Thread: A simple extension question

A friend arrived on a 30 day tourist exempt. He's just extended for another 30 days. At the end of that he wants another 60 days. Is that possible and can it be done at the local office or does he have to exit and re-enter? I'm fooked when it comes to visa's.

need to re-exit and enter

but they might question him on re-entering after the 60 days, and re-applying for the 30 day extension after the visa run might raise a few questions from them

at the discretion of the immigration officer,

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

but they might question him on re-entering after the 60 days, and re-applying for the 30 day extension after the visa run might raise a few questions from them

Okay, so he exits after the 2nd 30 day. Where does he get another 60 days? Does he get 30 days and then another exit after that to get another 30 days?

go to a neighboring country and apply for a 60 day tourist visa.
Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia take only 1 night,
Cambodia 1-3 ( depends on how much extra you wish to pay)

Laos visa VOA $30-40, Myanmar $50 online, Cambodia voa $30
Malaysia no visa needed.

He can get two Visa exempt stamps from a land border per calendar year and an unlimited number from airports .
30 days VES which can be extended by a further 30 days and extended just once

Such an extension cannot be be extended. He will need to exit and either get a visa or reenter on a Visa Exempt stamp, which he can then extend again.


If he gets married in that time he can get a 60 day extension (on any visa or visa exemption) instead of 30.

This is/was called an 'unofficial marriage visa' by those in the border regions. Enter/Exit, get 30 days. Extend for 60 days based on marriage. Then repeat every 90 days picking up duty free along the way.

Okay, he arrived on a 30 day visa exempt entry, extended it by 30 days, meaning the ONLY extension he can get now from an immigration office is the 7 day "application for extension denied" get outta thailand in a week stamp for 1900baht.

He has two options;
Go to a thai consulate and apply for a single entry tourist visa which would stamp him in for 60 days when he enters thailand
OR
Border-bounce, get a 30 day visa exempt stamp (which have a limit of TWO in a calendar year by land) and then extend that by another 30 days at the immigration office for 1900baht.

I got no idea what Luigi is on about his "unofficial marriage visa' terminology f*ck up, but entering on a 30 day visa exempt stamp, and getting a 60 day visit family extension ain't ANY visa.

Yep, leave the country and get a 60 day tourist visa is the cheapest and best way to go. He can then extend that another 30 days for 1900 baht in country as well. You can actually use a double entry tourist visa to stay 6 months in Thailand if you play your cards right. It would involve one border crossing and two extensions in country though. Its usually the way I do it.

Originally Posted by redhaze

You can actually use a double entry tourist visa to stay 6 months in Thailand if you play your cards right.

OFF TOPIC:
Umm, I dunno what rock you've been living under but they did away with double and triple entry tourist visas back in on the 13th of November 2015.

They sell tourist visas for thailand in two ways now, a single entry tourist visa which is valid for 90 days <- meaning you have 90 days to enter the country and get a 60 day stamp.
OR
a 6 month METV <-multi-entry tourist visa which is valid for 6 months from the date it's issued and good for unlimited entries into the country each entry getting you stamped in for 60 days.

People who have this visa can usually get almost 9 months of stay out of it, by border bouncing just prior to the "enter before" date on the visa getting the final 60 day stamp and then extending that by 30 days at the immigration office for 1900baht.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

a 6 month METV <-multi-entry tourist visa which is valid for 6 months from the date it's issued and good for unlimited entries into the country each entry getting you stamped in for 60 days.

That's interesting. So it sounds like you would want to get this visa as close to your trip as possible in order to maximize its usage (assuming you wanted to stay a while). A couple questions if you don't mind:

1.) Can you apply for this visa outside your home country (say in Laos or something)?

2.) Once it runs out, is there a waiting period to apply for and receive a new 6 month visa? Any limit on how many of them you can get?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by toddaniels

Umm, I dunno what rock you've been living under but they did away with double and triple entry tourist visas back in on the 13th of November 2015.

Hmmmm....I suppose the rock of not having visited Thailand or researched visa issues since before Nov. 2015 lol

1.) Can you apply for this visa outside your home country (say in Laos or something)?

NO,needs be applied for in ur own country

2.)Once it runs out, is there a waiting period to apply for and receive a new 6 month visa? Any limit on how many of them you can

who knows, go home and apply. BUT have not heard anywhere of anyone dong it. as ur supposed to have a job in ur own country

Originally Posted by Phuketrichard

NO,needs be applied for in ur own country

Ok thanks. So if you are traveling in a neighboring SE Asian country, what is the tourist visa situation like? Is the only option besides the border stamp a single entry 60 day tourist visa?

Okay, as far as the single entry tourist visa situation at thai consulates in neighboring countries it's like this;
more and more thai consulates are requesting people meet what I call the "3-proof-ofz" to issue tourist visas.
Those are;

• proof of 20K baht in a bank account (doesn't hafta be a thai account)
• proof of onward travel in 60 days (can be a bus ticket outta the country)
• proof of a hotel booking or confirmed lodging

As of right now ONLY the thai consulate in Vientiane requires none of those. The one in Savannakhet requires ALL of them. Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh require 2 of the three as does Penang. Check the website of the consulte you're gonna get the tourist visa from to see their requirements.

6 Month METV's
There was a confirmed report that a person got a 6 month METV from the thai consulate in Kuala Lumpur (without being a malay or holding legal residence there). They met the financial requirements, showed proof of onward travel (a couple times in 60 day increments) and hotel bookings and got it issued.

Other than that you're gonna hafta get it in your country BEFORE you wash up here or the next nearest place would be one of the consulates in Australia because they'll issue it with just proof of financials to non-aussies too.
It does pay to get it as close to when you're gonna leave for thailand as you can because the visa is good for 6 months from the date it's issued. Getting it too early just burns the validity of the visa down without you being here.

I know someone personally on their THIRD 6 month METV now. They got them all from the same thai consulate in the US without any problems at all

I apologize for my terse and coarse remarks. Like my business card says,
'Just-Ask-Tod' <- the guy is an asshole but he knows things !!

That's great man, pretty much answered all my questions and also questions I didn't even know I had. Cheers dude, green blob headed your way

Jeesus what a song and dance...

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Jeesus what a song and dance...

WTF are you just here for comic relief? I didn't see you chiming in with any answers

Could be wrong but I believe he was referring to the visa situation not your response (took me a second as well)

Yes, the visa system is a bloody song and dance, I'd hate having a visa run always looming in front of me.

You'd think they would have made it simpler after all these years.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Yes, the visa system

I wanna apologize to DJ Pat. There was no cause for my snide remark.

Sorry about that..

I wasn't offended mate, so all is good anyway