What are the requirements and process for obtaining a 12 Month Extension of Stay on a Non-O Retirement Visa in Thailand?

@Dennis ********

thank you

@Gregory ********

but see, I am going to leave this silly discussion now. You are unwilling to learn, I feel like I am talking to a slice of bread. Have a nice evening!

@Gregory ********

the visa validity expiry is a different thing than the expiry of the stay permit you get stamped on this visa. Two different dates. You should not confuse it

@Nongnuch *******

yes but you still ignore the facts of what it says about your visa expiry date which proves you are wrong

@Gregory ********

my entry on a 90-days Non-Imm-O Retirement Visa was 17 years and three passports ago 😂😎 in these days of old the visa still was a sticker in the passport, and when I entered, I received a stay permit for 90 days and the visa sticker got a BIG red stamp across it that said USED 🤓 . . which clearly indicated that this visa was void from then on

@Nongnuch *******

what about your original stamp? Being a pedant means you should understand original not rentry permit (visa)

thank you,

@Kim ********

for your true words

@Gregory ********

Kim Nielsen confirmed:

“Nothing to do with being a nerd wanting correct terminology.

Yeah the barstool says “we are on a retirement visa” but that does not mean the visa is extended - a visa is an entry permission and is used or void when you entered, and replaced with a permission to stay.

Just a side note: he TM7 is called extension of stay - not extension of visa.

I would feel happy to get corrected if I used a word wrong.

But well, some like to learn and some - the likes of YOU - close their ears and refuse to learn”

@Gregory ********

everybody who has a one-year extension based on retirement, who exits Thailand and re-enters using a re-entry permit, will get stamped "Non-RE" into the visaclass. RE not meaning retirement but RE-entry permit

@Gregory ********

it says Non-RE in the right upper corner under "visaclass" - "RE" because I used a re-entry permit for my one-year extended stay permit when I entered and because my 1-year stay permit is based on a Non-Imm visaclass that has expired 17 years ago 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Gregory ********

It is sheer impossible that you got a visa stamped into your passport . . . . visas are not stamped into a passport any more. E-Visas issued by Thai embassies are a piece of printed paper you need to show when you enter. The entry stamp says "admitted until" which is an "admission to stay", not a visa. The visaclass you used gets entered into the upper red corner.

@Gregory ********

no they don't . . .extension of stay permit, not extension of visa on Immigration Buriram

@Nongnuch *******

funny thai immigration officers and their documents say differently.

In your opinion which is not proved by not cherry picking

@Gregory ********

😂😂😂😂😂😂 no you don't have any visa if you are on an extended stay permit

@Nongnuch *******

I got a visa stamp in my passport. That gives the visa class on it and when i was permitted to stay to. And i extended my stay and the visa. The visa is not cancelled until i cease the single entry.

@Gregory ********

The single entry 90-days Non-O visa expires or becomes invalid, when you enter Thailand on it.

You get a stay permit of 90 days stamped into your passport.

And before this stay permit expires, you apply for the one-year extension of the stay permit based on the same reason the visa was originally issued for

A visa cannot get extended, a visa only allows entry into a country and cannot get extended after it has been used for an entry

@Matthew ********

wanka 😎

@Darren *****

not 😏

@Matthew ********

not where you go. But I don't care at all.

@Jack ****

🥲🥲🥲

@Trav *********

you have no idea what you are even typing about. Just type nonsense from keyboard.

A Non O is a visa as is a Non O-A as is a Multi entry Non O (recently removed and an Extension are all very different.

Specifics are important.

This forum is ridiculous as has no moderation to bar language and ignorance

@Jack ****

I know what specific is, you're a "know it all" wanker, is that specific enough!!!!!

@Wayne *******

Yes, a visa is technically and procedurally just an authorisation required to cross the border if you are not eligible for visa exemption. The stamp you receive at the border is, in technical terms, the permission to stay that the visa or the visa exemption entitles you to. You then apply for a further extension of that permission to stay. The terminology is not particularly important, as long as you understand what you are applying for and what status you are actually granted.

@Jan *****************

I couldn’t agree with you more people so many people are hung up saying that the minute you come in to Thailand your visa is canceled and then you are on an extension of stay which is Ludacris because what if you don’t request an extension of stay, then in my eyes, you’re here legally on whatever type of visa you are holding

@Jan *****************

you confused me with the valid visa when the OP is already on an extension

Did you not read Dennis's last paragraph 🤔

@Nick ******

I am admin of a visa advice group. I got over 300 pre-texted advices on my harddisc. Pre-texted because many questions are about re-appearing topics . . . I actually HELP people every day

@Nongnuch *******

not reading all that. The fact you posted it when I didn’t ask shows you are showboating rather than trying to be helpful. Have a good day

@Nick ******

Of course there is such a thing as a “retirement visa”

Actually, the term can mean seven (7) different visas and stay permits, it depends what people like to say, be it wrong or not.

