Changing the date on retirement extension

[luther]

I want to change the renewal date for my retirement extension.

Is this how it works?

I leave Thailand without renewing the extension. Let’s say May. Back in the US, I send my passport to the Thai consulate in Washington D.C. with forms, pictures etc. and obtain an O-A visa. I bring that back to Thailand. I present my passport, bank documents, etc. to Chiang Mai immigration.

Questions:

Let’s say I re-enter Thailand with the new visa August 1. How do I control when my retirement extension will be renewed from then on? Is there any timing I need to think about. Can I get the renewal right after I re-enter Thailand?

To get the visas from the Thai embassy in Washington, they require a medical certificate. http://thaiembdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Medical-Certificate-Form-For-Non-Immigrant-O-A-Long-Stay-Only.pdf

Has anyone had a doctor fill this out in the states?

[Diplomatico]

After you obtain the O-A visa in the US, you will not need to present anything to Chiang Mai Immigration upon arrival other than your passport/visa when entering the country at the airport. You'll be stamped in with a permission to stay for one year.

Let's say you enter on 1 August....your permission to stay will be granted until 31 July (approx) of the following year. If you do nothing else, your annual extension would be due the following July.

However, that visa is multiple entry for the first year and - during that year - you can exit/re-enter Thailand as many times as you wish and you'll always be stamped in for another year.....each time you leave and return.

So, for example, if you wanted to make certain that your annual extension date is due in October, you could leave Thailand in October, re-enter, and then you'd be stamped in until the following October. Your annual extension would be then be due in October. (If you never left Thailand, it would be due at the end of July as stated previously.)

You cannot get a retirement extension (renewal) right after you re-enter Thailand. There would be no need to because you'll get stamped in for a year's permission to stay upon arrival.

I've had a doctor fill out the medical form in the US. Some will require you to take blood tests, others won't. You'll also need a police clearance in the US as part of the O-A visa package. At the LA Consulate they accept a local police clearance....not sure about the DC Consulate.

[northernjohn]

In Vancouver I had to get a Notary saying I was who I said I was. The police check was just a community one and the medical check was just plain funny. Both the doctor and I had a good laugh as he filled it in.

[Maestro]

Luther, in your case I would not apply for a non-O-A visa but for a single-entry non-O visa for travel to Thailand for the purpose of retirement. Apply at an honourary consulate, not the consular section of the embassy in Washington DC, as the latter would probably insist on the more expensive and more cumbersome multiple-entry non-O-A visa.

The single-entry non-O visa gives you permission to stay for 90 days from you arrival. Any time during the last 30 days, apply for a one-year extension of stay for the reason of retirement. This one-year period is added to the end of your current 90-day period.

Any time during the last 30 days of your one-year extension, apply for your next one-year extension of stay.

Therefore, decide on your desired due date for the application of extension and calculate backwards from there to arrive at the corresponding date of arrival with your the single-entry non-O visa. Basically, if you plan to apply for the extension of stay 15 days before the expiration of your current permission to stay, you should arrive with your non-O visa in Thailand 75 days before your desired date for the application for the extension of stay.