What is the best visa option for an American expat wanting to stay in Chiang Mai for most of 2020?

Best of luck 👍.

@Ke***

actually that is a little incorrect,

it's NOT technically good for 9 months, a 6 month METV is ONLY valid for 6 months from the date it's issued, that's why it has that catchy name :P

BUT you can indeed get almost 9 months of stay out of it.

get the visa as close to when you enter thailand as you can

-enter get 60 days,

-when that runs out exit/re-enter get 60 more days

-when that runs out exit/re-enter get 60 more days

-just before the VISA expires exit/re-enter get 60 more days <- which takes you to 8 months and then get a 30 day extension on that last entry taking you to 9 months :)

@Loretta ******

It's technically good for 9 months also if you exit and enter just before it expires. Just make sure you don't get it until right before you go to Thailand as the visa starts from the day you get it from the consulate and not from when you enter.

you can only get it from a thai consulate in your country BEFORE you come here, There are no thai consulates i S/E Asia that sell it.

AND

It's the same cost (200USD) as the year-long, mulit-entry Non-O-A visa people are telling you to get. So you can either get a visa that's good for 6 months and stamps you in for 60 days each time OR you can get a visa that's good for a year and stamps you in for a whole year each time.

It comes down to whether you can meet the requirements BUT hands down if you can meet the O-A requirements it is the visa you should have because it's almost 2 years of trouble free time in thailand ...

and you will be faced with getting a 90 day single entry ED visa which stamps you in for only 90 days, then going to the immigration office every 90 days to get a 90 day extension of stay, AND if you leave and don't study and miss the minimum hours required for your next extension you lose the visa. And if you need to leave the country during one of those 90 day extensions you'd need a re-entry permit AND have to come back during that 90 days or you'd lose everything and start all over.

Bryan Graham I don't know that you can do that. The passport and visa will get mailed to a U.S. address and the fingerprint clearance for FBI background also is done from specific locations in the states.

Bryan Graham I did the FBI background clearance. It was easy...and super fast.

I had to go to a specific place that did electronic fingerprints. Filled out a form, rolled the prints.

This was at 1 pm on a Monday at a place about 45 minutes from my home in Phoenix, Arizona. By the time I pulled into my driveway, no joke, there was a notification on my email that the FBI had already APPROVED and it was being mailed to me that DAY!!!

By Friday at noon, the clearance paper was in my mailbox.

Bryan Graham each state has their own requirement for the police back ground check "Google is your friend" :P

@Loretta ******

EXACTLY! That was recommended to me...for precisely this same reason. Do it now, or as soon as possible...then if there is a glitch or other issue, you have plenty of time to fix it and then go directly to LA in person.

I was worried about mailing my passport off. Never done that before and that thing is precious, right? But I paid extra for the tracking and wow, talk about fast turnaround.

@Loretta ******

hey you! I have the non-IMM O-A ME based on long stay. Got it in La before I moved to Thailand (by mail) all because the brilliant folks of this group. PM me if you’d like -but listen carefully to what Tod says. His words is golden! 😀

meaning you show all banked money 800K baht OR the equivalent, you show a statement from some organization that shows you get 65K baht or the equivalent every month OR you use a combination of banked money and a statement to show you get a total of 800K baht a year.

@Loretta ******

this is the operative word in that sentence

@Siggi *******

first of all, you can disagree with someone without being so rude...it would be logical that a 62 year olď who has a son working Thailand would not have issues BUT Thailand is not logical...the prevailing opinion is to get an OA visa before she arrives and that is her best option.

@Glen ********

Don't write bullshit, she is 62 years old, her son is an official teacher in Thailand with work permit, she will never get denied at entry like nobody in this age, you can travel regular to Thailand if you have a reason, even every week, you never get denied. Don't scare people when you not have personal experience and proved evidence about whatever you posting

@Loretta ******

not a problem I just wanted you to know what you were getting because when it comes to visas and extensions terminology will run you off the rails really fast.

I meant no disrespect at all

@Tod ********

a 90 day single entry.

@Ellen ***************

what was the reason you got the Non-O visa? Was it a 90 day single entry or a year-long, multi-entry?

We got our 90 day O visas in Boston last December.