Visa issues

[kittyboy]

I know this topic has been done before but I have a question on long-term visas for Thailand I have an American passport and I would like to spend about 90 days in Thailand this coming summer.

I can get a 30 day visa on arrival however once I am in Thailand can I go to a visa place and have my visa extended?
What is the process for extending the visa and how much does it cost.

No mate you get a 60-day tourist visa from the nearest Thai Embassy to where you are and then you get a 30-day extension when your 60 days is nearly up for something around 2000 baht I think. You can try for a 90-day Non-Imm visa instead but others will be along shortly to tell ya how practical that is.

Oh and THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a 30-day visa on arrival if your passport is from a First World country. You get a 30-day visa exemption NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL.

[kittyboy]

No mate you get a 60-day tourist visa from the nearest Thai Embassy to where you are and then you get a 30-day extension when your 60 days is nearly up for something around 2000 baht I think. You can try for a 90-day Non-Imm visa instead but others will be along shortly to tell ya how practical that is.

Oh and THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a 30-day visa on arrival if your passport is from a First World country. You get a 30-day visa exemption NOT THE SAME THING AT ALL.

Ah....ok... When I fly into thailand I get a 30 day stay....the nearest Thai embassy is 2000 km away from me so going there is not really practical. My ideal situation would be to fly to thailand get my 30 day stay .....visa exemption?, then get an extension when I am in country.

Is that possible?

[MiniMee]

Kitty тАУ you want an extension to an exemption? As BrisiGuy said, the 30 visa exemption stamp you receive in your passport on arrival is not a visa. If you obtain a true visa of some sort prior to arrival, then it could be extended for, for a fee.

But why not simply leave Thailand for a few days each month and experience more of Asia. There are so many interesting places within a few hours flying time, and many low cost airlines to choose from. How about the temples of Angkor at Siem Reap? Or the casinos of Macau? Or the arts and culture in Singapore? Or the sights and shopping in Hong Kong?

You can leave and re-enter after a weekend away and obtain a further 30 visa exemption when you return. I think there is a limit of 180 days in 360 doing this (or that used to be the rule) but for 90 days in thee consecutive visits, youтАЩll have no problem.

[kittyboy]

Kitty тАУ you want an extension to an exemption? As BrisiGuy said, the 30 visa exemption stamp you receive in your passport on arrival is not a visa. If you obtain a true visa of some sort prior to arrival, then it could be extended for, for a fee.

But why not simply leave Thailand for a few days each month and experience more of Asia. There are so many interesting places within a few hours flying time, and many low cost airlines to choose from. How about the temples of Angkor at Siem Reap? Or the casinos of Macau? Or the arts and culture in Singapore? Or the sights and shopping in Hong Kong?

You can leave and re-enter after a weekend away and obtain a further 30 visa exemption when you return. I think there is a limit of 180 days in 360 doing this (or that used to be the rule) but for 90 days in thee consecutive visits, youтАЩll have no problem.

Ah...because I don't feel like seeing more of Asia..as I live in Asia.

So if I fly in and get a 30 days exemption can I then go to a visa service and get a proper visa? I would like a 90 day visa with a possible extension.

[cdnmatt]

No, if you come in under a 30 day exemption, you can't extend that, or get another VISA within Thailand. I think you can probably get a 7 day extension for emergency purposes, but that's it. You'd have to leave the country in order to extend your stay.

Where are you now? Is there a Thai embassy close to you? If so, go there and grab a tourist VISA. Then when you come to Thailand, you'll get stamped in for 60 days (instead of 30), and that can be extended at immigration for another 30 days within Thailand.

[timmberty]

so kittyboy has stated the nearest thai embassy is 2000 kms away, matt then asks if there is an embassy close to where he lives.
if you have that much trouble understanding what someone who speaks the same language as you, no wonder it didnt work out with a thai boy.

[Jellybean]

Kittyboy, given that the Thai Embassy in China is 2,000kms from your location, IтАЩm fairly sure you donтАЩt have to turn up in person at the Thai Embassy or a Consulate (if that too is inaccessible for you) to obtain a visa. I think itтАЩs more than likely that you can obtain a visa by sending your passport, the required fee and any supporting documents (if required) by post. I suggest you have a look at their website to see if a visa can be issued that way.

