Multiple O.. harder to obtain these days?

[Tocquinio]

I have read online (on the siam legal website) that Multiple entry Non immigrant 'O' visas are harder to obtain than they were in the past?

Anyone found this to be the case?

I am a 35 year old British passport holder will be married to a Thai national when I apply.

I will be applying for an extension based on marriage within the next year anyway, but would like to know my options for the short-mid term.

Thanks in advance

[paz]

You can obtain that in your country, or Savannkhet Laos without financials, or Malaysia showing some funds, these places among others.

In the meanwhile you can obtain 60 days extension on any type of visa or visa exempt entry that you make. Cost Bt 1,900 at immigration.

[scavenger]

I got a multi-entry non O based on marriage in Seoul last month, and it was a painless problems. Thai Air Asia X has direct flights to Seoul at reasonnable fares, and you could do much worse than South Korea for a honeymoon

[steve187]

They are a nightmare to get in the UK now, on the London embassy site where all postal application have to be made, financial proof is required £1,400 a month Hull and Birmingham websites do not mention the financial requirements, but do say all have to be approved by London. so applications do take a few days and have to be collected from their offices. Hull website states they can only issued to persons with an address in their area.

A conversion can be done in Bangkok to a non 'O' visa as part of a 2 part process,

and as posted a multi can be obtained from Savanakhet with no financials required.

scavenger what were the requirements for Seoul

[ubonjoe]

They are a nightmare to get in the UK now, on the London embassy site where all postal application have to be made, financial proof is required £1,400 a month Hull and Birmingham websites do not mention the financial requirements, but do say all have to be approved by London. so applications do take a few days and have to be collected from their offices. Hull website states they can only issued to persons with an address in their area.

A conversion can be done in Bangkok to a non 'O' visa as part of a 2 part process,

and as posted a multi can be obtained from Savanakhet with no financials required.

scavenger what were the requirements for Seoul

The info on the London embassy website is an error they have not bothered to correct. There have been several reports that they do not ask for financial proof to get a non-o based upon marriage.

Don't even bother with Hull is the best advise now. The other consulates will do them without financial proof.

[ExPratt]

I got mine in Penang last year , I was lucky enough to have no problems with it

[MrBanks]

I had no problem at all with the Thai Embassy in London using their postal service, although In did send proof of sufficient funds together with a copy of our marriage certificate and I think a copy of my wife's I.D.

I telephoned and asked what paper work they required, the lady that I spoke to was very helpful and clear in what they wanted, I just cannot remember if she specifically asked for proof of funds (old age is creeping in) if you go to the UK give them a call and ask.

The whole thing only took a few days from sending to receiving it back.

It is my understanding that in the UK only the Embassy can grant either a 1 year married visa or a 1 year business visa, the consulates can only issue tourist visas now. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think the best that you can get from a consulate, in the UK, is a 6 month tourist visa with 3 entries.

Edited March 2, 2015 by MrBanks

[ubonjoe]

I had no problem at all with the Thai Embassy in London using their postal service, although In did send proof of sufficient funds together with a copy of our marriage certificate and I think a copy of my wife's I.D.

I telephoned and asked what paper work they required, the lady that I spoke to was very helpful and clear in what they wanted, I just cannot remember if she specifically asked for proof of funds (old age is creeping in) if you go to the UK give them a call and ask.

The whole thing only took a few days from sending to receiving it back.

It is my understanding that in the UK only the Embassy can grant either a 1 year married visa or a 1 year business visa, the consulates can only issue tourist visas now. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think the best that you can get from a consulate, in the UK, is a 6 month tourist visa with 3 entries.

I doubt you were told that you needed financial proof. Many other have gotten the visa without it.

The consulates can still issue all visas but the OA visa. Multiple entry non immigrant visa applications have to be approved by the embassy before they can issue them

[MrBanks]

I had no problem at all with the Thai Embassy in London using their postal service, although In did send proof of sufficient funds together with a copy of our marriage certificate and I think a copy of my wife's I.D.

I telephoned and asked what paper work they required, the lady that I spoke to was very helpful and clear in what they wanted, I just cannot remember if she specifically asked for proof of funds (old age is creeping in) if you go to the UK give them a call and ask.

The whole thing only took a few days from sending to receiving it back.

It is my understanding that in the UK only the Embassy can grant either a 1 year married visa or a 1 year business visa, the consulates can only issue tourist visas now. I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong but I think the best that you can get from a consulate, in the UK, is a 6 month tourist visa with 3 entries.

