The easiest and shortest way to obtain a year visa (we’re out of our country)?

[Danièle Brotherton]

Hello everyone,

 

We’re Canadians and are in a long trip outside of our country as newly retirees.

We would like to spend a year in Thailand for knowing better the country and deciding if we want to get a retirement visa or a Long term visa (LTR) for the future. 
Does anyone could help us to choose the fastest way (in shortest time) for obtaining a valid visa for one year with not too many requirements (documents that could take long time or complicated to obtain from our country) ?

Thanks in advance for helping us to avoid any type of administration difficulties that could occur when it’s time to ask assistance from our government to get documents…

 

 

 

[mikebike]

Hi Danielle. Fellow Canuck. Unfortunately, what you are describing is not really available. Maaaaybe an education visa for learning Thai language would be your best option, but that route has been abused and can have it's own problems. 

 

Check the Thai Embassy to Canada for (legal) options. Check out and ask at the FB group Canadians in Phuket. 

[Danièle Brotherton]

Hi Fellow Canuck,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

We will indeed figure out what are the best and, of course, legal options that could suit our situation.

Thank you for the reference concerning the Canadian group in Phuket.

[oldcpu]

Nominally, it may have been better for you to have sorted this before you left Canada.  

 

This may also be easier if you are age-50 or over.  I assume age-50 or over in my reply.

 

Typically, to stay one year in Thailand, its possible if one is age age-50 or older, one will go for a Type-OA or a Type-O visa.  The Type-OA visa tends to have a bit more flexibility once obtained, but it has the added requirement of proving health insurance, which could be a bit complex dependent on where one is where one applies.  Typically Thailand wants to see the health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company.

 

When I applied I had to prove residency (in Germany) which was a bit more complex for me, as I am Canadian and not a German citizen (but I was a legal German resident).  Being out of country, likely means the Type-OA is more difficult to get.  Being a Canadian in Germany complicated it a bit for me to get a Type-OA as I had to prove German residence for the Thai Embassy in Germany to accept my application.  And a Type-OA is not ideal due to requirements on the health insurance side.

 

A nice aspect of the Type-O visa (as opposed to Type-OA) is one does not need to prove health insurance from the Thai branch of a health insurance company nor from any health insurance company (which means one can use other health insurance or no insurance - and note, regardless of a Visa,  I recommend one gets health insurance).

 

There are various ways to go about getting a Type-O visa, and I don't know them all. That might be suitable for you, if you don't mind putting money into a Thai bank account.  Likely being out of Canada for more than 1/2 year means your provincial health care may not cover you, so if you are not already paying for health insurance, buying health insurance in Thailand (timed to correspond with your Thailand stay) may not be a bad idea.

 

It might be possible to get a 90-day type-O visa from outside of Thailand ( and then, once one has the Type-O one can then get in Thailand extensions on its permission to stay by satisfying some other requirements), but I do NOT know anything about getting a type-O from outside of Thailand. Others can tell you about that.

 

But one can get a Type-O visa after one arrives in Thailand, albeit there are some complications.  In that case, of the Type-O visa obtained in Thailand, you could enter Thailand visa exempt (which gives you 30 days). Then immediately (ie first few days) open a bank account in a Thai bank.  This is the hardest part, as normally Thai banks require one to be on a one-year visa BEFORE they allow one to open a bank account.   You could try to explain to the bank you need to open the account so you can apply for a long term visa, but they may ignore you. You may have to find an agent to help you open the account ( and while I know there are such agents, I do not know of any myself).

 

As soon as that bank account is open, transfer 800k Thai baht into the Thai bank account.  Keep the money there.  As soon as the money is in that bank account, go to immigration and apply for a 90-day type-O Visa.  If you don't have money setup in the bank in time, which is needed for applying for the Type-O visa, then go to immigration and apply for a 30-day extension of your permission to stay in Thailand. Hopefully that extra 30-days will give you time to have the money transferred to the Thai bank account. Then hopefully you can apply and get the 90-day Type-O visa.

 

Then assuming you get that 90-day Type-O visa it will give you 90-day permission to stay in Thailand (after your 30-day visa exempt expires (or after your 30-day extension expires).  

 

About 30-days (probably sooner is better) before your 90-days permission to stay expires, go again to immigration and apply for a 1-year permission to stay in Thailand base on retirement.  You will need the 800K Thai baht still in the bank account.

 

There are other ways, with border bounces and such , that you might be able to extend your stay ... but to do so for an entire year, starts getting more complex and IMHO problematic.

 

I will let others fill you on the details on how to attempt that route (which IMHO may or may not work).

 

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Danièle Brotherton said:

Does anyone could help us to choose the fastest way (in shortest time) for obtaining a valid visa for one year with not too many requirements (documents that could take long time or complicated to obtain from our country) ?

You should have asked this question prior to leaving Canada.

Your options are now limited.

 

Previously you could obtain a multi entry Non O retirement from Savannakhet.

However that has become more difficult.

Not familiar with current reports.

 

You could enter Thailand visa exempt or tourist visa and change to a non O retirement.

You would need an agent to open a bank account.

You would require 800k baht in that account on the day you apply for the non O ...

Couple of months later you could obtain 12 month extension.

 

If placing 800k in a Thai bank is not possible you could consider use of an agent, however this option would be approx 30k.

 

You could simply enter on a tourist visa and later exit Thailand and obtain another. 

Tourist visa provides 60day stamp and can be extended by 30days.

So approx 6 months from couple of SETV.

You can also do border runs and enter visa exempt via land.

Those entries provide 30d stamp and can be extended by 30d.

Hence total of another ~4 months. 

 

Suggest avoid Education visa. 

 

If you were still in Canada I would have suggested METV.

That visa provides approx 9 months in Thailand. 

[Pattaya57]

2 hours ago, Danièle Brotherton said:

Does anyone could help us to choose the fastest way (in shortest time) for obtaining a valid visa for one year with not too many requirements (documents that could take long time or complicated to obtain from our country)?

Fastest way is as follows:

 

(1) buy a plane ticket to Thailand and enter visa exempt for 30 days (nothing to apply for). Apply for 30 days extension of stay at local immigration

 

(2) do a same day border run to Laos or Cambodia (depending where you are) and re-enter Thailand on visa exempt for 30 days + 30 day extension

 

(3) travel to neighboring country for at least 3 days and apply for a multi-entry tourist visa (METV). Re-enter Thailand for 60 days + 30 day extension which you can repeat 2 more times to give 8-9 months total on this visa

[Pattaya57]

45 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

Fastest way is as follows:

 

(1) buy a plane ticket to Thailand and enter visa exempt for 30 days (nothing to apply for). Apply for 30 days extension of stay at local immigration

 

(2) do a same day border run to Laos or Cambodia (depending where you are) and re-enter Thailand on visa exempt for 30 days + 30 day extension

 

(3) travel to neighboring country for at least 3 days and apply for a multi-entry tourist visa (METV). Re-enter Thailand for 60 days + 30 day extension which you can repeat 2 more times to give 8-9 months total on this visa

I was trying to correct this post changing METV to SETV but ran out of time. Item (3) should read:

 

(3) travel to neighboring country for at least 3 days and apply for a single-entry tourist visa (SETV). Re-enter Thailand for 60 days + 30 day extension

 

The above plus the first two visa exempts give 7 months. You can then do another visa exempt and SETV (with 30 day extensions) to make 1 year stay

 

At any point you decide you want to retire in Thailand you can stop all the border hopping and apply for a 90 day non-immigration O visa in Thailand which then allows an ongoing 12 month extension of stay

[Danièle Brotherton]

@oldcpu@drJack54 @Pattaya57

 

We much appreciate all the relevant information and details provided to help us for choosing the best way to satisfy our traveling trip at the moment. We will analyse all this in order to make the best decision.

 

Note: We haven’t plan to like Thailand that much in coming for a month from Malaysia (our first choice for retirement). Next months will be crucial ones for the final decision…

 

All the best!

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, Danièle Brotherton said:

We haven’t plan to like Thailand that much in coming for a month from Malaysia (our first choice for retirement). Next months will be crucial ones for the final decision…

In your OP you stated the following ..

"We would like to spend a year in Thailand for knowing better the country ...." 

