Retirement Visa/Extension of stay when re-entered on compulsory Non O-A visa but Non O and re-entry permit still valid !!

[Jen65]

I have been here on Non O retirement extension of stay for several years however had to go out in October 2020 with re-entry permit .  To come back I dealt with Thai Embassy in Lisbon and they advised I must have new O-A visa at that time even though Jomtien Immigration told me a load of rubbish and said I could come back on Non O !! (The Embassy requested to talk directly to the officially to correct them !!)     Anyway I came back with a new Non Immigrant O-A visa with all the requirements , spent 2 weeks in quarantine .

I was informed by Thai Embassy in Lisbon that quote "not necessary to cancel my existing Non O visa or re-entry permit in order obtain new O-A visa "

So now I have a new Non Imm O-A visa with Embassy valid expiry date 3rd November 2021 but on arrival the Immigration reduced that to 31st August 2021 due to my insurance policy expiry date .

I also still have my original extension of stay valid to 11th April 2021 .

Question  !!!  Must I only use my new O-A visa and have to re-apply for extension of stay / new visa based on retirement which will cost me 1900 baht ?   or can I simply use my existing extension of stay based on my old visa (still valid) and renew my previous retirement extension of stay without having to apply for a new Visa (retirement ) - based on new O-A visa thus also avoiding any payment for new application  ??

Also ,  if I want to keep my new re-entry O-A visa valid with continued extensions of stay , is there a choice between obtaining retirement / extension of stay based on either O-A  or O visas ??

I realize that with Non O one is not required to have all the financial and insurance requirements the same as the higher requirements required when I applied for O-A visa .   Does it make a difference  to keeping the original visa valid ??     In other words ,  if for example there was another Pandemic (god forbid ) then if it possible to keep the O-A visa valid with extensions of stay and all the requirements of same met , then should one go out of the country would it not be more easy to return if Thailand re-imposed restrictions on entry to O-A visas ??  One would already have the necessary documents and policy's in place and not get stuck outside Thailand with only an O visa ???              

[ubonjoe]

You were given incorrect info by the embassy in Lisbon.

You could of entered the country using your re-entry permit for your still valid extension of stay based upon retirement.

There is nothing you can do now since you entered the country using the OA visa. For all intents and purposes your extension of stay is gone now since you now have a different permit to stay date than what it allowed.

You should contact immigration about getting your entry changed to the full year your OA visa allowed after getting insurance to cover the remainder of the year you could of gotten.

[Jen65]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You were given incorrect info by the embassy in Lisbon.

You could of entered the country using your re-entry permit for your still valid extension of stay based upon retirement.

There is nothing you can do now since you entered the country using the OA visa. For all intents and purposes your extension of stay is gone now since you now have a different permit to stay date than what it allowed.

You should contact immigration about getting your entry changed to the full year your OA visa allowed after getting insurance to cover the remainder of the year you could of gotten.

sorry , you are wrong -  entry to Thailand was until recently only on a limited basis ie Thai Elite / business first then they opened up to O-A visas which of course only obtained outside the country at Embassies and issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (nothing to do with Immigration here ) It was only later that they opened up to allowing those with Non Imm O visas back in !!   Embassy was fully correct !!  

My questions still remains as I have 2 valid visas !!  I am well aware about my insurance and expiry dates but that was not my question .

 

On Wednesday, 14 October 2020, 18:43:52 GMT+7, Thai Consul Lisbon <[email protected]> wrote:

 

 

Dear  Capt Graham Wolstenholme ,

 

Please note that there are a number of holders of re-entry permit of Non-Immigrant O Retirement who were denied entry to

the Kingdom upon their arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

We have been informed of the clear instruction from Bangkok that we can only issue the certificate of entry to the holders of Non-Immigrant O-A and O-X Long Stay Visa  or the holders of re-entry permit of these types of Visa.  

 

Non-Immigrant O-A and O-X Long Stay Visa can only issued by the Thai Embassies and Consulates worldwide.

 

The Royal Embassy in Lisbon needs to clarify with the  Immigration Office in Chonburi in this regard.

 

Kind regards,

 

Kittipod

 

Consular Section

Royal Thai Embassy 

Rua de Alcolena 12, Restelo 

1400-005 

Lisboa, Portugal 

Tel: (351) 21301 4848

 

 

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

sorry , you are wrong -  entry to Thailand was until recently only on a limited basis ie Thai Elite / business first then they opened up to O-A visas which of course only obtained outside the country at Embassies and issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (nothing to do with Immigration here ) It was only later that they opened up to allowing those with Non Imm O visas back in !!   Embassy was fully correct !!  

The announcement for them was done in October but there was some confusion at first and some embassies did not include the extension of a non-o visa entry based upon retirement initially. It seems you were trying at the wrong time.