I received my first Thai visa, in the United Kingdom, by sending my passport to a Thai Consulate, in Hull I think, but when I eventually wanted a retirement visa, only then did I have to attend in person at the Thai Embassy in London.

[2lz2p]

You cannot get an extension on a visa exempt entry (30 day permission to stay). The only additional time that Thai Immigration will add is a maximum of 7 days - you apply for extension, they deny it, and then add up to 7 days for you to leave the country. Only holders of a Visa can get extensions of stay - if entry is on Tourist Visa, you get 60 day permission to stay, then can go to Immigration and apply for a 30 day extension (maximum allowed for a Tourist Visa) and pay the 1,900 Baht fee. If you enter on any category of Non-Immigrant Visa (other than O-A), you get a 90 day permission to stay - that permission can be extended up to one year - fee 1,900 Baht - BUT, is given only for specific reasons supported by adequate documentation (e.g., retirement, marriage, etc.).

If you enter as Visa Exempt, to legally stay beyond the 30 days, you will need to leave Thailand. Many do this by utilizing the "border run" services offered by various travel companies - these are usually an all day trip - leave for land border with neighboring country, cross over the border, immediately return to Thailand, and receive another visa exempt entry -- until Nov 1, the permitted stay for Visa Exempt entry at a land border was 15 days (if you fly out and return via an airport, you receive a 30 day stay). It appears that the holders of passports from 7 countries are now receiving 30 days at land borders - from the Pattaya City Expats Club November 8 Newsletter:
NEWS ABOUT RECENT CHANGE BY THAI IMMIGRATION FOR LAND BORDER CROSSINGS тАУ Reported by http://www.thaivisa.com (based on several comments in their forum(s), some land border crossings have implemented the change and some have not yet done so тАУ so far we have not seen any official announcement or press release on this change): Royal Thai Immigration Bureau has confirmed to Thaivisa.com that holders of passports of UK, USA, Japan, Germany, France, Canada and Italy are since November 1, 2013 given 30 days at land borders instead of previously given 15 days.

If you do not want to keep doing border runs, another option is to go to a Thai Consulate/Embassy in a neighboring or nearby country (e.g., Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos), get a Tourist Visa there and receive a 60 day stay upon return. Postings on Thaivisa.com visa forum generally mention at least an overnight stay is required if applying for a Visa from a Thai Embassy/Consulate.



The Pattaya City Expats Club has a lot of information on entering and staying in Thailand on their website: http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/expats/visa.html

[Smiles]

I know this topic has been done before but I have a question on long-term visas for Thailand I have an American passport and I would like to spend about 90 days in Thailand this coming summer.
I can get a 30 day visa on arrival however once I am in Thailand can I go to a visa place and have my visa extended?
What is the process for extending the visa and how much does it cost.
Kittyboy, Brisbaneguy in the second post in this thread got it exactly correct.
Your best bet is to get the 60-Day Tourist visa from the nearest Thai Embassy. You can do it by mail.
Then, once in Thailand, apply for a 30-Day Extension of that same visa.
That equals 90 days and will cost you 1900 baht.
All extensions to any visa type in Thailand will cost the same: 1900 baht no matter if the extension is for 1 day, or 1 year.

On the other hand you can also try applying for a 90-day Non Immigrant Visa (I think the 'O' visa would be the one). But the application is more complicated, more time consuming, more expensive and not necessarily automatic.

(Directly after posting this last possibility I went to the Thai Consulate (Vancouver) web page and found this quote:)
" Non-Immigrant visas will NOT be issued for such purposes as tourism, visiting friends, seeking employment opportunities, looking for a school for teaching or studying purposes, etc."

So I guess the Tourist Visa + Extension is the only one to go for if it's a 3 month 'tourist' stay you're looking for.

Its a direct flight from whatever godforsaken hole you are in China? Why don't you stopover for a couple of days in Hong Kong on the way and get a visa?

[loke]

Another solution for Kittyboy is to do visaruns every 15 days. From Pattaya it will cost you 2000 baht for a daytrip to the Cambodian border that includes everything .

These visarun companies also operates from Bangkok .

[Mancs]

Just to add that the Thai Visa website has recent reports of a change in the immigration rules which is now giving holders of passports from G7 countries 30 days visa exemption at land borders. The reports suggest not all border offices have heard of this yet.

[kittyboy]

Its a direct flight from whatever godforsaken hole you are in China? Why don't you stopover for a couple of days in Hong Kong on the way and get a visa?

