Us Honorary Consulates

[jfchandler]

Elektrified, thanks for updating on this, and clarifying the situation on O-As and honorary consulates in the U.S.

It sounds as though the U.S. honorary consulates' exit from processing O-As is across the board...as previously posted above.

[JimGant]

I also queried Houston about the O-A visa, and here was their answer (nothing new over the above posts, but it does give some email contacts at the Thai Embassy, which I don't recall seeing on the Embassy's website):

We no longer issue retirement visas. You must apply through one of the full consulates or the embassy in Washington. The website for informaiton is www.thaiembdc.org or contact the Embassy - Varissa Cashion, 202-298-4817, [email protected] or Pornchai Suwatmakin, 202-298-4815, [email protected]

I also asked the following question:

As you no longer issue retirement (O-A) visas, would you issue a Non Imm O visa to me on the grounds of being retirement eligible in Thailand (i.e., am over age 50 and can show a monthly income of over $2000)? Thank you.

Answer:

No, we cannot. The normal O visa is for family, medical, etc.

No surprise, as few, if any, consulates in the US have recently issued Non Imm O visas for the purpose of applying for a retirement extension once in Thailand.

So, if you don't want to go the O-A route, and you're not married to a Thai, it looks like you'll need a Tourist visa, then convert to a Non Imm O in Thailand (TM86 form) on your journey to retirement.

Houston still offers Tourist visas without requiring a round trip ticket. The Thai Embassy *does* have such a requirement.

[Tod Daniels]

I find it strange that an honorary Thai consulate in the US won't issue a single entry Non-Immigrant Type-O visa for the purpose of retirement if the applicant is over 50 and meets the retirement extension criteria.

I was 2 months SHORT of being 50 yet secured a single entry Non-Immigrant Type-O visa in Vientiane for the purpose of retirement, (although that was nearly 2 years ago).

The immigrations officer at the thai embassy in Vientiane didn't want to see ANYTHING; no health certificate, no financial verification, no nothing. .. They mostly wanted to be sure I would turn 50 BEFORE the visa expired. After that I was on my own to secure an extension of stay inside the country. It could be the 'bar was so low', due to the fact the visa only had a 90 day validity and they knew if I didn't extend it inside the country I'd be back at square one. I don't know.

The normal O visa is for family, medical, etc.

I see in the above quote from Houston mentioned by “JimGant”; they issue Non-O visas for 'medical purposes'. It can't be that hard to state you're going to thailand for some dental, medical elective procedure and you are requesting a non-o.

Someone should pursue this avenue and see what the Houston consulate's requirements are as far as proof you're doing what you say. Otherwise a simple self-written note stating the procedure, an estimated travel date and a location might suffice.

As I said; strange, very strange. ..

[jfchandler]

Tod, me certainly never being one to question the logic behind Thai government policies...

I believe it was some directive from the Thai MFA to the honorary consulates in the U.S. limiting/curtailing the kinds of visa applications they could handle... It wasn't just that the honorary consulates decided some day that they were going to start doing things differently...

Now, what the logic was behind denying the honorary consulates the ability to process retirement visa applications.... Perhaps they wanted the fee revenue to go to their own consulates...instead of having to share with private entities...

Or perhaps because the official consulates have such a sterling reputation for being customer/user friendly in the U.S., they figured they'd be a better destination to herd retirement seeking farangs to...