want to go to thailand for 4-5 months...visa has change since pandemic....any help would be appreciated...72,  been going every year since 1996-2019...male...traveling alone.december 2023-april 2024.  used multiple entry 90 day visa for years...PLEASE...do not say go to website...have done that...link actual form that I need to fill out and then where to send it..also before use to send money order to cover visa costs...how is that done now.

 

 

METV e-visa.

Enter visa exempt if you qualify... get 90 day visa while here.

52 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Enter visa exempt if you qualify... get 90 day visa while here.

Have to put money (800k) in the bank or pay an agent a lot...... (advantage might be to get a retirement extension to cover future years), If it is a one off trip I think Orchis idea of METV is best.... or a single+extension+border bounce)

5 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Have to put money (800k) in the bank or pay an agent a lot...... (advantage might be to get a retirement extension to cover future years), If it is a one off trip I think Orchis idea of METV is best.... or a single+extension+border bounce)

What 800k... not for a 90 day visa... unless it is for retirement

Just now, Skipalongcassidy said:

What 800k... not for a 90 day visa... unless it is for retirement

The only 90 day Visa you can get in Thailand is by converting a tourist to a Non-Imm-O entry, usually based on retirement. What are you thinking of? 

The USA uses the e-visa website to apply. Pretty easy. Just register, upload documents and print out the visa online. Pay with your card. What’s the problem?

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

The only 90 day Visa you can get in Thailand is by converting a tourist to a Non-Imm-O entry, usually based on retirement. What are you thinking of? 

Applying for a Non Immigrant O Visa inside Thailand is relatively straightforward as long as you meet the requirements of Non Immigrant O Visa. As the process can take up to 3 to 4 weeks to be completed, you will need to apply almost immediately if you have entered the country using Exempt Visa stamp. The application would need to be submitted to your nearest Thai Immigration Department. 

 

Does not have to be for retirement.

10 hours ago, chevdur said:

PLEASE...do not say go to website...have done that...link actual form that I need to fill out and then where to send it..also before use to send money order to cover visa costs...how is that done now.

You haven't said which country or how you think the visa has changed.

If your country has joined the E-visa platform there is no form to fill out and send, it is an online application, paid by credit card and the visa is sent to you by email.

You would need to go to the embassy website and look for the link to visa application. The first page will check eligibility and ask which type of visa you require, at the bottom of the page is an option for multi entry as before. It is then a question of completing the online application and making payment.

24 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Does not have to be for retirement.

Male travelling alone, do you think he can get a Married or Children (support) Non-O?

Understand you have not viewed since posting but if you can provide nationality and country of residence it would help people provide correct information.

In your case applying for the METV eVisa would be your best option. 

Alternatively you could simply travel to Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day Permit to stay on arrival.  Then in the last 2 weeks before Permit to stay expiry you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay, which is provided on the spot with the 30 additional days added to the expiry date of your initial Permit to stay (costs 1.900,- THB).  In the final days before expiry of that second Permit to stay, you can then do a border-run to a neighboring country.  This can be done same day or you could combine with a holiday in that neighboring country.  On re-entering Thailand VisaExempt you will be once again stamped in for 30 days, which also can be extended for an additional 30 days.  That's already 120 days (4 months).  If you want to stay longer, then do once again a border-run before expiry of your permit to stay.  Following the above process you can stay 6 months in Thailand without having applied for a Visa. 

NOTE 1 - You can only use land-border Visa Exempt entries 2 times per calendar year, but that would be OK when staying max 6 months. 

NOTE 2 - When flying to Thailand VisaExempt you would need to show at departure when checking in to your flight an outward bound ticket to an international destination from Thailand on a date prior to expiry of the 30-day Permit to stay you will receive on entry.  Buying a fully legit flight-reservation online on a site like  onwardflight.com or another on-line onward flight ticket-reservation company cost only 12 to 15 US $.  Such reservation is automatically cancelled within 2-3 days, so needs to be done on the day before or day of departure and they are provided on-the-spot when paying by credit-card.

12 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Applying for a Non Immigrant O Visa inside Thailand is relatively straightforward as long as you meet the requirements of Non Immigrant O Visa. As the process can take up to 3 to 4 weeks to be completed, you will need to apply almost immediately if you have entered the country using Exempt Visa stamp. The application would need to be submitted to your nearest Thai Immigration Department. 

 

Does not have to be for retirement.

