JudeMartin Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Hello - I would like to download he correct application to start my retirement visa process for 2019. I live in Tucson, Az. I realize I will have to go to Los Angeles to submit/sign. How much time will I need to complete the initial steps while I am in the USA? Do I understand correctly that I apply for the non-immigrant visa in my home country and complete the remainder of the process after I have arrived in Thailand? I am hoping to get this done quickly. I plan to do all the necessary work myself. Thank you. Jude-Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asiaexpat Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 You have three options: 1. Complete the full Non-O/A Long Stay Visa process which involves medical and police checks (can take time.) 2. Non-O Visa process that is simple and fast. When in Thailand extend Permited to Stay at Immigration. 3. Enter on Visa Waiver and apply for Non-O in Bangkok (takes time.) Download forms from LA Consulate site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ubonjoe Posted September 23, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted September 23, 2019 You will not be able to get a non-o visa in the states for being over 50 years old for retirement. The embassy and consulates will not issue them. The embassy and the 3 official consulates will only issue a OA long stay visa. If you want to apply for a extension of stay here in Thailand your best option is to get a single entry tourist visa and then apply for a 90 day non immigrant visa (category O) at immigration. Then during the last 30 days of the 90 entry you can apply for the one year extension. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) My suggestion. Look at the O-A visa first. If you have the O-A you will be stamped in for a year and that will give you plenty of time to get your head around all the other situations that can arise. Means reporting to Imm'office every 90 days, same as the O visa does, and subsequent extension you will need to apply for, then you will have a clearer picture how to do things. Edited September 23, 2019 by overherebc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glegolo Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 5 minutes ago, overherebc said: My suggestion. Look at the O-A visa first. If you have the O-A you will be stamped in for a year and that will give you plenty of time to get your head around all the other situations that can arise. Means reporting to Imm'office every 90 days, same as the O visa does, and subsequent extension you will need to apply for, then you will have a clearer picture how to do things. No It does NOT,. With a Non O he must go out of the country every 90 day and with a Non O-A he can as you say, report inside Thailand directly to the Immigreation. glegolo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, glegolo said: No It does NOT,. With a Non O he must go out of the country every 90 day and with a Non O-A he can as you say, report inside Thailand directly to the Immigreation. glegolo If he arrives on a single entry non O he will have to convert to an extension but it looks as though even that is not possible ( see UBJ's post ) O-A is the best, better than any other option with very little Imm' contact for the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 41 minutes ago, glegolo said: No It does NOT,. With a Non O he must go out of the country every 90 day and with a Non O-A he can as you say, report inside Thailand directly to the Immigreation. Not all non-o visas are multiple entry visas. The 90 day entry from a single entry non-o allows a person to apply for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glegolo Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said: Not all non-o visas are multiple entry visas. The 90 day entry from a single entry non-o allows a person to apply for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration. you could though point out that I WAS correct Non O = out of country and Non O-A tay within and report. No need to discuss this anymore... glegolo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Denis Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 6 hours ago, overherebc said: My suggestion. Look at the O-A visa first. If you have the O-A you will be stamped in for a year and that will give you plenty of time to get your head around all the other situations that can arise. Means reporting to Imm'office every 90 days, same as the O visa does, and subsequent extension you will need to apply for, then you will have a clearer picture how to do things. Applying in your home-country (USA) for a Non Immigrant Multi-Entry OA Visa is for sure your best option, when you meet the requirements. As mentioned by @overtherebc it allows you to stay a full year hassle-free in Thailand and when making trips in/out Thailand during that period you don't need re-entry permits. You only need to do a 90 day report at the end of every 90 consecutive days in Thailand (and if you make a trip abroad the teller starts at 0 again on your return). When you time your last trip abroad somewhere at the end of the 1st year and return before the end of your 1 year visa validity, you can stay yet another year. Like the 1st year you would then have to make 90 day reports at the end of every 90 consecutive days in Thailand. The difference being that for trips abroad you would during that 2nd year now need re-entry permits to keep your permission to stay alive. So with the Non Imm OA Visa you can in effect get almost 2 years of stay in Thailand with a minimum of Immigration administrative hassle. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max69xl Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 6 hours ago, glegolo said: you could though point out that I WAS correct Non O = out of country and Non O-A tay within and report. No need to discuss this anymore... glegolo You were not entirely correct. Of course you have to leave the country when the visa expires. That's why it's called a 90 days Non-immigrant O Visa and it's a single entry. The reason for applying for it at home is the simplicity to extend it 1 year after 60 days at the local immigration office. The problem will always be to open a Thai bank account in time for the extension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glegolo Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 9 minutes ago, Max69xl said: You were not entirely correct. Of course you have to leave the country when the visa expires. That's why it's called a 90 days Non-immigrant O Visa and it's a single entry. The reason for applying for it at home is the simplicity to extend it 1 year after 60 days at the local immigration office. The problem will always be to open a Thai bank account in time for the extension. A lot of words, I were still correct. Non O = out... Non O-A = stay and report inside Thailand. No need to use 1200 words to explain that. glegolo 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailand49 Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Don't forget about the money that is necessary to qualify! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max69xl Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 3 hours ago, glegolo said: A lot of words, I were still correct. Non O = out... Non O-A = stay and report inside Thailand. No need to use 1200 words to explain that. glegolo No, you're wrong. You don't leave the country. After 60 days you apply for the 1 year extension. After that the first year is the same as with a O-A Visa. The difference is that it's so much easier to apply for a Non-Immigrant O Visa compared to the O-A. Don't argue about things you don't know anything about. Like I said earlier,the only problem will be the bank account. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 41 minutes ago, thailand49 said: Don't forget about the money that is necessary to qualify! And the benefit of the O-A means you can do it using money in the US. No need to worry about, has the money been here long enough to get the extension, will my monthly income be enough to get an extension. The O-A gives you time to relax for at least a year and get things sorted with no rush. No need to tie up 800,000 baht at O interest and if you don't like being here no hassles involved in try to get it back out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max69xl Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) 5 minutes ago, overherebc said: And the benefit of the O-A means you can do it using money in the US. No need to worry about, has the money been here long enough to get the extension, will my monthly income be enough to get an extension. The O-A gives you time to relax for at least a year and get things sorted with no rush. No need to tie up 800,000 baht at O interest and if you don't like being here no hassles involved in try to get it back out. The interest is not 0, it's 0,5% in a savings account and 1,5% (12 months) in a Fixed Deposit Account which is accepted by Immigration. Edited September 23, 2019 by Max69xl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BertM Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) JudeMartin, I sent you private message... you can check it by clicking on the small envelope at top right of your screen. Good luck... Edited September 23, 2019 by BertM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Max69xl said: The interest is not 0, it's 0,5% in a savings account and 1,5% (12 months) in a Fixed Deposit Account which is accepted by Immigration. OK, next to no interest, but basically it can't be 'played with' to get a better rate and that 'might' be possible in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thailand49 Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 10 hours ago, overherebc said: And the benefit of the O-A means you can do it using money in the US. No need to worry about, has the money been here long enough to get the extension, will my monthly income be enough to get an extension. The O-A gives you time to relax for at least a year and get things sorted with no rush. No need to tie up 800,000 baht at O interest and if you don't like being here no hassles involved in try to get it back out. My comment was reference to a O not a O-A, which is what I think he was asking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 41 minutes ago, thailand49 said: My comment was reference to a O not a O-A, which is what I think he was asking about. UBJ has already mentioned it's very likely he won't be able to get an O in US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Denis Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, Peter Denis said: Applying in your home-country (USA) for a Non Immigrant Multi-Entry OA Visa is for sure your best option, when you meet the requirements. As mentioned by @overtherebc it allows you to stay a full year hassle-free in Thailand and when making trips in/out Thailand during that period you don't need re-entry permits. You only need to do a 90 day report at the end of every 90 consecutive days in Thailand (and if you make a trip abroad the teller starts at 0 again on your return). When you time your last trip abroad somewhere at the end of the 1st year and return before the end of your 1 year visa validity, you can stay yet another year. Like the 1st year you would then have to make 90 day reports at the end of every 90 consecutive days in Thailand. The difference being that for trips abroad you would during that 2nd year now need re-entry permits to keep your permission to stay alive. So with the Non Imm OA Visa you can in effect get almost 2 years of stay in Thailand with a minimum of Immigration administrative hassle. An additional and actually major advantage of getting a Non Imm OA Visa from your home-country, is that you do not need to tie up 800.000/400.000 THB in a thai bank-account or have to deal with the monthly income-method during the first 2 years of your stay in Thailand. When you apply for a Non Imm OA in your home-country you do however need to demonstrate that you have sufficient financials for your stay in Thailand. But if that's the case and once the Visa is granted there are no financial immigration administrative requirements anymore for two years. After the 2 years you can either re-apply for a Non Imm OA Visa in your home-country and start afresh, or go for an extension of stay but that would mean that from hten on you would need to comply with the financial requirements for long-stayers (see higher). Edited September 24, 2019 by Peter Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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