I have a friend who would like to know about Visa-Non Immigrant "O-A"

1, If you apply for a Visa-Non Immigrant O-A at your Thai embassy in your home country, will the embassy issue a 1-year "Extension of Stay" directly?? Or is it the boarder officer who issues a 1-year "Permit to Stay"??

2, If re-enter (Mult.E.), will he get another year of "Permit to Stay" or will it only last until the visa expires?

We have heard and read about many speculation but i would like to know from who know this by his own experience.

"First-time visa applications must be made at a Thai embassy in the applicants' home country or country of residence. Subsequent one-year visa extensions can be granted locally, provided the applicant still meets the requirements."

"With Long Stay O-A Visa you are allow to stay in Thailand for a period of maximum 1 year each time

you enter Thailand and you can enter Thailand many times during your visa validity. (The issue date of

your visa is the date that you submit your application)."

"Upon arrival, holder of this type of visa will be permitted to stay in Thailand for 1 year from the date of first entry"

With an O-A when you enter Thailand with it, the officer will stamp your passport for a one year stay. So the one year permission to stay starts at arrival, not when you get the visa. With a multientry O-A, yes, if you leave and reenter Thailand before the end of your first annual permission to stay, you get stamped in again for another year's permission to stay. However, that's it after the original O-A expires, after that, you must go for extensions based on retirement in Thailand. In other words, the O-A is good for about two years if you play it right. Then, you join the crowds at the Thai immigration offices for extensions.

Edited January 5, 201016 yr by Jingthing

A Thai embassy/consulate issues a "O-A Visa" which permits you to stay in Thailand for 1 year from date of entry as long as you do it within the "visa's" validity period. If you have a multiple entry O-A visa you can exit and enter Thailand within the "visa's" validity period theoretically unlimited times and get a new one year period to stay on each reentry. And exiting and reentering the day before the validity period expires gets you another one year. So, basically, you could stretch a multiple entry O-A Visa to permit a 2 year stay in Thailand.

To continue your long term stay in Thailand then you would either need to get another O-A Visa at a Thai embassy/consulate outside Thailand; OR, apply for a Retirement "Extension of Stay" "within" Thailand at the Thai Immigration Office "servicing your address" in Thailand "before" your permit to stay expires. Apply in the early portion of the final 30 days of the permit to stay expiration date to give yourself a little recovery/fix the issue time in case you need some additional document(s) for the Extension of Stay approval on the day you apply, in case you have an accident on the way to the immigration office, etc. Don't wait for the last day because you don't loose any time when apply early as your Extension of Stay is extended from your permit to stay expiration date whether you apply early or last minute; plus, you avoid the possibility of being prevented for whatever reason in applying/getting approval on the last day of your permit to stay.

If in the second year of a multiple entry O-A visa that has expired, you'll need a re-entry permit if you leave the country, otherwise the extension will be cancelled.