ED visa to retirement extension in BKK

[MikeN]

Last month there was a thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/759377-ed-visa-to-retirement-at-jomtien-no/ about being unable to change their ED visa at Pattaya immigration and having to leave the country, but I have n't seen anything about this at Chaeng Wattana.

Has anybody in BKK finished their ED visa and then got a retirement extension ? Is this just a pattaya interpretation of the new 'only 1 year ED visa' rule ?

Or will I have to leave and get a new non "O" visa next month, instead of just changing my reason for stay as I was under the impression I could ?

[ubonjoe]

All you can do is try.

There was a report for Bangkok of person wanting to change from an extension based upon working to retirement and was not allowed to do it.

[LikeThailand]

I am going to try to do the same thing on Monday in Chiang Mai. I haven't heard any bad news about changing an Ed visa to a retirement extension in Chiang Mai on the forums.

Can someone help me with a question I have... The language school is going to write me a letter saying I have ended my language course. But what should the letter say the date I ended the course be, if I am going to apply for my retirement extension this Monday, Oct 6th ?

[ubonjoe]

The same day you want to do the change or a day or two after is good.

[bertty]

Ah I remember it well.

No idea if the same can be done in Bangkok. My only advice would be, don't leave it till the last day to find out.

Same with the school letter, my school dated mine the day after I wanted to change stamp/visa.

After all the messing about it was actually 1 day after the date on the letter that I did my stamp/visa change. The IO didn't even mention this, tho some might.

Edited October 4, 2014 by bertty

[LikeThailand]

The same day you want to do the change or a day or two after is good.

Huh, I thought I read somewhere that I should have the letter from the Ed school saying I ended the course within seven days, before I apply for a change to retirement extension.

But I don't have much knowledge about all this. Thanks for your help. I'll take your advice.

[leggo]

Once your ed visa is over a year and you are on extensions you can't extend it for any reason, retirement, marriage etc without exiting the country. The new regulations that came into effect late August confirmed this or so I have been informed after my husband went to Mataphut(Rayong) immigration and tried to get an extension based on my working teachers visa as a dependent. They told him as his ed visa was over a year it had in effect expired therefore there was no visa to get an extemsion on.

[Concerned expat]

Once your ed visa is over a year and you are on extensions you can't extend it for any reason, retirement, marriage etc without exiting the country. The new regulations that came into effect late August confirmed this or so I have been informed after my husband went to Mataphut(Rayong) immigration and tried to get an extension based on my working teachers visa as a dependent. They told him as his ed visa was over a year it had in effect expired therefore there was no visa to get an extemsion on.

Thank you for the update. Would it be possible to have different set of rules on visas between immigration department in Pattaya - Jomtien and any other main city after this new regulations? How Thai immigration would look at people who want to fly out for a month or two to do some professional work around ANZ region and return back? Obviously would not be even bother with working in Thailand.

[Maestro]

There is no special type of extension of stay for wanting to fly out of Thailand. Any extension of stay is for wanting to stay in Thailand longer than permitted by the current permission to stay.

[paz]

Once your ed visa is over a year and you are on extensions you can't extend it for any reason, retirement, marriage etc without exiting the country. The new regulations that came into effect late August confirmed this or so I have been informed after my husband went to Mataphut(Rayong) immigration and tried to get an extension based on my working teachers visa as a dependent. They told him as his ed visa was over a year it had in effect expired therefore there was no visa to get an extemsion on.

Just to be clear, that is some office interpretation of the rules, with which they try to make it as much difficult as possible for those who entered with a non-imm ED visa.

The official regulation do not contain any limitation.

[Jokke66]

My plans are having a ED-visa for 7-8 months and then I'm old enough to get a "pension visa" Is it necesarry to stop the period at the language school? As I certainly would like to continue there for at least one more year after I'm getting the pension-visa.

