Non-imm O-a

[midlifecrisis]

An aquaintance in Pattaya has told me that I do not need a medical check at all or police clearance in the States, nor do I need to get my visa overseas.

He told me I can now come on a regular 21 day visa, get a letter from my Thai bank that my funds have been in the bank 90+ days and, on the same day, go to immigration in Jomtien and get my O-A visa there.

Can anyone confirm?

[ubonjoe]

You will not get a OA visa. You can get a 1 year extension of stay based upon retirement.

You can do it with a 30 day visa exempt entry by doing a change of visa status within the first 9 days of your entry. The 9 days is because you have to have 21 days remaining on your permit to stay to do a change of visa status.

It will be a 2 step process first you do a change of visa status that costz 2000 baht and they issue a non immigrant visa with a 90 day permit to stay. To do the change you have to show them that you have 800K baht in a Thai bank proven by a letter from the bank along with your bank book. After that you return when you have the money in the bank for 60 days for a first time extension. You then apply for the extension and pay an additional 1900 baht for the extension and show the bank letter and bank book again.

I would be best though if you were to get a single entry non immigrant O visa before arriving. That way you would not have to rush to get things done and would only have to make one trip to immigration and only pay the 1900 baht for the extension.

Or if you could not get the non o visa then a single entry tourist visa would be good also so that you are not so pressed for time to get everything done in 9 days.

Edited August 21, 2009 by Lite Beer

[midlifecrisis]

You will not get a OA visa. You can get a 1 year extension of stay based upon retirement.

You can do it with a 30 day visa exempt entry by doing a change of visa status within the first 9 days of your entry. The 9 days is because you have to have 21 days remaining on your permit to stay to do a change of visa status.

It will be a 2 step process first you do a change of visa status that costz 2000 baht and they issue a non immigrant visa with a 90 day permit to stay. To do the change you have to show them that you have 800K baht in a Thai bank proven by a letter from the bank along with your bank book. After that you return when you have the money in the bank for 60 days for a first time extension. You then apply for the extension and pay an additional 1900 baht for the extension and show the bank letter and bank book again.

I would be best though if you were to get a single entry non immigrant O visa before arriving. That way you would not have to rush to get things done and would only have to make one trip to immigration and only pay the 1900 baht for the extension.

Or if you could not get the non o visa then a single entry tourist visa would be good also so that you are not so pressed for time to get everything done in 9 days.

very helpful, thanks!

[midlifecrisis]

What would be the disadvantages to an extension based on retirement vs an O-A visa?

Is one better than the other for someone who plans to live there permanently?

[Jingthing]

If you stay here long term eventually you are on extensions based on retirement like everyone else. So for the long term, no advantage whatsoever for the OA and no special/better status. There are short term ones though ...

Edited August 21, 2009 by Jingthing

[midlifecrisis]

If you stay here long term eventually you are on extensions based on retirement like everyone else. So for the long term, no advantage whatsoever for the OA and no special/better status. There are short term ones though ...

What would those short term advantages be?

[Jingthing]

If you stay here long term eventually you are on extensions based on retirement like everyone else. So for the long term, no advantage whatsoever for the OA and no special/better status. There are short term ones though ...

What would those short term advantages be?

With the O-A using the bank account option(s), the money you show is in your home country, not Thailand.

With the O-A multiple entry, if you leave Thailand just before it expires and you reenter before it expires you get an extra year. That would also be an extra year you don't have to do extensions of stay applications and an extra year you don't have to show the Thai bank account. However, after all that, you just do normal extension to stay applications, same requirements as everyone.

[thaiphoon]

If you stay here long term eventually you are on extensions based on retirement like everyone else. So for the long term, no advantage whatsoever for the OA and no special/better status. There are short term ones though ...

What would those short term advantages be?

With the O-A using the bank account option(s), the money you show is in your home country, not Thailand.

With the O-A multiple entry, if you leave Thailand just before it expires and you reenter before it expires you get an extra year. That would also be an extra year you don't have to do extensions of stay applications and an extra year you don't have to show the Thai bank account. However, after all that, you just do normal extension to stay applications, same requirements as everyone.

You would need to obtain a re-entry permit if you leave the country after your visa expires to keep your extension of stay alive, but no big deal.

[Jingthing]

My current understanding is the extra "free year" for the OA only applies to MULTIPLE ENTRY O-A visas. Corrections welcome if I am wrong.

