Question on "O-A" versus "O" visa for retirement

[Chip Allen]

I came into Thailand on a tourist visa from the United States with the intention to convert the visa and retire here. I extended the visa once. I was told by IMMIGRATION that I would have to leave the country and go to either Cambodia or Laos because I only had two weeks left on my extension. I opted for Laos and came back in with an “O visa”. When I extended it, they plainly stamped “RETIREMENT” in my passport and October 19th, 2016 as the date the visa was renewable. There is no mention of anything called an “O-A” anywhere in my passport, only an “O visa”. I have been reading about the ‘O-A” on various fora ever since I started the process. If I have one of these, it is NOT identified as such. I paid 1900 baht for the yearly extension but still see no mention of anything called an “O-A”. Can someone shed some light on this? Thanks for indulging my ignorance.

[ubonjoe]

You can only get a OA visa at an embassy in your home country or a country where you have legal residence.

You have a one year extension of stay based upon retirement.

If you want to travel you will need to get a re-entry permit to keep your extension valid.

[oncearugge]

You do not have an O/A visa!

Such visas are only available from a Thai Embassy in your own country.

What you have is an "extension of stay based on retirement" (it is not a visa)

The extension is renewable if the financial requirements can be met.

[elviajero]

• You entered the country with a Non 'O' visa and was given a 90 day stay. That visa is now finished with.

You have since applied for an extension of stay based on retirement which has extended your 90 days by another 1 year.

You don't need an 'O' or 'O-A' visa.

You can exit/enter anytime during the next year but you need to buy a re-entry permit (1,000 baht)

If you plan to exit/enter more than 3 times in the year it's better to buy aa multi reentry permit (3,800 baht)

At the end of this 1 year extension you do not need to get another visa. You just re-apply for another 1 year extension.

[Chip Allen]

Thanks for the quick replies. Naturally, I have received a good bit of conflicting information. Financial requirements were documented with an Embassy letter and documents from Social Security, State Retirement System and my annuity, so there's no problem there. Obviously, I opted to get the "retirement" visa here since it is simpler than getting one in the USA. The comment about NOT having a visa was a bit confusing though, since the space on the passport that says "Type of visa" plainly says "O". Less confused than I was. Thanks.

[ubonjoe]

Your visa only allowed you to enter the country and get the 90 day permit to stay that you have now extended for one year.

As soon as you entered the country your visa became invalid for anything.

[oncearugge]

Thanks for the quick replies. Naturally, I have received a good bit of conflicting information. Financial requirements were documented with an Embassy letter and documents from Social Security, State Retirement System and my annuity, so there's no problem there. Obviously, I opted to get the "retirement" visa here since it is simpler than getting one in the USA. The comment about NOT having a visa was a bit confusing though, since the space on the passport that says "Type of visa" plainly says "O". Less confused than I was. Thanks.

Here are a couple of extension stamps something very similar will be in your passport.

Note that the word "visa" cannot be found

[jacksam]

OP it's great to have experts like those above. You have all your answers. Just take special note from elviajero 're re entry permit. There have been occasions where people on extensions, like yourself , have left the country without reentry permit. That then means your back to square one. It's easy though you can get them at immigration or airport.

[Chip Allen]

Thanks to all who responded. It's worthwhile to note that there is a lot of spurious information circulating on the internet and at least ONE "e-book" is available which is mostly correct but contains several fatal errors. For example, the e-book says that once you get a multiple-entry visa, that you are REQUIRED to leave the country every 90 days. Most expats tell me this is incorrect. Just because it is in print in some form does NOT mean it's valid information. I notified the author of the e-book about the error and he acknowledged that it was incorrect and promised to send out corrected info to all who bought the book. That has not happened so far.

OP it's great to have experts like those above. You have all your answers. Just take special note from elviajero 're re entry permit. There have been occasions where people on extensions, like yourself , have left the country without reentry permit. That then means your back to square one. It's easy though you can get them at immigration or airport.

[ubonjoe]

A standard multiple entry non immigrant visa from an embassy or consulate does require leaving every 90 days. Only aOA visa allows a one year entry for each entry.

[oncearugge]

Thanks to all who responded. It's worthwhile to note that there is a lot of spurious information circulating on the internet and at least ONE "e-book" is available which is mostly correct but contains several fatal errors. For example, the e-book says that once you get a multiple-entry visa, that you are REQUIRED to leave the country every 90 days. Most expats tell me this is incorrect. Just because it is in print in some form does NOT mean it's valid information. I notified the author of the e-book about the error and he acknowledged that it was incorrect and promised to send out corrected info to all who bought the book. That has not happened so far.

OP it's great to have experts like those above. You have all your answers. Just take special note from elviajero 're re entry permit. There have been occasions where people on extensions, like yourself , have left the country without reentry permit. That then means your back to square one. It's easy though you can get them at immigration or airport.

The majority of multiple-entry visas DO require leaving every 90 days because such visas only allow 90 day entries.

