I currently have a non-immigrant O retirement visa but my Thai girlfriend and I will be starting a company soon and I will be getting a work permit. From what I have read, I will need to get a non-immigrant B visa as I am not supposed to work while on a retirement visa. If I convert to the B visa, will I have to leave the country and apply outside, etc.? Anything else I need to know in order to convert from an O to a B visa? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I recently went from O dependent to getting my own work permit and I had to leave the country and apply for a B. As I understood my lawyer a tourist visa, but not an O, could be transferred into a B without leaving the country. I assume that this also applies for an O retirement but you never know... "Your" new company should invite you as an investor and possible employee. If you apply for a B based on employment directly you have to go through some other administrative steps first with the labor office. Make sure you have all the documentation needed. Take a look at the web page of the embassy you will be using (e.g. KL) to make sure you bring the right documentation - there are differences!

You will have to leave the country to apply for a non-B visa, for which all documents must be in order.

The bad thing is as you seem to be starting a company, you will not get extensions of stay from immigration for the next two years. For an extnsion of stay bas on work, the company must show tax documents over the last two years. So you will have to apply for a multiple non-B and leave the country every 90 days.

Might be easier if you apply in Australia (Perth) or Europe (Hull) for a multiple Non-B.