Thailand Visa question No. 028/22: Which visa?

Questioner: Matthew

In fact, for the last two or three years I have been going to Thailand on a Non Imm OA visa obtained through the Thai Embassy in The Hague. I used to have a Non Imm O, multiple entry, but I prefer not to have one anymore because of the prescribed border runs

I'm a bit fed up with all the paperwork for this, such as the health certificate, registration of birth register, GBA and statement of behavior, also because it all has to be triple checked and legalized.

And then I'm not even talking about the insurance you have to take out because the Dutch statement of insurance is not accepted. Now you can do that for a hefty premium. I will be 74 this year, so it will soon be difficult to take out that insurance.

On average I am in Thailand for 7 to 8 months and at least the prescribed 4 months in the Netherlands.

What is your advice? Is there an easier way to stay in Thailand for a long time. To meet the income requirements through a visa support letter is no problem.

Thank you in advance for your kind cooperation.

Reaction RonnyLatYa

You can apply for a Non-immigrant O (Retired) Single entry visa. You will come for 90 days and you can extend it for a year in Thailand. You can do so with a Visa Support Letter if that amount is at least 65 000 Baht monthly income.

Health insurance is requested for the application of the visa, but not for the annual extension at the moment. You can then repeat that year extension annually, ie you do not have to apply for a visa again every year.

E-Visa Categories, Fee and Required Documents – สถานเอกอัครราชทูตณ กรุงเฮก (thaiembassy.org)

CATEGORY 1 : Tourism and recreation related visit

4. Longer stay for retired persons (pensioner aged 50 or above)

Another possibility is to leave with a Tourist status (Visa Exemption or Tourist Visa) and then have it converted to a Non-immigrant in Thailand. You have to do that because you cannot get a year extension on a Tourist status.

You can read here what you need for that conversion.

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/8-1.pdf

If allowed, you will first get 90 days, but you can then extend it for another year.

Health insurance is currently not mandatory for both the conversion and the annual extension.

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