Extended stay in LOS

[Skallagrim 0]

When I embarked on my current job to Sri Lanka I planned to stay for a year, get some money togehter and go fishing in Aussie land. Thats always been a dream of mine for some perverted reason. Then my brain told me to go to Thailand for a 2 week trip back in May, to go fishing and perhaps get laid.

 

Okay so I gone and fallen in love with Thailand and still struggling to come to terms with my holliday crush on a BG after my second trip. Now that may....or rather will fall appart I guess. But still want to spend some extended time in LOS once my not renewable contract with my current employer expires this time next year.

 

So here is the plan, now that aussieland is firmly cancelled.

 

1. Work my butt off for another year (they pay me quite nicely for doing next to nothing and act like I actually have a clue about what I am talking about, thank you taxpayers)

 

2. Visit LOS and my Teeruk, whomever that may be (I really like her to much) every 2 months as the taxpayers have seen fit to pay me in full for 37 days off in a six month period where they pay for tickets and hotels provided I get out of this hellhole to use it)

 

2. Shift my ass over to LOS (it's a 3 hour flight from her so not a big effort)

 

3. Rent a place with aircon, western shitter, a bedroom with a soft bed, somewhere to cook, internet connection and a friendly landlord and a resonable rent

 

4. Buy a crotch rocket to get around. Traffick in Thailand is believe it or not comparable to the traffick in the Darfur, Sudan compared to the hellhole I am in right now. ( i know, have have been to Darfur, and the only traffick there consist of stoned Janjaweed militia on camels looking for children to kill and the odd idiot like me)

 

5. Fuck my TG, fish, and enjoy myself (but not in holliday mode, even a farang baa like me knows that the bank account will need a refill quite fast in that mode).

 

6. Work out how to be less intence (thanks for that tip Irish mate of Sexy Beast who drives crotch rockets like its no tomorrow)

 

7. Realize my bank account is down to red allert and start looking for my next gig

 

8. Act like I am working my butt off in some war ridden, corrupt, hellhole for 6 monthts to get back to LOS

 

9. See item number 1.

 

Now, I have no real ties to my beloved Norway except mum 'n dad, my brother who unlike this pot bellied, lazy fuck actually IS a hansum man, his kids and grandma. Having spent the last 10-12 years pretending to work in places like Lebanon, the Balkans, Iraq, Sudan, Eritrea sort of fucked my head up enough to realize that paradise does not consist of wife, 1.6 kids, 10 million bath mortgage on house in suburbia, cabin in the mountains, boat on the fjord, Volvo and a trip to Mallorca every second summer, and I absolutely HATE to showel snow.

 

So what are the things I need to know...okay from this board, stickmans pages, and googling I found out that I can get a 90 day visa wich I can be easily renewed if I get my but out of LOS for 24 hours our so. How easy is this really? Got a friend who did the same thing in Brazil, but he had to stay out for 3 months to get his Visa renewed. So is it really that easy?

 

Will I run into trouble renting a house/ condo on a 90 day visa?

 

Do I have to pay rent in advance and if so, for how many months? (basicly what should I expect in start up costs for renting a place to park my ass? (type of costs, not ammounts, I have no idea even in Norway as I have not stayed there enough the last ten years to pack up my travel bag)

 

Do I need to register with some kind of authority appart from getting a visa? (do not plan to work).

 

Any other advice about staying there more than 2 weeks for a fuck and drink holliday is apreciated.

 

Thank you

Edited September 1, 2006 by Skallagrim

[iceice 1]

sounds like a cunning plan,go for it..you live once

[Eneukman 1]

If you're planning on coming for a year and are under 50, obtain a multi-entry non-Immigrant O visa from the Thai Consulate in Norway. The cost is something like £90. You will need a letter of guarantee from a relative or a friend guaranteeing to pay the cost of your repatriation should you run out of money. The Consulate in Hull just wanted to know that I had a letter of guarantee and didn't do any background checks. That was just as well as he almost certainly wouldn't be able to come up with the money.

 

You need to enter Thailand within 90 days of the visa being granted. The expiry date will be 1 year after the visa was issued.