[thaiphoon]

Yes, for multi entry visa. Do a border run just before O-A visa expires and get a new 12 month permission to stay stamp on re-entering the country.

[Jingthing]

Of course, the downside of the OA is the extra paperwork needed, police report and medical form done in your home country (which can be potentially expensive if your doc insists on testing for elephantitis, etc.)

Edited August 21, 2009 by Jingthing

[JimGant]

My current understanding is the extra "free year" for the OA only applies to MULTIPLE ENTRY O-A visas.

Yep. And that's why Yanks should not apply at the LA Consulate, where only single-entry O-A visas are issued.

[Penkoprod]

With the O-A using the bank account option(s), the money you show is in your home country, not Thailand.

Hold on........are you saying that, even if one can meet the monthly requirements of 65,000 TBH, or combo of that and cash deposit as top up to any shortfall in the 65k, one would only be able to get an O visa (as opposed to an O-A) if they have 800,000 TBH languishing in a Thai bank account?

And, therefore need to keep it seasoned/topped up for the qualifying periods?

Clarification of this will influence people as to what to in the way of a long term visa, given the choice if they have one

Penkoprod

Edited August 22, 2009 by Penkoprod

[Jingthing]

are you saying that

Obviously not. Anyone meeting the financial (and other) qualifications for the OA visa in their home country can get an OA visa. It is just that for the OA the bank part (whole or combo) IF you are using the bank part as opposed to full pension qualification is not IN Thailand at that point. That comes later for the annual extensions.

Your question is kind of twisty. The poster asked me specifically what the advantages are of the OA. If you are using pension only, the break of not needing the money to be in Thailand are IRRELEVANT!

Edited August 22, 2009 by Jingthing

[Lite Beer]

If they can meet the financial requirements they can get 12 monthly extensions from Immigration in Thailand.

[ubonjoe]

With the O-A using the bank account option(s), the money you show is in your home country, not Thailand.

Hold on........are you saying that, even if one can meet the monthly requirements of 65,000 TBH, or combo of that and cash deposit as top up to any shortfall in the 65k, one would only be able to get an O visa (as opposed to an O-A) if they have 800,000 TBH languishing in a Thai bank account?

And, therefore need to keep it seasoned/topped up for the qualifying periods?

Clarification of this will influence people as to what to in the way of a long term visa, given the choice if they have one

Penkoprod

That is not what he meant.

He talking about only one of the 3 options for a non oa visa that you get at a consulate or embassy.

For a extension you get here (it is not a O visa) you still have all 3 options.

[InterestedObserver]

The so-called 'O-A' retirement visa is hugely overrated and not worth the extra effort in your home country. Arrive in Thailand with a plain Non-Immigrant 'O' visa and your finances in order, then get a 1 year retirement extension of stay within the first 90 days. End result is the same, with less grief. Yes, I know that some embassies will try to talk you into the 'O-A' visa first.

[ubonjoe]

Income affidavit for US Citizens. It is not a letter it is a signed affidavit that you sign in front of a consular officer swearing that the information on it is true and correct. Making a false statement is a federal crime and if it was found out that you made a false statement you could be charged in the US extradited and put in jail for doing it.

US law does not allow an embassy or consulate to notarize or certify anything that is for use outside the US. That is why it is done by way of an affidavit.

The US embassy is not the only one that does it by way of an affidavit. Canada and Australia (statutory something) do it in a similar way.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Lite Beer
Edit out references to a deleted post. Lite Beer.

[Lite Beer]

A post advocating an illegal activity has been deleted. Along with the replies to it.

[jackspratt]

The so-called 'O-A' retirement visa is hugely overrated and not worth the extra effort in your home country. Arrive in Thailand with a plain Non-Immigrant 'O' visa and your finances in order, then get a 1 year retirement extension of stay within the first 90 days. End result is the same, with less grief. Yes, I know that some embassies will try to talk you into the 'O-A' visa first.

Not to me it wasn't.

I found the O-A process to be simple and expedient, and well worth the effort - with the advantages of:

1. leaving my money where I chose

2. have multiple re-entries in the 1st year

3. gaining an effective 2 years for the price of 1.

[dutch]

The so-called 'O-A' retirement visa is hugely overrated and not worth the extra effort in your home country. Arrive in Thailand with a plain Non-Immigrant 'O' visa and your finances in order, then get a 1 year retirement extension of stay within the first 90 days. End result is the same, with less grief. Yes, I know that some embassies will try to talk you into the 'O-A' visa first.

