Tourist Visa On Arrival? -> Retirement Visa?

[BigSkookum]

I'm planning on coming very soon and am hamstrung by reading up all the information on the Toronto consulate's site. My contact in Pattaya, and someone else i was talking to who lives in Manila full-time, says that I can buy the 60 day tourist visa upon arrival and then once in Thailand make application to a retirement visa.....which I gather may be easier than trying that directly from the Embassy in Ottawa.....my Pattaya contact said a 90 day visa, actually, and the Toronto consulate says there's a 90 day visa....I don't intend on coming back to Canada for the duration of the northern winter so was going to buy as close to a year ticket as I can...but from the sound of the consulate's information if I don't have a ticket for the end of the 90 days, or 60 days if t ha'ts the case for Canadians, I won't be admitted (or let to board the plane).....my further plans in the region are trips to the Phillippines, Bali and Australia but I'd rather not have to book those tickets NOW for flexibility reasons....so is it hard and fast I have to have tickets that match my visa? And is the retirement visa "upgrade" easier to do in Thailand, or would I better be going to Ottawa (takes $$$ for the trip, and don't want to courier my passport to do it remotely).....apparently I have more than enough to qualify for the retirement visa, though I'm not a rich man.....I'm older, just don't want to have to do the border shuffle all the time......

By the sound of it, what's granted/sold at the airport is a visa exemption, not a visa proper....is there any difference when applying for the retirement visa, or is one pretty much the same as the other....

Also, say if it's only a tourist visa I get and for some reason can't get the retirement one, can I get ANOTHER 90/60 day visa from an embassy/consulate in a neighbouring country, e.g. in Manila, after so many days stay there? Thinking I could go for their 21 day tourist visa, then come back and re-start the 90 day one; same as my intentions of an Australian trip.

taken note of t he item about always having your passport on you...

SHould have made my username "NeverWantToSeeSnowAgain", that pretty much sums up my situation LOL

Thanks for any advice

[Jingthing]

First question to get the ball rolling.

You're not actually interested in moving to Thailand and to live in Thailand, correct?

You're only interested in a long trip. Correct?

[BigSkookum]

"testing the waters" I suppose is the best term, a long trip yes, I'm not ready to settle FOREVER somewhere yet...if I have to bounce out of the country every 90 days and it's possible to get further 90 day visas from outside the country, say when visiting the Phils or Australia, I'd do that if need be....but I'd like a home base and some kind of sense of stability. I'm primarily doing this for my health and sanity.....one Canadian winter too many etc.....going now the 90 days would take me to the end of the rainy season, I'd like to be able to continue on to Chongkran or beyond, depending on how things are going in Pattaya...."testing the waters" because I MAY want to settle permanently down there, but I"m not ready yet for that.

I gather the ticket-matching-visa thing is only enforced by the airlines, not by Thai immigration, so I can look at buying a year ticket I think, huh, so long as the airline understands I have further travel plans in the region? And the funds to do so?

Thanks for clarifying my issues; yes, I'm Canadian by the way and in my late 50s.

[lopburi3]

If you can afford retirement extension of stay there is no reason not to do so now - you are not tied to it and can leave at any time. But you must have a non immigrant O visa to start that process (90 day entry and after 60 days you extend for retirement only having to provide financial proof and evidence of where you are staying). There is no reason not so send passport to obtain a visa (millions of people do it every year and almost none are lost). But if you can not obtain a visa first airline flight may be a problem without an onward ticket within 30 days (allowed visa exempt stay) so you might have to buy one just to get on flight. Once in Thailand you can convert to the required non immigrant O visa for 2,000 baht by showing proof of financials for retirement if required - but would still suggest obtaining a single entry non immigrant O visa prior to travel if your Consulate will issue to avoid this stay and travel issues.

[ubonjoe]

Other than the embassy in Ottawa and the consulate in Vancouver there are also honorary consulates listed on this webpage from embassy website. http://www.thaiembas...ing-visa-canada

Suggest you contact one of them about your visa. Honorary consulates are normally more flexible in the issuance of visas and give faster service than the official embassies and consulates.

I have done several mail in visa application overtime and never have had a problem. Just be sure you send it by courier or express mail service so that the package can be tracked and traced.

[Mario2008]

If a recall correctly, a couple of years ago the embassy in Canada only issues O-A-visas when applying based on retirement. For a non-O visa use a honorary consulate.

[BigSkookum]

Thank you all for the information. Got me reading the consulate's visa page more closely too, as the language wasn't always clear (to me).

The Toronto consulate, which is just an hour away, issues the non-immigrant visas including the "0", I see now my objectives qualify under "O" - "other" being "health" and "writing my books", which I hadn't mentioned before.....I was pondering enrolling in a massage certification or language course in order to get a non-immigrant visa but now I understand that anything so specific isn't necessarily the case. And did I gather from someone that to get the O-A retirement visa you have to have a non-immigrant visa first? In which case it's easier for me to do the non-immigrant "O" in person....I've had some bad experiences with CAnada Post's express services this year so am wary of courier services, though yes FedEx or DSL I could use if need be; but Toronto's only an hour away and while visa service might take a day or two I'd feel more secure KNOWING where my passport was, not having to track it......

