O-A. Obtaining pension visa from London Thai embassy

[swoods58]

A multi entry also can give you two years as you can do a border run just prior to the visa expiring and get another full year permission to stay stamp. Then use reentry permit to come and go during that year.

[Howiehotspur]

Hi Howiehotspur,

Glad I could help you; I have found this Visa forum extremely useful also.

Yes a Multi-entry visa is a good plan if you have elderly relatives back home. I had to fly back within 2 months of arriving in Thailand due to a sick relative. Also Thailand is a good base to explore SE Asia and flights are cheap.

Lite Beer has accurately summed up your options when you get here.

Cheers

hello again , sorry another hopefully quick question. On the actual visa form , what do you write in the boxes .top right . ( M ) .? . And purpose of current visit ..? .. You put what ? ..

Sorry I just dint want any mistakes .. Do you actually get to talk to somebody or just hand it in .

Cheers Howie .

[ubonjoe]

M or multiple

Retirement

They will review your application when you hand it in. If there are questions about it they ask you.

[Howiehotspur]

M or multiple

Retirement

They will review your application when you hand it in. If there are questions about it they ask you.

great cheers Joe .

[Howiehotspur]

Ok guys

So I've got my ACPO Police record cert , got my doctor to complete and stamp the medical form issued by the London embassy , I have 2 bank statements , which show I have excess of 800.000 . In there ...

I'm off to see the Notary tomorrow afternoon to ask him to bundle and seal etc ( quoted £135 ) ..

But I'm still a little bit concerned the way on the application requirements on the Thai embassy web site says word for word ., the health record and police record quote ' with a validity of at least 3 months ' ... Is this lost in translation because it makes no sense why would they need to be at least 3 months old ? I could have contracted one of the illnesses listed or killed somebody since then .. ( I haven't ) ..

Also it says bank statement ' the original reference letter from the bank ' is necessary .. But my was just a statement sent out with 3 months on it .. Do I need to go into my bank to type something up ? .. All a little late as I've booked the notary , but I could always cancel .. I've booked to fly out on 5th March , 3 month open ..hopefully not on a 30 day exempt .. If I fail to get my O-A visa .. Could I just say ok give me a 3 month one instead .. I guess not .

Any body put my mind at rest regarding these issues ?

[ubonjoe]

What it means is that the medical and police certificate cannot be more than 3 months old.

I think you should get a letter from you bank to confirm your bank balance or at least have them stamp and sign your statement.

If they rejected accepting your application because of your paperwork you could try again before you leave.

If it fails for some reason you could get a tourist visa at the embassy or single entry non-o visa at one of the consulates.

[OJAS]

OP - I can well sympathise with your concerns since I had similar feelings when I applied for my original OA visa at the London Embassy 6 years ago. However, based on my experience then, you should have nothing to worry about provided your ducks are all lined up in accordance with the guidance on their website.

Just beware, though, that you might have to wait an hour at the Embassy before you can submit your application. But I found this to be ideal preparation for the similarly lengthy waits which I have experienced at Immigration, banks and hospitals since moving out here!

The costs of your subject access disclosure request and medical check which you have quoted sound a little steep, though. I paid £10 for each 6 years ago. My medical check was pretty basic, though - it merely consisted of the doctor moving her eyes from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet before signing the Embassy certificate!

[Howiehotspur]

What it means is that the medical and police certificate cannot be more than 3 months old.

I think you should get a letter from you bank to confirm your bank balance or at least have them stamp and sign your statement.

If they rejected accepting your application because of your paperwork you could try again before you leave.

If it fails for some reason you could get a tourist visa at the embassy or single entry non-o visa at one of the consulates.

Thanks Joe , so if for example they do refuse based on ' what ever ' , I could then say there and then , ok just give me a single entry non O for 3 months then , and they will do that ? .

[Howiehotspur]

OP - I can well sympathise with your concerns since I had similar feelings when I applied for my original OA visa at the London Embassy 6 years ago. However, based on my experience then, you should have nothing to worry about provided your ducks are all lined up in accordance with the guidance on their website.

Just beware, though, that you might have to wait an hour at the Embassy before you can submit your application. But I found this to be ideal preparation for the similarly lengthy waits which I have experienced at Immigration, banks and hospitals since moving out here!

The costs of your subject access disclosure request and medical check which you have quoted sound a little steep, though. I paid £10 for each 6 years ago. My medical check was pretty basic, though - it merely consisted of the doctor moving her eyes from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet before signing the Embassy certificate!

the medical check was £80 , and he ( doctor ) just asked me , do you have any of the below .. Yellow fever , etc etc .. Asked me to roll my trouser leg up , took my blood pressure .. That was that , signed stamped . The police check was £64 ..

Now the notary will be £135 , but he said possibly more depending on. How many documents .. Also a quick question on the documents , do you have to have 2 sets made up or only one ?

Cheers .. Getting there ..

[ubonjoe]

The embassy would not do a non-o they would only do a tourist visa.

Only one of the consulates would do the non-o.

[Howiehotspur]

The embassy would not do a non-o they would only do a tourist visa.

Only one of the consulates would do the non-o.

