Non-Imm O-A question.

[tomx2]

Purchase Non-Immigrant O-A visa & insurance November 2021. Entered Thailand in December for 4 months.

Will renter Thailand July 2022.

O-A visa will extend to July 2023 using reentry permit.

Will leave Thailand March 2023.

O-A visa insurance expires November 2022.

When I arrive at airport in July 2022, will Thai immigration reject my 1 year O-A extension and request I must buy a new 1 year O-A insurance.

Thanks

TC.

[ChiFlyer]

My understanding, and these things change often and quickly, ....

What needs to be extended is your "Permission to Stay" that is based on your OA Visa. You are not getting a new visa. You are reentering based on your original visa and reentry permit. One only gets a retirement visa once. The "Permission to Stay" then needs to be extended on an annual basis. As you point out during the first cycle one can extend the permission to stay for the length of the visa (one year). One can get 2 years of permissions to stay out of that first cycle by leaving and reentering Thailand. The obvious exception is if your permission to stay lapses.

Still you pose an interesting question. Would airport immigration check your insurance? My personal guess is that it is a crap shoot in this case. @davidge Any thoughts?

Also, if anyone reads this who is thinking about a first Non-Im (retirement) visa, I would advise getting an O instead of an OA. O has no visa insurance requirement.

[davidge]

Sorry, just caught up with this. Not sure I can be of too much help. The requirement for insurance for Extension of Stay based on Non O-A is relatively new and Covid restrictions have meant there’s not huge numbers of people that have re-entered since it came in. I have seen a number of reports of people only being stamped back in for the duration of their insurance but don’t know if that’s universal.

The OPs situation is different again as he’s still on the original visa. Insurance wasn’t an issue in the past but immigration are now more aware of it so might insist on seeing it.

As I said, not really much help as there’s not enough cases to be sure but it’s certainly possible he’d only be stamped for the duration of the insurance. If they do that then it would make it necessary to do the first Extension of Stay in November.

[ElSueco]

If i understand it right you can only get a O visa in Thailand showing 800k in a bank account.
But you can't get a bank account with out a retirement visa...

[forqalso]

14 minutes ago, ElSueco said:

If i understand it right you can only get a O visa in Thailand showing 800k in a bank account.
But you can't get a bank account with out a retirement visa...

6. US or Thai bank statement or evidence of adequate finance showing a deposit of the amount equal to and not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate (an original copy) with a monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht, or a deposit account plus a monthly income totaling not less than 800,000 Baht In the case of submitting a bank statement, a letter of guarantee from the bank (an original copy) is required

from:  https://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/non-immigrant-visas/non-immigrant-category-oa/

This is off the Thai embassy website in the US, other home countries may have different requirements set by the Thai embassy in that country. 

[davidge]

18 minutes ago, ElSueco said:

If i understand it right you can only get a O visa in Thailand showing 800k in a bank account.
But you can't get a bank account with out a retirement visa...

You can open a bank account without a long term visa. It can take persistence, knowing somebody or, if all else fails, using an agent but it’s perfectly possible.

[ElSueco]

That i have learned. It's one of the many catch 22 moments of Thailand.

My ordinary bank statement can be used for a O-A (applied outside Thailand) but not O.

[theant]

On 20/05/2022 at 21:30, davidge said:

You can open a bank account without a long term visa. It can take persistence, knowing somebody or, if all else fails, using an agent but it’s perfectly possible.

Yes, Thai banks working in a different way. Every branch has its own rules and it's perfectly possible the bank near your condo rejecting you but the same bank branch few hundreds meters will accept you without problems.

Naturally using an agent will save you some footwork and time but it will cost you some money.