False information. Please disregard this post

8 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

False information. Please disregard this post

Post was copy and paste directly from Thai Visa site... so yes please disregard what they say.

9 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

Then in the last 2 weeks before Permit to stay expiry you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay,

You apply where your TM30 is registered, not just "any" office

 

9 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

When flying to Thailand VisaExempt you would need to show at departure when checking in to your flight an outward bound ticket to an international destination from Thailand

You MAY be asked to show, different airlines have different policies

 

9 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

30-day Permit to stay

It is called permission of stay, not "permit to stay"

 

8 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

False information. Please disregard this post

Which part of the post is false?

52 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

9 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

False information. Please disregard this post

Which part of the post is false?

OP made no mention of wanting or having funds for extension of stay in Thailand - post was about conversion to visa entry to obtain extension of stay.  We do not even know if poster has visa exempt entry or not as no nationality or location information provided.

7 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

16 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

Then in the last 2 weeks before Permit to stay expiry you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay,

You apply where your TM30 is registered, not just "any" office

When on a VisaExempt (without a Visa) entry or on a Tourist Visa, you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay.  The requirement for doing so is 'providing proof of the place you are staying' in the Province where that Imm Office is located (TM-30).  As a tourist it is thus simply a matter of asking the Hotel/guesthouse where you are staying for a copy of the TM-30 notification that the Hotel is required to make that a foreigner is staying there.

7 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

16 hours ago, Red Phoenix said:

When flying to Thailand VisaExempt you would need to show at departure when checking in to your flight an outward bound ticket to an international destination from Thailand

You MAY be asked to show, different airlines have different policies

Correct, but why take chances of being refused boarding on departure or being refused entry to Thailand by border-immigration for not being able to show an onward-flight ticket-reservation.  It costs only 12-15 US $ and is e-mailed immediately after credit-card payment.  

Note: If you are of the 'save every penny' type, you could indeed prepare the ticket but wait with ordering it on-line when being asked to show it by the air-line at check-in or by the border-immigration officer.

On 7/13/2023 at 9:41 AM, Skipalongcassidy said:

Applying for a Non Immigrant O Visa inside Thailand is relatively straightforward as long as you meet the requirements of Non Immigrant O Visa. As the process can take up to 3 to 4 weeks to be completed, you will need to apply almost immediately if you have entered the country using Exempt Visa stamp. The application would need to be submitted to your nearest Thai Immigration Department. 

 

Does not have to be for retirement.

Visas are not issued within Thailand  (except VOA at the airport for some nationalities and Elite Visas) , what you talk of is converting a Tourist permission to a Non-Imm-O.

A Used Visa stamp is put into your passport and a 90 day permission with it. The most common reason for this is retirement, to then go  on to a 12 month retirement extension... It could also be used for marriage, and on to a marriage extension. The reasons are usually  the propose of working, stay with Thai wife, study or retire in Thailand .

There are many other Extension  possibilities, but many require you are already on a Non-Imm-O Permission,

Just interested as to which requirement you will fulfil.... years ago people had to leave Thailand and be issued the Non-Imm-O at a neighbouring country  embassy/consulate. 

 

9 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Visas are not issued within Thailand  (except VOA at the airport for some nationalities and Elite Visas) , what you talk of is converting a Tourist permission to a Non-Imm-O.

Oh yes visas are issued within Thailand, nothing is converted at all. A new Non-immigrant visa is issued, and then utilized on the day of issue, as shown in the picture.

 

 

Just now, bigt3116 said:

Oh yes visas are issued within Thailand, nothing is converted at all. A new Non-immigrant visa is issued, and then utilized on the day of issue, as shown in the picture.

 

Semantics, is a used Visa still a Visa.....? Try entering the country on it. 

28 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Semantics, is a used Visa still a Visa.....? Try entering the country on it. 

Yes a used visa is still a visa, it is what marries to your permission of stay.

 

"Try entering", that is the whole point of being issued a visa within Thailand, you don't have to leave and enter.

 

Not semantics at all, and you were totally wrong with your "conversion" statement.

32 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Semantics, is a used Visa still a Visa.....?

Not semantics.

It's a non O visa and Extensions of permission of stay from that initial 90 day stamp determines the requirements for ongoing extensions. 

4 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

Yes a used visa is still a visa, it is what marries to your permission of stay.

 

"Try entering", that is the whole point of being issued a visa within Thailand, you don't have to leave and enter.

 

Not semantics at all, and you were totally wrong with your "conversion" statement.

If you say so....... yawn!