Retirement O/A visa renewal

[Live Life]

Hi guys can anyone advise me please..  

 

I have a retirement visa which runs out at the end of this month August it is a multi entry. 

 

I left Thailand in January this year 2020  and could not get back in because of the flight ban.  How can I now renew this?  I spoke to an agent in Thailand who advised me to pay them 18000 baht for a three month visa then another 14000 baht for a new retirement visa.   No health insurance required.

[Kadilo]

Welcome to the club. 
 

I would ignore the agents advice tbh and just sit tight but there people on here a lot more clued up than me. 
 

edit: 18,000?? Or 1800?

[Live Life]

24 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Welcome to the club. 
 

I would ignore the agents advice tbh and just sit tight but there people on here a lot more clued up than me. 
 

edit: 18,000?? Or 1800?

Yes 18000 baht 

 

[Upnotover]

If you are out of Thailand I cannot see what an agent can do for you.  You will simply have to get a new visa once they start issuing them again.  Presumably you only qualify for an O/A so will have to wait till "retirees" get on the list.

[ifjsrussell]

Sadly, in your circumstances your OA visa is finished this month.   No chance if you getting back before.  This means you must start the process from scratch, once the embassy starts issuing them again (no time soon).  Likely to be sometime next year now. 

[Peter Denis]

Hi,

 

1 - I understand from what you wrote that you have a Non Imm O-A Visa of which the 1-year validity will expire end of this month.

When you would be able to re-enter before that end of August Visa validity expiry, you would have been stamped in again for a full 1-year permission to stay.

But of course with borders closed, that will not be possible.

Question > Before leaving Thailand January 2020 did you buy a re-entry permit?  If so, your permission to stay would be protected till the end date of that permission to stay (as stamped in your passport when you entered or re-entered Thailand on that Non Imm O-A Visa).

Most probably you did not buy such re-entry permit because you originally planned to re-enter Thailand before Visa validity expiry, and hence there was no reason to protect that permission to stay. 

And if that is indeed the case (as I think it will be) that means that your current Non Imm O-A Visa will be 'dead' end of August.

 

2 - You cannot 'renew' a Non Imm O-A Visa.  But with your current one 'dead' by end of this month, you can - once the borders are open again - re-apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa at a Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country. 

Be aware that since October 2019 that applying for a new Non Imm O-A Visa now requires mandatory health-insurance that needs to meet specific Thai requirements to have it accepted.

At first sight those requirements are such that applicants dismiss them as almost impossible to meet.  But that's actually not true, and it's a relative straightforward process to meet that health-insurance requirement when you know how.

So I did send you a guideline documents outlining in full detail the 2 options on how to meet that insurance requirement when applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country.

> To access your PM-messages just click the letter-icon when logged in to the Forum.

 

3 - The Thai Visa agent you spoke too, is not an honest one.  The fee he mentions is for fixing an application for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, followed by an application for a 1-year extension of stay.  You can indeed take those steps after having entered Thailand Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa.  But there is absolutely no need for engaging a fixer agent to 'help' you with that process, as it quite straightforward and you can do it easily yourself, as it is obvious that you can meet the financial requirements for such application (having done the Non Imm O-A application already earlier).  And by doing it yourself you are not only saving 32.000 THB but also doing the application 'legit' and not having used some unnecessary hanky-panky under the table option.

>> But in your case, applying for a new Non Imm O Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country is for sure the easiest and most convenient way to return to Thailand once the borders are open again.

[Peter Denis]

55 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

...

>> But in your case, applying for a new Non Imm O Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country is for sure the easiest and most convenient way to return to Thailand once the borders are open again.

Oops > Of course that concluding remark had to refer to a new 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa

>> But in your case, applying for a new Non Imm O-A Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country is for sure the easiest and most convenient way to return to Thailand once the borders are open again.

[Max69xl]

20 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Welcome to the club. 
 

I would ignore the agents advice tbh and just sit tight but there people on here a lot more clued up than me. 
 

edit: 18,000?? Or 1800?

I've heard ~19,000 baht for 3+12 months. 

[DrJack54]

The OP is not in Thailand. 

Comments regarding agent are pointless.

[Kadilo]

59 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Oops > Of course that concluding remark had to refer to a new 1-year Non Imm O-A Visa

>> But in your case, applying for a new Non Imm O-A Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country is for sure the easiest and most convenient way to return to Thailand once the borders are open again.

