Retirement Visa Extension/Re-Entry Questions

[danozxfxr]

I have a multiple entry O-A visa and have a few questions I would appreciate some solid clarification on.

1: If traveling outside of Thailand I would assume you must return by the "Enter before" date stamped in the visa???

2: I will be out of the country at my next 90 day report date. Is this relevant?

3: Upon renewing/extending my O-A visa, I will have 1 year, 3 months before my passport expires. Is this acceptable with immigration?

4: Anyone holding a US passport ever renew at the Chiang Mai Consulate? What's the turn around time? If it comes close to your visa expiration are you given anything supplemental to work with at immigration?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience & suggestions!

[wayned]

1. Yes

2. The 90 days clock starts on the day you re-enter -counting that day. You will have to determine when your next 90 day report period is, immigration will not put a slip in your passport. They will stamp your passport with 1 year permission to stay. If you leave and re-enter the day before the "must enter by" date on your visa, you will get a full year permission to stay, But if you want to leave and re-enter during that year, you must get a re-entry permit. Single - 1000 baht, multi - 3800 baht.

3. You can not "renew" your O/A visa in Thailand, you apply for a one year extension of your permission to stay. I think that the one year, 3 months is okay. If I'm wrong somebody will come along soon with the correct info.

4. Normal turn around time is 2 weeks, but I have never done it at Chaing Mai. According to ACS Bangkok you can renew it anytime, you don't have to wait until you have 6 months left. Cost is $110, all new passports have 52 pages.

[Lite Beer]

Return by the Visa expiry date and get another 12 months

After the expiry date you need a Re Entry Permit if you need to travel outside Thailand.

The requirement is to report a stay of 90 continuous days in The Kingdom.

If you leave the 90 days start again on the day you return.

[wpcoe]

3: Upon renewing/extending my O-A visa, I will have 1 year, 3 months before my passport expires. Is this acceptable with immigration?

You will be okay for an extension with 15 months left in your passport. However, your next one might be questionable, with only three months left. The way Thai Immigrations handles one-year extensions when the passport is due to expire within a year:

(a) Instead of issuing a one-year extension, they will issue an extension which expires on the expiration date of the passport.

( after you get a new passport, they will extend the permission of stay to the full one-year period in the new passport.

I can't recall for sure, but I don't think there was any fee to transfer/extend with the new passport. I also can't remember if I needed to pay for a new re-entry permit, or if they transferred the old one to the new passport with an extended date.

My only hesitation is that three months is a rather short period, and Thai Immigrations might just decline to issue the new one-year extension until you get a new passport.

[lopburi3]

He should obtain a new passport when down to 9 months remaining or less in case of any required travel. For this year no problem.

Not above post that if O-A multi entry visa is still valid a return just before expiration gets a new one year stay (but you will require re-entry permits for travel).