(Another!) question about the 12-month Retirement Visa ...

[Smiles]

Just received my 12-mth 'Long-stay' multiple-entry (retirement) visa the other day. Happy to have it in my hot little hands, but would like some definitive (if that's possible on this argumentative Board) answers to 2 questions. I have read some differing opinions on these issues lately, so still am a little confused as to what is actually the case.

1. When I received my visa (stuck happliy into my passport) I read that it states: Date of Issue: 13 Aug. 2008.
   OK, that's quite clear, but the question is this . . . does my clock start clicking (i.e. counting off the 365 days it's valid for) on that Date of Issue, or, on the date I land in Thailand (which will be 15 Sept '08).
   [/*:m:2m59gfx0]
2. I ~ as most people ~ have more 'issues' in my life than simply coming to Thailand every year long term. One of those 'issues' is that both my parents are very old and suffering from a serious dementia which is taking them inexorably down hill. They are comfortable in their life (if "comfortable" is the correct word in their circumstance), but obviously I have to be back here in Canada for a certain period every year just to make sure they are OK. I have decided to come back to Canada (for the foreseeable future) each year from May thru August.
   The question is this . . . when I leave in May/09, does my visa 'clock' stop ticking, then pick up again when I arrive back in Thailand 4 months later? Or, does it keep on ticking, and the 4 months I am here in Canada simply counted as if I were in Thailand?[/*:m:2m59gfx0]

Cheers ...

Similar Threads:

• New retirement visa
• The 12-month Non-Immigrant Long-stay [retirement] Visa
• Retirement Visa
• Changes to Retirement Visa ??
• retirement O visa

[TOQ]

As for question #1 if you received your Retirement Visa while in Canada the chances are very good it is valid from date of issue . If you had gotten the visa in Thailand it would be valid from date of entry into the Kingdom.

As for question #2 Your visa runs for the entire year. Leaving the country has no effect on the dates. Please make sure to get a ReEntry visa if you leave Thailand within the year. If not, when you return Immigration will stamp your Retirement Visa and it will be voided. You end up with a 30 Entry Permit..


john

[Smiles]

" ... As for question #1 if you received your Retirement Visa while in Canada the chances are very good it is valid from date of issue . If you had gotten the visa in Thailand it would be valid from date of entry into the Kingdom ... "

Understand you mean well, but this in fact is the problem with getting replies such as this .... including the phrase "chances are very good" in your answer only means you don't really know for sure. So that is no help.
I'd like to hear from folks who are already in possession of a 12-month retirement visa and can tell me point blank that it is either 'date of issue' or 'date of arrival in Thailand'.

Cheers ...

The question is this . . . when I leave in May/09, does my visa 'clock' stop ticking, then pick up again when I arrive back in Thailand 4 months later? Or, does it keep on ticking, and the 4 months I am here in Canada simply counted as if I were in Thailand?[/list]

Cheers ...

Smiles, I'm quite sure that your new O-A will start on the date you arrive in Thailand and then expire one-year from then during which year you may re-enter Thailand all you wish. They don't count the days outside Thailand FOR you in this case, as they would count the days in Thailand AGAINST you if you were in a 'no more than 90 days of 180 days' multiple 30-day no-visa entry situation.

I suppose that you could just 'renew' your Thai retirement visa in your home country should you still not be in a position yet for permanent retirement here, as you seem to be with having to devote so much time to your parents and could easily be outside when the renewal time comes. Maybe some others here can elaborate on this subject?

[bao-bao]

From all that's appeared on the board in other threads about retirement, 30-day and all other flavors of visas it seems as though the "official" answer to most questions varies from day to day, office to office and even person to person within an office.

Having not been fortunate enough (so far) to have been in LOS more than 28 days in a visit I've had no direct experience with any of this, but I'll offer what you probably have already thought of yourself, just in case: if it were me I'd call the Thai consulate in Vancouver and another Canadian office or three and see if I could get a consensus, and I'd also probably call a couple of offices in Bangkok as well. Even that's probably not air-tight, but I guess I'd feel some better about it.

Good luck with this, and safe journey in a few weeks! I still have 99 more days to wait until I'm Thailand-bound again.

I have seen this discussed on other forums but can you tell me why do they call it an O.C.V.

Whatever visa you get, the life of the visa is the life of the visa, so a 60- or 60- or 365-day visa is just that - it only lasts the length of time from when it was first activated. I left Bangkok on a visa run yesterday and there are very large signs at the airport (on the way out - go figure!) that state "Attention foreigners! Your visa period starts from the date you enter Thailand not the date your visa is issued in your own country" (or words to that effect). As someone else says, if you leave during the validity of the permit without a re-entry permit (or a multiple-entry visa) then your visa terminates, no matter how much longer it has before it expires. I do have a couple of friends on retirement visas who only spend 6 months or so in Thailand during the 12-month priod, and they make sure their's is a multiple-entry retirement visa or they get a re-entry permit before they leave Thailand, and just renew their visa once they come back

