The question is how many time are you going to leave the country and how long is the life of retirement visa to run ,
Just go into airport and look for the sign it re-enter permit, or go to immigration office and ask for re-enter permit i think it about a 1000buats it so you do not lose your visa/yearly extention
So mine was done in three weeks getting it recognised at the departure of internal affairs and stamp, then to amper local office to be married ,all in three weeks o visa is mandatory as far as I know
your right is not a visa, is just an extension of stay for 1year you renew it in the 11 month and keep extending it as I did still the 10years passport run out of time (18 months minimum before expiry) so this a new passport