Today I received my O-A visa (with multi entry) from the Thai Embassy in the USA. It has an issue date of 16 October 2013 and an "Enter before" date of 15 October 2014.

I recall reading somewhere in this forum that if a person obtains their O-A visa from the Thai Embassy in their home country (and prior to arriving Thailand), that there is a method to extend it to nearly (if not all of) 2 years. Can anyone confirm this for me?

I searched and couldn't find the original post that I had seen earlier.

Easy !

Just exit and return to the country just before the visa expires.

With this type of pre-approved visa (must be written Type 'OA', not 'O' and 'for retirement') you get a one year permission stamp every time you enter Thailand during the validity period of the visa (up to the 'Enter Before Date).

So....... you must plan to leave and re-enter Thailand the day before the 'Enter Before' date on the OA visa and you will get another one year stamp.

You then need to get a single/multiple re-entry permit when you are then back in Thailand, this will serve to preserve your last one year permission stamp date every time you leave/re-enter Thailand; during this second year period you will be stamped in up to the date of your last full one year stamp which is written into your re-entry permit.

Then you need to apply for an extension of permission to stay 30 days before the date of you last entry stamp, or leave Thailand before your permission to stay date and get a new visa.

Note that every time you are in Thailand for more than 90 days you must report your address to your local Thai immigration dept using form TM47.

If you make your last entry on 15 October 2014, you will get 1 year permission to stay, until 14 October 2015. However, if you want to leave and re-enter during that last year you must purchase a re-entry permit to keep your permission to stay "alive". Current prices are 1000 baht for a single and 3800 baht for a multiple. Hence, that's how you get 2 years permission to stay with a 1 year visa.

As above but would plan last entry a week or two early just in case of illness. Any travel with return after expiration of visa will require reentry permit. When you start extending stay in Thailand you can apply up to 30 or 45 days before current stay ends but financials will need to meet requirements on day of application.

Thank you all so much! This is EXCELLENT news! I will plan my exit and entry dates (along with the 90-day reporting) accordingly.

Don't forget that 16 October date will control how long the visa will last. You have already used up 10 days of your visa validity period already

One of the secrets of getting the most out of an O-A Visa is timing your entry into Thailand as close to the visa issue date as is practical

Rice King, any speed bumps with your application process?

It's nice that the Thai Embassy DC apparently no longer requires notarization of submitted documents -- presume this was your experience? Also, originals are required -- which shouldn't be a problem for the police and medical reports. But many folks have gone paperless when it comes to financial statements. How did you handle this -- did you submit a printout of an online statement, by any chance?

A couple of other things about the Thai Embassy DC website. It prescribes using only the $19.95 "Express Mail" flat rate envelope -- although the much cheaper "Priority Mail" has the identical physical envelope. And why would they care that priority mail is slightly slower...... Oh, well. I guess I wouldn't want to temp fate by not strictly following their directions....

And this quote from the DC website (which no doubt contributed to the OP's initial question):

Recommendations for foreigners with Non-Immigrant Visa “O-A” (Long Stay) while staying in the Kingdom
· Upon arrival, holder of this type of visa will be permitted to stay in Thailand for 1 year from the date of first entry. During the one-year period, if he or she wishes to leave and re-enter the country, he or she is required to apply at the Immigration office for re-entry permit (single or multiple) before departure. In the case of leaving the country without a re-entry permit, the permit to stay for 1 year shall be considered void.

This outdated statement is a holdover from when the Thai Embassy DC norm was to issue single entry Non Imm O-A visas. Now the norm everywhere seems to be multi-entry Non Imm O-A visas.

Anyway, if indeed the Thai Embassy DC no longer requires notarization, applying by mail in the States for a Non-Imm O-A visa should go to DC -- as Los Angeles still requires that pesky notarization (at least that's advertised on their website; don't know about NY or Chicago....).

Rice King, any speed bumps with your application process?

It's nice that the Thai Embassy DC apparently no longer requires notarization of submitted documents -- presume this was your experience? Also, originals are required -- which shouldn't be a problem for the police and medical reports. But many folks have gone paperless when it comes to financial statements. How did you handle this -- did you submit a printout of an online statement, by any chance?

No notarization of any documents were required. The only "speed bump" was when I attempted to submit a criminal background clearance that I had obtained from WWW.BeenVerified.Com for $19.95 USD. The BeenVerified website claims to work for visas. However, I discovered that was not the case when I received a phone call from the Thai Embassy (Washington, D.C.) consular section telling me so. The very nice staff member told me that a criminal background check from a civilian company would not suffice and that I needed to submit to them a criminal background clearance verification from a State, Federal, or other government agency.

Further investigation disclosed that my home State Police website offered the verification for only $10 USD. Twenty minutes later and a $10 credit card charge and I had my criminal verification printed out. The criminal verification letter from the State Police had a watermark with the State Seal and the Attorney General's signature but since it was only printed on a home inkjet printer, it did not have a raised / embossed notarization. The lack of a raised notarization didn't seem to matter and it went through without a complaint from the Thai Embassy.

As far as financial documents -- no notarization there either. I contacted my financial advisor and he emailed me a very official looking overview of the accounts I had with him which showed that I clearly had more than the minimum bank deposit required for a visa. I printed that along with a copy of my monthly pension pay stub that showed more than the minimum income required. I'm not sure if they need both documents or not but I sent them both anyhow.

Embassy in Washington has never required the notarization of the police report, medical form or bank / earnings statement. Neither does the Consulate in New York

The only consulates that require notarization are Los Angeles and Chicago

The reason that they want an Express Mail pre paid envelope is because that way they get a special pickup from the USPS, Priority Mail is handled by their regular carrier

Two times I used the Embassy a letter from my local sheriff's office stating I was not on file was sufficient for the criminal check. Now that I use the New York Consulate, Pennsylvania State Police issue an official looking certificate for $10 and I just print it out for submission

Only problem I ever had with DC was once they fussed at me for not submitting enough copies and they eventually changed the web site to show the correct number of copies to be submitted