Peter, why would you say it the easier method. 

If your one year OA has expired can’t you come back on a VE eventually and then go immigration to get the OA? Would you still need to get the 90 day non O first even under the current circumstances.?

 

As long as you meet the requirement obviously. Is that any more difficult then going to your own embassy?

[DrJack54]

Just now, Kadilo said:

Peter, why would you say it the easier method. 

If your one year OA has expired can’t you come back on a VE eventually and then go immigration to get the OA?

 

As long as you meet the requirement obviously. Is that any more difficult then going to your own embassy?

OA only available in one's own country.

He can come visa exempt and obtain non o at immigration.

Better option anyway as does not require useless Thai insurance policy

[Peter Denis]

31 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Peter, why would you say it the easier method. 

If your one year OA has expired can’t you come back on a VE eventually and then go immigration to get the OA? Would you still need to get the 90 day non O first even under the current circumstances.?

 

As long as you meet the requirement obviously. Is that any more difficult then going to your own embassy?

drJack responded already, but here some additional comments why it is - when not married to a thai national - without a doubt the best Visa solution for staying long-term in Thailand.

But of course you can ONLY apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa at a thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country.

When doing so the advantages of such a Non Imm O-A Visa are huge.  When timed right the Non Imm O-A Visa will provide you with almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.  With NO need to park or transfer funds to a personal thai bank-account and NO need to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and the subsequent 1-year extensions of stay with all the associated hoops that IO impose for such applications.  A nice bonus is also that the Non Imm O-A Visa is Multiple-Entry during its 1-year Visa validity.

When returning back to your home-country occasionally it is quite easy to apply for a NEW Non Imm O-A Visa and hopla... once again almost 2 years of long-stay in Thailand without the need of ever having to visit your local IO.

If that doesn't sound attractive...

And contrary to the popular narrative that the now mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance has killed that Non Imm O-A Visa, it is in fact fairly easy to meet the insurance requirement when applying for that Visa in your home-country (you just need to know how). 

[Kadilo]

5 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

drJack responded already, but here some additional comments why it is - when not married to a thai national - without a doubt the best Visa solution for staying long-term in Thailand.

But of course you can ONLY apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa at a thai Embassy/Consulate in your home-country.

When doing so the advantages of such a Non Imm O-A Visa are huge.  When timed right the Non Imm O-A Visa will provide you with almost 2 years of IO hassle-free stay in Thailand.  With NO need to park or transfer funds to a personal thai bank-account and NO need to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and the subsequent 1-year extensions of stay with all the associated hoops that IO impose for such applications.  A nice bonus is also that the Non Imm O-A Visa is Multiple-Entry during its 1-year Visa validity.

When returning back to your home-country occasionally it is quite easy to apply for a NEW Non Imm O-A Visa and hopla... once again almost 2 years of long-stay in Thailand without the need of ever having to visit your local IO.

If that doesn't sound attractive...

And contrary to the popular narrative that the now mandatory thai IO-approved health-insurance has killed that Non Imm O-A Visa, it is in fact fairly easy to meet the insurance requirement when applying for that Visa in your home-country (you just need to know how). 

Yes cheers for that. I needed reminding. 
 

I originally got my OA in London but have been extending it in Thailand but similarly to the previous gentleman it will (more likely) expire before I can return so I have a decision to make which way to go I guess. 
 

I will have the funds in a Thai bank account so could go that route via the VE and Non O or start again with the OA in London as you say. 

[Peter Denis]

9 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

...

I originally got my OA in London but have been extending it in Thailand but similarly to the previous gentleman it will (more likely) expire before I can return so I have a decision to make which way to go I guess. 

I will have the funds in a Thai bank account so could go that route via the VE and Non O or start again with the OA in London as you say. 

HI, with borders closed there is presently NO option to exit Thailand and on return Visa Exempt then apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, subsequently followed by the 1-year extension of stay based on that Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.

Many that were staying in Thailand on a Non Imm O-A Visa wanted to go that route in order to get rid of the mandatory thai IO-approved insurance, but now have no option but to apply for the 1-year extension of their original Non Imm O-A Visa for reason of retirement and 'bite the insurance bullet'.