I doubt you were told that you needed financial proof. Many other have gotten the visa without it.

The consulates can still issue all visas but the OA visa. Multiple entry non immigrant visa applications have to be approved by the embassy before they can issue them

Thanks ubonjoe, I honestly could not remember if the lady asked for it or not. I think that I was just confused so I stuck it in for good measure.

You are absolutely correct about the consulates, the lady in Hull told me that for the OA visa I could submit the papers at the consulate which they would then submit to London. I just cut out a step and used the postal service.

[spambot]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

[nzexpat]

You will get a single entry "non O" based" based on retirement from one of the other Hon Consulates.

Hull is now very restricted in their activity because of their past " friendliness" which resulted in visas being issued inappropriately.

Check with Birmingham.

http://www.thailand-visa.com/x.pro/ModShow/ShowPage/30761

You may be required to demonstrate adequate finances.

[CharlieH]

Cardiff is always an option too.

http://www.thaiconsulatewales.org.uk/

From their website: O category Visa

Pension earners, Applicants over 50 years of age and persons married to a Thai National

If you are drawing a state pension, applicant will be required to provide evidence by either showing a recent bank statement showing state pension entering OR a recent letter from the department of work and pensions.

Please Note - Applicants aged between 50-64 will be required to produce the following:

• Last 3 Months bank statements showing a regular monthly income of more than £1400.00 or a lump sum in a CURRENT ACCOUNT (Not savings) of £20,000,00
• A clear police clearance within the last 6 months
• A recent medical certificate showing you are in good health

If you are Married to a Thai National you must submit -

• A copy of the marriage certificate
• A copy of your spouses Thai ID or Thai Passport.

** Apologise for colored background but cant seem to remove it. Edit: fixed it

Edited March 2, 2015 by ubonjoe

[ubonjoe]

What they are showing for 50 to 64 is the requirements for an OA visa that can only be applied for at the embassy.

If you were to contact Cardiff you would find that they will do a single entry non-o visa if you show the financial proof only.

[Soiyamoto]

No financial proof needed if apply in London. Only marriage cert and her I.d card and you get stay based on marriage. You will have to leave every 90 days or get 60 day extension at immigration. If apply in thailand you have to show 400k baht in bank for 2 month and you only have to report every 90 days at immigration

[Howiehotspur]

After thinking I would have all sorts of problems obtaining my O-A multi from the London embassy and asking you guys on here tons of questions ....

When actually applied .. It could not have been easier .. Passport / bank statement / med record / police record .. All bundled up and Notar'd ...

Handed it over , came back next day , there you are sir , done ..

In fact the only problem was my other half as her ( Thai ) passport has only 6 weeks left on it , and she couldn't get an appointment . The only way she could possibly travel is with Thai airways ( direct flight ) .. And that week . So she's knackered and I'll be travelling alone 5th March . So I haven't actually started to use the visa yet , so I'm hoping when I hand my passport over on arrival they will say " hello sir , you can stay 1year , thankyou " ...

[Shaunduhpostman]

Since 2011 when I began getting them nothing has changed, I have not found it to be more difficult by any stretch by keeping informed as to which embassies will do what. That's what Thai Visa is great for! It will be difficult if you just pop in at any embassy and see if you can't get what your looking for. Chances are it won't fly. Savanakhet has been the old stand by and Jakarta worked for me once in 2011. The Thai embassies in the U.S. where I come from, last I checked, it's difficult. Perhaps it is payback for making things difficult for Thais who want to immigrate.

Of course it looks like "getting harder" is just around the corner, but who knows maybe we will wake up one day to a rosy future in which it will begin to get easier every year!

Edited March 2, 2015 by Shaunduhpostman

[OJAS]

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Not sure that conversion in Thailand can now be said to be particularly easy since 2 separate trips to Chaengwattana Immigration in Bangkok (which, I gather, is the only office in the whole of Thailand which processes non-O conversions these days) will be needed. Probably the simplest course of action for over-50 singles would be to enter Thailand on a 30-day visa exemption, having already booked an onward flight to Vientiane in Laos within this period for the purposes of obtaining a non-O at the Royal Thai Embassy there. A confirmed onward flight to Vientiane would also avoid potential boarding hassles at LHR with a one-way LHR-BKK ticket!