The exception would be an O/A visa which whilst multi-entry provides a one year entry/permission to stay during the visas period of validity.

[elviajero]

Thanks to all who responded. It's worthwhile to note that there is a lot of spurious information circulating on the internet and at least ONE "e-book" is available which is mostly correct but contains several fatal errors. For example, the e-book says that once you get a multiple-entry visa, that you are REQUIRED to leave the country every 90 days. Most expats tell me this is incorrect. Just because it is in print in some form does NOT mean it's valid information. I notified the author of the e-book about the error and he acknowledged that it was incorrect and promised to send out corrected info to all who bought the book. That has not happened so far.

OP it's great to have experts like those above. You have all your answers. Just take special note from elviajero 're re entry permit. There have been occasions where people on extensions, like yourself , have left the country without reentry permit. That then means your back to square one. It's easy though you can get them at immigration or airport.

There are two multi entry non immigrant visas that can be issued on the bases of retirement.

• 'O' - Each entry is given a 90 day stay and you have to leave on or before the 90th day. You can exit multiple times and immediately and re-enter to start another 90 days until the visa expires.
• 'O-A' - Each entry is given a 1 year stay and if you stay longer than 90 days you have to report to immigration every 90 days.

[DogNo1]

There's lots of confused misinformation on here. Look at ubonjoe's two posts. They succinctly state the facts. Ignore everything else.

[gk10002000]

Thanks for the quick replies. Naturally, I have received a good bit of conflicting information. Financial requirements were documented with an Embassy letter and documents from Social Security, State Retirement System and my annuity, so there's no problem there. Obviously, I opted to get the "retirement" visa here since it is simpler than getting one in the USA. The comment about NOT having a visa was a bit confusing though, since the space on the passport that says "Type of visa" plainly says "O". Less confused than I was. Thanks.

You know, your post cleared up what I have been reading about for years. I agree, it seems much easier to apply for extension based on retirement while over there instead of going the O-A route from the USA originally.

[Jingthing]

Thanks for the quick replies. Naturally, I have received a good bit of conflicting information. Financial requirements were documented with an Embassy letter and documents from Social Security, State Retirement System and my annuity, so there's no problem there. Obviously, I opted to get the "retirement" visa here since it is simpler than getting one in the USA. The comment about NOT having a visa was a bit confusing though, since the space on the passport that says "Type of visa" plainly says "O". Less confused than I was. Thanks.

You know, your post cleared up what I have been reading about for years. I agree, it seems much easier to apply for extension based on retirement while over there instead of going the O-A route from the USA originally.

There are pros and cons.

For the O-A you need the medical form and police record form not required for retirement extensions.

But for people using a bank method (full or combo) with the O-A, they can start in their home country showing funds in their home country instead of in Thailand. That is a big plus for many people starting in the system. Also with the O-A, if used wisely, you can stay in Thailand for about two years before needing to bother with an extension in Thailand, especially attractive for people using the bank method as they have all that time to get the money INTO Thailand.

Basically there really isn't one "best" or "easiest" option for everyone ... that depends on individual circumstances.

Edited October 9, 2015 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Adjustment to my last post.

I don't even know if the "combo method" is an option for O-A visa applications but I do know the full bank method showing 800K baht is and in that case it is typical to show that money in your home country rather than Thailand. Of course money outside Thailand won't be of use for a retirement extension application in Thailand (full 800K or combo).

[OJAS]

Adjustment to my last post.

I don't even know if the "combo method" is an option for O-A visa applications but I do know the full bank method showing 800K baht is and in that case it is typical to show that money in your home country rather than Thailand. Of course money outside Thailand won't be of use for a retirement extension application in Thailand (full 800K or combo).

An interesting point. The London Embassy, for example, do not refer specifically to any mixing and matching being permissible of the financial requirement options listed in item 4 under the "Required Documents" heading on their website at http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/51. But neither do they (inaccurately, of course) refer to the "combo" option in the third bullet under the "Once Arrived In The Kingdom" heading!

[elviajero]

Adjustment to my last post.

I don't even know if the "combo method" is an option for O-A visa applications but I do know the full bank method showing 800K baht is and in that case it is typical to show that money in your home country rather than Thailand. Of course money outside Thailand won't be of use for a retirement extension application in Thailand (full 800K or combo).

I can't speak for every country but the combo method is definitely available from the London embassy.

[oncearugge]

Adjustment to my last post.

I don't even know if the "combo method" is an option for O-A visa applications but I do know the full bank method showing 800K baht is and in that case it is typical to show that money in your home country rather than Thailand. Of course money outside Thailand won't be of use for a retirement extension application in Thailand (full 800K or combo).

I can't speak for every country but the combo method is definitely available from the London embassy.

As is the monthly "income" method!

[ubonjoe]

Not written as a combination but ii is allowed according the MFA website. http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15385-Non-Immigrant-Visa-%22O-A%22-(Long-Stay).html

"A copy of bank statement showing a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate (an original copy) with a monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht, or a deposit account plus a monthly income totalling not less than 800,000 Baht."