Because I am not interested.

So no thanks to the unwanted travel planning advice.

[kittyboy]

Thanks guys...I have been coming to or going to? Going to thailand for 25 years and never realized I was getting a visa exemption and not a visa on arrival.....huh....well there goes my gold star for being the bright pupil.

I will apply online for a proper visa.

As another aside..I have an American friend who wants to stay in chiang mai for 4 to 6 months....how difficult is it to get an education visa....ie Thai cooking, or Thai boxing?

He is a younger hetero guy and wants to hang out and not do much. So he is seriously thinking about cooking or boxing school.

What are the class attendance requirements? Does anyone know?

[cdnmatt]

What are the class attendance requirements? Does anyone know?

A whopping 4 hours/week (I know, they're really strict in Thailand).

People can generally stay for 12 - 15 months on tourist VISAs without issue though. Just goto Laos, and grab a double entry tourist VISA when needed, which allows you 6 months in total.

[Nirish guy]

In my stupidity when I was talking to a non Thai guy who has been living and running a market stall in Bkk for a few years now I asked him how did he manage to stay and always just assumed that he an "illegal" and he informed me that no onot at all and that he was there on a normal student Visa, again in my stupidity I then asked him "but how did he manage to fit in going to college AND work so much on the stall ( as he was always there was as far as I could see) and he just smiled and give me a look like "are you THAT green here and promptly said "1000 baht, problem sorted" and for that his attendance card was apparently fully marked up up as him having attained the full required attendance ( and then some) for the entire year.

[francois]

I will apply online for a proper visa.?

Online? How can that be possible? Did you mean by mail?

[kittyboy]

I will apply online for a proper visa.?

Online? How can that be possible? Did you mean by mail?

Never underestimate my ignorance about things....I assume I can do this all online? Or we're you being ironic....fckkk I hope you were being ironic.

[kittyboy]

What are the class attendance requirements? Does anyone know?

A whopping 4 hours/week (I know, they're really strict in Thailand).

People can generally stay for 12 - 15 months on tourist VISAs without issue though. Just goto Laos, and grab a double entry tourist VISA when needed, which allows you 6 months in total.

Thanks...sounds easy enough....it might be kind of hot to take a few months off and take Thai boxing lessons myself..all the muscle boxers...

I was in bkk a few months ago and found myself walking on Rama 4 after leaving the lumpinee subway station and across the street was a boxing gym training center.....I watched the guys through the window for quite a few minutes.

Management needs to put in a coffee shop so the boys can be uh supported by their admirers.

[gregvc]

I have a 90 days visa from Aust. Is it possible to get it extended a week or two without leaving. I know that they extend the 60 days by 30 days to make 90 for other countries but we have an automatic 90 day "O" (because we are better). While I am here I would like to know if there is a visa for Thai men to marry farang women. It is never referred to.

[francois]

I will apply online for a proper visa.?

Online? How can that be possible? Did you mean by mail?

Never underestimate my ignorance about things....I assume I can do this all online? Or we're you being ironic....fckkk I hope you were being ironic.

Sorry kittyboy, I wasn't trying to pull your tail. One must submit the application and fee and your passport either by mail or in person. The Thai Embassy/Consulate will put the visa in your passport and return to you.

[ddsfo]

I have read at numerous visa information sites and in this discussion as well that one must enter thailand with a short term visa
if you want to then convert it for a longer stay. apparently this is NOT true if you are interested in a one-year retirement visa
(at least from first world countries). "assist thai visa" services in chiang mai says to just enter as usually at the airport
and they will convert your 30 day non-visa to a short term visa and then to the one year retirement visa.

Never underestimate my ignorance about things....I assume I can do this all online?How brave you are kittyboy making assumptions that Thailand is a modern country like Cambodia and visas can be obtained online =))

[blazer]

Yes, the advice about getting a 60 day visa is correct.

Print the application online, then mail with your passport and fee to the Thai embassy. Recommend a service with tracking like DHL or Fedex or carrier you trust. They will put a 60 day visa in your passport.

Include a return envelope with prepaid label from the same service. That way you can track the return as well.

You can then go to immigration in Thailand and extend the visa as you wish.

[Nirish guy]

Blazer said "Include a return envelope with prepaid label from the same service. That way you can track the return as well."


See, now you learn something new every day - I didn't know you could do THAT ! How handy.