> I have PM-ed you a guideline document outlining how to apply for the LMG Insurance Plan 1 policy (with 200K deductible) which is the cheapest option to meet the insurance requirement > annual premium of 6.000 to 11.400 THB in the age categories of 51 to 75 years.  Additional advantage of that policy is that it does not require an (often expensive) medical to subscribe to it.  Next year when borders are open again, you can of course opt to NOT renew that insurance policy and convert to a Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement.  Or even better > apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa when you are in your home-country (because in that case the inconvenience of the insurance-policy is far outweighted by the advantages that Non Imm O-A Visa provides).

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Yes cheers for that. I needed reminding. 
 

I originally got my OA in London but have been extending it in Thailand but similarly to the previous gentleman it will (more likely) expire before I can return so I have a decision to make which way to go I guess. 
 

I will have the funds in a Thai bank account so could go that route via the VE and Non O or start again with the OA in London as you say. 

A point I overlooked regarding non O-A is that it's possible that holders of a non O-A may get onto the "list" that enables some groups (eg married/family) to enter Thailand before tourists.

Guess it's a case of watch this space.

[Alsyapal]

Thanks  guys for some really helpful advice I now know what to do.    I will be glad when I can get back to Thailand.  

Alisyapal 

[Kadilo]

Many thanks PD and DJ for your help and advice. Much appreciated. 

[RocketDog]

On 8/26/2020 at 4:11 PM, Peter Denis said:

Hi,

 

1 - I understand from what you wrote that you have a Non Imm O-A Visa of which the 1-year validity will expire end of this month.

When you would be able to re-enter before that end of August Visa validity expiry, you would have been stamped in again for a full 1-year permission to stay.

But of course with borders closed, that will not be possible.

Question > Before leaving Thailand January 2020 did you buy a re-entry permit?  If so, your permission to stay would be protected till the end date of that permission to stay (as stamped in your passport when you entered or re-entered Thailand on that Non Imm O-A Visa).

Most probably you did not buy such re-entry permit because you originally planned to re-enter Thailand before Visa validity expiry, and hence there was no reason to protect that permission to stay. 

And if that is indeed the case (as I think it will be) that means that your current Non Imm O-A Visa will be 'dead' end of August.

 

2 - You cannot 'renew' a Non Imm O-A Visa.  But with your current one 'dead' by end of this month, you can - once the borders are open again - re-apply for a Non Imm O-A Visa at a Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country. 

Be aware that since October 2019 that applying for a new Non Imm O-A Visa now requires mandatory health-insurance that needs to meet specific Thai requirements to have it accepted.

At first sight those requirements are such that applicants dismiss them as almost impossible to meet.  But that's actually not true, and it's a relative straightforward process to meet that health-insurance requirement when you know how.

So I did send you a guideline documents outlining in full detail the 2 options on how to meet that insurance requirement when applying for the Non Imm O-A Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country.

> To access your PM-messages just click the letter-icon when logged in to the Forum.

 

3 - The Thai Visa agent you spoke too, is not an honest one.  The fee he mentions is for fixing an application for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, followed by an application for a 1-year extension of stay.  You can indeed take those steps after having entered Thailand Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa.  But there is absolutely no need for engaging a fixer agent to 'help' you with that process, as it quite straightforward and you can do it easily yourself, as it is obvious that you can meet the financial requirements for such application (having done the Non Imm O-A application already earlier).  And by doing it yourself you are not only saving 32.000 THB but also doing the application 'legit' and not having used some unnecessary hanky-panky under the table option.

>> But in your case, applying for a new Non Imm O Visa at the Thai Embassy / Consulate in your home-country is for sure the easiest and most convenient way to return to Thailand once the borders are open again.

I fully agree with Peter. As his info will show you, you can get completely hollow Thai insurance policy for less than 10,000฿ /yr that will pass the immigration requirement for a new OA visa.

 

Just don't make the mistake of considering it actual insurance. Consider it instead a form of legal bribery. 

 

After many discussions with Peter I opted to buy real insurance from Pacific Cross for ~50,000฿/yr with 100,000฿ deductible at age 70. This policy exceeds the immigration requirement of course 

 

Neither my American Medicare or the Medicare supplemental policy cover me in Thailand. It's not too difficult to imagine myself smeared across the road by a careening vehicle either.