Is it possible to cancel an OA visa to transition to DTV?

[CanadaJoe]

Does anyone know if you can cancel an OA Visa? If so, can you please chare details of how to do it? For reference, both my partner and I are here in Thailand on OA retirment visas. Her visa expeires in August and she wants to tranistion to a DTV. She already has a trip booked back to her home country for 5 weeks in May/June and was hoping to appply for the DTV while she was there. However, the consulate in her home country says that she can't apply for the DTV if she's still holding a current OA visa. She asked if they could cancel her OA visa and they said no. They suggested she go to the local immigration office (Phuket) which we did, and they also told us that they are unable to cancel the visa. I believe that exiting Thailand wityout a re-entry permit would automatically cancel her visa and solve the problem. However, her OA visa came bundled with unlimited re-entry permits and the Immigration officer we spoke to yesterday told us there was no way to cancel those either. She does not want to go through the time, expense and inconvenience of making another trip back to her home country in August when her current visa expires. So we'd really like to figure out a way to cancel her current OA visa when she leaves Thailand. Any advice on how to do this would be much appreciated. Or, has anyone been able to successfully tranistion over to a DTV while still holding a current long-stay visa? Thanks 

[Sheryl]

Since OA is a multiple entry visa, there is no way to cancel it before the expiration date shown on the visa.

 

Do not, however, confuse the visa expiration date with the date your permission to stay ends as these can differ. For example, if you entered today on a visa that expires tomorrow, your approved length if stay would still be one year from today. But in that instance, simply leaving the country in 2 or more days without a re-entry permit would "kill" the visa because the visa itself would be expired.  

 

What expiration date shows on the original visa itself?

[CanadaJoe]

Thanks for the reply Sheryl. Her permission to stay expires in August, and that was based on the date her mandated "Thai" insurance expires. She goes back to her home country every 5 or 6 months to visit family, usually for 4-6 weeks each time. It ooked like the DTV visa with it's 5-year validity and multiple entries, would be a better option than renewing an OA each year, or transitioning to an O visa. 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

Do not, however, confuse the visa expiration date with the date your permission to stay ends as these can differ

OP, this quoted sentence is what you need to understand.

 

When the Non O-A was issued (perhaps e-Visa) it has a validity period. 

Meaning the Visa has a shelf life.

It's a multiple entry Visa.

Any exit and reentry while it's still valid, you receive a 12 month permission of stay stamp.

That explains why you read that Non O-A is good for a stay of almost 2 years provided appropriate insurance in place. 

 

17 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

Or, has anyone been able to successfully tranistion over to a DTV while still holding a current long-stay visa?

That's not possible.

She can wait till expiry of the Non O-A and exit Thailand.

The DTV can be obtained at embassies/consulates.

For example she could travel to somewhere eg Saigon and apply for DTV with the e-Visa platform. 

No need to apply in passport country as is required for the Non O-A. 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

She goes back to her home country every 5 or 6 months to visit family, usually for 4-6 weeks each time.

In that case best to obtain DTV while in home country as e-Visa application can take a few days.

Out of interest which category DTV is the plan? 

[CanadaJoe]

Thanks Dr Jack. She's secured a gig doing freelance work for a foreign company. She was hoping she could cancel her current OA visa and apply for the DTV while away in May/June rather than having to go to the expense and inconvenience of making another trip abroad in August. She understands that she could return in August before her current permission of stay expires and receive another year's stay, but that would mean buying another throw-away Thai insurance policy and having to cancel her freelance gig. The DTV seems like a better fit for her circumstances. So if we can't cancel her current visa, she may have to take another trip back home which sucks. 

[DrJack54]

13 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

The DTV seems like a better fit for her circumstances. So if we can't cancel her current visa, she may have to take another trip back home which sucks

Good summary of her situation.

On the up side she has option for best category DTV (Workcation, digital nomad) .

Met with young guy who obtained his e-Visa DTV in UK in 3 days so it's not a long process. 

As I mentioned she could go to nearby country for the e-Visa after Non O-A expiry 

Process time could be perhaps 5 working days. 

[CanadaJoe]

Thanks. Yeah I suppose she could fly somewhere for a week or two. It's really just an added expense and inconvenience she didn't want to deal with, especially as she'll be in her home country for 6 weeks in May/June. That would have given her plenty of time without having to rush or incur any additional travel expenses. 

[DrJack54]

10 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

....especially as she'll be in her home country for 6 weeks in May/June. That would have given her plenty of time without having to rush or incur any additional travel expenses.

You would be aware that when a visa is issued it has an "enter before date" 

Would be nice if she could apply for the DTV while back home May/June and use it (activate it) after the Non O-A expiry 

 

[CanadaJoe]

Yeah that would be nice, but I understand that the Thai's won't issue her a DTV while she still has a valid OA. 🙁

[CanadaJoe]

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, this quoted sentence is what you need to understand.

 

When the Non O-A was issued (perhaps e-Visa) it has a validity period. 

Meaning the Visa has a shelf life.

It's a multiple entry Visa.

Any exit and reentry while it's still valid, you receive a 12 month permission of stay stamp.

