Expat Income Requirements Changing?

[bkkguy]

I am very thankful I have an O long stay visa

the Non O visa is, and always has been, a short-stay visa - the permission to stay on arrival is 90 days

the Non O-A visa is, and always has been, a long-stay visa - the permission to stay on arrival is 12 months

don't be confused by the fact that you can do a 12 month extension of a permission to stay for retirement based on a current permission to stay from either visa - though the requirements are different

both the Foreign Ministry (embassies and consulates) and the Interior Ministry (Immigration Police) seem comfortable with this distinction at present - though the speculation is that this may change at some stage, and this is certainly possible

I'm fully aware of the fact that the "O" Visa requirements outlined on the foreign consulate sites pertain to those applying for this Visa in their home countries. The language has changed very recently which, in my opinion, could be part of a restructuring going on with the Thai Visa Program. .

I don't know about new - I have been told twice in the last 20 years by the consulate in Sydney that it is not their policy to issue a NON O visa for people wishing to retire in Thailand - this in their opinion is a policy of the Immigration Police in Thailand only - instead they suggest either applying for a Non O-A visa in Sydney, or enter Thailand on a Tourist visa and apply for a NON O visa in Thailand. the Honorary Consulate in Perth seemed to disagree with this, I am not sure about the embassy in Canberra!

Obviously different consulates and embassies have had their own interpretation of this at different times, as have different Immigration Police offices in Thailand, and there may well be a policy change happening now or in the future from the Foreign Ministry or the Interior Ministry but it all seems to be a bit unknown at this time, particularly in relation to NON O visas and extensions of permission to stay

and GB, despite your constant protestations, not everyone is in the same situation as you are, and even with the current insurance requirements for entry and extension of permission to stay with a NON O-A visa there are still a number of scenarios where a Non O-A visa may be a better choice - perhaps not for you but for other people, and they need to consider their requirements and read and understand the significant differences between the two visa classes and the differences between getting extensions on permission to stay based on these visa classes, if they actually even need to do this.