What's my visa type?

[ThaiSpaceNeedle]

Hi all. I've been here a long time, so I know I should know this, but I'm a little confused.

 

Backstory: American citizen arrived in Thailand in 1997 after applying for a visa at the Thai consulate in Vancouver, BC (closest to home in USA). I had a contract with a company & received a Non-B and had a work permit until about 2010. I then left the company and changed to marriage extension at CW as I have a Thai wife. If I understand correctly, Non-B is for Business & Non-O is marriage (but must be applied for & received at a Thai consulate abroad). Does this mean I still have a Non-B visa, but it is being extended for the purpose of a Thai Wife?

 

Another thing: When I last renewed my passport in 2015, that first "transfer" page says Non-B on the left & Non-RG on the right (SEE PHOTO). What is Non-RG? I googled it and found someone else's entry from a few years back with ubonjoe's response :

"I think he just botched it up when he was writing it and it should of been NON-RE which means non immigrant re-entry which means you were using a re-entry permit to keep your extension of stay valid.

Your original visa entry is still a non-o."

...which makes me think mine is still Non-B, even though I don't work anymore & am not at the retirement age yet. I've also always had re-entry permits & have never missed an extension.

 

Out of curiosity, I also looked at my previous passport & the transfer page says Non-B on the left & Non-RB on the right.

 

What's my visa type?

 

Thank you.

[JetsetBkk]

39 minutes ago, ThaiSpaceNeedle said:

Non-B on the left & Non-RB on the right.

More like Non-RC or Non-RG on the right.

[skatewash]

You've only had one visa obtained from outside Thailand, Non-B with which you entered Thailand.  Thereafter you purchased a Re-Entry permit with which you re-entered Thailand (the Non-RE on the visa class for the entry stamps).  I believe the Non-RG is a typo and was meant to read Non-RE.  At some point you applied for a Non-O visa inside of Thailand for purpose of marriage.  You have extended that annually and when you have left Thailand you would have purchased a re-entry permit.  Your entries to Thailand should show the visa class of Non-RE, meaning you are entering on a re-entry permit.  So you are currently on an extension of a Non-O visa for purpose of marriage obtained from inside Thailand.  That's my best guess.

[ThaiSpaceNeedle]

20 minutes ago, skatewash said:

You've only had one visa obtained from outside Thailand, Non-B with which you entered Thailand.  Thereafter you purchased a Re-Entry permit with which you re-entered Thailand (the Non-RE on the visa class for the entry stamps).  I believe the Non-RG is a typo and was meant to read Non-RE.  At some point you applied for a Non-O visa inside of Thailand for purpose of marriage.  You have extended that annually and when you have left Thailand you would have purchased a re-entry permit.  Your entries to Thailand should show the visa class of Non-RE, meaning you are entering on a re-entry permit.  So you are currently on an extension of a Non-O visa for purpose of marriage obtained from inside Thailand.  That's my best guess.

Thanks for the information. That makes sense as I understood Non-O = marriage. I just thought that you had to apply for different visa types outside of the country.  Thanks again! 

[BritTim]

You had a visa to enter Thailand in 1997. That visa was used when you entered Thailand, and mostly subsequently of no further significance. What was important is that you received a permission to stay on a Non Immigrant visa. You subsequently received extensions of your Non Immigrant permission to stay, initially extensions based on working and later extensions based on marriage. Each time you left and re-entered Thailand, you had a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay intact. That eliminated the need for you to apply for a visa before your return.

[ubonjoe]

You are still on a non-b visa. The stamp on the right might an error and ahsoul be a non-re instead of RG. A non-re is a re-entry permit

[ThaiSpaceNeedle]

11 hours ago, BritTim said:

You had a visa to enter Thailand in 1997. That visa was used when you entered Thailand, and mostly subsequently of no further significance. What was important is that you received a permission to stay on a Non Immigrant visa. You subsequently received extensions of your Non Immigrant permission to stay, initially extensions based on working and later extensions based on marriage. Each time you left and re-entered Thailand, you had a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay intact. That eliminated the need for you to apply for a visa before your return.

Thanks. I always just write Non-Imm on paperwork when it's needed, but the new vaccine registration site asks for the specific visa type. That's why I was asking.

[ThaiSpaceNeedle]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You are still on a non-b visa. The stamp on the right might an error and ahsoul be a non-re instead of RG. A non-re is a re-entry permit

Thank you. I ask because it's needed for the new vaccine registration site. So I'm Non-B with extensions for the purpose of marriage, right? Can visa types be (legally) changed inside the country, or must it be done abroad? Thanks again.

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, ThaiSpaceNeedle said:

So I'm Non-B with extensions for the purpose of marriage, right?

Yes

1 minute ago, ThaiSpaceNeedle said:

Can visa types be (legally) changed inside the country, or must it be done abroad? Thanks again.

The category of a non immigrant visa cannot be changed without leaving the country.

You can enter with a tourist visa or visa exempt and change to a non immigrant visa for certain reasons at immigration.