[paz]

My plans are having a ED-visa for 7-8 months and then I'm old enough to get a "pension visa" Is it necesarry to stop the period at the language school? As I certainly would like to continue there for at least one more year after I'm getting the pension-visa.

You can study all the time you want under any type of visa or entry status.

[Jokke66]

My plans are having a ED-visa for 7-8 months and then I'm old enough to get a "pension visa" Is it necesarry to stop the period at the language school? As I certainly would like to continue there for at least one more year after I'm getting the pension-visa.

You can study all the time you want under any type of visa or entry status.

Thanks for reply, so if I get it right: If I change visa extension from ED to pension, I do not need to get the school to confirm I quit? or do I need to get out of the kingdom to apply for a new visa? ( sorry I'm this slow)

[paz]

Thanks for reply, so if I get it right: If I change visa extension from ED to pension, I do not need to get the school to confirm I quit? or do I need to get out of the kingdom to apply for a new visa? ( sorry I'm this slow)

The best is that you apply 30 days before you study extension expires, no letter is needed. If the office refuses to extend based on retirement with funds in the bank, then you will need to leave country and come back (in order of preference) with a non-imm 'O' visa, tourist visa, or visa exempt.

Edited October 4, 2014 by paz

[bertty]

Thanks for reply, so if I get it right: If I change visa extension from ED to pension, I do not need to get the school to confirm I quit? or do I need to get out of the kingdom to apply for a new visa? ( sorry I'm this slow)

The best is that you apply 30 days before you study extension expires, no letter is needed. If the office refuses to extend based on retirement with funds in the bank, then you will need to leave country and come back (in order of preference) with a non-imm 'O' visa, tourist visa, or visa exempt.

Yes make sure you DO NOT have a letter from the school... then when asked why you want to change your reason to stay, tell them, there's a guy on TV who comments on every thread and he told me so. I'm sure you will have no problems.

[balo]

You have to fly out of the country and return with a normal 30 day entry . you cant just change an ED visa to retirement.

I got the same answer from both immigration office and visa agents

ED visa will be cancelled when you return . And then you apply the normal way within the 30 days period your allowed to stay .

Edited October 4, 2014 by balo

[paz]

You have to fly out of the country and return with a normal 30 day entry .

No need to fly for a visa exempt entry. Many readers of this forum have nationality from a G7 country and obtain 30 day visa exempt at a land border.

[ubonjoe]

You have to fly out of the country and return with a normal 30 day entry . you cant just change an ED visa to retirement.

I got the same answer from both immigration office and visa agents

ED visa will be cancelled when you return . And then you apply the normal way within the 30 days period your allowed to stay .

You must do the conversion to a non immigrant visa entry within 15 days of arrival. Most immigration offices require you have 15 days remaining on your entry to do the application.

Then after 60 days from when you do the conversion you can apply for the extension of stay.

[LikeThailand]

The same day you want to do the change or a day or two after is good.

Huh, I thought I read somewhere that I should have the letter from the Ed school saying I ended the course within seven days, before I apply for a change to retirement extension.

But I don't have much knowledge about all this. Thanks for your help. I'll take your advice.

I successfully got my retirement extension yesterday using an Ed end date the same as my retirement extension date. But what a horrible day at Chiang Mai Immigration. Usually everyone lines up outside the bldg in the morning and is given a number as they enter. But a light rain started so the officer just let everyone rush in. So people like me that arrived early got screwed and ended up getting served long after people that arrived just after the officer let everyone rush in. It's crazy how a light rain can cause such havoc. I have been in Thailand for a few years, but the decisions Thai people in authority can make are really hard to understand. I was there for over 10 hours, but I was told one important thing... MONDAYS and Fridays are the most crowded!

But that being said, I got my retirement stamp. And I am not one to be ungrateful to the Thai people for letting me live here. There are good and bad people wherever ya go. I have lived as an expat in many other countries, but none compare to Thailand. Cost of living, friendliness of the Thai people, etc. That is why I don't understand why there are so many bitter expats that say such bad things about Thailand? Life is great, I get to live in Thailand!

