Non Immigrant B Visa

[pomchop]

I am a USA citizen. Normally I get a non immigrant O mulitple entry visa. This time for some reason the Thai consulate gave me a Non immigrant "B" multiple entry visa. I think this is a business visa but i have no business or plans for a business in Thailand. Not sure why they gave this visa to me but it was all via mail so dont' want to hassle with changing unless really necessary.

My question is: What is the difference between the non immigrant O and the non immigrant B visa. I assume i still need to leave Thailand at least every 90 days. Anything else i should be aware of?

Thanks for any info on this.

[chaihot]

They made a mistake. In effect, it is the same visa with a different letter. I used the "b" visa for 7 years, and never had any issues.

[pomchop]

They made a mistake. In effect, it is the same visa with a different letter. I used the "b" visa for 7 years, and never had any issues.

Thanks. That is good to know. I was afraid somebody might be expecting me to work or some awful thing like that.

[merijn]

Looks like that they made a mistake.

But there is no difference for you.

You still have to do the visa run every 90 Days.

[lopburi3]

On what basis did you apply for a non immigrant O visa? Are you over age 50? Married to or have Thai child? The non immigrant O visa can not be issued except for some such reason; although in the past a few Consulates did issue rather loosely.

[pomchop]

On what basis did you apply for a non immigrant O visa? Are you over age 50? Married to or have Thai child? The non immigrant O visa can not be issued except for some such reason; although in the past a few Consulates did issue rather loosely.

They have given me non immigrant O for several years now. Yes over 50. No not married and no kids. The only thing they ever asked to see was a copy of my long term lease on a house (written in Thai) and that seemed to satisfy whatever requirements they had.

[Mario2008]

Non-O would have been the right one in your case. But the only difference bewteen the non-B and non-O visa is the reason for which it is issued.

Since over 50 you can get 1 year extensensions of stay from immirgation if you can show:

800,000 THB in a bank account in Thailand in your name (2 months for the first application and 3 months for every application after that)

OR

an income of 65,000 a month (can be from abroad, must be certified by your embassy)

OR

a combination of yearly income and money in the bank in Thailand totaling 800,000.