Not to me it wasn't.

I found the O-A process to be simple and expedient, and well worth the effort - with the advantages of:

1. leaving my money where I chose

2. have multiple re-entries in the 1st year

3. gaining an effective 2 years for the price of 1.

The same for me.

I did my O-A at the Jakarta embassy without any problem.(I was residing in Indonesia)

Quite convenient to have your passport stamped with 365 days stay on arrival in Bangkok

[Tafia]

The so-called 'O-A' retirement visa is hugely overrated and not worth the extra effort in your home country. Arrive in Thailand with a plain Non-Immigrant 'O' visa and your finances in order, then get a 1 year retirement extension of stay within the first 90 days. End result is the same, with less grief. Yes, I know that some embassies will try to talk you into the 'O-A' visa first.

I had an OA from the Uk didnt have any hassle or any real effort, Police report is a simple form you collect from the Police Stataion, Scotland yard sends the report to you within a few weeks. Medical, again seen by your own GP not a problem then copy of statement and Pension details and present to the Thai Embassy in London. then a border run at the end of the first year gives 2 yrs without showing funds over here, saves a lot of running around when you first get here, but each to their own!

[Jingthing]

In the fullness of time if you are a "lifer" here the advantages of the OA are short lived. Another advantage of doing it without an OA is that you get your system going and working for the annual extensions right away. Over the years I have read many posts by people on an OA who are not ready to do the extensions when the time comes. For example they didn't set up a wiring agreement in their home country because they didn't need to do that for the OA and didn't look ahead. There is no right or wrong answer to the question of using an OA or not, it is simply a choice.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Jingthing

[Sophon]

To me the deciding factor in choosing between the OA visa and the extension in Thailand is, that with the extension you are most likely grandfathered should the immigration authorities decide to raise the financial requirements. It would not be good having moved here permanently on a OA visa, only to find that the financial requirements for an extension is out of reach when you need it.

Sophon

[Jingthing]

Sophon, that's an interesting issue.

However, I am sure that those on annual extensions (as most all retirees are on in the long term unless they keep going back home to get new OAs) would ALL be included in any future grandfathering. I don't know if people here on the initial OA for as long as two years would be eligible for grandfathering during that early period, or not. The test would be reports of people who were here on an OA BEFORE starting the extensions the last time they upped the money requirements. I suspect they WOULD be included because to qualify for the OA they did have to qualify financially at a Thai embassy in their home country to get the visa, as opposed to an extension.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Jingthing

[ubonjoe]

Only people already on extensions would be grandfathered. OA visas do not fall under immigration rules and that is where the grandfather clause would be.

If somebody was to get an OA today and they changed the rules tomorrow they would be on the new rules when their OA runs out.

Another factor is that the OA is only good for a single person. A couple would have to meet the financial requirements for both of them or one would be stuck with getting a multi non o and making border runs until the other gets an extension.

Also for some people the medical for the OA could be very expensive if you don't have a doctor that you see on a regular basis. In the states that could run into hundreds of dollars if you were to go to doctor that had never seen you before.

Also there are places where getting the police report is not that easy.

[Jingthing]

Thanks Ubonjoe and also Sophon.

I think you have highlighted a very big DISADVANTAGE for the OA.

I never used an OA. My reasons at the time were the expense and hassle of getting the police report and especially the medical form. I didn't have a US doctor and many US doctors will feel they actually have to do the implied LAB tests on the form to legally sign it. Instead, I focused on getting my details in order to do retirement extensions.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Jingthing

[mahjongguy]

This discussion regarding getting an O-A before arrival should not include those from the USA. It is my understanding, from others and from my own experience, that neither the Embassy in D.C. nor the Consulate in L.A. will issue a multi-entry O-A. Thus, the "free 2nd year" doesn't exist.

[ubonjoe]

This discussion regarding getting an O-A before arrival should not include those from the USA. It is my understanding, from others and from my own experience, that neither the Embassy in D.C. nor the Consulate in L.A. will issue a multi-entry O-A. Thus, the "free 2nd year" doesn't exist.

The honorary consulates will issue a multiple entry OA. Houston is one that has been reported as doing it.

[Jingthing]

Even if you can't get a multiple entry OA, it still holds the financial advantage that is important to some people of not having to have your money in Thailand until the first annual extension of stay.