Two Visits To Suan Phlu Immigration, Still Uncertain (long)

[bdevaux]

On October 1, 2007, I received a Single-Entry, Non-Immigrant O-A (Long-stay) visa for the purpose of Retirement in Thailand from the Thai Consulate in New York City. The "Issue Date" on the Visa is October 1, 2007 and the "Entry By" date is September 30, 2008.

On October 11, 2007, I arrived at Suvanabhumi and was given a Non-OA stamp allowing me to stay until October 10, 2008.

On July 30, 2008, I went to Immigration at Suan Phlu, Bangkok to get a reentry permit for a planned trip to the US on August 6, 2008. My return date was August 27, 2008.

I filled out my form and gave my 1000 baht to the clerk at Window 7.

Several minutes later a women called me and said the following:

I could either pay the 1000 baht and get the reentry permit, or

I could simply wait until I returned to Bangkok on the 27th at which time I would get a stamp allowing me to stay for another year.

Since there didn't seem to be a down-side I chose to get the one year stamp upon return.

When I returned to Bangkok on August 27, 2008, I got two stamps in my passport. One is a Re-Entry Permit that allows me to stay until October 10, 2008. (That is the same date as the stamp I received when I arrived in 2007.) The second is a stamp stating that I am admitted until August 26, 2009. (Just like the woman at Window 7 told me.)

I assumed that I still had to renew my Visa by the end of September anyway. So, around September 9, 2008 (not positive of the date), I went to Suan Phlu to confirm what I would need to renew my Retirement Visa. Both the woman I spoke with at the Main Desk and a woman I spoke with in Room 1 told me I didn't need to renew the Visa; I was good for another year because of the stamp I got upon re-entry.

Being skeptical, I asked my Thai girlfriend to go back with me to make sure there was no language-related misunderstanding about what I was told. Again, we were told that there was no need to do any Visa paperwork until October, 2009 and that I should ignore the Re-Entry Permit.

This seems inconsistent with what I "thought" I knew about my responsibilities for visa renewal. Since I'm still skeptical, I decided to post here and get reactions.

Did I misunderstand my obligations or am I looking a gift-horse in the mouth?

(FWIW, I have had the 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for 90 days so there's no problem complying with the renewal requirements.)

[Maestro]

It is correct that when you entered Thailand on 27 AUG 2008 you got an entry stamp reading “admitted 27 AUG 2008 until 26 AUG 2009”. What I cannot understand is why you also got at the same time “a Re-Entry Permit that allows me to stay until October 10, 2008”. This is highly unusual because you say you did not buy a re-entry permit before you left Thailand and anyway a re-entry permit is never stamped into a passport by the immigration desk at the arrival point.

Please not that if you now plan to leave Thailand and return later than 29 SEP 2008 you must get a re-entry permit before you leave Thailand in order to keep your new permission to stay until 26 AUG 2009 alive.

During the last 30 days before 26 AUG 2009 you can apply for an annual extension of stay for retirement.

--

Maestro

[bdevaux]

No. The timing of the application for extension has no relation to the validity of the visa, only to the validity of your permission to stay. It is not the visa you are asking the immigration office to extend, but your permission to stay. The application form you use, TM.7, is called “Application for Extension of Temporary Stay in The Kingdom”:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/TM7-Extensio...y-Ki-file7.html

--

Maestro

P.S. By mistake I overwrote the post of bdevaux. His question was if immigration would not object if he applied for an extension of stay after his non-O-A visa had already expired. -- Maestro

Edited September 18, 2008 by Maestro
Added postscript - Maestro