Change OA retirement extension to O

[fulhamster]

Please could anyone advise if this is doable ?

The insurance requirement has become increasingly expensive.

What is the best way to do this -- with and without using an agent ?

[Tod Daniels]

These are the steps to get OFF an OA extension, on to an O visa and then a year extension based on retirement

• EXIT the country close to your current OA extension expiring,
• Enter the country on a free visa exempt entry for 30 days,
• immediately GO to your immigration office and apply for the 90 day Non-O visa by meeting the proof of funds and supplying the required documentation, you pay the 2000baht
• Wait the 14 to 21 days the under consideration is (depending on the office you use)
• Go back to the office on that date, get a Non-O visa and a new 90 day stamp inked in
• Wait until you have 30 days or less left on that stamp
• Go back to apply for a year extension by meeting the financial requirements, supplying the required documentation and paying 1900baht.

The retirement extension is issued on the spot (unless you're in Jomtien or Phuket which have you leave the passport and pick it up the next day)   

That's how you do it above the table without an agent by meeting the requirements on your own.

I mean face it if you have a yearly OA extension now you already DO meet the requirements ????

The tough part is getting OFF that OA, on to a stamp you can apply for an O visa from and then getting thru the steps

[DrJack54]

OP, completely covered by post above.

 

Be aware (if you deal with Jomtien) that office (according to recent thread) .....requires the 800k seasoned for two months to apply for the non O.

Ridiculous.

The rule is funds in the bank on day of application.

 

Assume that you are not married.

If you are you could change extension to based on marriage and no insurance requirements 

Edited June 14, 2023 by DrJack54

[fulhamster]

2 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, completely covered by ppst above.

 

Be aware (if you deal with Jomtien) that office (according to recent thread) .....requires the 800k seasoned for two months to apply for the non O.

Ridiculous.

The rule is funds in the bank on day of application.

 

Assume that you are not married.

If you are you could change extension to based on marriage and no insurance requirements 

Are you saying that I could get a marriage extension using the existing OA and not need the insurance ?

 

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, fulhamster said:

Are you saying that I could get a marriage extension using the existing OA and not need the insurance ?

 

Yes. Provided you are married to Thai national..

Extensions from a non O-A based on retirement require insurance.

Based on marriage do not require insurance 

 

If you are using money in bank method here is short thread with advice re financials.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1282233-changing-visa-extension-based-on-retirement-to-marriage/ 

 

More comprehensive advice in this thread  

https://aseannow.com/topic/1294912-changing-extension-from-retired-to-married/

Edited June 14, 2023 by DrJack54

[Red Phoenix]

31 minutes ago, Tod Daniels said:

The retirement extension is issued on the spot (unless you're in Jomtien or Phuket which have you leave the passport and pick it up the next day)   

Be aware that when applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa in Jomtien or SriRacha, that Immigration can keep your passport for the full 'under consideration period'.  This happened to two friends of mine.  One of them (applying at the Jomtien Office) was without his passport for almost 5 weeks! 

So best to make snapshots of your Passport ID-page and all the stamped pages in case it gets lost at that hell-hole...

[GroveHillWanderer]

34 minutes ago, fulhamster said:

Are you saying that I could get a marriage extension using the existing OA and not need the insurance ?

Yes, that's exactly what I did, three years ago. No need to leave the country, no need to go through the multi-step process outlined above.

 

Just be aware that the paperwork required for a marriage extension is appreciably more voluminous than for a retirement extension.

 

It's not quite as burdensome (IMHO) as some would have you believe, though. I don't find it particularly troublesome at all.

 

The only part that I find a little bit of a hassle is having to sign every single sheet of paper (and there's a lot of them). Still, that probably takes less than 5 minutes all in all so it's not really that big of a deal - to me at least.

 

I did this in Hua Hin and it was an extremely straightforward process. I was half expecting them to ask me some questions about why I was changing and/or possibly give me a little bit of a hard time about it but not at all. They didn't ask me a single question or make any kind of fuss, they just took the paperwork and processed it without demur.

[oldcpu]

The advice given to you in this thread already is very good.

