@Jaun *********

Citizen of South Africa can enter visa-exempt. Your son could enter visa-exempt, get stamped in for 60 days, and extend once for 30 more days. He must leave Thailand before the 90 days are up. A second visa-exempt entry depends on the individual discretion of the Immigration officer at the border

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

and

@John *********

And the visa validity seems to have started yesterday!? He is going to lose half of the visa validity if he waits to enter until October 3rd 😕

@Graham *****

apparently this is the case. A 6-months METV. And the visa validity seems to have started yesterday!? He is going to lose half of the visa validity if he waits to enter until October 3rd 😕

@Lynnette ******

so according to him he applied for a 78-days visa yesterday and it got issued within hours -valid for an entry on 3rd of October - the very last day the visa is good to enter. This turns out to be a complete train wreck, Tod D. would call it . . I think he got a METV issued yesterday. And the visa validity seems to have started yesterday. He is going to lose half of the visa validity if he waits to enter until October 4th 😕

@Michael **********

something doesn't fit here. There is no 78 days visa. And there is no Non-Imm-visa with a validity of 180 days. . . . and he wrote contradicting info: "I applied for a 3 month visa and it appears to be valid from June 25th until December 21st."

@Betty ********

but something smells wrong here. He said he was issued a six-month visa! There is no Non-Imm-O Visa with a 180-days validity

@Michael **********

"I applied for a 3 month visa and it appears to be valid from June 25th until December 21st." . . . . Now THIS leaves me completely devastated. . . . . this sounds like you were issued a 6-months multi entry tourist visa. It can't be a 180-days Non-Imm-O visa as there is nothing such. And entering in October would make little sense as you would lose more than half of the visa validity

@Michael **********

Ah, okay.

You plan to enter on a 90-days single entry Non-Imm-O visa, and use it for a holiday of 90 days. Then you plan to do a border-bounce, to get stamped in for 60 more days upon re-entry

*** I would say your plan is okay and will work, as long as the Immigration officer at the border likes your past entry-stamp history of the recent 365-days, most of all when he doesn’t find “too many” visa-exempt entries and touristic entries

Regardless of all - be prepared to be asked for the three famous proofs:

*Cash equivalent of 20,000 THB

*a few nights of a booked accommodation

*Proof of onward travel leaving Thailand within these visa-exempt 60 days

Safe trip and a nice holiday!

@Franco ******

You are confusing us with wrong wording :

There is nothing such as a “renowal visa retirement”

The only thing you can “renew”, is the “1-year Extended Stay Permit based on Retirement”, by applying for the next “1-year Extension of the Stay Permit based on Retirement”

There is a difference between a "visa" and a "stay permit"

The visa permits and regulates the entry into the country. Depending on the visa category, you will receive stay permits of varying lengths.

In Thailand, these can be 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 days – depending on the visa category. It can also be 1 years or 5 years

The stay permit regulates the length of your permitted stay in the country. The length of the permitted stay depends on the visa category.

You enter the country on a visa - and from then on reside in the country on a stay permit. This be seen on the entry stamp:

It says "admitted until" and a date. This stamp is the actual stay permit. The entry date is in red, and the expiration date of the "admitted until" permit is in blue.

In the upper right corner there will be a smallish note indicating the visa class you used

The stamp for the annual "1-year extension of residence permit" consequently reads "extension of stay permitted until" and a date.

The reason for which the 12-months extension got issued, is either an extra stamp saying “Retirement” or a handwritten note saying “Thai Wife”

This stamp is the actual stay permit. This stamp is not a visa.

A visa, for example, a "single entry tourist" or a "single entry Non-Imm-O" visa type, becomes invalid upon entry and cannot be extended or used again for another entry.

A multi-entry visa can be used for any number of (multiple) entries within the visa validity period.

For example, the 6-month multi-entry tourist visa is valid for 6 months, but you only receive a 60-days stay permit for each entry.

A visa always has a so-called "visa validity." This is the expiration date by which you must have used the visa to enter the country.

Visas .pdf documents issued by the e-visa online system, show the expiry date of the visa validity after the words "visa must be used by".

EXAMPLE: For a 60-day tourist visa or a 90-day non-immigrant visa, the visa validity is three months from the date of issue.

A 3-months visa validity date means you must have entered the country by this date, 3 months after the visa has been issued.

The visa validity and the validity of the permitted stay are never the same.

Anyone who wants to extend their stay must apply for an "extended stay permit" and not a "visa extension."

Even Thai Immigration fools around "visa extensions," even though they aren't extending any visas. They are only extending the stay permit.

Laziness plays a role. It's easier to say you have a "retirement visa" than to pronounce the correct term, which is "temporary extension of the stay permit based on retirement."

Look at your entry stamp and check the visa validity date. Compare. Your stamped stay permit extends BEYOND the visa expiration date. The entry date is in red, and the expiration date of the "admitted until" permit is in blue.

NOTE:

The entry is made on a "visa."

A "stay permit" is stamped in the passport.

The VISA expires and is invalid after entry.

The applicant is now in Thailand on a stay permit.

This stay permit can be extended. A visa that has long since expired, cannot get extended at all.

@Franco ******

are you already on a 1-year extension of stay based on retirement, and need to apply for the next 1-year extension of stay, or did you enter on a 90-days Non-Imm-O retirement visa and now want to apply for the 1-year extension?