That explains why you read that Non O-A is good for a stay of almost 2 years provided appropriate insurance in place. 

 

Just to make sure I understand everything correctly — she could be granted an additional 12 months’ permission to stay in Thailand under the following conditions:

• She leaves Thailand in May.

• While overseas, she obtains a new Thai health insurance policy valid for one year, starting in August.

• She returns to Thailand before her current OA visa and permission to stay expire in August.

• Upon re-entry, she is granted a further 12 months’ stay (or until the new insurance expires).

• Before that new permission expires, she departs Thailand again.

• If she does not obtain a re-entry permit, her permission to stay becomes void.

• Since her original OA visa would have expired by then, she would be eligible to apply for a DTV visa from her home country.

Have I got all of that right? thanks 

 

- 

[DrJack54]

2 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

Have I got all of that right? thanks 

Spot on

[CanadaJoe]

great thanks 😀

 

[DrJack54]

6 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

great thanks 😀

 

This maybe of no interest however person had extension of stay retirement and obtained a reentry permit and then exited and applied for DTV .

Entered Thailand on the DTV with immigration either overlooking or ignoring the reentry permit 

Read post from @BrandonJT

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1343290-moving-from-retirement-to-dtv-question-having-both-at-the-same-time/

 

[CanadaJoe]

Great thanks I'll check it out. 

[rwill]

I don't think you still fully understand.  It is not the permission to stay date that matters. 

 

It is the date the orignal O-A visa stamp has for an expiration that matters.

 

Say for example she had obtained the visa in July 2024, it would expire in July 2025.  Even if when she entered Thailand she received permission to stay until August 2025.  After July 2025 she could leave Thailand without getting a reentry permit and it would kill off the permission to stay and she would have to obtain another visa then or come back visa exempt.

[CanadaJoe]

I'm not sure I'm following you, as I believe we are on the right track. My understanding is that the Visa and permission to stay are two separate entities and that the dates do not need to correspond to each other. For example, if my visa was issued on January 1, 2024 and expired at the end of December 2024, I could technically enter Thailand anytime during that 12-month period. If I arrive in Thailand in late December, just a couple of days before the visa expires, I could still potentially be stamped in for 12 months. If I leave the country after the visa expires, it then becomes null and void, and if I want to re-enter Thailand, I would need either a new visa or enter using the visa-exempt program. In my partner's case, she wants to apply for a DTV, but can't do so on her upcoming trip home as her OA Visa will still be valid, thus making her ineligible to apply for another visa. Since it looks like we can't cancel her visa, she will travel to her home country in May and return in June on her existing OA visa/stamp, which both expire in August. While she's away, she will purchase another 12 months of Thai insurance so that when she returns in June, she can hopefully receive another 12 months' permission to stay. Technically, she only needs a few months as she will be leaving Thailand again in December. When she leaves in December, she will no longer have a valid visa, so she can then apply for a DTV in her home country. That's our understanding, so if we are wrong, please help us to understand why. Thanks. 

[BrandonJT]

13 minutes ago, CanadaJoe said:

I'm not sure I'm following you, as I believe we are on the right track. My understanding is that the Visa and permission to stay are two separate entities and that the dates do not need to correspond to each other. For example, if my visa was issued on January 1, 2024 and expired at the end of December 2024, I could technically enter Thailand anytime during that 12-month period. If I arrive in Thailand in late December, just a couple of days before the visa expires, I could still potentially be stamped in for 12 months. If I leave the country after the visa expires, it then becomes null and void, and if I want to re-enter Thailand, I would need either a new visa or enter using the visa-exempt program. In my partner's case, she wants to apply for a DTV, but can't do so on her upcoming trip home as her OA Visa will still be valid, thus making her ineligible to apply for another visa. Since it looks like we can't cancel her visa, she will travel to her home country in May and return in June on her existing OA visa/stamp, which both expire in August. While she's away, she will purchase another 12 months of Thai insurance so that when she returns in June, she can hopefully receive another 12 months' permission to stay. Technically, she only needs a few months as she will be leaving Thailand again in December. When she leaves in December, she will no longer have a valid visa, so she can then apply for a DTV in her home country. That's our understanding, so if we are wrong, please help us to understand why. Thanks. 

Your understanding is correct.  And this is all correct.  It's difficult/impossible to tell what an embassy would do if you applied during the DTV the validity of the OA visa. You could try contacting the embassy to see what they say, but if you can't get a straightforward answer it's not worth the risk of losing the application fee if they reject it.

[CanadaJoe]

Thanks. We already contacted the Embassy in her home country, and they confirmed they would not process/issue a DTV if she's still holding another valid visa. They also confirmed they can't cancel her current visa. As Immigration here in Phuket can't cancel it either, our only choice seems to be letting it die a natural death and waiting until December. I supposed we could risk the 10,000 baht on the off-chance that it goes through, but we don't want to risk getting into a pickle with Thai Immigration. We'd rather play it by the book and ensure that we're doing everything properly and legally. Thanks. 

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, CanadaJoe said:

We'd rather play it by the book and ensure that we're doing everything properly and legally.

What you outlined in previous  posts is spot on.  You understand how it works fully.