My one year retirement visa should be renewed by May 14th. As far as I know, you can do this only yourself being physically in Thailand. I am currently in Europe and do not see a way to travel to Thailand during the Corona period. Does anybody know about an alternative way?

You are correct that you must present yourself at immigration to renew your extension. They even make people wheel in sick, half-dead retirees to complete their extension.

Edited March 31, 20206 yr by Maestro
Removed trolling part of the post.

15 minutes ago, michel7752 said:

My one year retirement visa should be renewed by May 14th. As far as I know, you can do this only yourself being physically in Thailand. I am currently in Europe and do not see a way to travel to Thailand during the Corona period. Does anybody know about an alternative way?

If you don't re-enter before May 14th your current extension will be lost and you'll need to start again. You will need to re-enter with a new Non O or O-A visa, or enter as a tourist and apply for a Non O once in Thailand.

OP, you can enter on tourist visa or visa exempt and obtain non o at immigration.

 

You could contact a reliable agent and have them do it.

You will have to mail your passport/documents to them and of course pay a fee.

1 minute ago, bkk6060 said:

 

You could contact a reliable agent and have them do it.

You will have to mail your passport/documents to them and of course pay a fee.

That would not be possible since the passport will show he is not in Thailand. I don't care how good the agent might be it would not be possible.

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

 

You could contact a reliable agent and have them do it.

You will have to mail your passport/documents to them and of course pay a fee.

That would not work I'm afraid as you would have to present yourself to have your photograph taken.

15 minutes ago, maechanman said:

That would not work I'm afraid as you would have to present yourself to have your photograph taken.

Bigger problem is exit stamp without current entry stamp in pp.

Won't work.

He needs start over as outlined previously. No big deal.

Advising to return before the current extension date expires may be a moot point. At present, Thailand is not allowing most foreigners to enter under the Emergency Decree. Although it is due to expire, current media reports indicate that it may be extended.

5 hours ago, maechanman said:

That would not work I'm afraid as you would have to present yourself to have your photograph taken.

It depends.

But, I will leave it at that. ????

57 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

It depends.

But, I will leave it at that. ????

Depends on what ? How does he get round no entry stamp and no arrival card ? Visa offices may be good, but they dont forge those bits. 

2 hours ago, soisanuk said:

Advising to return before the current extension date expires may be a moot point. At present, Thailand is not allowing most foreigners to enter under the Emergency Decree. Although it is due to expire, current media reports indicate that it may be extended.

Not sure the entry restrictions are tied to the emergency decree. There is no end date shown on the IATA site.

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

 

Isn't the basic point that this is an extension, not a visa. Extensions can only be done in Thailand. Visas are obtained outside Thailand?

Thanks for all your answers. So there is no alternative to being personally present in Thailand for the yearly retirement visa renewal right now. Since this must affect many people being currently outside of Thailand and with various types of visa, we can only hope that a general automatic extension will be announced in the future. If not: start the whole process again from zero when Corona is gone.

Edited April 1, 20206 yr by michel7752

6 minutes ago, michel7752 said:

Thanks for all your answers. So there is no alternative to being personally present in Thailand for the yearly retirement visa renewal right now. Since this must affect many people being currently outside of Thailand and with various types of visa, we can only hope that a general automatic extension will be announced in the future. If not: start the whole process again from zero when Corona is gone.

 

The current leniency applies only to those in Thailand whose permission to stay is expiring and who cannot travel back to their home countries due to travel restrictions and/or non-availability of flights.  It does not apply to persons currently outside of Thailand.  At the moment, persons in Thailand may apply to extend their permission to stay by an additional 30 days if they can produce a letter from their own Embassy stating that the applicant cannot reasonably return to their home country.  The broader proposal being considered by the authorities (see below) is an automatic extension of the permission to stay until June 30, with no visit to Immigration required.  AFAIK, this proposal has not yet been approved, but again, it applies only to persons in Thailand.

 

The advice given is correct: if the borders are not re-opened and you do not return before May 14th, your current extension of stay and associated re-entry permit will expire and you will have to either apply for a new visa or enter visa exempt and apply for another one year extension.

 

 

10 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

 

You could contact a reliable agent and have them do it.

You will have to mail your passport/documents to them and of course pay a fee.

You still have to apear for photo shot. How do you get your passport stamped if you mail it in. He will need to get a new visa before coming back.