I'm currently in Sussex , I understand I could post it , but on the website it only refers to London for all visas now ? ..

I very sent to Hull before for example but that to have closed , refer to London now .

I think I'll go into the bank and ask for a forwarding letter to confirm my statements . And cancel my notary meeting for now . I still have time .. Hopefully .

Edited January 23, 2015 by Howiehotspur

[ubonjoe]

The embassy would not do a non-o they would only do a tourist visa.

Only one of the consulates would do the non-o.

I'm currently in Sussex , I understand I could post it , but on the website it only refers to London for all visas now ? ..

I very sent to Hull before for example but that to have closed , refer to London now .

I think I'll go into the bank and ask for a forwarding letter to confirm my statements . And cancel my notary meeting for now . I still have time .. Hopefully .

You can only do applications by post to the embassy in London.

Hull is open but you have to apply in person. Same for all the other consulates.

[Howiehotspur]

The embassy would not do a non-o they would only do a tourist visa.

Only one of the consulates would do the non-o.

I'm currently in Sussex , I understand I could post it , but on the website it only refers to London for all visas now ? ..

I very sent to Hull before for example but that to have closed , refer to London now .

I think I'll go into the bank and ask for a forwarding letter to confirm my statements . And cancel my notary meeting for now . I still have time .. Hopefully .

You can only do applications by post to the embassy in London.

Hull is open but you have to apply in person. Same for all the other consulates.

o right gotcha .. Can't see me going , my other half needs to make an appointment for the embassy anyway because her passport has less than 6 months left in it . Going to try and combine the two

Thanks Joe , you and the many of the others on here are a great help .

[steve187]

sorry to throw a spanner in the works, but why are you going for a retirement visa when you could have got a married to Thai spouse visa. you could have got a single entry non imm 'O' , extended in thailand Thai spouse 60 days and then had plenty of time to deposit money and then get a one year extension either for retirement or marriage.

Anyway i hope all goes well with the route you have chosen.

Don't forget the 90 day address reports if going the non imm 'O' 'A' route

[Howiehotspur]

sorry to throw a spanner in the works, but why are you going for a retirement visa when you could have got a married to Thai spouse visa. you could have got a single entry non imm 'O' , extended in thailand Thai spouse 60 days and then had plenty of time to deposit money and then get a one year extension either for retirement or marriage.

Anyway i hope all goes well with the route you have chosen.

Don't forget the 90 day address reports if going the non imm 'O' 'A' route

sorry , when I say my ' other half ' I mean my girlfriend , it's just that she's been here with me 14 years , we've never bothered getting married , something that I never really want to . ( seems like marriage I guess ) . Thanks for the input though .

[ubonjoe]

o right gotcha .. Can't see me going , my other half needs to make an appointment for the embassy anyway because her passport has less than 6 months left in it . Going to try and combine the two

Thanks Joe , you and the many of the others on here are a great help .

I guess that mean you wife is Thai.

She can travel to and enter Thailand with her passport. A Thai can enter with an expired passport.

It is probably to late tor her to a get a passport before you leave. It can take up to 2 months to get one.

It will easier and quicker to get one here.

Being married to Thai gives an easy fallback option to get non-o visa at the embassy. You can get one with your marriage certificate, her ID and house book.

Edit: Scratched out some of post after your last one.

[steve187]

I just assumed you were married, my fault for reading between the lines no doubt you would have said married in an earlier post if that was the case.

I hope you enjoy 'retirement' in the land of smiles.

Edited January 23, 2015 by steve187

[Howiehotspur]

Right guys , I've ' finally ' got my police record , health form completed as given by the embassy site , , bank statements showing how much cash I have in the banks , ( I have more in esavings but I cannot for some crazy reason get statements , only yearly it would seem . Still I certainly have double the amount required( £17 k ) in my two statements they don't have forwarding letters which the web site states you need , but I called the London embassy and asked them what that meant because my banks never supplied them . All she said was " you have to get it Notar'd " .. To which I replied , yes I have . " ok then "she said . Also the address I'll be staying at I've put down my girlfriends family address , ( she wrote on the form for me in Thai ) . Now I'm not sure that was a good idea , I have it on a post it in English too , and I also want to explain that I won't be staying there perminant , as I want to rent an apartment part of the time too but ofcourse I've not chosen one yet . Do you get the chance to discuss this or do I just leave it ? So I guess / hope I'm good to go .. Off to the London embassy on Monday . Fingers crossed ...

On a side note my girlfriend ( Thai , been in uk with me 12+ Years ) passport has run out and she went to book an appointment which the web site saying you have do for a renewal , the next available date is March 13th . ( we are flying out 5th ) , I told her she can travel home on an out of date passport I think . She was hoping to come with me to the embassy to do at same time But would she be any use to me anyway , ( for assistance I mean ) ?

Sorry to keep on asking so many questions all the time , I just don't want to cock this up .

[ubonjoe]

The address in Thailand on the application is not all that important.

There is no doubt that she can travel on her passport to Thailand without a problem. As I wrote before she can even do it with an expired passport.

It is up to you whether your girl friend goes with you or not.

