1-year Visa to Thailand, you will be stamped in with a permission to stay for 90 days.  At the end of which, you could either 

- do a border-run (can be done same day or combined with a holiday abroad) and re-enter on the Visa, which will provide you once again with a 90-day permission to stay;

- apply for an extension in-country for 60 days (cost 1.900 THB);

- apply in-country for a 1-year extension (which would require to have parked 400.000 THB on a thai bank-account).