How can I renew my Non-O retirement visa in Thailand after a 12-month extension?

Mar 7, 2024
8 months ago
Tim *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
I've read several references to people with a 12-month extention to their non-imm O retirement visa, getting it renewed for another 12 months by leaving the country and then returning. I haven't found a reference to this on the Thai Immigration site. Can someone clue me in on just how to do it, please?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The conversation revolves around the renewal process for a Non-Immigrant O visa in Thailand, specifically regarding the 12-month extension. It clarifies that unlike the Non-OA visa, which is obtained from one's home country and can provide a longer stay, the Non-O visa can be extended annually within Thailand without the need to leave. Users in the comments emphasize that it's important to check financial requirements at the local immigration office for successful renewal.
NON-O RETIREMENT VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
  • Go to the Retirement Visa Section for information on requirements, including age restrictions, financial requirements, and necessary documentation.
  • For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
  • Explore recent discussions by using the Non-O Retirement Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
  • Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
Garrett ***********
Non-OA is a 1 year visa, Non-O is a 90 day visa that can be extended in country for 1 year. If you have a Non-OA, you're stamped in for 1 year everytime you enter the country, so if you enter on the last day your visa is valid for, you'll get another year. Probably what you're reading about
Tim *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Garrett **********
Thanks Garrett
Tim *********
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thanks
@Bra****
and others for your input 👍🏼
Nick ************
I renewed mine last month at my local immigration office. Go to your office and ask for their requirements. If you have not satisfied the financial requirements then you may have to leave Thailand and start again.
Stuart ***********
Once you have the 12 month extension, you can extend it annually without leaving Thailand at the immigration office.
Brandon ************
You can't do that with a non-O extension. What you're reading about is the Non-OA visa that you can only get in your home country and can get about 2 years out of it. But then you'll have to go home and get a new one.
Marty *********
@Brandon ***********
Or extend the OA. Same as the non-O but with insurance.
Marty *********
@Graham *****
Which is exactly what I did. Deposit 800,000 plus my monthly operating funds. I have no problems with my Thai bank but most of my savings remain in the US.

Going back to the US to apply for another OA would be expensive and a major PIA but if that banking feature of an OA is important to you then you have that option.
Andreas *********
@Marty ********
the flight back home to aspply for a new OA visa every year, eats up the interest on your 800,000 THB would earn on a US bank. I never understand people who will rather pay 30,000 THB tea money to an agent to avoid having to put 800,000 THB into their Thai bank account (at SCB they pay me 1.25% interest!) and reason that they get more interest on a US bank, . . . . but then need to fly back home and back to Thailand every two years with a 1000.- to 1200.- USD flight ticket 🙂
Ruth *******
@Andreas ********
I moved my 800K to Thailand to avoid the drama. However, I guarantee you that if I had left my money in the States, the money I would have earned through investments would have far exceeded the plane ticket you’re talking about. The folks who pay 30K to an agent do so once. After that, it’s ~5K and, again, I’m sure they can do far better with their investments. I would hope folks are not putting those sums of money into savings accounts earning 1% interest (in the States).
Andreas *********
@Ruth ******
the folks who pay the agents, need to pay this sum EVERY year 😎
Marty *********
@Andreas ********
I can see that there are some people that live in Thailand part time. They are in the US anyway so that really isn’t a cost. That’s not me but I am aware that some people just keep getting OA visas.

Often the issue is dissatisfaction with Thai banks. They don’t trust them or they believe that the higher earnings outside Thailand are a preferable choice. That’s rational but also not me.
Wayne *********
@Marty ********
Brandon said that by saying 2 years OA is 1 plus 1 then go home and get a new one.
Marty *********
@Wayne ********
during the first year of the OA, each time you leave and re-enter you can get stamped with a one year permission to stay stamp. The OA visa expires at the end of the first year.

I entered Thailand with an OA visa in Feb 2017. I went to Cambodia in Nov 2017. I was given a 1 year permission to stay stamp when I returned to Thailand in Nov 2017. I got 1 year extensions of my OA visa starting with Nov 2018 and every Nov after that.

Extensions of the OA and O visas are the same except for the insurance requirement for the OA.

You can return to your home country to get a new OA and some people do that. You could also leave Thailand and start the process of getting an O visa again. Or you can just stay and get 1 year extensions of stay
Graham ******
@Marty ********
Yes, you can get extensions to a Non-OA but that requires 800k in a Thai bank account. Going "home" every 2 years for a new Non-OA negates this requirement.
Andreas *********
@Marty ********
everything you wrote about the O/A and O visa is correct, except the part when you call the yearly extension of stay "visa extension". Immigration calls it the same, and they are wrong, this is very bad English and technically wrong. You don't get any visa extended - as in fact, you don't have a visa anymore from the point on when you got issued your first extension of stay - you just get your STAY PERMIT extended. A stay permit is not a visa
Marty *********
@Andreas ********
Then let's call it a 1 year extension of stay which is what I usually call it depending on the structure of the sentence. TM7 form.

Of course, there is no need to leave/re-enter during that first year so what is it that you are extending?
Wayne *********
@Marty ********
interesting. Hope they do the same with the OX which I have. I had OA first then changed to OX as I could leave my money in Australia banks
Marty *********
@Wayne ********
I got a 10 year pensioner LTR in Jan 2023. I do not have any money in the bank requirements. I do have to show a passive income of $80,000 USD though. My work and Social Security pensions qualified me.
Marty *********
@Wayne ********
The money in your home country bank is a separate issue. If that is important to you then stay with an OX or OA. One year extensions of an OA or O inside Thailand requires money in a Thai bank.
Wayne *********
@Marty ********
Yes I prefer the comfort of money in Australia earning interest
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