O-A visa , the basics

[Andrew Dwyer]

First, my apologies as this has probably been posted many times.

I would like to get my head around the basics of the O-A visa.

The way I see it is :

I entered Thailand on an O-A visa 24th Oct 2016 and received a stamp until 23rd Oct 2017.

I can leave and come back to Thailand as I like during this period and will receive a 1 year stamp every time.

I have to report to immigration if I am in Thailand for 90 days.

If I time it right and leave and return shortly before 23rd October 2017 I will receive a stamp for a further 12 months.

During this 12 months ( the second year) I continue to report every 90 days but if I leave Thailand I need to obtain an entry permit to return.

At the end of the second year I can obtain a one year extension and continue to report (90 days) or leave and return with entry permits.

These extensions can then be renewed yearly.

As I said, this is the basics obviously there are conditions for this to happen ( proof of income, residence etc)

Just wanted to know if I'm on the right track and will take each step as it arrives .

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[skatewash]

Yes.

Except that the date up until which you may receive another year permission to stay on entry based on the non-OA visa is the "enter before" date printed on that visa, not the permission to stay date you received on your first entry.

Edited December 3, 2016 by skatewash
I was mistaken on this point.

[mahjongguy]

"I entered Thailand on an O-A visa 24th Oct 2016 and received a stamp until 23rd Oct 2017.

I can leave and come back to Thailand as I like during this period and will receive a 1 year stamp every time."

 

No. Not correct.

 

The dates you mentioned relate to your current Permission To Stay.

 

The dates during which you can go out, re-enter, and get another year of Permission To Stay are:

- the Date of Issue for the visa, and

- the Enter Before date of the visa (which is a year minus one day from the Date of Issue).

 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

If I time it right and leave and return shortly before 23rd October 2017 I will receive a stamp for a further 12 months.

That is the date your current entry ends not the expiration date of your visa.

You must do an entry or before the enter before date on you visa. You will get a new one year entry up to that date. After that date you will need a re-entry permit to keep your last entry valid.

[SaintLouisBlues]

5 minutes ago, mahjongguy said:

The dates during which you can go out, re-enter, and get another year of Permission To Stay are:

- the Date of Issue for the visa, and

- the Enter Before date of the visa (which is a year minus one day from the Date of Issue).

Wrong. He gets a 12-month extension every time he enters during his first year, including the 22 October 2017. I speak from personal experience. After 23 October 2017 he needs a further re-entry permit every time he wants to leave and re-enter for the next 12 months. Then he applies for his extension

[Upnotover]

2 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Wrong. He gets a 12-month extension every time he enters during his first year, including the 22 October 2017. I speak from personal experience. After 23 October 2017 he needs a further re-entry permit every time he wants to leave and re-enter for the next 12 months. Then he applies for his extension

 

On his visa is an Enter Before date, that is the last date he can enter and get a 1 year permission to stay.  Unless he entered the country on the same day as his visa was issued it will not be 22/23 October 2017.

[mahjongguy]

The original post reads to be read carefully. The Issue Date is not mentioned.

[wpcoe]

6 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Wrong. He gets a 12-month extension every time he enters during his first year, including the 22 October 2017. I speak from personal experience. After 23 October 2017 he needs a further re-entry permit every time he wants to leave and re-enter for the next 12 months. Then he applies for his extension

 

Not quite.  The date until which he can continue getting one-year permissions to stay is the expiration date of the visa (i.e. one year from the day the O-A visa was placed in his passport).

 

The 22-Oct-17 date to which you refer is not the expiration date of the visa, it happens to be the current permitted-to-stay-until date.l

 

He did not provide the expiration date of the visa.

 

[Edited to add:]

 

@Upnotover and @mahjongguy beat me to the punch as they posted while I was typing.

Edited December 3, 2016 by wpcoe

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Wrong. He gets a 12-month extension every time he enters during his first year, including the 22 October 2017. I speak from personal experience. After 23 October 2017 he needs a further re-entry permit every time he wants to leave and re-enter for the next 12 months. Then he applies for his extension

You are incorrect. The 22nd of October is the date he entered the country not the date his visa was issued. The visas operation date is one year from the date it was issued.

You do not get a 12 month extension when you enter the country you get a new permit to stay date the is one year from the date you enter the country that the visa allows.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Thanks for the quick and precise responses.
My date of issue is 17 October 2016 and enter before 16 October 2017.
I'll use these dates as my 1st year.

Not doubting you SaintLouisBlues but as there is only a week between my arrival date and date of issue I'll play it safe and go with mahjongguy and Joe's advice.




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[Andrew Dwyer]

Thanks again guys.

This is exactly why i asked the question, it can be misleading and I was under the wrong impression.


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[mahjongguy]

Andrew, aside from that one point, you did a good job of putting together the basics.

 

I came here in 2005 with an O-A visa. It was Single Entry, which are no longer available. I immediately went over to the old BKK Immigration on Suan Phlu and asked them what was the next step. The officer at the Help Desk just smiled and said You're Done, then recommended that I go ahead and get a Re-Entry Permit since they were not yet available at the airport.

 

It hit me then that I didn't understand nearly enough about how all this worked, so I did my best to flush out everything I thought I knew and started over. The most important step was to see that a visa gets you an entry, and that entry is defined by the "Permitted To Stay Until..." stamp. Once the visa itself has expired, you may still have a valid Permission To Stay but you do not have any way to enter. Thus the need to get a Re-Entry Permit before you go out. It acts a bit like a visa because it gets you in, but it does not get you a fresh Permission To Stay, it only allows you to continue on with the "Permitted To Stay Until..." date that you had when you exited.