 

I started on a Type-OA visa, followed by a one year extension (on that Type-O) based on retirement, then when the Health Insurance requirements from a Thai branch of an Insurance company became not appropriate for myself I then switched on my next extension (on that same underlying Type-OA visa) to a one-year extension based on marriage to a Thai woman.  When forum members note the paper work required (for an extension based on marriage) is extensive, they are not IMHO exaggerating. There is a lot more paperwork for an extension based on marriage than there is on retirement. Plus for some immigration offices (most offices?) its a lot quicker to get the extension based on retirement than it is based on marriage.

 

I eventually left the country (without a re-entry permit) to invalidate my type-OA, and after returning (visa exempt) I applied for and obtained a 90-day Type-O visa. My first one year extension on the Type-O for retirement was very quick to obtain. 

 

My recommendation, is if you don't plan to leave Thailand before your current 'retirement' extension expires, is to switch to a one year extension (on your Type-OA) based on marriage to a Thai person. But WELL IN ADVANCE research the paperwork requirements - for if you married your Thai wife outside of Thailand you will have a lot more paperwork needed to register your marriage here in Thailand.  

 

If you are thou, planning to leave Thailand for some travels, consider do so with out a re-entry permit, (so to invalidate your Type-OA visa) and then come back Visa exempt (your nationality might play a factor as to whether this is even feasible) and immediately upon arrival in Thailand at your local immigration office apply for a 90-day Type-O visa (ensuring prior you have the appropriate money in a Thai bank). Then after about 45 to 60 days (dependent on your immigration office) apply for a 1 year extension on the Type-O based on retirement. That requires no proof of Health Insurance.  That is what I did.

 

You may thou, wish to check if the immigration office you plan to use, will allow you to adopt the above.  My understanding is most Thai Immigration offices do allow such but I have read stores on this forum by some who claim the immigration office that they go to, do not allow such an approach.  I think such offices are in the minority but I believe it is good to check.

Edited June 14, 2023 by oldcpu

[Pib]

Yeap....back around 2019 I switched from an annual Retirement extension on my old underlying Non OA visa to doing a Marriage extension on that same underlying Non OA in order to avoid the medical insurance requirement.. I'm married to a Thai with marriage registered in Thailand.    Never had to leave the country....did this at CW/Bangkok immigration...and did a couple more annual marriage extensions before I switched to anther kind of visa.   Yeap...can do....just need to be married to a Thai and have that marriage registered in Thailand in order to do a marriage extension. 

 

As mentioned by others there is some additional paperwork each annual marriage extension in comparison to a retirement extension....basically a copy of your original marriage certificate, a fresh Kor Ror 2 marriage doc (or Kor Ror 22 if married outside Thailand) from your local district office that certifies you are "still" married (only takes minutes to get and is free or a few baht), photos of you and the spouse around/in your residence, and Bt400K in the bank for at least 2 months before applying.  When applying there will be an approx 30 day under consideration period before getting the final annual stamp..  And it's best not to let your bank balance drop below Bt400K until you get the final stamp....then you can take the balance to zero if desired up until 2 months before the next annual marriage extension application.

 

[DrJack54]

30 minutes ago, Pib said:

And it's best not to let your bank balance drop below Bt400K until you get the final stamp....

While some immigration offices don't check this, I think it's best option to wait for final stamp. 

[BritTim]

Note that an alternative to getting a Non O visa at Immigration (after entering visa exempt) is to get a Non O visa at a consulate like Savannakhet. The advantage is that you have the visa the next day rather than there being an under consideration period.

[Tod Daniels]

13 hours ago, fulhamster said:

Are you saying that I could get a marriage extension using the existing OA and not need the insurance ?

 

As people (most astute than myself) pointed out

IF you are on an OA visa yearly EXTENSION OF STAY <-(not the original year entries from the visa), you can indeed "change the reason" for the extension to the one you currently have based on being over 50 (retirement) to one based on marriage to a thai AND you would not need to continue the insurance.

You have to be on a yearly extension though because the rule is you must get at least the FIRST extension on a visa for the reason it was issued <- meaning seeing as you got the OA for being over 50, you'd have to have at least one yearly extension for that reason before you could apply for a yearly extension the following year for a different reason.