 

28 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

My questions still remains as I have 2 valid visas !!  I am well aware about my insurance and expiry dates but that was not my question .

You only have a one valid visa now and that is your OA visa. Not sure how you were able to have your OA visa issued with insurance that was valid for less than one year.

As I wrote before your extension of stay (it is not a visa) and re-entry permit for it are no longer valid. You can only have one valid permit to stay date and the one you got from the OA visa is the one you have now.

[jimn]

3 hours ago, Jen65 said:

sorry , you are wrong -  entry to Thailand was until recently only on a limited basis ie Thai Elite / business first then they opened up to O-A visas which of course only obtained outside the country at Embassies and issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (nothing to do with Immigration here ) It was only later that they opened up to allowing those with Non Imm O visas back in !!   Embassy was fully correct !!  

My questions still remains as I have 2 valid visas !!  I am well aware about my insurance and expiry dates but that was not my question .

 

On Wednesday, 14 October 2020, 18:43:52 GMT+7, Thai Consul Lisbon <[email protected]> wrote:

 

 

Dear  Capt Graham Wolstenholme ,

 

Please note that there are a number of holders of re-entry permit of Non-Immigrant O Retirement who were denied entry to

the Kingdom upon their arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

 

We have been informed of the clear instruction from Bangkok that we can only issue the certificate of entry to the holders of Non-Immigrant O-A and O-X Long Stay Visa  or the holders of re-entry permit of these types of Visa.  

 

Non-Immigrant O-A and O-X Long Stay Visa can only issued by the Thai Embassies and Consulates worldwide.

 

The Royal Embassy in Lisbon needs to clarify with the  Immigration Office in Chonburi in this regard.

 

Kind regards,

 

Kittipod

 

Consular Section

Royal Thai Embassy 

Rua de Alcolena 12, Restelo 

1400-005 

Lisboa, Portugal 

Tel: (351) 21301 4848

 

 

Yes I do agree with you. Originally the Non O with retirement was not allowed unless you were married to a Thai citizen. I had an existing Retirement extension of stay with a re entry permit and obtained a COE based on this on September 29th from the RTE London. I entered Thailand with this COE and re entry permit on November 6th.

They started to allow people with a Non O with existing re entry some time in November but it started with the insurance being enforced the same as an OA, ie 40k out outpatient and 400k inpatient. At the end of November this changed again and they started to allow existing Non O retirement with a re entry permit without the extra OA type insurance and then applied the insurance to new Non O retirement applications.

[Jen65]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

The announcement for them was done in October but there was some confusion at first and some embassies did not include the extension of a non-o visa entry based upon retirement initially. It seems you were trying at the wrong time.

 

You only have a one valid visa now and that is your OA visa. Not sure how you were able to have your OA visa issued with insurance that was valid for less than one year.

As I wrote before your extension of stay (it is not a visa) and re-entry permit for it are no longer valid. You can only have one valid permit to stay date and the one you got from the OA visa is the one you have now.

You stated I was wrong and could have re-entered on my re-entry permit based on the then current extension of stay for retirement .

You stated that the Lisbon Embassy gave me wrong information .

You have been proved wrong on both counts and even with the information I provided direct from the Embassy you have not acknowledged that it is you who was wrong !

Now you say "it seems you were trying at the wrong time " !!!   What on earth is that supposed to mean ?   There is no wrong or right time - only the time one has to go out by necessity for urgent reasons .  Then one follows what the Embassy instructs one to do from the place where one is to obtain the necessary documentation (CofE etc) to return .  

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Jen65 said:

You stated I was wrong and could have re-entered on my re-entry permit based on the then current extension of stay for retirement .

You stated that the Lisbon Embassy gave me wrong information .

You have been proved wrong on both counts and even with the information I provided direct from the Embassy you have not acknowledged that it is you who was wrong !

Now you say "it seems you were trying at the wrong time " !!!   What on earth is that supposed to mean ?   There is no wrong or right time - only the time one has to go out by necessity for urgent reasons .  Then one follows what the Embassy instructs one to do from the place where one is to obtain the necessary documentation (CofE etc) to return .  

And the bottom line is?

Fact is you currently have a permission of stay from your non O-A that has been cut short of the 12 months due to your compulsory insurance not being dated correctly. Think Ubonjoe stated earlier that you might be able to approach imm with an extended insurance policy to have your until date changed. I'm not so sure about that.

So your next step will presumably be to apply for annual extension prior to your current POS expires. At that time make sure you obtain insurance from date you apply for extension for one year.

No use crying over spilt milk.

If you wish to obtain a non O retirement to avoid the ridiculous insurance requirement you can (after borders are open) exit and return visa exempt and obtain a non O.