Whatever visa you get, the life of the visa is the life of the visa, so a 60- or 60- or 365-day visa is just that - it only lasts the length of time from when it was first activated. I left Bangkok on a visa run yesterday and there are very large signs at the airport (on the way out - go figure!) that state "Attention foreigners! Your visa period starts from the date you enter Thailand not the date your visa is issued in your own country" (or words to that effect). As someone else says, if you leave during the validity of the permit without a re-entry permit (or a multiple-entry visa) then your visa terminates, no matter how much longer it has before it expires. I do have a couple of friends on retirement visas who only spend 6 months or so in Thailand during the 12-month priod, and they make sure their's is a multiple-entry retirement visa or they get a re-entry permit before they leave Thailand, and just renew their visa once they come back

But do remember your visa must be utilised within 3 months of its issue and can be withrawn by immigration at their whim.

Is this gonna end someday??

Smiles, only you could drag me out of retirement. I've been lurking and posting under my new board name since I hit post # 1,000 as bkk gwm. Hey, that officially makes me a hydra now! :cheers:

I am assuming you have a "Non-Immigrant O-A visa," which is only obtainable in one's home country. This is a unique visa, different from what most farang use. It is not the same as a Non-Immigrant O visa, or a one-year extension.

Your visa is valid for entry to Thailand for one year from the date of issue. Since the date of issue was 13 Aug 2008, you can enter Thailand any time up to 12 Aug 2009 on that visa. Conversely, you cannot enter Thailand on 13 Aug 2009 or later on that visa (more on that later).

Upon each entry to Thailand, you will be stamped with a 12-month "permitted to stay" period (unlike the 90-day period on most other visas).

NOTE: Because the O-A visa is unique, it can be confusing to even airport Immigrations officers at times, so ALWAYS check the permitted-to-stay date they stamp in your passport, before leaving the Immigrations kiosk at the airport! Yeah, it can be corrected later, but save yourself the hassle, take a moment to verify the date at the airport.

If it were a single-entry visa, then what TOQ says would apply: you'd need to get a re-entry permit in Thailand before returning to Canada to keep your "permission to stay" alive. With a single-entry visa, if you depart Thailand after using that single entry, the visa is "all used up" and you cannot enter on that visa again. A re-entry permit lets you come and go until the permission-to-stay date has passed.

Because it's a multiple-entry visa, you can come and go as many times as you like until the expiration date of the visa (12 Aug 2009) without a re-entry permit. Each time you enter Thailand you will be stamped with a new 12-month permission-to-stay stamp from the each date of entry.

examples:

You enter Thailand 15 Sept 2008, you will receive a stamp with a permission to stay until 14 Sept 2009.
You go home to Canada, and return to Thailand 29 Dec 2008, you will receive a permission to stay until 28 Dec 2009.
You go home to Canada, and return to Thailand 15 Mar 2008, you will receive a permission to stay until 14 Mar 2009.
(get the picture?)

The "trick" with a multiple-entry O-A visa is that you can extend it to last (almost) two years:

Your visa was issued 13 Aug 2008, and expires 12 Aug 2009. Normally that means you'd need to get a new visa if you wanted to enter Thailand on/after 13 Aug 2009.

HOWEVER, with your multiple-entry O-A visa, if you were to depart and re-enter Thailand on 12 Aug 2009, you will be stamped with a 12-month permission-to-stay until 11 Aug 2010 -- just short of two years from date of issue (13 Aug 2008.)

HOWEVER, if you did that and departed Thailand and re-entered on/after 13 Aug 2009, you have no valid visa for entry to Thailand (it expired, remember?). You had a stamp that permitted you to stay until 11 Aug 2010, but that stay is over when you depart Thailand.

HOWEVER, if you obtained a multiple re-entry permit in Thailand before departing Thailand, you would keep the 11 Aug 2010 permission-to-stay date alive and could continue to come and go until 11 Aug 2010 (on a visa issued 13 Aug 2008.)

As you might think, it's not wise to wait until the very last date, 12 Aug 2009, to do a border run "just in case" something goes astray. The idea is to do a border run (or a return from Canada) as late as possible before the visa's expiry date with a small cushion of time for comfort.

Clear as mud, huh? Just remember that a visa or re-entry permit only controls whether you can enter Thailand or not.

An expired visa on its own will not permit entry to the kingdom. An expired visa with a re-entry permit will permit entry, up until the expiration of the re-entry permit. The expiration date of the re-entry permit, is the permitted-to-stay date active in your passport the date the re-entry permit is issued.

The permission-to-stay stamp determines how long you can stay -- you must leave by that date.

A question that lurkers (the few of you still reading...) might have: why then, wouldn't everybody get an O-A visa in their home country rather than the "traditional" route of getting a "regular" Non-Immigrant O visa and then extending in Thailand? In addition to the benefit of the two-year period obtainable, another benefit of the O-A is that your money can stay in your home country -- no need transfer funds to Thailand. However, you must pass a medical exam and criminal check for an O-A (but not for an extension obtained within Thailand), which take time and money, and in some cases might turn up something that would prevent issuance of the O-A visa...