 

Every 90 days you will need to do a visa run (it can be extended at the Immigration Office on Jomtien Beach Road Soi 5 for up to 30 days for a few of 1,900 baht). A few days BEFORE your visa finally expires, leave the country and come back in. You will then be granted permission to stay for a further 90 days (plus a 30 day extension). This will give you up to a 16 month stay on one visa.

 

Renting. Most places will request a 2 month deposit. The monthly rent is then paid monthly in advance. Note that many places may have a minimum 6 month term for rentals.

 

There's no need to register with any authority. Those of us who have a retirement visa have to notify our address to Immigration every 90 days but this won't apply to you.

 

Also, check out the Thai visa site - www.thaivisa.com for further advice.

 

Good luck whatever you do.

 

Alan

[Skallagrim 0]

Thanks for the info

 

The visa thing seem to be not so straight forward as I thought. So nice to know. Going to norway to do the formalities is however out for me? I am playing expat in Sri Lanka at the moment, so wonder if I could do the paperwork with the Thai Embassy here, as I have no plans to even going home for a visit before heading to LOS. Anyone with any experience in this?

[MrMango 665]

Thanks for the info

 

The visa thing seem to be not so straight forward as I thought. So nice to know. Going to norway to do the formalities is however out for me? I am playing expat in Sri Lanka at the moment, so wonder if I could do the paperwork with the Thai Embassy here, as I have no plans to even going home for a visit before heading to LOS. Anyone with any experience in this?

Go for it! Try there, as a lot of Board Members go to Malaysia to get their visas. The alternative would be just to come to Thailand on a 30 day arrival visa, get a 15 day extension, and then do a border run - Not difficult, but it kills a day and you are ready for 45 more days.

 

There are Visa services that you can use that fly to Penang and get your 90 day visa in Pattaya.

 

Don't worry too much, as it seems to work itself out here.

[Eneukman 1]

Thanks for the info

 

The visa thing seem to be not so straight forward as I thought. So nice to know. Going to norway to do the formalities is however out for me? I am playing expat in Sri Lanka at the moment, so wonder if I could do the paperwork with the Thai Embassy here, as I have no plans to even going home for a visit before heading to LOS. Anyone with any experience in this?

 

You can only get a multi-entry non-Immigrant O visa in your home country. From what I've heard, it's getting harder to obtain even a single entry non-Immigrant O visa in neighbouring countries. Penang will, I believe, issue a tourist visa which is valid for 60 days (extendable for I think 15 days). After that you wold have to go back to Penang and obtain a new tourist visa.

 

There have also been rumours that the authorities here are planning a clampdown on the number of successive 30 day permits you can get. (Note - what you get on arrival in Thailand is not a visa, but rather permission to stay in the country for 30 days.) This has been talked about for some time but one day, they might just decide to implement it. TiT!!!!

 

Alan

[wagger 0]

I'm just about to apply for my non-immigrant O visa here in the UK and the application form states very clearly that it is most unlikely that a visa wll be issued anywhere other than your own country.

 

i geuss it's a way of ensuring you leave the Kingdom and go home at least once a year. It gives them a chance to refuse entry next time if you are an undesirable with certain responsbilties back home!

[Skallagrim 0]

Okay...well, I can always try to get it from where I am. I have a residense visa for Sri Lanka, an appartment and a job here...well at least I will have that when I apply. So hope that may swing things to my side.

 

Else it will be the 60 day visa option for me. going home, get a visa from there, rent a place to live while waiting for the visa and purchase new tickets from Norway to Thailand will cost me at least 3000US$ if not more . So the extra expense of dealing with a 60 day one is actually worth it if it comes to that me thinks...

[sinkorswim 80]

You can only get a multiple entry in your own country.....unless you want a non-b in that case you need a work permit. Get your visa before you come here it is easy and I got mine from Hull in 2 days. I have done that for the last 2 years. Also renting a house is easy just do not comit yourself to a long lease. I would ask them if you can rent month by month (incase you want to move) and you usually have to pay between 1 and 2 months rent deposit when you rent.

