When Should I Get My O-A (Retirement) Visa

[californiabeachboy]

I am a US citizen and will be applying for my first O-A (retirement) visa here in San Diego by mail from the US (LA Consulate), using the 800,000bt bank method. My plan is to spend about 6-8 months in Thailand (roughly September through February) and the rest of the time in Australia or the US. I have a couple of questions about the timing to apply for the O-A:

1. From reviewing the posts here it appears that the start date for the one year permission to stay is when you set foot in Thailand, not when you are granted the visa. So is there any reason not to apply for the visa several months in advance? I think it may start the "validity' but you still get one year from when you enter, right? Any other potential problems?. I would prefer to do it early, in case there are problems, the law changes etc. (and I guess you never know when you might get elephantiasis and fail the medical certificate.) If I plan to arrive on Oct. 1, is there any reason to wait to apply? (other than a problem with a visit as below)

2. I am trying to figure out when the extension date fixes for the O-A. According to the website of the LA Consulate they do not issue the single entry O-A, so I will be getting a multi-entry O-A. I was thinking of taking a short trip (two weeks) over to Thailand and back in June. If I already have my O-A, I believe my extension date will then be at a time in the future (June) when I do not want to be living in Thailand. But if I come back in October for my long stay, does that "reset" the extension date to one year from October? (and the same date every year thereafter). Just trying to avoid locking in an extension date for every future year when I don't plan on being in Thailand.

Thanks.

[wayned]

A visa is like a ticket to enter Thailand. If you get a 1 year multple entry O/A visa, it allows you to enter thailand as many time as you want duirng it's validity, which is 1 year from date of issue. Each time that you enter Thailand you will be granted 1 year permission to stay. If you leave and re-enter, border run, on the day before the VISA expires, you will still be granted 1 year permission to stay even though the visa has expired during that time. If you want to leave and re-enter, at will, during that 1 year you must purchase a re-entry permit, single is 1000 baht, multiple is 3800 baht.

The disadvantage of getting the visa early is that you will have lost that time in Thailand between when the visa is issued and the day you actually enter. The key to getting the "extra year" is making sure that you enter/re-enter Thailand just before the visa expires. If you are issued a visa on 1 March 2012 the visa would be valid until 28 February 2013 and you could use it for your trip in June, but you would have to make sure that you exited and re-entered Thailand in late February to get the second year.

If you are only going to stay for two weeks in June, I would do a "visa exempt" entry, which is good for 30 days, and apply for the O/A visa after your retrun to the US. That way you could get maximum utilization of the visa. The only requirement for the "visa exempt" entry is that you have an onward ticket leaving Thailand during the 30 days.

Edited February 10, 2012 by wayned

[californiabeachboy]

Thanks for the info. People often talk about extending the visa, but it sounds like it is the permission to stay that is being extended year over year, not the visa. As long as my last entry to Thailand during the validity of the visa is at a date when I want to be in Thailand in the future, I should be good to go.

Cheers

[wayned]

Yes, you are absolutely right, you cannot extend a visa, you can only extend your permission to stay. If you enter before the expiration of the visa, you will be granted 1 year permission to stay. If you want to leave Thailand and reenter during that year you must purchase a re-entry permit - single 1000 baht, multiple 3800 baht. The re-entry permit will allow you to leave and re-enter and keep the same permission to stay date. It will not extend it. If you want to stay beyond the 1 year you can do it in Thailand 30 days before your permission to stay date. But to qualify, you either have had to have had 800000 baht in a Thai bank in your name only for 2 months (first time, follow on 3 months), or "income affidavit" from the embassy stating that you are receiving at least 65000 baht/month from overseas. Easy to get cost $50.

If you want to keep your money in the US and do not use the "income affidavit" method and do not want to move 800000 baht to Thaialnd, you would have to apply for a new visa in the US.