rastlin Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 7 hours ago, jimn said: OP you should clarify what you mean by a "Rertirement Visa". A Non OA applied for in your own country, which if used right can give 2 years stay but now has insurance requirements or an "Extension of Stay" in Thailand based on a Non O or for that matter a Non OA. The replies you get will vary depending on what you mean. Sorry for the confusion. This confusion stems from the fact that I am confused whenever I try to sort through all of this Visa stuff. I hired a lawyer to help me navigate the system just because I was terrified of facing immigration alone. What I did was as follows, all done in Thailand: -Extended 30 day Visa on Entry (tourist Visa stamped at airport immigration) -Obtained a Non Immigrant O Visa of 90 days. -Obtained a one year Retirement Visa with a multi-entry permit. My understanding is that I will have 15 months the when the Visa comes through and then will reapply for annual one year extensions going forward in 2021. This is the extend of *my* understanding. Sorry again if there was any confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Teavee Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, rastlin said: Sorry for the confusion. This confusion stems from the fact that I am confused whenever I try to sort through all of this Visa stuff. I hired a lawyer to help me navigate the system just because I was terrified of facing immigration alone. What I did was as follows, all done in Thailand: -Extended 30 day Visa on Entry (tourist Visa stamped at airport immigration) -Obtained a Non Immigrant O Visa of 90 days. -Obtained a one year Retirement Visa with a multi-entry permit. My understanding is that I will have 15 months the when the Visa comes through and then will reapply for annual one year extensions going forward in 2021. This is the extend of *my* understanding. Sorry again if there was any confusion. Your "Obtained a one year Retirement Visa with a multi-entry permit" is actually a 1 year extension to the 90 day permission to stay from your Non-O visa... You entered on a Visa Exempt (30 day) stamp Extended the permission to stay from this for 30 days (I'm assuming you) then converted this to a Non-O on the basis of being > 50 Got your 1st 1 year Extension to the permission to stay granted by the 90 day Non-O [I'm assuming you used an agent to do the last 2 steps as normally you would have to wait till 30 (some places 45) days before the end of the permission to stay granted by the Non-O before you can get the 1 year extension Edited January 21, 2020 by Mike Teavee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JustAnotherHun Posted January 21, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 21, 2020 OP, I think you went exactly the right way. Thumbs up. I never understood why one should try to live here on back to back TVs, border runs etc if he had the funds and the age. Take 800k in a Thai bank, forget about it until you decide to leave the country forever, then come and go when and as often as you like without trembling in front of an airport-IO or whining in the forum because you were rejected. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahpiangeh56 Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 i'm a clueless as the guy next door. I, too have a Condo unit purchased in 2019.Now with all this mumbo jumbo confusion, it has left me with a bitter after-taste and regretting having done that. Please do give me your 2 cents worth what my next step should be. Retire in Thailand or cut loss and bit the bullet. BTW, I'm from Singapore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rastlin Posted January 22, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 22, 2020 23 minutes ago, wahpiangeh56 said: i'm a clueless as the guy next door. I, too have a Condo unit purchased in 2019.Now with all this mumbo jumbo confusion, it has left me with a bitter after-taste and regretting having done that. Please do give me your 2 cents worth what my next step should be. Retire in Thailand or cut loss and bit the bullet. BTW, I'm from Singapore. My advice, for what it is worth (you asked for my 2 cents) would be to stay where you are happy. If you are happy while in Thailand, stay there. If you are not, leave. I would not worry to much about the Visa nonsense. I look at it this way: Yes, it is a real pain to get a Visa these days. But when you compare that to what a Thai person has to do to get a Visa in the States and it is nothing. I have one Thai friend recently turned down for an Irish visa. Another friend took over a year to get a U.S. Visa. All in all, relatively speaking, the Visa headache is just one of those things. It takes some time-and some money. But go where you are happy. Life is to short to do otherwise. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JustAnotherHun Posted January 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 22, 2020 20 minutes ago, wahpiangeh56 said: i'm a clueless as the guy next door. I, too have a Condo unit purchased in 2019.Now with all this mumbo jumbo confusion, it has left me with a bitter after-taste and regretting having done that. Please do give me your 2 cents worth what my next step should be. Retire in Thailand or cut loss and bit the bullet. BTW, I'm from Singapore. If you like it here, just stay and play by the rules. Get your retirement extension and enjoy the easy living. But never cut the roots to your home country. It could be a last resort if things turn to bad here which no one can know. Don't be scared because of the stories from TV members. Most reported problems are the result of trying to bypass the regulations. Have fun. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Teavee Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 17 hours ago, wahpiangeh56 said: i'm a clueless as the guy next door. I, too have a Condo unit purchased in 2019.Now with all this mumbo jumbo confusion, it has left me with a bitter after-taste and regretting having done that. Please do give me your 2 cents worth what my next step should be. Retire in Thailand or cut loss and bit the bullet. BTW, I'm from Singapore. If you're just popping over for a few days every few weeks then I wouldn't worry too much, there are special Immigration counters for Singaporeans & Hong-Kongers, as Thailand is trying to encourage more people to come over on short Food/Shopping trips. However, if you're staying for months on end then I would get a Non-O based on being over 50 (as a Citizen or PR you can easily get this from the Thai Embassy near to the Hilton on Orchard Road) or if you're under 50 consider getting the Thai Elite Visa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Teavee Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 16 hours ago, rastlin said: My advice, for what it is worth (you asked for my 2 cents) would be to stay where you are happy. If you are happy while in Thailand, stay there. If you are not, leave. I would not worry to much about the Visa nonsense. I look at it this way: Yes, it is a real pain to get a Visa these days. But when you compare that to what a Thai person has to do to get a Visa in the States and it is nothing. I have one Thai friend recently turned down for an Irish visa. Another friend took over a year to get a U.S. Visa. All in all, relatively speaking, the Visa headache is just one of those things. It takes some time-and some money. But go where you are happy. Life is to short to do otherwise. My GF ("Normal" 34 yr old, works in a department store) is bricking herself at her 1st visit to Singapore (she's coming over with me to help me wind my Condo there down) as she's read all sorts of horror stories on the net about people being refused entry on a SVP (Social Visitors Pass, Singapore equivalent of Visa Exempt) And Singapore doesn't have any other Visa options we could try for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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