Retirement Visa Renewal, What If I'M Out Of Country?

[mario299]

Hi

I did some searching but couldn't find anything specific to my question. I am residing in Thailand on a Retirement Visa that is due for renewal March 26, 2012. I will be on an extended trip to the US starting end of November that may last until past my renewal date.

I will be obtaining a Re-Entry permit before I leave, so I should not have an issue about the 90 Day report that now is due in December, but what does this do to my Retirement Visa if I don't renew it on the proper date? Do I have to start all over again?

Maybe a dumb question, and I will have the chance to visit Thai Immigration to get the Re-entry before I leave, just not sure I will get a correct answer from them about what will happen if I'm not here at the time for my renewal.

Help from experience is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks :jap:

[lopburi3]

Re-entry has nothing to do with 90 day reports - if not here you do not report until 90 days after return.

If you are sure return will be later than you extension date no need to buy re-entry - just obtain a new non immigrant O visa for your return (or O-A for up to two years stay without needing a new extension) before you return. A re-entry only allows return before same date as current permitted to stay. So you start over but you have to provide the same material every year so the only extra will be a new non immigrant visa entry.

[mario299]

Re-entry has nothing to do with 90 day reports - if not here you do not report until 90 days after return.

If you are sure return will be later than you extension date no need to buy re-entry - just obtain a new non immigrant O visa for your return (or O-A for up to two years stay without needing a new extension) before you return. A re-entry only allows return before same date as current permitted to stay. So you start over but you have to provide the same material every year so the only extra will be a new non immigrant visa entry.

Lopburi

Thanks for your quick reply. I'm in a kind of gray area on this, as I cannot be sure of my exact return. Had a fire at my home in the US, heading into winter, not the best weather for repair. If it turns out that I must stay past March renewal time, then where do I get the new non-immigrant O visa (consider that I'm pretty stupid about this, because I am). The closest Thai Consulate/Embassy is Seattle, WA, I believe, do I go there for this visa before I return?

Remember I'm a little stupid, so please speak slowly.

[CharlieH]

You can apply to any Thai Consulate in the US, application by post doesnt have to be in person.

[lopburi3]

Get the re-entry in case you can return earlier (you do not have to stay - a real-estate agent can act for you with insurance/contractors if you wish). If you do need a visa as said it can be done from anywhere by mail. Forms can be downloaded or asked for by phone.

[mario299]

Get the re-entry in case you can return earlier (you do not have to stay - a real-estate agent can act for you with insurance/contractors if you wish). If you do need a visa as said it can be done from anywhere by mail. Forms can be downloaded or asked for by phone.

Thank you lopburi3 and CharlieH, very helpful replies. Believe me, I don't want to stay there...winter in the Pacific Northwest or home in Thailand with my lovely wife and daughter?? Tough choice!

I'll do the best I can. In this case, I am the contractor so I'll just have to see how well the weather treats me for the repairs.

[wayned]

Is your visa actually a retirement, non immigrant "O-A", or and extension of an "O" for retirement purposes? In either case, get a reentry permit so if you return early you can get back in on the same visa. If you don't have it you're SOL. If you have all of your documentation for renewal and your travel documents I've heard that you can apply really early for renewal/extension if you can show that you will be out of the country on the date that the renewal is due. I don't know where you live, but I think that it would be easier to deal with the renewal here if you can. I just did mine on Wednesday, extension of an "O", and the total process took about 20 minutes at immigration in Nakhon Sawan.

[NancyL]

If you're an American citizen you can come back into Thailand on a 30-day visa extempt basis and apply for your O visa once back here. You need to jump thru fewer hoops to get an O visa in Thailand vs. an O-A in the U.S. Normally they issue a 90-day O initially and then you have to come back during the last 30 days of that visa to apply for a 12-month extension due to retirement. If you're using the income letter method, then you will need to get two letters from your Embassy/Consulate but if you have funds in a Thai bank, it should be very inexpensive as the banks don't charge much to get the account verification letter (it may be free, can't remember).

At least, this works in Chiang Mai. You may want to check with your local immigration office to see if this strategy would be acceptable there,too.

Some people say that some airlines won't let you get on the plane without a return ticket if you plan to enter on 30-day visa exempt status. We didn't have any questions raised about this when boarding a flight out of the U.S., however. YMMV

[Mario2008]

Traveling without a visa requires a ticket out of the country within 30 days, otherwise the airline might not let you board the plane and will leave without you.

