O or OA Visa

[JenksB]

I am married to a Thai National & I am over 65 or at least will be in 3 days time, my question is this, which is the best way to stay in Thailand I have so far used tourist visas with a 30 day extension, the financial requirements I can meet, I have lived with my wife in Nong Khaem for 6months, so am I better off with an OA visa or should I stay on an O visa & do I have to make border runs with either. I hope this makes sense

Jenksb

[glegolo]

Buy a Non Immigrant O - than during the last 30 days or sso apply for extension of stay based on retirement if you can afford it, you need to to be able to prove an income of at least 65.000 baht a month or 800.000 baht seasoned in a thaibank for 2 months... than you can stay for 1 year at a time and just every 90 days report to your local immigrationand confirm your address.

Glegolo

[harrry]

Firstly are you legally married. Not prying but the options depend on this.

[Mario2008]

Can you meet:

- an income of 65,000 a month (can be from abroad)

or

800,000 in a bank account in Thailand for at least 2 months (3 months for every next extension)

or

having a yearly income plus money in the bank in Thailand together totaling at least 800,000

If so, you qualify for an extension of stay based on retirement.

Or can you meet:

- an income of 40,000 baht a month (can be from abroad)

or

- have 400,000 in a bank account in Thailand for 2 months

if so you meet the conditions for an extension of stay based on marriage to a Thai.

extending based on retirement is easier, but as you can see extending based on marriage requires less money (but more paperwork)

[eagle2]

I am obtaining a one year retirement O-A visa from the UK . My concern is that I may not have the required funds in a years time to renew the visa,

does anyone know what the options would be, ie could i change to a non-immigrant O visa without leaving Thailand,

any advice would be grateful

rgds John

[wayned]

You have a few optios:

1. You can apply for a single entry Non-O visa at an embassy /Consulate in a neighboring country. You will get 90 days upon entry and during the last 30 days you can extend it for 1 year either for retirement or marriage purposes. The financial requirments for marriage are either 400000 baht in the bank for 2 months or 40000 baht per month income. The requirement for retirement is 800000 baht in the bank (2 months first extension, 3 thereafter), 65000 baht per month, or a combination of both. No police or medical check required. The bank account must be in your name only, not joint. You do not have to leave the country, only do address report every 90 days, most offices will let you do them by post.

2. You can convert your tourist visa in Thailand to a Non-O (2000 baht) and proceed as above. Most local offices will send you toBangkok to do the conversion.

3. You can return home and apply for an O-A visa. Mediclal and criminal background checks are required but the money can remain in your overseas account, and ypu can get 2 years with a border run on the last day that the visa is valid.

4.. If you travel overseas frequently, you can apply for a multiple entry Nnn-O visa in a neighboring country, but you will have to leave the country every 90 days.

[Crossy]

eagle2 has started his own thread here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/655962-insufficient-funds-to-renew-retirement-visa/ if anyone wants to reply to him I suggest doing so there

[OJAS]

To answer the OP, the advantage of a multi-entry O-A visa over an O one is that he would only need to do a single border run a couple of days before the expiry date in order to be stamped in for a further year without any ado. Thereafter he will need to apply for annual extensions of stay at his local immigration office, and he would be better advised to do so on retirement grounds if possible financially since local offices can approve such extensions on the spot. Marriage extensions, on the other hand, need to be referred to the local Immigration Bureau chief for approval - and, as Mario2008 has pointed out, would entail more paperwork

On the other hand, police and medical checks are required for O-A visas, but not for O ones. Horses for courses for the OP, therefore, I suspect.

[ubonjoe]

OP appears to be here already so getting a OA visa is not an option unless he goes home to get it.

I think he is calling a retirement extension of stay an OA visa which it is not.

He can easily get a single entry non-o visa from any nearby consulate or embassy based upon marriage or for being over 50.

Or if near an immigration office that can do the change to a non immigrant visa entry he could also do that also.