Edited March 2, 2015 by OJAS

[Liquorice]

Liverpool Consulate will issue a single entry Non O Imm based on being 50 years old, but asked for a bank statement which must show at least £8,000. (400,000 baht).

I booked one way, only tourist or exempt visas require an onward flight.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Faz

[Mario2008]

A tourist visa is a visa and does not require a ticket out. With a visa exempt entry or a visa on arrival you do need a ticket out.

[spambot]

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Not sure that conversion in Thailand can now be said to be particularly easy since 2 separate trips to Chaengwattana Immigration in Bangkok (which, I gather, is the only office in the whole of Thailand which processes non-O conversions these days) will be needed. Probably the simplest course of action for over-50 singles would be to enter Thailand on a 30-day visa exemption, having already booked an onward flight to Vientiane in Laos within this period for the purposes of obtaining a non-O at the Royal Thai Embassy there. A confirmed onward flight to Vientiane would also avoid potential boarding hassles at LHR with a one-way LHR-BKK ticket!

For over-50 singles - This is the first time I have heard that Vientiane will issue a non-O - I thought that they required applications based upon marriage only - Can anyone confirm that over-50 singles can apply for such visa's there?

[mxyzptlk]

There doesn't appear to be many legal or "agent" based websites saying that it is a really simple process to obtain a visa/ extension. So easy in fact that you can do it all easily yourself and don't need the services of an "expensive" lawyer / agent unless you are physically challenged and cannot attend in person.....or you can not meet the prescribed application criteria without assistance.....

Edited March 2, 2015 by mxyzptlk

[SheungWan]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Your total cost should be half of the figure you quoted including OA visa application.

Medical certification from your GP.

Criminal record from Disclosure Scotland.

Notarisation acceptable from your solicitor.

[Howiehotspur]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

my doctor cert cost £80 , my police record check was £58 ( dependent on what post service you require I paid £10 ) . The notary £ 60 .

Visa £120 .

[ubonjoe]

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Not sure that conversion in Thailand can now be said to be particularly easy since 2 separate trips to Chaengwattana Immigration in Bangkok (which, I gather, is the only office in the whole of Thailand which processes non-O conversions these days) will be needed. Probably the simplest course of action for over-50 singles would be to enter Thailand on a 30-day visa exemption, having already booked an onward flight to Vientiane in Laos within this period for the purposes of obtaining a non-O at the Royal Thai Embassy there. A confirmed onward flight to Vientiane would also avoid potential boarding hassles at LHR with a one-way LHR-BKK ticket!

For over-50 singles - This is the first time I have heard that Vientiane will issue a non-O - I thought that they required applications based upon marriage only - Can anyone confirm that over-50 singles can apply for such visa's there?

Vientiane will issue a non-o visa for being 50 or over without a problem. Many people have gotten them there. Just show your passport and a bank book showing 800k baht or an income letter to prove 66k bah income or both to show a total of 800k baht.

Penang will also do the them with the same financial proof..

[spambot]

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Not sure that conversion in Thailand can now be said to be particularly easy since 2 separate trips to Chaengwattana Immigration in Bangkok (which, I gather, is the only office in the whole of Thailand which processes non-O conversions these days) will be needed. Probably the simplest course of action for over-50 singles would be to enter Thailand on a 30-day visa exemption, having already booked an onward flight to Vientiane in Laos within this period for the purposes of obtaining a non-O at the Royal Thai Embassy there. A confirmed onward flight to Vientiane would also avoid potential boarding hassles at LHR with a one-way LHR-BKK ticket!

For over-50 singles - This is the first time I have heard that Vientiane will issue a non-O - I thought that they required applications based upon marriage only - Can anyone confirm that over-50 singles can apply for such visa's there?

Vientiane will issue a non-o visa for being 50 or over without a problem. Many people have gotten them there. Just show your passport and a bank book showing 800k baht or an income letter to prove 66k bah income or both to show a total of 800k baht.

Penang will also do the them with the same financial proof..

Mnnnnn - Interesting - I didn't know that - Great info.

Just for clarity - Is the bank deposit only acceptable for a Thai bank deposit - in Baht (and not the equivalent amount in your home country bank)?

And assuming this is the case and only Thai bank deposits are acceptable - Is there a Bank letter required similar to the one expected by immigration here in Thailand?

Thanks Again

[spambot]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

Your total cost should be half of the figure you quoted including OA visa application.

