Visa-on-arrival (VOA) regulations being tightened

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 13, 2006, 4:30 pm

wokkawombat wrote:Galee, as I understand it the 'retirement visa" is a 12 month extension of your NON IMMIGRANT VISA. You require a Non O to get the extension in Thailand.

Get a non O single entry thats good for 90 days then go to AEK Udon or Nong Khai post haste and get the good oil from them. They will send you away and tell you to come back 2 or 3 weeks before the 90 days is up. They will grant an extension to the existing Non O if you meet the requirements. The 12 month extension dates from when you first entered Thailand on your Non O so in effect your first extension is only for 9 months.

Been there and done that.

John

This is thwe exact same procedure with the 60 day tourit visa.The tourist visa is very easy to get from a consulate.I don't know about the O single entry!

Post by **wokkawombat** » September 13, 2006, 4:56 pm

Bkkstan, have you or anyone you know personally received a 12 month extension on a tourist visa?

Nong Khai were adamant I had to have a non O visa.

Post by **banpaeng** » September 13, 2006, 4:56 pm

sunbeltnortheast wrote:Banpaeng:

Sometimes these message boards can be quite confusing. Nobody knows who is responding to whom ...

The post which you quoted from me was not intended as a response to any of your posts specifically. In fact, I would never give specific advice to somebody via email or on a message board. It is a very fact-specific inquiry in which each person's case will be different. It would be unethical for me or any other professional to give specific advice to a person without first knowing all of the pertinent facts about his/her situation.

I often do not have sufficient time to read every post on a board. I read some of the posts, get a flavor for what people are talking about, and then provide some general advice which, in my opinion, would be most useful to most readers, generally. As stated above, to provide specific advice to any one person would be unethical and, more often then not, counter-productive.

Obviously, there are many different kinds of visas. The fact is that most foreigners living in or planning on moving to Thailand would only qualify for or best be served by a limited number of visas. I am glad that you were able to find a consular official who was helpful in allowing you to obtain a suitable visa with a limited amount of paperwork and cost.

Again, I apologize for the confusion regarding my post; it was not a response to any of your posts specifically.[/b]

Thank you Mr/Ms Sunbelt, I took it as a reply to myself. Sorry if you got upset also. If you notice, on all my post I advise the people to visit the consulate and ask them as getting info off of here can only give you a general idea. I do not know the law and have stated that. All I was doing is relating what happened to me.

Stan says the retirement visa is easier if a person qualifies. I am sure that it works great for him. The Straight "O" is what works for me.

My point is people should only take what is on here with a grain of salt and PLEASE, PLEASE visit the consulate in your home country before you move here and discuss what is the best way for one to proceed for your situation.

Post by **Dakoda** » September 13, 2006, 5:08 pm

Galee wrote:Do you think it is better to come to Thailand with a Non-imm O visa or a retirement visa if intending to stay long term.

Get a muliti entry O visa

in your home country

and you will not be sorry

Then after a year you will be able to decide what is best for YOU. Might even take two years

Post by **kevh** » September 13, 2006, 5:28 pm

Steveo, you are most certainly wrong, the non im B visa you speak of is a business visa requiring a letter from you employer before you get to thailand. However the 12 month duration at 90 days for each entry is the same. for both O and B visas.

Kev

Post by **Dakoda** » September 13, 2006, 8:37 pm

kevh, best go back and reread Steveo, slowly this time.

Post by **kevh** » September 13, 2006, 8:47 pm

My upmost apologies steveo, my comment should have been directed at "sunbeltnortheast"

Thanks dakoda

Kev

Post by **Paul** » September 13, 2006, 10:12 pm

Am I correct in saying that Sunbelt NorthEast is a business which gives out visa information professionaly and that they will obtain your visa for you (for a fee)?
Hmmmmm. !

Post by **Techland** » September 13, 2006, 10:23 pm

Paul wrote:Am I correct in saying that Sunbelt NorthEast is a business which gives out visa information professionaly and that they will obtain your visa for you (for a fee)?
Hmmmmm. !

Well, I am here on a 'B' visa and glad I got it myself without 'professional' help...

Post by **beer monkey** » September 13, 2006, 10:31 pm

Paul wrote:Am I correct in saying that Sunbelt NorthEast is a business which gives out visa information professionaly and that they will obtain your visa for you (for a fee)?
Hmmmmm. !

yes. it seems they have a recent new branch in Udonville

http://www.udonmap.com/sunbeltasia

Post by **sunbeltnortheast** » September 14, 2006, 9:46 am

I would strongly caution people about relying too much on overseas consulates and embassies as their primary source of visa advice. Although most of us have had positive experiences with consular officials in our local consulates (myself included), this is not the universal experience. We have had clients who have had truly bad experiences taking the approach that they would arrive at their local consulate/embassy first and then figure out how to get a visa. For a simple tourist visa this is no problem; for non-immigrant visas, though, unfortunately some consular staff are less than helpful.

