No doubt this question has been asked many times previously - I apologise for my inability to find it via a search.

 

I am a UK passport holder, 67, but when not in Thailand I am in the USA.

 

I had a Retirement visa for several years, then the double whammy of COVID and the sudden, unrelated passing of my Thai missus, and I was not able to get back to Thailand in order to renew my Retired Visa before it expired.

 

Thai consulates seem to have changed the rules, only USA Nationals can apply for an O-A visa from a USA Consul. I am told that I must apply in my country of origin, UK. Not lived there for over 40 years, only visited once, briefly, in more that 20 years. I started the application process, but the online document verification system is difficult. I am working on it, but it would be much less tedious if I could simply go to Thailand, visa on arrival and then "convert" that to a Retirement pass.

 

Is that possible?

Someone will come along with a better answer but, in the meantime, I believe that it is actually easier to get the non-O visa from within Thailand and then apply for the retiremernt extension . Do you still have the required B800,000 in a Thai bank account?

As advised above, if you already have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account, it is relatively easy to enter visa exempt, shortly after arrival, apply for a Non O visa (intention requirement) at the Immigration office, which gives you a fresh 90-day permission to stay, and subsequently apply for one-year extensions as you used to do in the past.

 

To get a Non O-A visa, as a UK national, you must apply using the e-visa system, and be physically present in the UK when you do the application. Given all the requirements for a Non O-A visa, I doubt you want to subject yourself to this.

Forget the non O-A.

Here is thread re enter Thailand visa exempt and obtain a non O retirement and subsequent extension.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1297092-non-o-visa-retirement-purpose/ 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1282251-visa-exempt-to-non-o-retirement-dates/

Send me a message i can give you my agent contact for retirement visa, the do my visa for more than 5 years already.

You don't need expensive agents.

Just turn up with a Tourist Visa or Visa Exempt Entry and do it all in Thailand.

you will need 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.

Excellent responses, thank you all so much.

 

I already wasted about $100 applying to the "background check" agencies in UK as required by the Thai Embassy - that "rabbit hole" just leads to further document SNAFU's if you are not actually resident in the UK - lesson learned.

 

Great, I will just fly back to Thailand and follow the route described above - excellent!

Last year did what folks are advising you to do.  Entered exempt, then applied for Non-O using 800K in the bank shortly after entering.  Do it soon or be aware that there are requirements (not same everywhere) for minimum number of days to be left on your entry when applying.  You won't get your Non-O immediately as you do an extension-it has to go to Bangkok for processing.  I got a return appointment 3 weeks after my application.

 

I too was caught out of the country by Covid and lost my long string of extensions.  As you won't have a visa or re-entry permit,  be sure to be able to satisfy your airline with a ticket out of Thailand within 30 days of your arrival.  Either a throw-away cheap ticket from anywhere in Thailand to anywhere outside of Thailand, or a rented ticket available online will do.

On 9/2/2023 at 11:20 PM, Lite Beer said:

You don't need expensive agents.

Just turn up with a Tourist Visa or Visa Exempt Entry and do it all in Thailand.

you will need 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.

You are right... you don't "need" an agent... but it is wonderful to be able to afford such a luxury and not worry one iota about the often ambiguous nature of Thai IO's... try it sometime.

On 9/2/2023 at 11:20 PM, Lite Beer said:

You don't need expensive agents.

Just turn up with a Tourist Visa or Visa Exempt Entry and do it all in Thailand.

you will need 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.

Make sure you still have a minimum of 15 days remaining on your visa exempt entry when applying for the non-O.

10 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

You are right... you don't "need" an agent... but it is wonderful to be able to afford such a luxury and not worry one iota about the often ambiguous nature of Thai IO's... try it sometime.

Why????

Get the correct paperwork and Immigration Officers will give you no problem.

13 minutes ago, Lite Beer said:

Why????

Get the correct paperwork and Immigration Officers will give you no problem.

Maybe not everyone want to waste the time at IO? Getting older and I value time more than money...

On 9/2/2023 at 6:20 PM, Lite Beer said:

You don't need expensive agents.

Just turn up with a Tourist Visa or Visa Exempt Entry and do it all in Thailand.

you will need 800,000 baht in a Thai bank.

Depending on which immigration office or mainly DLT office to attempt to get a thai licence, it can be a nightmare if you do not speak Thai. So an agent can help and sometimes, they have "contacts" at the office and with all respect to the law, your process speeds up. Remember, .the laws/administrative requirements  in Thailand are often made up by the chap behind the counter and his/her golden wings and they can.. I said can.. be highly rude and impolite sometimes (without any generalisation).

 

Using an "agent" who has the right connections at the place can highly improve the immigration red tappe and hassles.

1 hour ago, Sigmund said:

Using an "agent" who has the right connections at the place can highly improve the immigration red tappe and hassles.

The OP did not ask about agents.

Rather he posted that he has obtained several "retirement extensions" he means extensions based on retirement.

 

The OP would be well aware of option of using an agent.

 

The peanut gallery of few posters seem to want to push personal preference of what suits them.

 

2 hours ago, Sigmund said:

Depending on which immigration office or mainly DLT office to attempt to get a thai licence, it can be a nightmare if you do not speak Thai

You are just making stuff up.

 

I obtained the 5 year TDL from 2 yr TDL at Chatuchak in April.

 

Could not have been more simple.

Not one reason for an agent.

I speak zero Thai. 

Office staff there very helpful 

 

It does (at that time) involve one trip to make appointment and next day attend for test.

Guess what ...it's a 2 day process even with agent. 

 

 

13 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

 Get the correct paperwork and Immigration Officers will give you no problem.

If that is true than why are there so many on here complaining all the time about immigration problems... either they are too stupid or lazy to do the paperwork correctly or the IO's make it difficult... what do you think it is?  I do agree with you that if the paperwork is done correctly the IO's will not give you a problem... but that doesn't preclude that it is nice to have the ability to use an agent and leave the driving to them... 555

1 hour ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

If that is true than why are there so many on here complaining all the time about immigration problems... either they are too stupid or lazy to do the paperwork correctly or the IO's make it difficult... what do you think it is?  

After 20 years of the supposedly more difficult Marriage Extensions I have never had a problem with difficult IOs.

21 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

After 20 years of the supposedly more difficult Marriage Extensions I have never had a problem with difficult IOs.

Me neither... so you agree it's the ones that are too stupid or lazy to fill out the required paperwork.

On 9/2/2023 at 1:58 AM, radjag said:

Thai consulates seem to have changed the rules, only USA Nationals can apply for an O-A visa from a USA Consul

If you've lived in the US for so long then surly you have permanent residency there (as a Brit you have to have or you'd only be able to stay 6 months of the year) so the Embassy should allow you to apply for a Non-IMM OA, have you tried a different Embassy?

 

 

Failing that have you tried applying for a Non-IMM O in the US? This will save you the job of doing the conversion in-country so you'll just move straight to doing extensions. 

 

 

If you do want to do the conversion in-country & want to use an Agent then it costs approx. 25,000b in Pattaya for which you'll get the initial Non-Imm O & 1st 12 month extensions (i.e. you'll get 15 months permission to stay), personally I'd recommend going this route as it can be very tight timewise (need at least 15 days on your permission to stay, I believe Phuket needs 20 maybe even 25 days) especially if you haven't had the 800K in the bank for at least 2-3 months. 

 

People might be able to share personal experiences if you can state which Immigration Office you plan on doing the conversion at.