Answered7 years ago

Do I Need to Cancel My Extension of Stay Before Applying for a Non-Imm O Visa in Thailand?

Visa Rules Non-O Visa Extension of Stay

Lynn *******

asked Nov 7, 2019

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I am American, currently nearing the end of my first extension of stay (permitted up to 20 Nov 2019) based on O-A retirement visa obtained in USA.  I'm planning to go to Savannakhet next week to apply for a Non-Imm O visa based on marriage.  Do I need to cancel the current extension of stay at my local immigration office before I go to Savannakhet to apply for the Non-Imm O visa?

Answer summary

An American in Thailand on an O-A retirement visa is nearing the end of their first extension of stay and plans to apply for a Non-Imm O visa based on marriage in Savannakhet. It's clarified that they do not need to cancel their current extension before applying, as long as their reason for stay remains unchanged. However, there are concerns regarding mandatory Thai health insurance that need to be considered if switching to the Non-Imm O visa.

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Tod *********

Okay, hate to be the bearer of bad news BUT . .. ...

As it sits now, you who are currently on a year extension of stay from an original O-A visa would be obligated to get the thai health insurance AND even if you switched to an extension based on marriage (assuming your immigration would let you from an original O-A) you'd still need to carry the insurance.

The only way to break the mandatory insurance rule would be to leave the country when your current extension is going to expire, buy a Non-O visa and either get the extension inside the country OR get the year-long, multi-entry Non-O visa and then border bounce every 90 days.

7 years ago

Lynn *******

In my OP I said I'm planning to go to Savannakhet and apply for a non-imm O based on marriage. Isn't that what you just said? My original question was about whether I have to go to the local immigration office and cancel my current extension based on the original O-A before I go to Savannakhet to apply for the non-imm O based on marriage. I think things have gotten very confused in this thread and we're going around in circles.

7 years ago

Tod *********

Did you get the 2 years of stay out of the O-A visa from your country (the one that required a police back ground check and a medical certificate) already? AND did you apply for a yearly extension from the immigration office based on being over 50 yet?

OR are you still on an entry from that original visa.

7 years ago

Lynn *******

"Did you get the 2 years of stay out of the O-A visa from your country...?" No; didn't know that was possible, so applied for the yearly extension at the end of the first year in-country in November 2018. "Did you apply for a yearly extension from the immigration office based on being over 50 yet?" If you're asking about applying based on being over 50 and the original O-A visa, I did last year (November 2018). I have not applied for the second yearly extension off of the original O-A visa because I plan to switch to a non-imm O visa based on marriage going forward. "Are you still on an entry from that original visa?" As I said in the OP, Yes.

7 years ago

Robert *******

no, you only cancel if the reason change, as you are still over 50 years of age, the reason of getting this extension of stay did not change

7 years ago

Robert *******

you start to tell, the end of my first extension of stay based on, now you are on O-A retirement? If you refer to the big stamp in your passport with in the first line the region and name of the Immigration Office and in the second line Extension of Stay permitted up to 20 Nov 2019, you can just leave the country. Example of the stamp:

7 years ago

Lynn *******

I'm on O-A retirement, changing to O marriage.

7 years ago