Worry-Free Non-O-Visa Savannakhet

[riclag]

3 hours ago, Tomtomtom69 said:

They don't care about the condition of THB notes, only USD notes have to be in pristine condition.

Damm I must of Had the misfortune of having a perfectionest at the window .My bad luck

[BuckBee]

These days avoiding airports if you got 2 or 3 back to backs can be wise precaution .

Quite a lot see and do in savan if make effort for one evening/night, live music/food, even got viet girls if that a fancy .

[utalkin2me]

I usually go to savanahkette for my one year non imm o's. I went to the Los Angeles Thai consulate this year and was surprised they charge $200. 6,400 baht or so. I remember it being 5,000 baht is savanahkette, i wonder why the descrepency is so large. 

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

I usually go to savanahkette for my one year non imm o's. I went to the Los Angeles Thai consulate this year and was surprised they charge $200. 6,400 baht or so. I remember it being 5,000 baht is savanahkette, i wonder why the descrepency is so large. 

Probably exchange rate fluctuations, they set the prices years back when the dollar and baht were different.

Edited April 19, 2019 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

On 4/7/2019 at 10:31 PM, riclag said:

Damm I must of Had the misfortune of having a perfectionest at the window .My bad luck

There's an exchange booth backing onto the Laos immigration VISA office at Suvannakhet.

If immigration don't like your dollars, the booth will change them free of charge.

Edited April 19, 2019 by BritManToo

[utalkin2me]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Probably exchange rate fluctuations, they set the prices years back when the dollar and baht were different.

Thanks. I do not mean to derail but it got me wonderin i wonder if they would have accepted 5000 baht?? Anybody paid in baht at an overseas Thai consulate?

 

oh crap it was money order only, forget it baht would not have worked. 

Edited April 19, 2019 by utalkin2me

[ubonjoe]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:01 PM, utalkin2me said:

I usually go to savanahkette for my one year non imm o's. I went to the Los Angeles Thai consulate this year and was surprised they charge $200. 6,400 baht or so. I remember it being 5,000 baht is savanahkette, i wonder why the descrepency is so large. 

It has been the same for many years. It was set when it was 25 baht to the dollar. The 5000 baht fee has been the same also for many years.

I can recall paying $200 as far back as 2001 when it was around 40  baht or more to the dollar.

[Nong Khai Man]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:14 PM, BritManToo said:

There's an exchange booth backing onto the Laos immigration VISA office at Suvannakhet.

If immigration don't like your dollars, the booth will change them free of charge.

Yeah, I Found that out in February Laos IO Refused to accept a 20US$ Bill ( A Little Dirty ) But that Office took it No Problem.....

[mtls2005]

On 4/7/2019 at 11:13 PM, tomster said:

Just in case anybody is reading this and looking for a similar visa option but would like to go somewhere with direct flights and bright lights - Ho Chi Minh City Thai Consulate also offer exactly the same visa without the 400k requirement (to the best of my knowledge).

 

 

Is it possible to get a 90 day, single entry Non-Imm "O" visa, with the intention to extend this inside Thailand based on retirement, at this Consulate in HCMC? (It doesn't show on their website.)

 

If so, what are the requirements?

 

Or are their other embassies/consulates which offer a 90-Day, single-entry Non-Imm "O" visa?

 

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

19 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Is it possible to get a 90 day, single entry Non-Imm "O" visa, with the intention to extend this inside Thailand based on retirement, at this Consulate in HCMC? (It doesn't show on their website.)

I have seen no reports of anybody getting one there. I suggest you contact them about it.

Many locations will not issue one. They only issue a OA visa for citizens and legal residents of the country where they are located.

 

19 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

Or are their other embassies/consulates which offer a 90-Day, single-entry Non-Imm "O" visa?

Savannakhet and Penang will issue one with proof of 800k baht in a bank or proof of 65k baht income and proof of retirement.

Vientiane will do one as well with financial proof, police clearance and medical certificate.

You can also a apply for a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) based upon qualifying for an extension of stay based upon retirement at a immigration office.

[john34]

Im planning on going to Savannakhet to do my "multiple non 0" based on marriage soon, is everything still the same as the original post? documents ... etc - no need for showing 400k in Thai bank account?

