30 Days On Arrival Stamp To Non-Imm "O" For Retirement

[Pattaya Spotter]

A friend just returned to ???????? on a 30 day entry stamp and wants to convert it to a Non-Imm "O" visa, which he will then extend for retirement. (He was on a retirement extension and got caught outside the country when everything hit the fan at the beginning of the year, and was just recently able to return.) Can this conversion be done at his local Immigration office? 

[fishtank]

Yes.

800,000 Baht in the bank or proof of 65,000 monthly income.

[Peter Denis]

Yes, he can apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at the Imm Office of the province where he plans to stay long-term in Thailand.

However, having entered Thailand with a 30-day Visa Exempt permission to stay of which the first 15 days are already eaten by the mandatory quarantaine, he would have to apply the very day he is released from quarantaine, as a 90-day Non Imm O Visa application requires at least 15 days left on your permission to stay to apply for it (and some IOs even require 23 days left).

If he already has the required funds on his Thai bank-account, or if he is eligible for the Embassy-issued income letter and can get hold on it same day, he might be able to do the application on that final-day window.

Alternatively he would have to apply for a 30-day extension of stay, which can be done at any IO (and does not necessarily have to be at the IO of the province where he intends to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and subsequent 1-year extension of stay application).  Those additional 30 days will provide him then with sufficient time to prepare and apply for his Non Imm O Visa application.

[Pattaya Spotter]

49 minutes ago, fishtank said:

Yes.

800,000 Baht in the bank or proof of 65,000 monthly income.

Thanks...yes he has all that because he was on a retirement extension earlier this year.

[Pattaya Spotter]

50 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Yes, he can apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa at the Imm Office of the province where he plans to stay long-term in Thailand.

However, having entered Thailand with a 30-day Visa Exempt permission to stay of which the first 15 days are already eaten by the mandatory quarantaine, he would have to apply the very day he is released from quarantaine, as a 90-day Non Imm O Visa application requires at least 15 days left on your permission to stay to apply for it (and some IOs even require 23 days left).

If he already has the required funds on his Thai bank-account, or if he is eligible for the Embassy-issued income letter and can get hold on it same day, he might be able to do the application on that final-day window.

Alternatively he would have to apply for a 30-day extension of stay, which can be done at any IO (and does not necessarily have to be at the IO of the province where he intends to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and subsequent 1-year extension of stay application).  Those additional 30 days will provide him then with sufficient time to prepare and apply for his Non Imm O Visa application.

Thank you...very helpful information. Apparently with a 30 day on arrival, they aren't granting the extra 15 day quarantine extension because he said they stamped his passport with a 30 day entry only.

[ubonjoe]

Just now, Pattaya Spotter said:

Thank you...very helpful information. Apparently with a 30 day on arrival, they aren't granting the extra 15 day quarantine extension because he said they stamped his passport with only a 30 day only entry.

He apparently entered a few days before the 45 days was approved and finalized this week.

[Peter Denis]

3 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Thank you...very helpful information. Apparently with a 30 day on arrival, they aren't granting the extra 15 day quarantine extension because he said they stamped his passport with a 30 day entry only.

Yes, the 45 day permission to stay Visa Exempt arrival-stamp was only approved 4 days ago (22 December).  So him arriving before that date, only received the 30-day permission to stay.

[Pattaya Spotter]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

He apparently entered a few days before the 45 days was approved and finalized this week.

Arrived yesterday, 25th.

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 minute ago, Peter Denis said:

Yes, the 45 day permission to stay Visa Exempt arrival-stamp was only approved 4 days ago (22 December).  So him arriving before that date, only received the 30-day permission to stay.

I will ask him to re-confirm it's only a 30 day entry...if the IO made a mistake, maybe he can get it corrected after he completes quarantine on Jan 9th.

[Peter Denis]

16 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I will ask him to re-confirm it's only a 30 day entry...if the IO made a mistake, maybe he can get it corrected after he completes quarantine on Jan 9th.

If he only got 30 days, it is probably a mistake.  What is his nationality?

But it is possible that the error needs to be corrected at Suvarnabhumi Airport where he was stamped in (during the Non Imm O-A insurance chaos early Nov 2019 people that got stamped in incorrectly were required to have it corrected at the point of entry where they got the incorrect stamp).

[Pattaya Spotter]

3 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

What is his nationality?

???????? 

[Peter Denis]

6 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

???????? 

The he should have gotten the 45-day permission to stay stamp when he entered VisaExempt.

[Pattaya Spotter]

10 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

The he should have gotten the 45-day permission to stay stamp when he entered VisaExempt.

It seems so according to you and UJ...I will ask him to check again. Those extra days will take the pressure off getting to Immigration for the conversion as soon as he leaves quarantine.

[KhaoYai]

Not sure of the situation at the moment but if for any reason he can't get the stamp corrected, is it possible to get the usual extension of stay @1900 baht?