 

So you don't need/plan to stay in Thailand for a YEAR.

Post accurate plan to receive best advice. 

[blazes]

As a Canuck with a Thai wife, if you don't already know Thailand, I'd advise you to do exactly what you seem to be doing (and which others have advised you on) - namely, two or three months to see how things go.  Travel around a lot. Compare this and that.  Be extremely careful as a pedestrian in Thailand. 

Medical insurance.  Be aware (as I'm sure you are) that provincial medical coverage expires in six or seven months in all provinces of Canada when you leave the country. You can of course re-join, but there will be a three-month wait.  My province (BC - and I am sure all the rest) will reimburse your medical costs incurred abroad, but they will not cover deliberate medical tourism.

If you are going to Malaysia, I can certainly recommend Penang.

 

As far as I can tell, you can no longer get a visa mailed to you from the Vancouver consulate or Ottawa embassy.  Everything is now done on line. 

[DrJack54]

33 minutes ago, blazes said:

As a Canuck with a Thai wife,....

Where was Thai wife mentioned.

[kingstonkid]

On 12/17/2023 at 2:32 PM, DrJack54 said:

You should have asked this question prior to leaving Canada.

Your options are now limited.

 

Previously you could obtain a multi entry Non O retirement from Savannakhet.

However that has become more difficult.

Not familiar with current reports.

 

You could enter Thailand visa exempt or tourist visa and change to a non O retirement.

You would need an agent to open a bank account.

You would require 800k baht in that account on the day you apply for the non O ...

Couple of months later you could obtain 12 month extension.

 

If placing 800k in a Thai bank is not possible you could consider use of an agent, however this option would be approx 30k.

 

You could simply enter on a tourist visa and later exit Thailand and obtain another. 

Tourist visa provides 60day stamp and can be extended by 30days.

So approx 6 months from couple of SETV.

You can also do border runs and enter visa exempt via land.

Those entries provide 30d stamp and can be extended by 30d.

Hence total of another ~4 months. 

 

Suggest avoid Education visa. 

 

If you were still in Canada I would have suggested METV.

That visa provides approx 9 months in Thailand. 

Being Canadian has its advantage we can still do monthly with a letter from the embassy and bank statement

 

Bank account is a hassle that you may need to save ATM fee.

 

I came in on 3month.

 

Jack I thought first year was free 800 needed to renew.

 

When did that change.

[CanadaSam]

From your post, I assume you wish to stay in Thailand for a year to explore the possibility of retiring here.  I will also assume you do not want to go through all the paperwork and formalities involved, nor wish to put the required 800,000 baht in the bank, in case you decide not to stay here longer than the year.

 

Please skip all the difficult steps involved, just fly here on a 30 day visa exemption given at the airport, immediately head to the nearest reputable visa agency, and they will do just about everything for you for only a few hundred dollars, and you will end up with a 15 month visa in a very short period of time.

 

If you wish to travel to nearby countries, please add the multi entry option as well for very small money.

 

The above assumes you are over 50 years old.

 

Bon Voyage!

[Red Phoenix]

You would have had more options when applying for an eVisa in your home-country, but it's not such a big problem after all as I understand that you are actually now in the discovery phase and do not necessarily need to stay 1 full year In Thailand.

The easiest way for you would be to enter Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day Permission to stay. And in the last 2 weeks of that Permission to stay you could then apply for a 30-day extension of stay at ANY Thai Immigation office (costs 1.900,- THB, is provided on the spot and the extra 30 days added to the expiry date of your entry Permission to stay).  Then at the end of those 60 days (do NOT overstay) simply exit Thailand to one of the neigboring countries you also like to explore (Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam are worthwhile options).  Then return to Thailand which will once again provide you with a 30-day extension of stay which can equally be extended again for 30 days.  No problem doing that process 3 times (max 2 times by landborder), so that would give you already 180 days in Thailand + the time you did spent in the neigboring countries.  If by then you have made up your mind of wanting to stay long-term in Thailand, you could then apply for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement at the Imm Office of the province where you would be residing, and based on that 90-day Retirement Visa you can then apply for the 1-year extension of that 90-days Visa's Permission to stay.   

Success and happy discovery!