[Howiehotspur]

The address in Thailand on the application is not all that important.

There is no doubt that she can travel on her passport to Thailand without a problem. As I wrote before she can even do it with an expired passport.

It is up to you whether your girl friend goes with you or not.

. Thanks Joe you've been a great help .. I certainly feel much more confident now .

I'll let you know how I get on Tuesday pm ... ( wether you like it or not lol )

[Howiehotspur]

A special thankyou to all you guys who helped me take the right moves in obtaining my O-A mutli visa which I collected this morning

Ubonjoe , Nbarch, lite beer , esp .. You've been a great help ..

Game on ..

Not surprisingly I do have another question , the girl who gave it to be me this morning , really really friendly , she even let me collect early , called me over on my arrival , remembering me from the day before I guess .. " there you can go anytime between now and February 2016 ..and you can come and go as you please " , I said what ten times a year if I want , " sure if you rich man come and go fly home every week , hahaha " .. Then I said now I must make bank account in Thailand with80000 bht within first month of arrival yes ? .. " o it's ok don't worry about that " .. And then turned to next customer ..... Have I miss heard that ,

I do need to open account now within first month don't i ... ? ..

[OJAS]

What she meant was that you can use the visa to come and go from Thailand as you please up until its expiry date in February 2016. And each time you re-enter Thailand during this period, your passport will then be stamped in for 12 months after your re-entry date.

So if you were to do a border run a few days before the visa expired, your passport would then be stamped in until February 2017 - from when you will need to start applying for annual extensions of stay at your local immigration office. For your first application you would only need to season 800,000 THB in a Thai bank account for 2 months. So, in theory, you could leave it until December 2016 before opening a bank account here.

In practice, however, it would probably be advisable to open a bank account here sooner rather than later, although you don't necessarily need to do this within your first month here. You will, however, be ripped off big time whenever you stick a UK credit or debit card into a Thai ATM to withdraw cash.

IMHO the best Thai bank for us Brits with money to move to Thailand from UK accounts is Bangkok Bank, since they operate a useful transfer facility via their London branch, which I can certainly recommend on the basis of personal experience. Further details at http://www.bangkokbank.com/bangkokbank/personalbanking/dailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringIntoThailand/ReceivingFundsfromUK/Pages/ReceivingFundsfromUK.aspx

Finally a reminder of a couple of points already made in this thread, which you need to bear in mind:-

(1) If you are planning any foreign trips after your visa's expiry date in February 2016, you will need to obtain a re-entry permit in order to keep your latest permission to stay stamped in your passport live.

(2) Don't forget to report your address to your local immigration office every 90 days from your arrival in March (with your arrival date counting as Day 1 in calculating when your first report is due).

[Howiehotspur]

Thanks OJAS

This is sounding better by the the minute .

I was under the impression that I had to get a bank sorted out straight away ( I will anyway , as ofcourse it will be a benefit on transactions as you say ) .. I guess getting a re entry permit is easy , you just ask at immigration on arrival back in ?

Or not so easy . ?

[OJAS]

Yes, obtaining a re-entry permit is a straightforward process. You can do this at your local immigration office or at the airport when departing for foreign parts.

However, you won't, in fact, need a re-entry permit for any foreign trips which you may be planning within the validity period of your OA visa. Sorry if my previous post wasn't clear on this point.

[smedly]

To the OP - if are wanting to stay in Thailand for a long time you have chosen the most expensive and complicated way to do it

There are other threads on this subject posted in the last month or so - I'm not going to look for you as you can do that yourself

hope you get fixed up

[Paulzz]

I use Bangkok bank and always send funds in sterling direct from my Lloyds international account (free transfers) as the exchange rate is always better than in UK. and it arrives within 48 hours, you can see rates for TT on BKB web site.

there london office charges a fee though as i looked into that.

I found London Thai embassy very easy to get Non O visa all they wanted was the money £125! and picked up next day, didnt take much notice of my documents that I had prepared..

[Howiehotspur]

Yeah , I got my 0-A multi on Tuesday .. From London too ..

It seems as though there is no urgency for me to get the 800k into a Thai account , as I have until December to do that .

So I'm guessing if that's the case when I go to immigration every 3 months to ' check in ' that's all I do ? . Just show them where I reside ?? .

So I arrive in March 6th .. And shortly before June 6th .. I report to immigration in ( in this case jontiem ) . With what , just my passport ?

[Mario2008]

If you stay 90 days in a row withoutout leaving the country you report your address. You can even do this by mail to your local immigration office:

See: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=90days

Send copies and substitute the address for that of your local immigration office.

You have a multiple, so by leaving and returning just before the visa itself expires you get another 1 year of stay without the need for showing financials.

[Howiehotspur]

Really , anywhere ? .. Cambodia or London ? .. How many times can I do that for

[Mario2008]

Your visa has a validity of 1 year. each time you enter Thailand during the validity you get a new 1 year permission to stay. So by leaving just before the visa expires and re-entering again, from any country by land or air, you get a new 1 year permission to stay,

But be careful. if you leave and return after the visa itself has expired, you will need a re-entry permit to keep the then current permission to stay.