What is the difference between a retirement visa and a retirement extension in Thailand?

@Moadi *****

VISA and EXTENSIONS . . .a very long explanation

VISA PURCHASED AT THE EMBASSY or CONSULATE

Against

A VISA ACQUIRED AT the THAI IMMIGRATION (by change of visa type)

Against

the EXTENSION OF STAY

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?

I notice a lot of confusion about obtaining a visa outside of Thailand compared to obtaining a visa inside Thailand and also compared to obtaining an “extension of stay permit” at immigration. Everyone writes something different and the terms are used incorrectly or in distorted ways

OBTAINING A VISA OUTSIDE OF THAILAND:

A visa can be obtained from the Thai embassy or consulate for numerous reasons. Since the beginning of 2022, the application in some countries must be submitted online (E-Visa). These reasons include tourism, marriage to a Thai, marriage to a foreigner who has residency status in Thailand, retirement, employment, volunteer work or other reasons.

For most visa classes, once this visa has been issued, a person must enter Thailand within the “visa validity” – it can mean 30 days, 90 or 180 days. When you enter the country you will be stamped an “admitted until” stay permit for /365 days depending on the visa category. For example – A single-entry tourist visa will get a person stamped in for 60 days, and a 365-day Non-Imm-OA visa will get a person stamped in for a whole year.

Embassies that already use the E-Visa system, will generate an email containing the visa information; you must print out the .pdf visa sheet and present it in writing upon entry. Consulates and embassies that do not yet use the E-Visa system will place a full-page sticker in the passport of the applicant

Thai embassies and consulates are supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immigration is under the control of the Royal Thai Police and is managed by the Ministry of Interior. These two ministries have different requirements, and their employees often do not know which requirements the other ministry requires of a foreigner. This often leads to incorrect information from embassy staff about Immigration regulations in Thailand, and added to the irregularities is comes the fact that different Immigration offices often interpret processes differently.

ACQUIRING A VISA IN THAILAND:

A visa can also be obtained from the local Thai immigration office (Immigration) for numerous reasons. These reasons may include employment, marriage, retirement or other reasons. By the so called “change of visa type”. Visa for tourism or for a spouse of a pensioner (trailing spouse) and the Non-Imm-O/A visa, cannot be obtained inside Thailand.

Most 90-days Non-Imm-visa come with a single entry, meaning only ONE entry is allowed, and the visa will become “USED” or “invalid” upon entry. These visa categories allow a person to stay in the Kingdom of Thailand for 90 days.

PURCHASE OF AN “EXTENSION OF STAY”

To stay longer in Thailand, a person can purchase an “extension of stay permit”. An extension of stay allows a person to remain in Thailand for a specific time, in most cases one year.

“Retirement extensions” in general allow a person to stay for one year. There will be requirements to be fulfilled for obtaining an extension of stay, and these requirements may differ, depending on the reason the extension is granted.

SUMMARY:

A foreigner can decide to enter Thailand for a specific purpose (reason), and for some visa classes he is free to subsequently apply for the change of the admitted stay permit to a yearlong extended stay permit

When a foreigner has been issued a “1-year Extension of stay permit”, he can buy a single (1000.- THB) or multi (3800.- THB) re-entry permit which will keep the stay permit “alive” until the day of its expiry, in the case of leaving Thailand during the stay permit validity.

NOTE: Thai Immigration uses a technically WRONG expression for what they are doing. Thai Immigration does not draw any difference between a stay permit and a visa, although both are technically NOT the same.

If you ENTER Thailand with a “90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa”, you will receive a 90-days “stay permit” upon entry, and the visa becomes invalid

You will be in the country not “on a visa” but “on a stay permit”

For this stay permit you could theoretically buy a re-entry permit, which will but cease on the same date your 90 days stay permit will expire.

And when you apply for the “one year extension of stay permit based on retirement” out of these 90 days stay permit, Thai Immigration calls it a “visa extension”. This is technically wrong. However I shall let them have their say. I am not the person to lecture a Thai Immigration officer on the numerous flaws of his job.

I hope my explanations find any admirers.

Generally speaking a visa is something you buy before you travel, that allows you to enter a country for specific reason. On entry, your passport is stamped with a date that you have to leave by, depending on the visa you bought. An extension is something you buy inside Thailand at an Immigration office - it's a stamp that permits you to stay for a specific period of time and for a specific reason (e.g. Retirement/Marriage to a Thai/Work).

Can one get multiple-entry on the extension if the original non-O was a single entry?

It's quite a big subject to be honest. There are multiple types of retirement visas and each has their own peculiarities. Non-O, Non-OA, Non-OX, LTR. Some can be obtained inside Thailand, some can not. Some require insurance, some do not. Best to do your own research on that. Extensions can also vary depending on the original visa they are based on

A retirement visa is a 90 day non-O visa based on being over 50 years old.

A retirement extension can only be applied for when you're already on the non-O visa or a retirement extension. You cannot just skip directly to the extension, you have to get the visa first.