Answered7 years ago

Can I apply for a Thai OA visa from the US if I don't have permanent residency there?

OA visa Thai consulate US passport visa application process permanent residency Thai visa types

Joyce *********

asked Feb 22, 2020

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I am an American citizen living in Micronesia for the past four years. There are no Thai consulates in Micronesia to which I can apply for an OA visa. However, the information that I have seen says that I must have a permanent residence in the country where I am applying for the visa. I do not have a permanent residence in the US but would like to submit my application to the consulate in Wash DC or NYC. Will this be a problem?  (I just found this: *If applicant applies for a visa at the Embassy/Consulate in the country where the applicant does not have permanent residency, the visa approval. process may take at least 1 month.)*

*Does anyone have experience with this? *

Answer summary

The original poster questions whether they can apply for a Thai OA visa at a consulate in the US while currently living in Micronesia without permanent residency in the US. Commenters clarify that it is possible to apply at any US embassy with a US passport, suggesting alternatives such as applying for an O visa instead of an OA visa due to insurance requirements. They also mention visa extension strategies once in Thailand.

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Siddhartha *********

7 years ago

Joyce *********

@Siddhartha ********

Indeed. The Thai government doesn't make it easy.

7 years ago

Mark ********

The beauty of an O-A visa obtained in your home country before you come to Thailand is that you can get 2 years stay off that one visa.

7 years ago

Werner *******

If you can come to Thailand on a US passport, you will get a 30-day exemption, which you can then extend for another 30 days. You can then travel to nearby Laos or Vietnam to get a proper Non-O visa. This is often considered easier for foreigners because you don't need to show insurance, as you do with the OA version of this visa.

7 years ago

Joyce *********

The only qualification that I fit for the O is "to stay in Thailand after retirement for the elderly." But that infers that I've been working in Thailand...which I haven't. But if it applies to my situation regardless of that, I guess the required proof of my retirement would be my US Social Security payment. ??

7 years ago

Rick ***********

You do not want an OA visa. Google about insurance requirements. Just get an O visa and extend it in Thailand.

7 years ago

Garrett ***********

Hello, if you have a US passport you can apply at any Thai embassy in the US. The Embassy in NYC is very easy to deal with. Non-OA and multiple entry tourist visas can only be issued in your home country or a country you hold permanent residencey in.

As for Microasia, this is my first time ever hearing of this country lol.

7 years ago

Joyce *********

IM me if you have questions.

7 years ago

Joyce *********

Thank you. So I don't need to have a permanent residence in the US to apply for an OA there? Regarding Micronesia (not Microasia), it's the Federated States of Micronesia, a former US Territory that became an independent country in the early 1980s. I live in Yap which is 500 miles southwest of Guam. It's one of four island states that are situated throughout more than 1 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean and was a major staging ground for the American military during the final year of WWII.

7 years ago