[Pattaya Spotter]

16 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

Not sure of the situation at the moment but if for any reason he can't get the stamp corrected, is it possible to get the usual extension of stay @1900 baht?

I'm on retirement as well and it's been years since I had to juggle extensions and visa runs so I'm not up on the latest rules. At one time, I believe 30 day arrivals could extend for 7 or 15 days...something like that for B1900. Not sure if it's still the same or if Covid has affected things. Are they still handing out automatic extensions for people "stuck" in Thailand? I need to ask him why he didn't come in with a visa in the first place; because it's not like before where one shows up on a plane from America and get your 30 days. He had to go through the embassy and get all the paperwork for the COE (even for a non-visa entry) so why not just pay the hundred bucks more and get the visa too and avoid all the running around after he finishes quarantine. 

[KhaoYai]

2 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

why not just pay the hundred bucks more and get the visa to avoid all the running around now after he finishes quarantine. 

Yes, especially as he's gone through the process before and should know that things don't always go to plan in Thailand.

[sudsy]

Can he get a 30 day extension as was done before covid?  This would buy him some time.

[ubonjoe]

6 hours ago, sudsy said:

Can he get a 30 day extension as was done before covid?  This would buy him some time.

Yes it can still be applied for.

[Thaifly88]

22 hours ago, fishtank said:

Yes.

800,000 Baht in the bank or proof of 65,000 monthly income.

Does he also need the same insurance requirements as non OA ? (In and out patient coverage as well as Covid $100k USD obviously)

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Thaifly88 said:

Does he also need the same insurance requirements as non OA ? (In and out patient coverage as well as Covid $100k USD obviously)

Insurance is not required for a non-o visa or extension of stay based upon retirement.

[Thaifly88]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Insurance is not required for a non-o visa or extension of stay based upon retirement.

Thank you Joe !

[Pattaya Spotter]

Okay so I've now got the exact details of my friends entry situation and it both corrects some things and adds some new twists. So apparently my friends "retirement extension," expires on Jan 2, 2021 and he had a re-entry permit when he left in February. So the IO just stamped him in as returned and noted his original "Non O" visa and the extension expiry date of Jan 2 on the stamp. So he wasn't given a 30-day on arrival stamp as I was originally led to believe. (Picture below)

 

 

This raises a couple questions. As I said, he's in quarantine until Jan 9th, but his permission to stay extension expires on Jan 2nd, so technically is he on overstay from Jan 2 onwards? It would appear so.

 

How is this going to affect his wanting to renew his retirement permission to stay extension...because technically both his visa and extension of stay will be expired when he completes quarantine. There is nothing to renew. Will they also charge overstay fines from Jan 3 onwards? I see a couple of possibilities, Immigration will make an accommodation and back date the extension application to Jan 2 and waive the fines as one (and best outcome). If that can't be done for some reason, maybe let him apply for a new Non-Imm "O" and pay the overstay fines, and start the retirement process again from the beginning. He plans to go to Immigration on Monday, Jan 11, the first business day after his quarantine. 

 

Any thoughts or suggestions I can pass on to my friend would be greatly appreciated. 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Okay so I've now got the exact details of my friends entry situation and it both corrects some things and adds some new twists. So apparently my friends "retirement extension," expires on Jan 2, 2021 and he had a re-entry permit when he left in February. So the IO just stamped him in as returned and noted his original "Non O" visa and the extension expiry date of Jan 2 on the stamp. So he wasn't given a 30-day on arrival stamp as I was originally led to believe.

He should of checked the arrival stamp before leaving the airport. He should of been given a 30 day visa exempt entry since it allows a longer stay than his re-entry permit did.

He needs to go immigration as soon as he gets out of quarantine to have the error corrected. No overstay will be charged since it was not possible for him to get it corrected earlier.

[Pattaya Spotter]

11 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

He should of checked the arrival stamp before leaving the airport. He should of been given a 30 day visa exempt entry since it allows a longer stay than his re-entry permit did.

He needs to go immigration as soon as he gets out of quarantine to have the error corrected. No overstay will be charged since it was not possible for him to get it corrected earlier.

So he will request they change his entry to a 30 day (now 45) on arrival stamp...they can do this even though he arrived with the still in effect 1-year extension? And this can be done at his local immigration office (doesn't have to go back to the airport)?

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

So he will request they change his entry to a 30 day (now 45) on arrival stamp...they can do this even though he arrived with the still in effect 1-year extension? And this can be done at his local immigration office (doesn't have to go back to the airport)?

It can be either way on entry to the country. Immigration will normally ask what person wants if they have a shorter stay stay than of 30 days left on their re-entry permit.

It can be done at a local office. 

Did the put his re-entry permit number in the visa number space on the arrival card or leave it blank?

[Pattaya Spotter]

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Did the put his re-entry permit number in the visa number space on the arrival card or leave it blank?