Well spotted Dr Jack.. That was good you brought that up ???? 
 

[Gsxrnz]

OP - I recently shifted from OA to O by using an agent. I landed without a re-entry permit on a valid OA.

 

I already had the seasoned 800K, so got a discount on their usual rate.  It cost me 19,900B. I've managed my own renewals for over a decade and never had an agent before. But I really just could not be fagged with multiple visits to the Jomtien IO, especially with how stupidly busy they were at the time.

 

Got everything done in 3 weeks, and effectively got a 15 month permission to stay with the tourist visa and 12 month O being back-to-back.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Gsxrnz

[DrJack54]

15 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

Got everything done in 3 weeks, and effectively got a 15 month permission to stay with the tourist visa and 12 month O being back-to-back.

Good that your plan worked out suiting your needs.

Just to be clear....

You didn't have a tourist visa.

The agent obtained a non O which gives a 90 day stamp and subsequent extension of 12 months.

 

Having the funds in the bank you did have the option of doing this process yourself.

For non O retirement and extension it's a simple process.

Doing it yourself would have been 2000+1900 baht so reasonable deal from agent to have them do the leg work. 

 

[fulhamster]

2 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

OP - I recently shifted from OA to O by using an agent. I landed without a re-entry permit on a valid OA.

 

I already had the seasoned 800K, so got a discount on their usual rate.  It cost me 19,900B. I've managed my own renewals for over a decade and never had an agent before. But I really just could not be fagged with multiple visits to the Jomtien IO, especially with how stupidly busy they were at the time.

 

Got everything done in 3 weeks, and effectively got a 15 month permission to stay with the tourist visa and 12 month O being back-to-back.

Sounds like you are near Pattaya -- which agency please as my situation is very similar

[oldcpu]

3 hours ago, Tod Daniels said:

IF you are on an OA visa yearly EXTENSION OF STAY <-(not the original year entries from the visa), you can indeed "change the reason" for the extension to the one you currently have based on being over 50 (retirement) to one based on marriage to a thai AND you would not need to continue the insurance.

You have to be on a yearly extension though because the rule is you must get at least the FIRST extension on a visa for the reason it was issued <- meaning seeing as you got the OA for being over 50, you'd have to have at least one yearly extension for that reason before you could apply for a yearly extension the following year for a different reason.

Well spotted Dr Jack.. That was good you brought that up ???? 
 

This is a good point, that being " the rule is you must get at least the FIRST extension on a visa for the rule it was issued".

 

I arrived in Thailand in 2019 on a Type-OA visa based on retirement.  When the time came a couple of years later to go for my first one year extension, the new Health Insurance requirements on Type-OA visas were already in place.  My European Health insurance was not on the Thai list (and hence not accepted by immigration) so I attempted to obtain a one-year extension (which was my 1st extension) for reason of marriage. 

 

Phuket immigration refused.  They advised I had to go for the one year extension based on retirement (per my Type-OA visa reason).  They told me only when I went for my 2nd extension (in a years time) on my Type-OA would they allow me to switch to using 'marriage' as a justification for my 1 year extension.

 

I ended up for the very first extension on my Type-OA,  obtaining an extension based on retirement (and I ended paying for DOUBLE health insurance as I did not want to get rid of my superior European Health insurance).

 

So that (not being able to switch from 'retirement' to 'marriage' on one's 1st Type-OA extension) is a consideration to take into account, when deciding if one should instead switch to a Type-O Visa (ie leave the country on a Type-OA without a re-entry permit to invalid the Type-OA Visa and then re-entering to get a Type-O). 

 

Thanks Tod Daniels for pointing that out.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by oldcpu

[Gsxrnz]

21 hours ago, fulhamster said:

Sounds like you are near Pattaya -- which agency please as my situation is very similar

Cambodia Travel.  On Soi Buakhaow opposite Holiday Inn.  But shop around - any agent can do it and you might find a better rate.  Try not to deal with the 30 something woman there - tends to be rude and lacks knowledge.