I've learned that for purposes of changing to a Longstay visa, a person on amnesty or tourist must first change to a 90-Day Non-Immigrant visa before applying for Longstay. But also heard that changing to 90-Day Non-Immigrant is normally done from outside Thailand only. Agents have indicated they can do it from within. Wondering if anyone knows if it is legitimate and possible to do yourself from within Thailand, perhaps due to new regulations brought by the pandemic. Salutes folks.

You can obtain a non o retirement or marriage etc at immigration in Thailand. 

Are you 50+ or married to Thai? 

Edited December 2, 20205 yr by DrJack54

45 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Are you 50+ or married to Thai? 

Thanks Dr Jack. No to both. I am not eligible but asking for others. Was told that changing to Longstay first means changing to 90-Day Non-Immigrant before applying for Longstay. Wondering if changing to 90-Day Non-Immigrant can be done within Thailand without an agent, or can only do thru agent. Cheers.

2 minutes ago, Dragonboat Ronin said:

Thanks Dr Jack. No to both. I am not eligible but asking for others. Was told that changing to Longstay first means changing to 90-Day Non-Immigrant before applying for Longstay. Wondering if changing to 90-Day Non-Immigrant can be done within Thailand without an agent, or can only do thru agent. Cheers.

The non o needs to be based on something.

For example Non O (marriage) Non O (retirement) etc.

The non O is a visa that enables stay 90 day permission of stay. Prior to expiry usually in last 30 days you can obtain annual extension to existing POS. It's not a "long stay visa"

For those that cannot do the retirement or marriage some have been using agents to obtain non O (volunteering) and extension. That option is not cheap.

 

Again thanks Dr J. Yes in my case i've been recommended Volunteer Visa. But unless i misunderstand what you're saying, if applying for Retirement/Longstay then you must be eligible also when getting the preliminary 90-Day Non-Immigrant because that visa is based on something such as marriage or retirement, correct? You cannot first just get a 90-Day Non-Immigrant (for any reason) and then decide after to go for a Marriage or Retirement visa after having it?

There are certain requirements to apply for a non-immigrant visa, the requirements for the various types and purposes can be found here: https://bangkokimmigration.com/change_visa/

You will then get a 90 day non-immigrant visa. At the end of the 90 days you can apply for an extension. Extensions don't require a specific type of non-immigrant visa, but you can apply for them with any non-immigrant visa.

The extensions do of course have their own specific requirements, these can be found in document 12 and 13 here: https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/981135-laws-regulations-police-orders-etc/