[ubonjoe]

21 minutes ago, john34 said:

Im planning on going to Savannakhet to do my "multiple non 0" based on marriage soon, is everything still the same as the original post? documents ... etc - no need for showing 400k in Thai bank account?

Same required documents now. No need for financial proof.

 

[john34]

42 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Same required documents now. No need for financial proof.

 

Ok, good to know. Thanks for the update.

[lunlek]

It's this true???? Super long Q ?

[ubonjoe]

8 hours ago, lunlek said:

It's this true???? Super long Q ?

Yes that happens on certain days it seems. Apparently that was last Thursday. Not a good day since it is the last day of the week when you can pick up your passport.

There is visa run company that makes runs to there now. They are there on Mondays and Thursdays so those may be days to avoid.

If you did not mind spending the weekend there applying on Friday would be a good option.

[Denim]

If you have a particular hotel you want to use it might also be wise to book a room in advance since these mobs will be proving a boon to the town's hotels.

[Nong Khai Man]

16 hours ago, lunlek said:

It's this true???? Super long Q ?

All I Can add is that when I Did mine in February there were only about 40 People in front of me......Just as easy as always !!

[johnny1966]

6 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

All I Can add is that when I Did mine in February there were only about 40 People in front of me......Just as easy as always !!

 I may be wrong but maybe this was before Vientianne started requiring appointments. Now people are using Savannakhet given the no appointment requirement.

[Will27]

 

With the new Nok Air flight schedule, it's possible to do your visa run by only staying one night in Savannakhet.

 

Their Fly and Ride service now departs Don Mueang  at 0610hrs.

Arrive at Sakhon Nakhon at 0720 with the coach leaving to Mukdahan around 0740.

 

About a 2 hour drive to Mukdahan gets you the border at around 0940 leaving you with over an hour to get to the Embassy.

 

Of course this doesn't take into account any delays by the airline etc.

 

And as Ubon Joe has stated, probably best to avoid Mondays and Thursdays due to agents.

 

I've always found Wednesdays to be the best.

[Charlie54]

Ok I am in Mukduhan right now and the problems… problem free..?? OMG..!! Ok took overnight bus from Bangkok to Mukduhan. Could have arrived a little late – maybe 9 am finally got to the border. Got across, paid for the visa and legged it to Suvannakhet only to see a queue of 100 people still stuck outside. Looked like it was going nowhere so went to the front of the queue and asked them how long they have been standing there? They tell me since 8 am. They must have been moving at 10 people an hour by guessing how long he had been there and how much they had got through. This was Thursday which means if not processed today then back tomorrow. I go across the road and see 2 people who finally have emerged from the Embassy and I ask them – how long have you need here – and they say they came there at 7 am. And waited ever since.

I am used to going to Laos, Vientienne where you would go there -  hand your documents in, they would have one look at it and then say yes or No and come back tomorrow at 2 pm. Geezus this was a nightmare. And then still have to get there at 7 am because everyone else is determined to do the same. I would skip Mukdahan entirely. First and last time to come here and will never come back to the place. Bus took too long. Should have tried an earlier bus but got us there way too late, but even if we arrived at 8 am I think we would have been screwed. I would go Vientienne or Chaeng Wattana with 400K in bank account because by the looks of things you will never see these people unless you are prepared to wait for the long haul.

 

[johnny1966]

1 hour ago, Charlie54 said:

Ok I am in Mukduhan right now and the problems… problem free..?? OMG..!! Ok took overnight bus from Bangkok to Mukduhan. Could have arrived a little late – maybe 9 am finally got to the border. Got across, paid for the visa and legged it to Suvannakhet only to see a queue of 100 people still stuck outside. Looked like it was going nowhere so went to the front of the queue and asked them how long they have been standing there? They tell me since 8 am. They must have been moving at 10 people an hour by guessing how long he had been there and how much they had got through. This was Thursday which means if not processed today then back tomorrow. I go across the road and see 2 people who finally have emerged from the Embassy and I ask them – how long have you need here – and they say they came there at 7 am. And waited ever since.

I am used to going to Laos, Vientienne where you would go there -  hand your documents in, they would have one look at it and then say yes or No and come back tomorrow at 2 pm. Geezus this was a nightmare. And then still have to get there at 7 am because everyone else is determined to do the same. I would skip Mukdahan entirely. First and last time to come here and will never come back to the place. Bus took too long. Should have tried an earlier bus but got us there way too late, but even if we arrived at 8 am I think we would have been screwed. I would go Vientienne or Chaeng Wattana with 400K in bank account because by the looks of things you will never see these people unless you are prepared to wait for the long haul.

