1 year OA visa extended by immigration stamp

[Harvey g]

Hi

ive just gone to renew my OA retirement visa which is stuck in my passport valid from end June 2019 to end June 2020.

apparently because I left the country mid March 2020 for 2 weeks upon my return they stamped the exit stamp for March 2021 giving me a 9 month extension.

i wasn’t aware of this and wondered if anyone else had encountered similar?

[Captain Monday]

You were not given an extension. That is how the O-A, a multi entry visa works.

Properly used you can get almost two years out of one visa. 

 

Were you asked anything about Health Insurance?

 

[Harvey g]

I didn’t realise as last year I just renewed when I went back to the UK.

i had to show insurance at the airport as is the requirement now.

so even though my printed visa will be past its expiration date I should still be able to come and go based on the stamp date?

[Captain Monday]

You need a re-entry permit to keep you last entry "alive".

Get a multiple re-entry permit and yes you will be able to come and

go until March 2021 date stamped in your passport.

I was going to apply for the O-A visa also in the US then comeback to Thailand March 31.

Unfortunately the consulate closed in LA due to lockdowns then Thailand shut the borders.

before I could fly.I even paid for Thai insurance one year in advance - Dead weight loss.

I just ran out of time....

 

[OJAS]

21 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

Were you asked anything about Health Insurance?

Looks like his OA visa was issued in June 2019, 5 months before the mandatory insurance requirement came into force. The "fun and games" in that regard will probably, in his case, begin when he applies for his initial 1-year retirement extension at his local immigration office.

 

13 minutes ago, Harvey g said:

so even though my printed visa will be past its expiration date I should still be able to come and go based on the stamp date?

Only provided that you first obtain a re-entry permit so as to preserve your current permission to stay until March 2021. Failure to do this would mean that you would only receive the standard 30-day visa-exempt stamp (as things currently stand) upon your return from an initial foreign trip.

[Captain Monday]

14 minutes ago, OJAS said:

Looks like his OA visa was issued in June 2019, 5 months before the mandatory insurance requirement came into force. The "fun and games" in that regard will probably, in his case, begin when he applies for his initial 1-year retirement extension at his local immigration office.

 

 

Wanted to know if he had to prove Thai insurance while re entering even though he got the visa before the insurance requirement started.

I-O discretion and all that.

[tonray]

34 minutes ago, Harvey g said:

i had to show insurance at the airport as is the requirement now.

 

9 minutes ago, Captain Monday said:

Wanted to know if he had to prove Thai insurance while re entering even though he got the visa before the insurance requirement started.

I-O discretion and all that.

Already said he had to show it

[Martyp]

Yeah. It happened to me too. I went to apply for a 1 year extension of stay from my O-A visa in February 2018 and they told me to come back in November. I had gone to Cambodia in November 2017. This experience prompted me to learn a great deal about visas. A topic I knew little about at the time. 

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, Harvey g said:

Hi

ive just gone to renew my OA retirement visa which is stuck in my passport valid from end June 2019 to end June 2020.

apparently because I left the country mid March 2020 for 2 weeks upon my return they stamped the exit stamp for March 2021 giving me a 9 month extension.

i wasn’t aware of this and wondered if anyone else had encountered similar?

As others wrote: this is (was) normal use for a Non O-A.

 

You are quite lucky!

1) you got the visa before the insurance requirement came in effect.

2) you seem to have left and entered before border lockdown.

(otherwise you could have been locked out from Thailand like so many unlucky fellows/fathers/spouses etc.)

 

The unlucky  part:

your visa still seems valid ("end of June") and in normal times you could have done another exit/entry before expiry and get stamped in until June 2021.

Now not possible due to border closure.

Enjoy your time until March 2021.

[Captain Monday]

12 hours ago, tonray said:

 

Already said he had to show it

Do you think that is legal?

[ClaySmc]

I seem to be in a very similar situation. Got my o-a in USA in June 2019. Made a trip to Danang mid-October before the insurance went into effect; no problem. Made 3 trips to Laos January thru March by border crossing. Again no problem. The last one extended my stay to March 14 2021. In none of those trips did anyone ask for insurance. I had a ticket to go back to Danang in mid-June but that flight was cancelled, so unless they allow us to go out to make a trip to get another year, I'll have to make other plans next March.

[tonray]

On 6/10/2020 at 3:29 AM, Captain Monday said:

Do you think that is legal?

Since local Immigration offices seemingly have wide latitude in interpreting national police orders/laws...and to my knowledge have never been challenged on any of their local interpretations by National Immigration...it would seem so.