Couple of things,
STEVE G- AFAIA, you can get as many of those OA visas as you want, but you have to be back home for them and qualify.
pitch,
You're correct. As I mentioned below, a tourist visa or even 30 day entry stamp can be upgraded here within Thailand as long as you have 21 days remaining on your entry stamp and meet the financial and other requirements. You'll then get a single entry non O and be asked to report back within 90 days to apply for an annual extension.
Note: it's 21 days left, so anyone better move fairly quickly if they're on a 30 day stamp and there's no chance for those who now do the 15 day border runs.
Retirement Visa and 90 day reporting
dtaai-maai,
I reckon there would have been a lot of ex-pats who were caught out by the fact that the re-entry office at Swampy closed. "Get in your own province".
If your flight is leaving to Europe, it's likely to be at around 1am. You're stuffed.
Miss the flight or get the requisite visa when back home and go through the extension process again.
Mind you, you'd have to do that on an annual basis anyway. It's just the bloody mindedness of it all. Where should re-entry permits be available from? I would suggest any border or the airport.
But it seems that that's not good enough......
I can't be bothered with the economics, but I would reckon that it costs about as much to go to Penang for 5 days, get the Non O visa, go to BKK and stay overnight waiting for their letter and then the application costs.
Life's a lot more easy though.
I reckon there would have been a lot of ex-pats who were caught out by the fact that the re-entry office at Swampy closed. "Get in your own province".
If your flight is leaving to Europe, it's likely to be at around 1am. You're stuffed.
Miss the flight or get the requisite visa when back home and go through the extension process again.
Mind you, you'd have to do that on an annual basis anyway. It's just the bloody mindedness of it all. Where should re-entry permits be available from? I would suggest any border or the airport.
But it seems that that's not good enough......
I can't be bothered with the economics, but I would reckon that it costs about as much to go to Penang for 5 days, get the Non O visa, go to BKK and stay overnight waiting for their letter and then the application costs.
Life's a lot more easy though.
Mid-forties is young! As you get older (and the aches, pains, and health problems kick in) you will find that youth is a very relative thing.Incidentally, Steve, I had you down as one of the few young lads of the forum...
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
Wanderlust, it is as Lomu said (he seems to be a real expert on visas).
Here is the official document (I paid not more than 2000 Baht plus 1900 Baht for the extension from 3 month to 1 year):
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en ... e=service#
then CHANGE VISA for retirement in Thailand
The main problem is that the visa change must be made at least 21 days before visa expiration. So you have only 9 days to open a bank account, transfer the money, get the bank statement and apply for visa change.
I did not manage to do this, so I made a border run to get another 30 days. As you get only 15 days now, you can't apply 21 days before expiration, but you are forced to do it in the first 9 days after arrival.
I made it in Chiang Mai but it shoud be possible at any immigration office, actually I was at the Immigration Office in Bangkok soon after my arrival and they told me that this is possible.
Here is the official document (I paid not more than 2000 Baht plus 1900 Baht for the extension from 3 month to 1 year):
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en ... e=service#
then CHANGE VISA for retirement in Thailand
The main problem is that the visa change must be made at least 21 days before visa expiration. So you have only 9 days to open a bank account, transfer the money, get the bank statement and apply for visa change.
I did not manage to do this, so I made a border run to get another 30 days. As you get only 15 days now, you can't apply 21 days before expiration, but you are forced to do it in the first 9 days after arrival.
I made it in Chiang Mai but it shoud be possible at any immigration office, actually I was at the Immigration Office in Bangkok soon after my arrival and they told me that this is possible.
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Wanderlust
- Legend
- Posts: 2862
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:27 pm
- Location: Hua Hin
Aren't they just converting you to the status of Non-Imm 'whatever', and giving you it's permit to stay rights but not actually giving you a visa.
I done it too, but never got an actual stick on glossy visa in the passport like they give you in consulates overseas. They gave me an ink stamp 'permit to stay' in my passport and changed me over to that visa's status.
The ink stamp never said the word 'visa' anywhere!?!?
SJ
I done it too, but never got an actual stick on glossy visa in the passport like they give you in consulates overseas. They gave me an ink stamp 'permit to stay' in my passport and changed me over to that visa's status.
The ink stamp never said the word 'visa' anywhere!?!?
SJ
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dtaai-maai
- Hero
- Posts: 14924
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:00 pm
- Location: UK, Robin Hood country
I've no idea whether it applies to 30 day stamps, but it certainly applies to tourist visas. Hua Hin may well know nothing about it, but I think this is something that has to be done in person on the 3rd floor of Bangkok immigration.Wanderlust wrote:pitsch and lomu,
They do say you learn something every day and I obviously never knew that 30 day stamps could be converted into visas! It wouldn't surprise me though if Hua Hin immigration didn't know this either...
A little over two years ago my tourist visa was converted to an O (and later extended, with work permit). At least that saved me a visa run, which is what I had to do when I got my first job nearly 5 years ago.
This is the way
I think you're probably right there. I've never done it.Super Joe wrote:Aren't they just converting you to the status of Non-Imm 'whatever', and giving you it's permit to stay rights but not actually giving you a visa.
I done it too, but never got an actual stick on glossy visa in the passport like they give you in consulates overseas. They gave me an ink stamp 'permit to stay' in my passport and changed me over to that visa's status.
The ink stamp never said the word 'visa' anywhere!?!?
SJ
At the end of the day, a visa to wherever is just an invitation to visit a country. It dosn't guarantee entry. That is where Imm are so important. It's always the "permitted to stay" stamp that matters when your here.
And DM,
As long as you apply within 21 days of expiry, it applies to 30 day visa exempt stamps as well. Personally, after all this de-centalisation I reckon Suan Plu would tell you to it in the province in which you live.
I wasn't meaning that HH don't know about the regulations, just that it might be difficult to convince them, if they were unaware.
I got a stamp which says VISA:I done it too, but never got an actual stick on glossy visa in the passport like they give you in consulates overseas. They gave me an ink stamp 'permit to stay' in my passport and changed me over to that visa's status.
In addition I got a stamp 'permit to stay' until 5 May 2007 and the stamp USED on the visa.