I seem close to getting the LTR visa (currently “under consideration by government agencies”) but it has taken 3 months to reach this stage and my current O visa based on retirement expires on December 31.
Is there any alternative to renewing the O visa for another year (e.g. grace period for late renewal with a small penalty or tourist visa which can be converted back to O visa at a later date?) so that I can buy a little time as the LTR visa process comes to an end?
Thanks.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is seeking alternatives to renewing their expiring O visa while waiting for approval of their LTR visa, which is currently 'under consideration' and has taken 3 months. They inquire about options such as a grace period for late renewal or switching to a tourist visa. Community responses suggest that if the user qualifies, they should consider renewing the O visa for another year, as options like entering Thailand with a 45-day visa exemption exist but may not be as secure. Others share experiences of delays in the LTR process, emphasizing the importance of proper documentation.
LONG TERM RESIDENT (LTR) VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
I know people who applied at the end of Sept and their applications are still in that Pending status. SO that doesn't mean you're close to getting it. I'd get the next year extension but that's me..
I had the same problem and ended up getting another one year extension. Another thing to know is that they are very picky about the format of all your document submissions. I’ve submitted passport photos three times. I applied Oct 3rd and I think I am very close to getting it.
Yes, I have now just been asked for the profit made from investments despite having sent them all my bank details, tax returns and payments. It feels like a stalling tactic every few weeks. They need to be up front on what is required as their initial list of documents requested was completed 2 months ago.
This morning's confusion is that I gave them my last entry stamp in 2019 but they thought I might have left and re-entered Thailand since then. I had not. I just sent them all my passport pages, even the final blank pages, since my Sep 2019 entry so they can see everything. I also sent my TM6, front and back (which has an ink stamp). They also wanted to see my most recent 90-day report. This is all the stuff an immigration officer would be looking at if I showed up in person.
I talked to someone who had recently received his LTR. He made 3 visits to the BOI office to get help uploading documents and mentioned that they kept asking for the same documents.
They called me this morning wanting more passport photos and to put everything into one PDF file. I sent the email minutes ago. Yesterday and today a real person has been working on it and I got to talk to her.
Good luck … I hope you get it. I have gone through various rounds of ‘pending - more info requested - pending’ to ‘in process’ and then onto ‘under consideration by government agencies’ for the last 10 days. Any idea if there is another phase before approval / rejection?
If you are married to a thai or have thai children you could get a 60 day visit thai family extension,
If you are not, then no 😕, there's nothing available to you extension wise except another year retirement extension.
You could bounce out and back to get OFF the retirement extension and on to a 45 day visa exempt entry stamp (which you could extend for 30 days if you needed to)
BUT
Keep in mind even people who are approved are running out of time on their stamps because of the back log in scheduling them to come in for the 10 year visa and 5 year stay stamp to be inked in 😮
More than a few people were told by LTR staff they would need to bounce out and back again to buy time because there were no openings to get their stamping done.
I would say; IF you meet the requirements to get another year extension of stay based on retirement just do it. I mean it's 1900baht and you wouldn't need a re-entry permit because you would hopefully get your LTR before the next year ran out 😮
You can leave the country and re-enter on a 45 day entry stamp, which can be extended a further 30 days. This gives you the potential of a further total of 75 days, which should be sufficient time.
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