Some airlines don't seem to check, others will check very strict. Why run the risk?

[Lite Beer]

The rules are pretty clear on this.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp

Thailand (TH)

Passport required.

- Nationals of USA can enter with passports and/or passport

replacing documents valid for the period of intended stay.

Visa required, except for A touristic stay of max. 30 days:

Minors:

- When arriving in, or departing from Thailand, minors aged

under 16 yearsFor details, click here

Additional Information:

- Visitors who are visa exempt are required to hold documents

for their next destination.

[lopburi3]

I even had difficulty returning with a re-entry permit a few years ago with Eva. Had to go to highest level for approval. No way they would have allowed one-way travel without a visa (and my ticket was the return portion of a round trip).

[JimGant]

The closest Thai Consulate/Embassy is Seattle, WA, I believe, do I go there for this visa before I return?

Use the honorary consulate in Portland. Sounds like you might be close enough to go in person, but they work just fine via mail. See the website below, and use the contact info to discuss your situation. They'll issue you a Non Imm O if you're over 50, and can show financial info. Mary at Portland is easy to deal with, and your situation should be a slam dunk.

http://www.thai-or.com/

With the Non Imm visa, no problem getting on the airplane to Thailand. Then, everything should be the same to get your one-year retirement extension (i.e., the necessary financials, address info, etc will be the same). The only difference will be, if you enter on your Non Imm visa (vice your re-entry permit), you'll probably have to wait 60 days before going to Immigration to get your one-year extension. No biggy, I would think.

[NancyL]

When we came to Thailand from the U.S. we found that a two-way (return trip) ticket was actually cheaper than a one way. So, I booked our return for six months after our departure -- that was the latest the airline would let us book. I came in with a 90 day O visa yet they let me board the plane.

Hubby had a 12-month 0-A visa. We'd submitted identical paperwork at the same time to the Chicago consulate. Some of it was a real hassle for us. We were self-employed and most of our assets where in a business we hadn't yet sold and our 401K accounts. It was a real problem to get the company that managed our 401K accounts to certify financial worth since we were too young to draw from them. In order to get a police check in our state, you had to make the request of the local police authority and the little police department in our township had never done a criminal check on people who weren't criminals. Finally, they decided to "book us" as if we'd committed a crime in order to request a criminal record check from the state. Our doctor had left the practice shortly before we needed a medical check and his replacement insisted on testing us for all the strange diseases listed on the medical form. Of course, our health insurance didn't pay for it.

After all this hassle, we sent the paperwork to the Chicago consulate about three weeks before our flight to Thailand. They said we'd receive our passports with visas within 7 - 10 day. After several phone calls, they finally showed up a day before our flight to Thailand. Hubby had that coveted 0-A visa but they'd given me just a 90 day O visa. So the fun began again in Chiang Mai.

Unless you can go to a consulate in person and talk with someone, I'd discourage anyone from trying to get an O-A visa if they are from a country that can utilize the 30-day visa exempt entry. Working with Chiang Mai immigration has been much better than all the hassle we went thru to try to get O-A visa in advance of our retirement.

[JimGant]

I came in with a 90 day O visa yet they let me board the plane.

It's only if you don't have a visa (i.e., you plan to enter Thailand with the visa exempt 30-day option) that the airlines will check for an exit ticket.

[mario299]

The closest Thai Consulate/Embassy is Seattle, WA, I believe, do I go there for this visa before I return?

Use the honorary consulate in Portland. Sounds like you might be close enough to go in person, but they work just fine via mail. See the website below, and use the contact info to discuss your situation. They'll issue you a Non Imm O if you're over 50, and can show financial info. Mary at Portland is easy to deal with, and your situation should be a slam dunk.

http://www.thai-or.com/

With the Non Imm visa, no problem getting on the airplane to Thailand. Then, everything should be the same to get your one-year retirement extension (i.e., the necessary financials, address info, etc will be the same). The only difference will be, if you enter on your Non Imm visa (vice your re-entry permit), you'll probably have to wait 60 days before going to Immigration to get your one-year extension. No biggy, I would think.

JimGant

Thanks for your very good reply, and I am right next-door to Portland...house in Vancouver, WA.

For the other questions, my current visa is a retirement, have had it for about four years, and I do have an open return ticket for three months, but can change it to open for one year if needed.

mario299 :jap: