Local Visa Companies to help out?

[GMoney2312]

I used a Visa company in Los Angeles to acquire my Non Immigrant O Visa and COE, since the Thai Consulate online experience was confusing and slow.

We are settling in The Bueng Kan province after the quarantine is over(6 more days!)

Are there any local agencies out there that provide services will all the paperwork? Sort of those one stop shopping offices that deal in Visa and passports and you pay a fee to have them move to process forward.

Tell me this is out there! 

Thanks!

 

[gummy]

55 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

I used a Visa company in Los Angeles to acquire my Non Immigrant O Visa and COE, since the Thai Consulate online experience was confusing and slow.

We are settling in The Bueng Kan province after the quarantine is over(6 more days!)

Are there any local agencies out there that provide services will all the paperwork? Sort of those one stop shopping offices that deal in Visa and passports and you pay a fee to have them move to process forward.

Tell me this is out there! 

Thanks!

Its not actually that difficult to to handle it yourself rather then go through an agent. For advice on that perhaps @Faz may comment but assuming your next stage will be an extension of stay, your financials are in order why bother with an agent  as the process is rather simple ?

[GMoney2312]

My next move is for the retirement visa. All my money is in order to show them. And being married to a Thai National drops the money requirements in half. As long as I can walk into a local Thai immigration office and file myself, then sure- I will. By doing it online only sucks.

[colinneil]

18 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

My next move is for the retirement visa. All my money is in order to show them. And being married to a Thai National drops the money requirements in half. As long as I can walk into a local Thai immigration office and file myself, then sure- I will. By doing it online only sucks.

Very confusing, retirement is 800.000 baht regardless that you are married to a Thai.

If you only require half of the money, that would be a marriage extension, not retirement.

[BlueSphinx]

Just now, GMoney2312 said:

My next move is for the retirement visa. All my money is in order to show them. And being married to a Thai National drops the money requirements in half. As long as I can walk into a local Thai immigration office and file myself, then sure- I will. By doing it online only sucks.

You better read up a bit on how the extension of stay process works, as there are 3 misconceptions in your short message. 

# When you are married to a Thai national and wanting to make use of the much lower financial requirements, you will NOT be applying for reason of retirement, but for reason of marriage.  See Note below.

# When applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa, you can do that either at the Thai Embassy in your home-country or when having arrived Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa in Thailand (and in that case you need to apply at the Immigration Office of the province where you intend to stay long-term, and do this when you still have at least 15 days left on the permission to stay you received on entering Thailand).

# The permission to stay that Non Imm O Visa will provide you on entry will expire 3 months after issue, and you would then need to apply for a 1-year extension of that permission to stay at your local Immigration Office.  The Visa itself is nothing more than an 'entry-ticket', and expires the moment after it is used to ENTER the country.  It is the permission to stay that you receive on entry, that allows you to STAY in the country, and it is that permission that you need to extend when you want to stay longer in the country.

Note that when you initially applied for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa for reason of retirement, that the local Immigration Office might not accept your application for a 1-year extension of stay for reason of marriage and that you might first have to apply for the 1-year extension for reason of retirement, and it is only when you apply again the next year that they will allow you to change the reason for the application, and apply for reason of marriage.  So if you intend to make use of the lower-funds requirements for your 1-year extension of stay, it is highly recommended to start the whole process with a Non Imm O Visa for reason of marriage.

[cockneyboy]

as you are married to a Thai national you can obtain a once per entry 60 day extension to visit 'Thai wife' 1,900 baht at local immigration office, this would give you more time to sort the paperwork for a yearly extension,

also at this office you or the person that owns the property where you will be staying needs to complete a form 'tm30' within 24 hours of arrival at this address, this is to notify immigration of you address in Thailand.

were you married in Thailand, as this will make a difference in the required paperwork for 'married' yearly extensions, not for the 60 day wife extension

[GMoney2312]

Thanks for the comments!

I have a Multi Entry Visa- do I actually have to leave and come back in? I do not want to border hop.

[BlueSphinx]

2 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

Thanks for the comments!

I have a Multi Entry Visa- do I actually have to leave and come back in? I do not want to border hop.

Yes, a Multiple Entry Visa requires you to leave the country (a simple border-hop would do) when the permission to stay you received on entry is due to expire, and on re-entry - when your ME Visa has not expired yet - you will then be stamped in again for a new permission to stay period that your Visa will provide.  Obviously with current border-restrictions and quarantaine rules, border hops are very very inconvenient.

Note: Do you have a 6-month ME Tourist Visa or a 1-year ME Non Imm O-A Visa?  The ME tourist Visa provides a 60-day permission to stay on entry, while the 1-year ME Non Imm O-A visa provides a full year (but capped to the expiry date of the 400K/40K health-insurance you need with that type visa).

[gummy]

1 hour ago, GMoney2312 said:

My next move is for the retirement visa. All my money is in order to show them. And being married to a Thai National drops the money requirements in half. As long as I can walk into a local Thai immigration office and file myself, then sure- I will. By doing it online only sucks.

It is not a retirement visa if you are in Thailand. What you will be doing is getting an extension of stay based on retirement. But you mention you are married so you will atually be advised to get an extension of stay based on marriage. Again quite simple to do yourself , no agent required

[GMoney2312]

From my experience, something that appears "simple" turns into confusion and time delays. Sitting with a live person who does this stuff all day long eases the anxiety. But yes, the marriage route will be the way to go.

[NCC1701A]

way easier to do a retirement extension of stay instead of marriage if you can come up with the money. far far less hoops to jump through. 

 

[gummy]

4 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

way easier to do a retirement extension of stay instead of marriage if you can come up with the money. far far less hoops to jump through. 

Well it is hardly difficult to get a marriage extension but a retirement one is more simple I agree but a marriage extension allows the possibility of a work permit.

[GMoney2312]

My Non Immigrant O is for a year. So a border hop is a full day? Or can it last 5 minutes?

Man oh man will this require another COE situation?

[gummy]

1 minute ago, GMoney2312 said:

My Non Immigrant O is for a year. So a border hop is a full day? Or can it last 5 minutes?

Man oh man will this require another COE situation?

@Faz is your man on that question so guess later he will revert back to you.

[BlueSphinx]

5 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

way easier to do a retirement extension of stay instead of marriage if you can come up with the money. far far less hoops to jump through. 

That's correct, but a Non Imm O extension for reason of marriage allows you to permanently 'free up' 400.000 THB of required funds on your personal Thai bank-account.  That's quite a large financial benefit for tackling the hoops of such marriage extension application.  And of course you could make use of the 'hand-holding' service of a Visa Agent, to ensure that your application meets the requirements.  Such a fully legit service will cost approx 5.000 THB and might be useful when doing your very first marriage extension application.

[BlueSphinx]

5 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

My Non Immigrant O is for a year. So a border hop is a full day? Or can it last 5 minutes?

Man oh man will this require another COE situation?

Before the border-restrictions and associated quarantaine requirements, a border-hop took indeed only 5 minutes.

You wrote earlier that you had a MultipleEntry Visa.  Is that a 1 -year ME Non Imm O Visa (and if so whether issued for reason of retirement or for reason of marriage) or is it a 1-year ME Non Imm O-A Visa?  The O or O-A Visa are quite different, so important to know which one you have.

Some additional information would be helpful to provide you with correct advice on how to proceed.  I.e.

- What is your age and nationality?

- Are you legally married to a Thai national, or do you have Thai dependent children?

- When and where was your Visa ISSUED, and what is the VALID UNTIL date of that Visa?

- When do you plan to return to Thailand?

[AussieBob]

There are several Visa Agents in Udon Thani - Google them and go see one of them.

OR

Go into your local Provincial Immigration Office with the Thai Wife and ask what options are available and what documents are required to apply for either Retirement or Marriage extension of permission to stay.

BUT your post and answers seem to me to be contradictory.  You say you have multi-entry Non Immigrant O Visa valid for a year and have 6 days to go in quarantine.  Why do you need a Visa Agent now? 

[GMoney2312]

• Non - Immigrant O Visa
• Issued in Los Angeles
• Multiple Entry
• Expires August 10, 2022
• Legally married to a Thai National
• I am in Thailand now- never plan to leave at all.

[NCC1701A]

32 minutes ago, BlueSphinx said:

That's correct, but a Non Imm O extension for reason of marriage allows you to permanently 'free up' 400.000 THB of required funds on your personal Thai bank-account.  That's quite a large financial benefit for tackling the hoops of such marriage extension application.  And of course you could make use of the 'hand-holding' service of a Visa Agent, to ensure that your application meets the requirements.  Such a fully legit service will cost approx 5.000 THB and might be useful when doing your very first marriage extension application.

if you got the money the first class way to go is to put 800k baht in the bank year round. that is what the Thais want you to do. 

a single letter from your bank every year, updated passbooks and that is it. 

and don't forget to dress nicely at immigration. no shorts, tee shirts, flip flops or sandals. I always look like I am going to a business meeting.   

[GMoney2312]

Do not need a Visa agent now. You might say I like planning WAY ahead of the game.

[BlueSphinx]

19 minutes ago, GMoney2312 said:

• Non - Immigrant O Visa
• Issued in Los Angeles
• Multiple Entry
• Expires August 10, 2022
• Legally married to a Thai National
• I am in Thailand now- never plan to leave at all.

You need to make the distinction between the VISA Valid Until date, and the expiry date of the permission to stay you were stamped in for by Thai border immigration when entering Thailand. 

If you have indeed a ME Non Imm O Visa that permission to stay date will be much earlier than August 10, 2022, as you would have been stamped in for 90 days on arrival. 

#1 - Do take a look in your passport for that permission to stay date, and let us know

#2 - When you applied for that Non Imm O Visa did you do that for reason of retirement or for reason of marriage?  This will determine your options when having to apply for the 1-year permission to stay at the end of your current permission to stay.

[cockneyboy]

3 hours ago, GMoney2312 said:

I used a Visa company in Los Angeles to acquire my Non Immigrant O Visa and COE, since the Thai Consulate online experience was confusing and slow.

We are settling in The Bueng Kan province after the quarantine is over(6 more days!)

Are there any local agencies out there that provide services will all the paperwork? Sort of those one stop shopping offices that deal in Visa and passports and you pay a fee to have them move to process forward.

Tell me this is out there! 

Thanks!

if you have a multi entry non immigrant 'O' visa then you would have received a 90 day permission to stay stamp on entry.  at the moment with the entry restrictions the time remaining on the multi entry visa is no good for you, so no border hops.

so the best way to now remain in Thailand is to apply for a 1 year extension either by retirement if over 50 years old, which will require 800,000 Thai baht in a bank account in you name only, for 2 months prior to the day of application for that extension. 400,000thb from this 800,000thb has to remain in your bank account all year round.

or a 1 year 'married ' extension which will require 400,000thb in a bank account in your name only, this money can be withdrawn from the bank after you receive the 1 year permission to stay stamp in your passport.

as i posted earlier a 60 day 'visit Thai wife' extension can be obtained to allow for money seasoning, there are a few requirements for this extension, photo's, witnesses, bank letter, updated kor ror 2, or if married outside Thailand kor ror 22, ( obtain from local amphur)

[NCC1701A]

1 hour ago, GMoney2312 said:

Do not need a Visa agent now. You might say I like planning WAY ahead of the game.

after you get all setup, immigration will staple a piece of paper in the back (last page) of your passport that has the next 90 day reporting date on it.  set a date in your phone's calendar to remind you to do it. i set mine with the entire three week window. two weeks before and one week after. 2000 baht fine for bad man who forgets.  

[ExpatPattaya]

My Non-Imm O visa was obtained at Los Angeles Thai embassy as well back in 2018.  I only had 90 days to get to immigration for an actual stamp in my Passport from Thai immigration.  Do not believe the Thai embassy in LA stamps your passport with the actual annual stamp as they are not an Immigration service 

Posted my annual stamps from Immigration here. You have to do  90 day reports now as well.  

Have you set up a Thai bank account ?  As NCC stated, pretty easy with 800K in a Thai Bank.   This should be your account only, not a joint account.  Cannot trust anyone but yourself for this legal necessity  IMO 

Peace

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by ExpatPattaya

[Faz]

@GMoney2312
I posted in a previous topic with a question about your Non Imm O ME Visa without reply.

You appear confused so may I suggest you read two pinned topics which give you some insight.
Common Visa Types explained. - > Visas, Long Stay, Extensions, Re-entry Permit - Thaiger Talk (thethaiger.com)
Visa or Extension of stay. - > Visas, Long Stay, Extensions, Re-entry Permit - Thaiger Talk (thethaiger.com)

 

The validity of a Visa and the validity of permission of stay are totally different.
The Non Imm O ME Visa is valid for 1 year to enter Thailand, but on entry you'll receive a stamp permitting you to stay for only 90 days. Under normal circumstances you'd cross a border then re-enter to obtain a further 90 day stay.
At the current time that isn't practical, so the single entry Non Imm O would have sufficed your situation and saved you $120 - so much for using agents.

I digress to your current position and assume you entered Thailand sometime August 2021, in which case you would have received a stamp at entry permitting you to stay until sometime November.
It would help if you can advise the date on that entry stamp. Admitted until .............(date).

I'll then advise on your options.