The other thing I gathered from your feedback is that the onward ticket issue is not the case if you have a non-immigrant visa, is that right? That that only applies for tourist visas? That makes things a lot easier, if that's the case. Or should I still have an onward or return ticket for 90 days if I have the "O" visa? Or to put it another way, if I have a non-immigrant visa but a return ticket to Toronto for next May, will that be a problem? Every ticket I book and have to change can cost a few hundred dollars, depending on the airline....which is one reason, other than being a non-advance-planning kind of guy, I didn't want to book tickets to teh Phils, Bali or Oz or anywhere else in advance if I didn't have to (unless there's a stinking DEAL.....lol)

There were three different fees listed for the non-immigrant visas, single entry for 70, double entry for 120 or 140?, and multiple entry for 180......so if I come in on the 90 day single entry, when I request an extension of it to a year (if t hat's what I do instead of the retirement visa) can it then also become multiple entry?

The world was simpler when I was young......

Thanks for any further help. Time to call the consulate and see waht the turnaround time is and start shopping for airfares.....missed a great one back in May, a year ticket on Etihad from Toronto for only 1350, that fare won't click back in until Sept 10, and only a six month ticket........I want to be there long before then, though....but if I'd bought that earlier one without having the right visa and just gone, sounds like I'd have faced problems.....

[BigSkookum]

the consulate site says this about "O" visa applications:

"

Other Purposes:

• Please contact the consulate general for information and instructions"
  

there's a long list of requirements for work/business, and a shorter one for study...that's all for "O" visas.....it it fairly general? Looking at the world clock on my phone I realize it's the wee hours of the night in Thailand so I'll probably have information from the consulate by then, but I wonder about any pointers about what that phrase means.

Update on that, I just spoke to someone at the Consulate, he said I'd need some kind of letter of purpose or a situation such as having a Thai spouse to get a non-immigrant visa. He said if I had a letter from a temple such as the Wat Po, where I'd considered studying massage, he could give me a non-immigrant visa. But no to reasons such as health or writing a book, unless I was an accredited journalist.....and I can get repeated tourist visas, and the 60 day thing applies to each entry.....S*O* confusing, I need more coffee now.

I THINK my contact down there had said come in on the tourist visa then apply for retirement visa once there, if I wanted, but between what you've told me here and what he said, it seems that's only possible if on a non-immigrant visa.....(my brain is in knots now...)

[lopburi3]

You can convert a tourist visa entry to non immigrant O inside Thailand with proof of financials for retirement at an extra cost of 2,000 baht. But that requires you also buy a tourist visa and an extra trip to immigration here. Best to obtain non immigrant O visa from honorary Consulate before travel. Any visa should allow airline boarding.

[BigSkookum]

thank you lopburi. I spoke to the Thai consulate in Toronto, he said to get an "0" visa I'd have to have a letter from an insitution like a school or temple for study purposes, be married to a Thai or pending marriage, or working for a volunteer organization in order for him to issue me one; something as simple as a letter from a temple indicating plans to study would suffice but I wouldn't know where to start finding one, and I'm not prepard to commit to the aforementioned study course. He advised me to get the tourist visa with triple entry, total time on it 180 days, and unless I upgrade it in the first 60 days I'll have to go somewhere every two months; but I can have as many of those as I need thereafter, i.e. applying for another tourist visa later. I wanna get out of here, so fastest course for me will be to get the tourist visa and deal with immigration in Bangkok about upgrading to an O Visa or a retirement visa if that seems best. Or is there an Immigration office in Pattaya also?

[Jingthing]

Hello there.

With a tourist visa, yes you can do the "two step" process at Chonburi immigration office, Soi 5, Jomtien Beach which serves the Pattaya area.

Step 1: Change of visa status from tourist to O.

This will only be allowed if you are ready to show you can qualify for step 2. That means STRICTLY following the financial requirements, either income with embassy letter (done in Bangkok), 800K baht in a Thai bank account, or a combination. If using the 800K method, your money must be seasoned over that amount for TWO MONTHS in a THAI bank account. That means you have to be sure on how to SWIFT wire that money into your THAI bank account before you leave Canada. That means you could do step 1 but couldn't get the annual retirement extension until your money is seasoned long enough. I get the feeling you haven't digested all this yet. It's not quite an automatic thing. You need to be VERY prepared with lots of details to meet and if you can't meet all the details, you will not succeed in this. Also, you need a RESIDENCE in Pattaya and proof of same.

Step 2: Apply for annual extension based on retirement

Details here:

http://www.thaivisa....t/#entry5469353

I get the feeling you probably really aren't going get a retirement extension, but want to provide info so you know what's involved if you try.

[lopburi3]

That information is the official Consulate - you likely can get non immigrant O visa from an honorary but if you will not send passport all you would need from official Consulate is a single entry tourist visa and then do the change/extension in Thailand. There is no reason to obtain a 3 entry visa unless you do not plan to extend for retirement.