I am thinking of a couple of clients in particular (I can

Post by **banpaeng** » September 14, 2006, 10:02 am

Good write up ther Roger. I think that would have been a good preamble to some of your previous post to eliminate the confusion. I do not disagree except with one thing and that is the foriegn counsulates are not very helpful. I am sure there are sorry governmant employees, but if you persist you will get to the right answer. Will folks need your service. I am sure they will.

Thanks for telling folks where you are in Udon and if I need your services I will grace your threshold.

Thanks.

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 14, 2006, 12:13 pm

SBNE,canyou tell me if Thailand has a legal instrument called A Revocable Living Trust to avoid probate?

Post by **Galee** » September 14, 2006, 1:09 pm

Thank you for everyones advice.

Think I'm worrying unneccessarily. I hope.

Post by **polehawk** » September 14, 2006, 9:57 pm

Beware foreign consulates? From reading in the various forums and my own experience, most of the Thai consulates in the US (including Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston) offer well-informed advice but I'm glad that I sidestepped advice given by a member of "Honorary Thai Consul" in Miami which is the closest to my Florida address. Even though I clearly explained that I wanted to apply for a multiple entry non-immigrant type O-A visa for retirement purposes, the lady advised that I would have to send them a copy of my roundtrip plane tickets (to/from Bangkok) along with my documents and a money order to cover the $125 cost of the visa and $75 for "costs" so my documentation could be forwarded to Thailand. She estimated a couple of weeks or more before I could expect to receive a visa. I politely bid her adieu and immediately called the Thai Embassy in Washington, DC. After following their clear, implicit directions and submitting the required documents, I had my visa within three days.

BTW, the Miami honorary consulate is actually a law office and apparently does the consulate gig as a sideline.

Post by **arjay** » September 14, 2006, 10:13 pm

As Ray said on his thread, - "I think something is in the wind with immigration", (we always seem to have 2 or 3 threads on the same topic!

) - It maybe to target or deter those who are working illegally and we don't know how much of it is sabre rattling or how strictly it will be enforced/applied.

It will certainly be a case of "suck it and see", meaning we will have to see how religiously they enforce it and whether they allow people to switch from VOA's to 60 day tourist visas.

Though with the latter, the various Consulates will have a lot of individual control, which may not be applied consistently, rather like at present!

Post by **arjay** » September 14, 2006, 10:31 pm

Ray wrote: From Thai Visa
Penang halts issuance of double-entry tourist visas

PHUKET: -- The Royal Thai Consulate in neighboring Penang, Malaysia, has stopped issuing double-entry tourist visas for Thailand. The only tourist visa currently available there is a 60-day single-entry one.

An official at the consulate this afternoon told the Gazette that Consul Pramote Pramoonsab had issued an order to cease issuance of double-entry tourist visas.

Other visa categories are unaffected by the order, the official added.

The Royal Thai Consulate in Kota Bharu and the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur are, for the time being, still issuing double-entry tourist visas.

Fareeda Chewae of the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur warned that this may change in the near future, however.

The Gazette contacted the consulates following the news that from October 1 Thai Immigration will limit to three the number of visas on arrival it s officers will issue at Immigration checkpoints in Thailand.

To cope with the new policy, many long-stay “tourists” who currently do ‘visa runs’ every month are looking for alternative ways to spend more than three months with their families or friends in Thailand. As a possible short term solution to the problem, some foreigners had been contemplating short trips to Penang where they would obtain multiple-entry tourist visas that would not go against their limit of three visas “on arrival [in Thailand]”.

The chiefs of all Immigration offices will meet in Bangkok tomorrow to discuss the details of the new Immigration policy, after which they will make a much-awaited statement.

While intended as a crackdown measure on foreigners working illegally in the county, the policy has created widespread concern across broad segments of the foreign community in Phuket, particularly among the large numbers who do not work and have no interest in working.

Perceived correctly or incorrectly as a move to discourage foreigners from spending much time here, the new policy has alarmed local residents, both Thai and foreign, about the future of Thailand’s all-important tourism and property development industries.

--Phuket Gazette 2006-09-14

Post by **Galee** » September 15, 2006, 12:47 am

Further to my question about % of affected falangs.

A poll currently running on Secrets Forum, Pattaya, shows 17% from 52 votes.

Not a high number to gauge by, but 1 in 5 is something to think about.

valentine · Post by **valentine** » September 15, 2006, 7:27 am

Just an observation. I would have thought that most of the forumites in Udon were on long term visa's , marriage or retirement, but here we have 7 pages of concerned comment about 30 day ones.Am I wrong?

Post by **BKKSTAN** » September 15, 2006, 8:03 am

Galee wrote:Further to my question about % of affected falangs.

A poll currently running on Secrets Forum, Pattaya, shows 17% from 52 votes.

Not a high number to gauge by, but 1 in 5 is something to think about.

What!Trust a poll from Pattaya

They might vote between each short time