[skatewash]

4 minutes ago, ThaiSpaceNeedle said:

Thank you. I ask because it's needed for the new vaccine registration site. So I'm Non-B with extensions for the purpose of marriage, right? Can visa types be (legally) changed inside the country, or must it be done abroad? Thanks again.

I defer to ubonJoe.  You're still on a Non-B if he says so.  I was unsure if you could go from having an extension based on a Non-B visa to having an extension based on being married but it seems it is possible to change the reason.  In my case I went from a Non-ED visa (only Thai visa I have ever had) for purpose of studying the Thai language to an extension based on being over 50 (aka retirement extension).  All was done within Thailand.  I had assumed I was issued a Non-O visa administratively by Thai Immigration from which I was allowed to apply for an extension of stay for purpose of being retired.  But possibly it was only the reason (education to retirement) that was changed and I'm still on the books as having extensions based off of an original Non-ED.  It seems like I am treated as if I had a non-O visa but aside from a two-line notation made in my passport at the time I have no actual non-O visa.  I tend to put down that I'm here on an extension of a non-O visa and saying that hasn't gotten me into any trouble that I'm aware of.

[skatewash]

Just now, skatewash said:

I defer to ubonJoe.  You're still on a Non-B if he says so.  I was unsure if you could go from having an extension based on a Non-B visa to having an extension based on being married but it seems it is possible to change the reason.  In my case I went from a Non-ED visa (only Thai visa I have ever had) for purpose of studying the Thai language to an extension based on being over 50 (aka retirement extension).  All was done within Thailand.  I had assumed I was issued a Non-O visa administratively by Thai Immigration from which I was allowed to apply for an extension of stay for purpose of being retired.  But possibly it was only the reason (education to retirement) that was changed and I'm still on the books as having extensions based off of an original Non-ED.  It seems like I am treated as if I had a non-O visa but aside from a two-line notation made in my passport at the time I have no actual non-O visa.  I tend to put down that I'm here on an extension of a non-O visa and saying that hasn't gotten me into any trouble that I'm aware of.

Seeing the latest post from ubonJoe I guess I should be saying I'm here on extensions of stay based on a Non-ED visa, then. ????  It is interesting that I seem to be required to follow the financial/health insurance requirements of a Non-O visa/extension for purposes of retirement.  I didn't know that was possible being on extensions derived from an Non-ED visa, but I guess it must be as I've been doing it for about seven years.

[ThaiSpaceNeedle]

1 minute ago, skatewash said:

Seeing the latest post from ubonJoe I guess I should be saying I'm here on extensions of stay based on a Non-ED visa, then. ????  It is interesting that I seem to be required to follow the financial/health insurance requirements of a Non-O visa/extension for purposes of retirement.  I didn't know that was possible being on extensions derived from an Non-ED visa, but I guess it must be as I've been doing it for about seven years.

Yeah, I had always heard that visa type can only be changed abroad. I guess that after you enter the country, the visa doesn't really matter much anymore (except in the case of this new vaccination site), but what matters more is the purpose of extension.

About your case, I also thought that there were a couple of different "retirement" visas/extensions (O vs O-A?) and that some didn't require the health insurance if you're already in the country on a different visa type. Any information on this? I'm almost at that retirement age and you never know what can happen to a marriage. ????

Thanks

[skatewash]

2 minutes ago, ThaiSpaceNeedle said:

Yeah, I had always heard that visa type can only be changed abroad. I guess that after you enter the country, the visa doesn't really matter much anymore (except in the case of this new vaccination site), but what matters more is the purpose of extension.

About your case, I also thought that there were a couple of different "retirement" visas/extensions (O vs O-A?) and that some didn't require the health insurance if you're already in the country on a different visa type. Any information on this? I'm almost at that retirement age and you never know what can happen to a marriage. ????

Thanks

The way I understand it Non-O is the default type of other non-immigrant visas.  Non-OA is a special "retirement" long-term stay visa that has attached to it all sorts of undesirable requirements including the health insurance one.  You don't really want to be in Thailand on an extension based off of a Non-OA visa as you are then subject to these "extra" requirements.  Better to arrive in Thailand on an actual non-O visa (obtained at a Thai embassy/consulate) and then do an extension of stay for purpose of retirement based off that visa (avoiding the "extra" Non-OA stuff), OR you can enter Thailand on visa-exemption or Tourist Visa and apply for a Non-O visa for purpose of retirement directly from the Thai Immigration office.  Then you can apply for an extension of stay based on that Non-O visa for purpose of retirement, every year from then on.

I think you must be right that there is some sort of underlying non-immigrant visa that can be sold as a non-O, non-B, even a non-ED (apparently).  The visa gets you into Thailand, but then once here you can change the reason for your extension of stay based on this underlying non-immigrant visa depending on whether you are working, married, retired, studying, etc.  Of course, you have to meet the requirements for being granted an extension of stay (which are specific to the reason) but it almost doesn't seem to matter what flavor that non-immigrant visa you originally used to enter Thailand was originally.