SHADOW wrote:A retirement visa is not multi entry, it's the reentry permit that is multi. You can also get reentry permits at the airport.
There is actually no such thing as "retirement visa"--what is given is an "extension of stay" based on retirement, which is, in turn, an extension based on a "non immigrant visa" type O, OA, or whatever other type of classification is involved. It is this visa that is either single, or multiple entry. It just surprises me a bit that the Immigration web site
contradicts the ruling about re-entry permits. Maybe you do not need a re-entry permit if your travel in and out is within the period of validity of the original non immigrant visa, ie, the first year of use of the visa.
Lomu--what do you know about this?
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
I realize you can't see my passport with the visa stamp, so I shall quote it here:
Non-Immigrant Visa
Royal Thai Consulate-General
Honolulu, Hawaii
No. xxx
Category O-A
Good for multiple journeys to Thailand. This visa must be utilized before xx-xx-2008 if passport remains valid.
Issued on xx-xx-2007
There's no mention of re-entry permits, so it looks like what the lady at HH Immigration said is correct: I can leave and return without re-entry permits as long as my visa remains in effect. What happens after the year is up and how I renew remain to be seen.
I've been away for a couple of days, so coming back to this now.
AFAIA, HHD's visa, being AO, was granted in her home country by the relevant Thai authority. The fact that it's a visa - not an extension to one - means that she could get a multiple or single entry variety, depending on what she paid. Just as anyone can get a multiple-entry Non O visa or even a single/double/triple entry Tourist Visa.
So, its the visa that can be multiple entry. The extension to it cannot be. It'll be single entry, unless you pay for a re-entry permit - single or multiple - thereafter.
I'm still also sure, HHD, that you can exit on your current visa a couple of days before it expires and be stamped in for another year. As soon as the visa's expired (the first year), you obviously won't be able to do that and will need to extend.
Just wanted to follow up on the earlier discussion. I just returned to Thailand, and when they stamped my multiple-entry retirement visa, I got a 1-year deadline, just like lomuamart said I would. And, there was no issue of a re-entry permit, they just stamped me in as usual.
Thanks for everybody's input - this is one case where things worked as I expected.
Glad to hear it. Don't forget that if you exit just before the visa expires, you'll get another year. At least you don't need to mess about with extensions - unless you want to - for quite some time. Lucky person
BTW, if you go down that route, you will need a re-entry permit in the second year.
Ralphsandbag wrote:Hi
So is it possible to carry on leaving the country and re-entering on a yearly basis without bothering with extentions INDEFINATELY......
Cheers
Ralph[/b]
No.
The visa will be valid for a year. That year commences when it's stamped into your passport. During that time, you can exit and enter as many times as you want and get a year's permitted to stay stamp each time - as long as the visa is multi-entry and still valid.
So, HHD can go out a day before the visa expires and get another year's permitted to stay stamp. That stamp supercedes the visa. But after that the visa's finished, so there's nothing to come back in on.
Hence, a multi-entry OA can work for a maximum of 2 years.
