Applying Non-imm (retirement) Visa In Penang

[mcofer]

Background:

My wife and I are one of those lucky couples that gave the whole Chiang Mai immigration staff (7 or 10 anyway) a great big laugh by attempting to apply for a Re-Entry permit at the airport on return from abroad. Of course, we have now lost our visa for retirement and must start the process over again.

My wife is Russian (54 years) and I'm her USA (dependant) husband.

We have our next year set of funds in the bank & marriage document (with last year's affidavit from the USA Consulate in Chiang Mai). We also have all our copies of last years documents and useless visa stamps in our passports.

The Chiangmai Immigration office says go outside the country and apply for a 3 month non-immigrant visa, come back and start over.

Questions (that the Chiang Mai immigration office will not answer):

Where to go? After consultations with as many resources as we can find we've decided to try Penang, Malaysia. Has anyone been there and applied for this 3-month non-immigrant visa with proof of intention for retirement documents?

We are both living abroad for some time (8 yrs) and do not have 'proof of no criminal record' documents. They were not requested at Chiang Mai Immigration the last time we applied. After reading the 5 page forum on these visa's I'm totally confused about an non-imm O and OA. We originally converted non-imm B's.

Chiang Mai Immigration said:

Bank Document: lasts 2 weeks.

Medical Document: lasts 4 weeks.

Marriage Affidavit: Can use last years. (But, last year they said we'd need to get a new one every year.)

Pension Document: we have none, but our friend was asked to update every year.

Not-a-criminal Document: never requested or asked for.

(we know all the above means little and is case-by-case in the long run)

In Penang:

Should we expect to get Medical Documents there or bring them from CM?

Is there a specific non-imm visa we ask for so that we don't need to show the not-a-criminal documents?

Does any one have experience applying for such a non-imm visa in Penang?

Follow-up Info for others:

We don't care which non-imm we get or whether it's multi-entry or not. We know once we get back here we can play the CM Immigration Comedy Store routine and they'll help us. Last year they processed our visa after only 3 attempts and about 3 hours sitting around and watching 3 people check every single line item letter-by-letter. We saved more that US$500 by not using a lawyer and would like to encourage EVERYONE not to use lawyers that charges so much. I feel $50 to $100 per visa should MORE than cover their services.

[lopburi3]

What you need to obtain are single entry non immigrant O visas and Penang is a good place. I suspect you will only require the bank book showing funds available for retirement and proof of marriage and state retirement as your reason. You then do the retirement extension process back in Chiang Mai during the last 30 days of your new 90 day stay.

You are not doing the O-A process so medical/criminal etc. are not going to be required at Penang.

[mcofer]

Well I'll be shocked and amazed.

For 72 hours I've been sweating all these issues and 2 minutes after posting my message, up pops your response.

May Buddha and all sentient beings watch over and bless you for your wonderful tamboon presented in this forum today!

We'll share our experience on our return from Penang so others may benefit.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Well I'll be shocked and amazed.

For 72 hours I've been sweating all these issues and 2 minutes after posting my message, up pops your response.

May Buddha and all sentient beings watch over and bless you for your wonderful tamboon presented in this forum today!

We'll share our experience on our return from Penang so others may benefit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It will be a breeze ( and an hours entertainment at CMX Immigration for the staff ) Good luck