[TerryLH]

"...MONDAYS and Fridays are the most crowded!"

At the CM office you can make an appointment online.

I believe that's the preferred method.

[LikeThailand]

"...MONDAYS and Fridays are the most crowded!"

At the CM office you can make an appointment online.

I believe that's the preferred method.

Great to know. On the CM Immigration website all of the next 100 days say "Reserved" so it looks like you have to make a reservation a few months in advance. I set my phone alarm to remind me 9 months from now to make an on-line reservation.

[MikeN]

I successfully got my retirement extension yesterday using an Ed end date the same as my retirement extension date.

Had you used up the full year of your ED visa with ED extensions ? Because I asked the visa guru at my school who said that as I would have been here for a full year I cannot change to a retirement extension, and will have to go out and get a new non-O visa.

Not a big deal, but would n't it be nice if all the rules were the same at each office, so we mere farangs knew what to do ?

[balo]

I successfully got my retirement extension yesterday using an Ed end date the same as my retirement extension date.

Had you used up the full year of your ED visa with ED extensions ? Because I asked the visa guru at my school who said that as I would have been here for a full year I cannot change to a retirement extension, and will have to go out and get a new non-O visa.

Not a big deal, but would n't it be nice if all the rules were the same at each office, so we mere farangs knew what to do ?

I have been told the very same thing , so I'm a bit surprised that he could do that . Was told to leave the kingdom and come back on a 30 day extension , that's the correct way to do it . The old ED visa must be cancelled first .

Edited October 8, 2014 by balo

[paz]

Was told to leave the kingdom and come back on a 30 day extension , that's the correct way to do it .

That would be called a 30 days visa exempt entry, not extension. However the very best way is to obtain a non-imm 'O' visa, and the second best, a tourist vist. The first because it eliminate the need for a visa conversion, and the 2nd because it gives more time for the process.

[LikeThailand]

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I successfully got my retirement extension yesterday using an Ed end date the same as my retirement extension date.

Had you used up the full year of your ED visa with ED extensions ? Because I asked the visa guru at my school who said that as I would have been here for a full year I cannot change to a retirement extension, and will have to go out and get a new non-O visa.

Not a big deal, but would n't it be nice if all the rules were the same at each office, so we mere farangs knew what to do ?

I have been told the very same thing , so I'm a bit surprised that he could do that . Was told to leave the kingdom and come back on a 30 day extension , that's the correct way to do it . The old ED visa must be cancelled first .

Sorry for the delay, been traveling some. I only used around 9 months of my Ed visa. It seems that maybe Chiang Mai might be a little more easy on the rules. I had all my money requirement and everything.. Maybe if they see anything in your application that isn't just what they want, it can complicate things. But there some guys that know a lot about how all this works. I just followed what I read on thaivisa.

[LikeThailand]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I successfully got my retirement extension yesterday using an Ed end date the same as my retirement extension date.

Had you used up the full year of your ED visa with ED extensions ? Because I asked the visa guru at my school who said that as I would have been here for a full year I cannot change to a retirement extension, and will have to go out and get a new non-O visa.

Not a big deal, but would n't it be nice if all the rules were the same at each office, so we mere farangs knew what to do ?

I have been told the very same thing , so I'm a bit surprised that he could do that . Was told to leave the kingdom and come back on a 30 day extension , that's the correct way to do it . The old ED visa must be cancelled first .

Sorry for the delay, been traveling some. I only used around 9 months of my Ed visa. It seems that maybe Chiang Mai might be a little more easy on the rules. I had all my money requirement and everything.. Maybe if they see anything in your application that isn't just what they want, it can complicate things. But there some guys that know a lot about how all this works. I just followed what I read on thaivisa.

oh, I think I didn't explain what I did very clearly. I had the school write me the letter saying I am not attending anymore. And I asked them to use the last monday as the end date. Not the last day of my Ed visa.