 

 

What a pity. How things have changed.

[thai006]

really i dont know where i m going to do my  non 0 single entry child  in november , miss the old time come here 8 am and off after 10 minute 

[Denim]

4 hours ago, thai006 said:

really i dont know where i m going to do my  non 0 single entry child  in november , miss the old time come here 8 am and off after 10 minute 

HCM city.

[lunlek]

3 hours ago, Denim said:

HCM city.

Can I have more details pls 

Documents needed etc etc 

Thank u

[Will27]

As Ubon Joe has said, it seems that visa run companies are going on Mondays and Thursdays so those days are best avoided.

 

I submitted my application last Wednesday at 10 o'clock and there

were about 15 people in front of me.

 

Apart from 1 person who was trying to get her visa back the same day and

was asking to see a supervisor, the rest went quite quick.

 

Two people were asked to go and fill out a new application though as they didn't copy both pages back and front.

 

I got there early (1230) on Thursday to pick my visa up and they had closed the gate for submissions and the place was packed with people lining up.

 

Was told 40 odd applied on Wednesday and over 300 on the Tues (after the public holiday).

 

Would think there would have to be some changes going forward if they're going to have to process huge amounts of applications twice a week.

 

Maybe appointments in the future.

[Denim]

12 minutes ago, lunlek said:

Can I have more details pls 

Documents needed etc etc 

Thank u

 

As far as is currently known ( today ) all the documentation required at the Thai embassy in Ho Chi Minh City is the same as required at Savannakhet. No financial requirement. The only reported difference is that at HCM City they also require a letter from your wife requesting that a Non O multi be granted to you, her spouse.

 

Here is alink to a seperate thread on the subject detailing the requirements etc.

 

 

[TheRoadWarrior]

On 6/6/2019 at 7:41 AM, Will27 said:

 

With the new Nok Air flight schedule, it's possible to do your visa run by only staying one night in Savannakhet.

 

Their Fly and Ride service now departs Don Mueang  at 0610hrs.

Arrive at Sakhon Nakhon at 0720 with the coach leaving to Mukdahan around 0740.

 

About a 2 hour drive to Mukdahan gets you the border at around 0940 leaving you with over an hour to get to the Embassy.

 

Of course this doesn't take into account any delays by the airline etc.

 

And as Ubon Joe has stated, probably best to avoid Mondays and Thursdays due to agents.

 

I've always found Wednesdays to be the best.

 

good info, and id love to just stay 1 night, but i dont think id feel comfortable with such small margin for error or delays.

 

i have to do a run soon for my non-O, and im considering using the nok air service, but ill stay 2 nights just in case.

 

would  you guys recommend flying in on monday afternoon and starting visa tues morning / weds pickup?
or flying in tues afternoon and start visa weds morning / thurs pickup?

 

no preference from me, so whatever you guys think will have the least queue time (considering flight, bus, immigration, consulate)

 

if i pickup my visa at 14:00, is there enough time to get to the nokair bus service which is at 17:00?

according to some posts it seems like theres adequate time, but things can change daily.

[TheRoadWarrior]

or should i just fly directly into savannakhet?

the flight is twice as expensive....

BUT, once you factor in taxis, busses, etc (especially going to DMK vs BKK)

i think the overall price ends up coming in fairly close.

[tlandtday]

Check Thaisanuan Tours VIP from Bkok to Mukdahan.  I believe it arrives very early so I would consider it but definitely I would never take the yellow bus from Pattaya I took in the past.  The bus averaged about 40 km per hour, was super uncomfortable and late. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by tlandtday

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, TheRoadWarrior said:

if i pickup my visa at 14:00, is there enough time to get to the nokair bus service which is at 17:00?

 according to some posts it seems like theres adequate time, but things can change daily.

No problem with the return journey on Nok. In the unlikely event that you are short of time, they will pick you up near the bridge (avoiding the need to get into Mukdahan) though that is not their preference. They will phone you (as I recall) about 15 minutes before the van is due to leave, and you can arrange with them to collect you on their way past if you have encountered a major delay. (I did have the international bus break down on me once, so it is nice to know you have this insurance.)