 

If you get a non O visa which I think is best for you then you just have to do the visa runs every 3 months.

 

Hope this helps a little

[carpediem 0]

i have a non immigrant 'o' visa. i intend to retire to los in the course of the next 18 months - ie have my own place with my things moved across, etc. in the meantime i'll be spending a good 50% of my time in los anyway.

 

can i convert my visa to a retirement visa - at the jomtien immigration office? or must i do some paperwork before i arrive there? i know that i need to move 800,000 baht into thailand.

 

is there any benefit in doing this as soon as possible? or can i just do it 'in due course', ie after i've properly moved - though that'll probably call for another year's renewal of my present visa?

 

thanks for your comments or advice.

 

cd

[Eneukman 1]

i have a non immigrant 'o' visa. i intend to retire to los in the course of the next 18 months - ie have my own place with my things moved across, etc. in the meantime i'll be spending a good 50% of my time in los anyway.

 

can i convert my visa to a retirement visa - at the jomtien immigration office? or must i do some paperwork before i arrive there? i know that i need to move 800,000 baht into thailand.

 

is there any benefit in doing this as soon as possible? or can i just do it 'in due course', ie after i've properly moved - though that'll probably call for another year's renewal of my present visa?

 

thanks for your comments or advice.

 

cd

 

To be pedantic for a moment

 

Having said that what you and I call a retirement visa is actually merely an extension to your non-Immigrant O visaa.

 

You can apply for a 1 year extension to your non-Immigrant O visa at any time in the month before your current permission to stay expires.

 

You will need the following -

 

Medical certificate - 80 baht or so depending on which clinic you go to

800,000 baht in the bank (or letter from your embassy stating that you have monthly pension income of 65,000 baht per month), letter from bank to verify that and to confirm that the funds originated from outwith Thailand - 100 to 200 baht

Completed application form

Various photocopies - the adjacent photocopying shop will copy everything you need

2 photographs

1,900 baht for the fee

 

Once you have the extension (it will be back dated to 1 year after you last entered Thailand), you must then obtain a re-entry permit if you plan on leaving Thailand for any reason or you will have to start the whole process from scratch again.

 

Cost of this is 1,000 baht for a single entry permit or 3,800 baht for a multiple entry permit.

 

I don't think there's anything to be gained by waiting so long as you will not be working once you have obtained the visa.

 

Alan

[carpediem 0]

To be pedantic for a moment you can only get a retirement visa in your home country.

 

Having said that what you and I call a retirement visa is actually merely an extension to your non-Immigrant O visaa.

 

You can apply for a 1 year extension to your non-Immigrant O visa at any time in the month before your current permission to stay expires.

 

You will need the following -

 

Medical certificate - 80 baht or so depending on which clinic you go to

800,000 baht in the bank (or letter from your embassy stating that you have monthly pension income of 65,000 baht per month), letter from bank to verify that and to confirm that the funds originated from outwith Thailand - 100 to 200 baht

Completed application form

Various photocopies - the adjacent photocopying shop will copy everything you need

2 photographs

1,900 baht for the fee

 

Once you have the extension (it will be back dated to 1 year after you last entered Thailand), you must then obtain a re-entry permit if you plan on leaving Thailand for any reason or you will have to start the whole process from scratch again.

 

Cost of this is 1,000 baht for a single entry permit or 3,800 baht for a multiple entry permit.

 

I don't think there's anything to be gained by waiting so long as you will not be working once you have obtained the visa.

 

Alan

 

thanks for setting out the situation - but may i just clarify the issue of timing?

 

my multiple entry non immigrant o visa was issued in april 06 and my first entry on it was in may. so presumably i would apply for the conversion/extension next april (or may?). any earlier would be to 'waste' the money already paid for the remaining period to next april/may?

 

on a final detail does "any time in the month before your current permission to stay expires" mean

a) 1 year from my original visa issuance date, or

when my final stay in thailand legally expires - which could be later than a) if i entered just before the visa expiry & got a 3 month permission to stay.

 

excuse my probable lack of clarity.

 

cd