Edited April 1, 20206 yr by moe666

Surely if the ban on foreigners flying in continues then immigration would put measures in place so that passports out of country in this period would be allowed on return to Thailand to renew retirement visa I.e. extension to visa even although the renewal date may have passed.

 

That would be a sensible and equitable solution but immigration don't work for our benefit and may prefer the extra income and inconvenience from starting from scratch.

 

I am in UK. If when I am able to return it is past my renewal date with no provision I will not reapply. Game over doesn't bother me as lost a lot of my love for Thailand.

17 hours ago, timendres said:

You are correct that you must present yourself at immigration to renew your extension. They even make people wheel in sick, half-dead retirees to complete their extension.

...'colinneil' had a terrible experience..he will tell you all about in his interview.

It's baffling me why Immigration can't simply declare a 3 or 6 month moratorium on renewal and extension activities.

Effectively, the borders are closed without saying so.

Aliens here won't be swanning around, everything's closed so we will stay put. The ones who get out are off the books anyway.

The continued attendances at Immigration offices can only assist transmission of COVID-19.

If the government wants to get serious about preventing coronavirus spreading, they should be closing Immigration for the time being. I can't see closing golf courses and swimming pools is more effective.

The bigger question is, in light of the total Thai government and Immigration fiasco, resulting from this situation, why bother to return to Thailand, for retirement, at all? Surely, there are better, cheaper, more sensible alternatives to consider. 

Mines up for renewal in January 21 and I have returned to uk until this is over - be honest, i think i will lose mine too

You apply for a one year retirement visa from the Thai Embassy in your home country. 

 

It must be done once a year with full documentation.

 

Period.  End of discussion. ????

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by SiSePuede419

14 hours ago, twix38 said:

Surely if the ban on foreigners flying in continues then immigration would put measures in place so that passports out of country in this period would be allowed on return to Thailand to renew retirement visa I.e. extension to visa even although the renewal date may have passed

And perhaps surely not. 

You never know what they might come up with, but so far, despite some provisions emerging, it appears they are unwilling to go very far towards the problems. 

13 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

You apply for a one year retirement visa from the Thai Embassy in your home country. 

 

It must be done once a year with full documentation.

 

Period.  End of discussion. ????

That a non O-A and you can obtain 2 years out of it. However now requires a useless Thai insurance policy. The op is best off to apply for a non O (based on retirement). That can be obtained at nearby consulate or he could enter Thailand, after this crisis on visa exempt and obtain non O inside Thailand.

Regarding extension of retirement visa, my retirement visa will expire on June 25,2020. I currently have permission to stay until 12/08/2020. My plan was to take a trip over Songkran, and come back to Thailand and obtain a new permission to stay until April 2021. With corona virus, those plans have changed. I plan on leaving the first week of June. 

Does anyone know if Immigration would allow me to apply for an extension before I leave even tho my visa doesn't expire until 6/25/20?

If they will not, than I will have to obtain a reentry permit if I plan to come back before 12/08/2020. 

11 minutes ago, TBKK said:

Regarding extension of retirement visa, my retirement visa will expire on June 25,2020. I currently have permission to stay until 12/08/2020.

You would not be able to apply for the extension before leaving the country. The will not accept an application more than 45 days early or 30 days at some offices.

12 minutes ago, TBKK said:

If they will not, than I will have to obtain a reentry permit if I plan to come back before 12/08/2020. 

That is correct.

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You would not be able to apply for the extension before leaving the country. The will not accept an application more than 45 days early or 30 days at some offices.

That is correct.

Thanks for that information.

On 4/2/2020 at 3:16 AM, SiSePuede419 said:

You apply for a one year retirement visa from the Thai Embassy in your home country. 

 

It must be done once a year with full documentation.

 

Period.  End of discussion. ????

This might be a solution for US citizens. For most other citizens (e.g. European countries) this is not possible. They can renew only at Immigration in Thailand, and they must do it personally.

Edited April 5, 20206 yr by michel7752

57 minutes ago, michel7752 said:

This might be a solution for US citizens. For most other citizens (e.g. European countries) this is not possible. They can renew only at Immigration in Thailand, and they must do it personally.

That is not correct. A OA long stay visa can be applied for in any country they are a citizen of or a legal resident.

On 4/2/2020 at 8:16 AM, SiSePuede419 said:

You apply for a one year retirement visa from the Thai Embassy in your home country. 

 

It must be done once a year with full documentation.

 

Period.  End of discussion. ????

Yes you must get an O-A visa in your home country but at the end of the first year you can apply for a 1 year extension of stay while in Thailand.