With kinds regards and thanks to Robert Lagas, who wrote it up and whose original text I have only marginally altered.

Once more, because people try to give advice based on what they think is a "Retirement Visa"

First of all, you DO not have to be retired to apply for this visa. You however need to be 50 years or older.

Well, some Thai embassies will insist that you already receive a pension, or they will tell you to apply for the Non-Imm-O/A Longstay Visa. What “your” embassy is doing, you need to check.

Second is that all options have DIFFERENT rules, regulations and requirements.

So please read and try not to give incorrect advice by using the requirements for a different type of visa or extension of stay.

What is a retirement visa?

It is a phrase used by foreigners and Immigration and it could be 7 different types of visa or stay permits, with different rules, regulations and requirements

OR

it could even be an 1 year Extension of Stay based on being over 50 years of age and willing to sit out the rest of their life inside Thailand.

It is easy to type “retirement visa”, but very difficult to understand which option the person refers to

Options are:

1. Single Entry Non Immigrant O visa based on being over 50 years of age

2. Multiple Entry Non Immigrant O visa based on being over 50 years of age (it got discontinued by October 2023 and is not available any more)

3. Non Immigrant O visa based on being over 50 years of age without entry by conversion at local immigration office

4. Non Immigrant O-A visa (Long Stay)

5. Non Immigrant O-X visa

6. Long Term Residency (LTR) visa

7. Extension of Stay based on being over 50 years of age and willing to sit out the rest of their life inside Thailand (stamp from Immigration, which is not a visa)

ONLY for options 3, 5 and 7 the applicant needs a bank account in Thailand or a Certificate of Income from their Embassy.

Option 2 cannot be applied for any more, since all Thai Embassies and Consulates took it out of the E-visa program.

Option 3 is applied for by conversion of your Visa Exempt Entry or Tourist Visa at your local Immigration Office inside Thailand.

Option 6 is applied for with support of BOI Thailand

Option 7 is applied for at your local Immigration Office AFTER you used a Non-Immigrant visa.

Other options are applied for at a Thai Consulate OR for those countries who are legit, on-line.

Thanks for reading this long explanation.

@Nongnuch *******

have you got nothing better to do that play with semantics? 🤯

@Dennis ********

A "visa" permits and regulates the ENTRY into the country.

Depending on the visa category, you will receive different lengths of stay permits. For Thailand, these can be 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 days. They can also be 5, 10, or even 20 years.

The STAY PERMIT regulates STAYING in the country.

The duration of the permitted stay depends on the visa category with which you entered.

A single-entry visa becomes invalid upon entry and cannot be extended or used for another entry.

You have entered the country “on a visa” and you are now inside the country on a stay permit. This is also evident from the entry stamp:

This stamp states "admitted until" and a date. This stamp is the actual stay permit. This stamp is not a visa. The entry date is in red, and the expiration date of the "admitted until" permit is in blue.

In the upper right corner, next to the wording “visa class”, the visa category under which you entered the country is either handwritten or stamped.

If you leave the country before the expiration of your stay permit without a re-entry permit, the visa itself does not expire (because you no longer have any visa)... it is just the stay permit that will expire.

The "extension of the stay permit" is not a visa.

It is an “extended stay permit”.

No immigration office can extend any visas; technically, that's impossible, even though they often refer to a "visa extension" in their terribly bad English

Unfortunately, immigration doesn't differentiate between the terms "visa" and "stay permit." They consider them one and the same. This is not correct.

However, a handful of immigration offices have seen the light and stopped talking about "visa extensions."

I need absolute clarity in my visa consultations, I ignore the immigration office's error and will always use the correct terminology.

Lack of words also plays a role. It's easier to say “you have a retirement visa" than to use the correct term, "you got a one-year extension of the temporary stay permit based on retirement."

If you don’t understand this, I really can't help. Then all my efforts are in vain and you need to get educated.

@Dennis ********

and the extension stamp looks like this . . . Nowhere it says anything about being a "visa". Actually, it says TWO times it is a "stay permit"

@Dennis ********

you would have an entry stamp like this one . . it clearly says that you are "admitted until" for 90 days. The visaclass you entered on can be seen in the upper right corner. This stamp is a stay permit, this stamp is NOT a visa. Your 90-days Non-Imm-O Visa would be an A4 paper document from a Thai Embassy which you printed out at home

@Dennis ********

"My entry visa expired 8 Jan." . .wrong again. Your 90-days stay permit expired on January 8. Your entry visa expired by October 11 when you entered

@Dennis ********

ah, so my guess was very close. Today, your 90-days report due date was less than 15 days away, actually only 10 days away, that's why they let you report and issued the slip