I don't know for sure but he's not new to going in/out using a RE Permit so I assume he knows the routine by now. (I learned the first time an IO crossed out the visa number I'd entered (makes sense right) and wrote in my RE Permit number and then scowled at me.)

 

We will go down to Immigration together the first business day after of his quarantine and sort this out. Thank you for your helpful comments and suggestions. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

Just to put the final cherry on this thread, I thought I would report what happened at immigration. Some of what I posted was inaccurate...I said my friend received the stamp posted above AND a 30-day on arrival stamp. In actuality, it was just the stamp indicating he entered the country on Dec 25th, within the expiration of his re-entry permit (connected to his "retirement visa") which expired on Jan 2nd. [A normal re-permit entry stamp...there was no error by the IO.] Of course, he went directly into a 15 day quarantine and was released on Jan 9th (a Saturday). We went to immigration in Pattaya on Monday morning, the first business day after his release.

 

My friend presented his passport showing his expired entry permission (9 or 10 days depending on how you count it) and that he was in quarantine till the 9th so obviously could not come and apply for an annual renewal until yesterday, Monday the 11th. The IO said it was no problem, that he can apply as normal and that they will back date his renewal to Jan 2nd but that he will have to pay a 9 day overstay fine (B4500). This is a good outcome but he was hoping they would waive any fine because obviously he couldn't apply on time but no such luck.

[Peter Denis]

42 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Just to put the final cherry on this thread, I thought I would report what happened at immigration. Some of what I posted was inaccurate...I said my friend received the stamp posted above AND a 30-day on arrival stamp. In actuality, it was just the stamp indicating he entered the country on Dec 25th, within the expiration of his re-entry permit (connected to his "retirement visa") which expired on Jan 2nd. [A normal re-permit entry stamp...there was no error by the IO.] Of course, he went directly into a 15 day quarantine and was released on Jan 9th (a Saturday). We went to immigration in Pattaya on Monday morning, the first business day after his release.

 

My friend presented his passport showing his expired entry permission (9 or 10 days depending on how you count it) and that he was in quarantine till the 9th so obviously could not come and apply for an annual renewal until yesterday, Monday the 11th. The IO said it was no problem, that he can apply as normal and that they will back date his renewal to Jan 2nd but that he will have to pay a 9 day overstay fine (B4500). This is a good outcome but he was hoping they would waive any fine because obviously he couldn't apply on time but no such luck.

Your friend should have filled in '45 days' on the small TM-6 entry/departure card when he entered Thailand.  That would have triggered the Immigration officer to provide him with a 45-days Visa Exemption permission to stay, instead of 'honoring' the Re-Entry Permit that only provided him with 8 days remaining on this previous permission to stay.

Of course the Pattaya immigration officer could not resist taking advantage of the situation and charging him 9 days overstay, and making it sound like he did your friend a favor.

An idiot or robber in uniform stays an idiot or robber...

 

[Tanoshi]

1 hour ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

My friend presented his passport showing his expired entry permission (9 or 10 days depending on how you count it) and that he was in quarantine till the 9th so obviously could not come and apply for an annual renewal until yesterday, Monday the 11th. The IO said it was no problem, that he can apply as normal and that they will back date his renewal to Jan 2nd but that he will have to pay a 9 day overstay fine (B4500). This is a good outcome but he was hoping they would waive any fine because obviously he couldn't apply on time but no such luck.

Look at your friends experience from the other point of view.

 

Had he received the 30 (45) day visa exempt entry instead.

On release from quarantine he would have to apply for the Non O stamp.

One visit to Immigration at a cost of 2,000 baht.

14 days later a second visit to Immigration to receive the now approved Non O stamp.

60-90 days later a third visit to Immigration to apply for the 1 year extension at a cost of 1,900 baht.

Two preparations of documents and trips to the bank for the Non O and the extension.

 

Taking everything into account and having being given an option at entry, I may have chosen to do exactly as your friend has actually done, just to save the time wasting and bureaucratic procedures.

[Pattaya Spotter]

37 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Your friend should have filled in '45 days' on the small TM-6 entry/departure card when he entered Thailand.  That would have triggered the Immigration officer to provide him with a 45-days Visa Exemption permission to stay, instead of 'honoring' the Re-Entry Permit that only provided him with 8 days remaining on this previous permission to stay.

I'm sure after a 24 hour long repatriation flight and the general scrum of a "Covid" entry to ???????? you would have had the presence of mind to fill in 45 days on your TM-6 card, unfortunately my friend didn't [supposing he even knew they were "giving back" the 15 days of quarantine as it had just been announced a couple days earlier]. In any case, I don't know what benefit 45 days would be as then his re-entry permit (and "retirement visa") would be clearly expired/cancelled and he would have had to go through the whole process and expense of converting the non-visa entry to a Non-Imm O visa and then applying for the yearly extension again. At least this