Non Immigrant O-A lifespan

[pennyruen]

Hello, I have scoured the forum before posting this and can not find similar situation, hence my first posting. So please go easy as I'm still a TV virgin

I am over 50 and I have a non immigrant O-A multi entry visa issued from the Thai Embassy in Madrid on 06/11/2013 (enter before 05/11/2014). A friend told me that I can actually squeeze 2 years out of this visa if I re enter the day before it expires. Another friend told me I would only get an extra 90 days.

I entered Thailand 22/01/2014 and returned home to Spain 25/07/2014 having done 2 x 90 day reports to immigration. I am presuming that if I do not return to Thailand before 05/11/2014 then the visa is null and void.

I intend to convert this visa to an 'extension of stay' when it is required but I don't really want to transfer the 800,000 baht to Thailand until I really have to.

I plan to return before this 'enter before' date but my questions are these :

1. Will I get stamped for 90 days only or another full year? (I did ask at Immigration but was given both answers by 2 different people.)

2. If I get a year, can I still leave and re enter Thailand before the second year is up?

3. If the answer to Q2. is yes, will I need a re entry permit?(because with this non immigrant O-A, I don't.)

Apparently the re entry is only required if you are on an 'extension of stay' (I think)

Many thanks for any replies.

[Mario2008]

1. 1 year.

2. If you want to leave and re-enter after the visa itself expires you need a re-entry permit to keep the permisison to stay alive. Leave and enter before 05/11/2014 and you don't need a re-entry permit and get a new 1 year permission to stay when you re-enter the country.

[pennyruen]

That was quick..... many thanks Mario, great news.

[Suradit69]

You seem to understand the difference between the visa and the permission to stay, but many people confuse the two and use the terms interchangeably. They each have expiry dates and those dates will differ.

Just to be clear for anyone else reading this. If you enter before the visa expires, you'll get a full year's permission to stay from the date you enter the country.

Your permission to stay for the additional year will cover your legal presence in the country, but it does not allow you to re-enter the country if you leave.

The visa allows you to enter the country (at the discretion of Immigrations). Permission or extension of stay allows you to remain in the country. If the visa expires you need a re-entry permit to enter the country if you leave. If the permission to stay is about the expire you need to leave the country or get an extension of stay ... not an extension of the visa, which at that point will already be dead anyway and can never be extended beyond the printed "use by" date.

If you remain in the country for 90 continuous, uninterrupted days, you need to report to Immigrations. This is a third thing and has nothing to do with your visa or permission/extension of stay.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Suradit69

[pennyruen]

Many thanks Suradit, got it now. I'll enter before the visa expires, and report to immigration on 90 days. If I leave Thailand again before the 'permission to stay' runs out, I'll be sure to get a re entry permit and return before the 'permission to stay' expires. It's at this point I'll transfer the 800,000 to my Thai bank account, making sure its transferred 3 months before expiry date. Phew.