Medical certification from your GP.

Criminal record from Disclosure Scotland.

Notarisation acceptable from your solicitor.

Good feedback - I read the reports from others and was surprised at their experiences for the costs - Seems that the medical and the Criminal come in within a similar rage - The notoarisation - was the service that fluctuated a lot in price - But good to hear that the price can be much less than what some are being charged and prepared to pay.

[spambot]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

my doctor cert cost £80 , my police record check was £58 ( dependent on what post service you require I paid £10 ) . The notary £ 60 .

Visa £120 .

Excellent response - giving actual numbers - very much appreciated.

It seems that the medical and the Criminal were about what others are paying i.e around £150 - Its the Notary that many seem to have had bad experiences with - A few people were refused the Notary service from solicitors unless they had the criminal and medical reports sent direct to the solicitor saying that they could not Notarise if the reports were simply supplied by the customer - So the solicitor would need to make the applications and hence the process became more expensive.

It sounds like you got a good price at £60 - well done. While most make the application through a solicitor, there are alternatives - Or did you use lower cost alternative?

[ubonjoe]

Vientiane will issue a non-o visa for being 50 or over without a problem. Many people have gotten them there. Just show your passport and a bank book showing 800k baht or an income letter to prove 66k bah income or both to show a total of 800k baht.

Penang will also do the them with the same financial proof..

Mnnnnn - Interesting - I didn't know that - Great info.

Just for clarity - Is the bank deposit only acceptable for a Thai bank deposit - in Baht (and not the equivalent amount in your home country bank)?

And assuming this is the case and only Thai bank deposits are acceptable - Is there a Bank letter required similar to the one expected by immigration here in Thailand?

Thanks Again

Not sure they would accept the funds in a foreign bank. They issue the non-o under the assumption you will be applying for an extension of stay meaning you would have the funds in a bank here. No letter from the bank is needed.

[Howiehotspur]

I was surprised when I called the Hull consulate looking to get an O visa recently - And told that for my particular situation this option was no longer available - I needed to be married to Thai or in receipt of State pension (and hence over the age of 65 yrs) - Previously I got this by neither and just by showing funds in a deposit account and being over the age of 50 yrs old to get me the O visa.

For anyone else in my situation - And looking for alternatives - It seems you can apply to London for OA, but doing this requires a medical check certificate / letter and a criminal check certificate / letter and then both need to be notarised.

While I have no experience of doing it this way - Reports are suggesting that the medical and criminal was fairly straight forward and cost for combined was around £150 - £180 (depending upon medical practice pricing), however the independent notarised services were troublesome and expensive - Many were experiencing a total cost around £500, which seems very high.

Obviously the easier way of doing this would be a tourist or an exempt visa on arrival and then converting while in Thailand. And for me it does beg the question - Why go back to UK at all if you are looking for long stay and you are over 50yrs of age, have no state pension and not married to a Thai national?

my doctor cert cost £80 , my police record check was £58 ( dependent on what post service you require I paid £10 ) . The notary £ 60 .

Visa £120 .

Excellent response - giving actual numbers - very much appreciated.

It seems that the medical and the Criminal were about what others are paying i.e around £150 - Its the Notary that many seem to have had bad experiences with - A few people were refused the Notary service from solicitors unless they had the criminal and medical reports sent direct to the solicitor saying that they could not Notarise if the reports were simply supplied by the customer - So the solicitor would need to make the applications and hence the process became more expensive.

It sounds like you got a good price at £60 - well done. While most make the application through a solicitor, there are alternatives - Or did you use lower cost alternative?

my bank statements were in an English bank as I was applying in the uk .. The notary cost , yes that can range and I was originally quoted about £170 .. For some reason ( and I posted originally on this a few months back when I was also confused as to what was needed ,as the solicitor was talking about seeing my doctors passport etc and writing to the Thai embassy ) .. But I emailed him a copy of the medical form I downloaded from the embassy site , and said it's nothing more than a tick list of 4-5 illnesses .. And also downloaded the embassy application requirement page .. To which he replied , in his opinion that's very basic , haha , ok . £60 plus vat . As I say booked a appointment , quick chat 5mins , he walked out tied them all together , seal . Done .

Good luck mate

[barnbrook]

HI there I have been geting my NON IMMIGRANT 'O' VISA FOR THE PAST 7 YEARS from Hull and never had a prob, just show proof of my pension and marrage and thats all.