Changing visa status in country

[stevenl]

I am a Dutch national at the moment living in Bulgaria. Pre-covid I was living in Phuket on extension of stay due to being married to a Thai, with workpermit.

I am planning on returning to Thailand in August, if possible through the Phuket sandbox, if not with quarantine, I have received my vaccinations.

 

I would like to apply for a visa, preferably non-O, however the local honorary consulate is not very responsive at the moment and the Thai embassy in the Netherlands requires in person application. So I may be forced to enter visa exempt. What is the present policy on in country changing of visa status?

[DrJack54]

You can enter visa exempt and apply for non O at immigration.

You might need to obtain 30 extension to your visa exempt to give you more time.

[stevenl]

6 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You can enter visa exempt and apply for non O at immigration.

You might need to obtain 30 extension to your visa exempt to give you more time.

That would be apply for non-O visa, not extension, right?

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

That would be apply for non-O visa, not extension, right?

First up you would obtain non O. That gives you 90 permission of stay. In say the last 30 days of that permit of stay you would apply for your extension.

The non O could be based on retirement or marriage.

For the non O you only need to show required money in the bank on day of application. 

For the extension need money to have been in bank for 2 months

 

Edited June 4, 2021 by DrJack54

[ubonjoe]

You can enter visa exempt to get a 45 day entry and then apply for a 90 day non-o visa at immigration.

Requirments are here. https://bangkokimmigration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/06-edit_NON-O.pdf

You will apply for your certificate of entry (COE to the Thai embassy in Bucharest, Romania. 

COE website here. https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/regis/step?language=en

 

[skatewash]

Yes, possible to do what you want in Phuket with either a visa-exempt entry (45 days) or Tourist Visa (60 days).

First, apply for non-O visa for purpose of retirement (need to be 50 or over)

http://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/non-o-visa/

and then apply for retirement extension

http://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/retirement/

[DrJack54]

@skatewash your post is correct, however 

I think the OP will be applying for non O based on marriage as that's what he previously was doing. 

Think visa exempt best option as he mentioned consulate being unresponsive. In any event if he does the sandbox thing seems his 45 permit from the visa exempt entry would be plenty of time to obtain his non o.

[skatewash]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

@skatewash your post is correct, however 

I think the OP will be applying for non O based on marriage as that's what he previously was doing. 

Think visa exempt best option as he mentioned consulate being unresponsive. In any event if he does the sandbox thing seems his 45 permit from the visa exempt entry would be plenty of time to obtain his non o.

Yeah, I missed the marriage part.

Same procedure to get the Non-O visa for purpose of marriage (meeting the marriage requirements), and then the marriage extension:

http://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/marriage-m/

[stevenl]

Thanks guys, very helpful.

[Tanoshi]

20 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Thanks guys, very helpful.

Remember you must use the same Immigration office for the 1 year extension application as the one used to apply for the Non O. If Phuket is your end destination, then no problem.

 

Slightly different requirements for the Non O application based on marriage rather than retirement.

VE-TV to Non O marriage.pdf

 

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

In any event if he does the sandbox thing seems his 45 permit from the visa exempt entry would be plenty of time to obtain his non o.

 

And, even if he were to find himself pressed for time thanks to rogue requirements imposed by his local immigration office regarding the minimum period remaining on his 45-day permission to stay for a non-O visa conversion application, I gather that he could obtain a 30-day extension to buy himself more time, if need be. Don't know how roguish (or otherwise) Phuket are in this regard, though - assuming, of course, that they are his local office.

[DrJack54]

11 minutes ago, OJAS said:

he could obtain a 30-day extension to buy himself more time, if need be. Don't know how roguish (or otherwise) Phuket are in this regard, though - assuming, of course, that they are his local office

Indeed. 

He could also obtain 60 extension to visit Thai wife.