Thread: How many tourist visa extensions are possible?

Didn't think that the Thai embassy in Cambodia was visa friendly at all.

It certainly wasn't a few years ago.

Laos would probably be a better option, but he can travel there when the embassy in PP tell him to F off.

He should be fine getting another Tourist Visa in Vientiane or Savannakhet. But advise him to get a Double entry one.

Then he can:

Enter Thailand, get 60 days.
During this time go to immigration and extend for 30 days.
On day 90 he can leave Thailand and reenter, getting another 60 days.
During this time go to immigration and extend for 30 days.

So with a Double Entry Tourist Visa he should be safe for 180 days with a border run and two extensions during that time.

Originally Posted by Luigi

Didn't think that the Thai embassy in Cambodia was visa friendly at all.

It certainly wasn't a few years ago.

I think that you have your wires crossed here, Luigi. I could be wrong because OP was not precise but I think they hope he can just cross the border and return with a Tourist Visa with no Embassy involvement.

I believe that the number of back to back Tourist Visas granted is not defined and individuals are at the mercy of Thai immigration officials when they attempt to enter the country. What might be granted one day may not be granted on another.

I think that he should go to his local immigration office and seek advice there.

Originally Posted by can123

I believe that the number of back to back Tourist Visas granted is not defined and individuals are at the mercy of Thai immigration officials when they attempt to enter the country. What might be granted one day may not be granted on another

Correct.

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by Luigi

Didn't think that the Thai embassy in Cambodia was visa friendly at all.

It certainly wasn't a few years ago.

I think that you have your wires crossed here, Luigi. I could be wrong because OP was not precise but I think they hope he can just cross the border and return with a Tourist Visa with no Embassy involvement.

Wow, a tourist visa from out of nowhere. Printed from some guys wooden shack along the border area? Amazing.

You mean a Visa Exemption. Crossing into Thailand without a visa.


To get a visa, any visa, you need to go to an Embassy or Consulate.

The one in PP is notoriously kuntish for all different kinds of Thai visas.

Tourist Visa Exemption | ???????????????????? ? ??????????

Yeah, what Luigi said.

How are you btw CM?

Originally Posted by alwarner

Yeah, what Luigi said.

How are you btw CM?

What Luigi said is not guaranteed to work given the change in attitude by Thai immigration. I know visas are only issued by Consulates and Embassies and it seems unclear from the post in this thread whether the guy had a visa or visa exemption.

My advice is to seek help from Immigration at Chang Wattana for up to date guidance. Nothing to stop anybody going to somewhere like Aranya Prathet, crossing the border and getting fifteen days as per the advice given by the Thai Embassy in London and referred to above.

Originally Posted by can123

Nothing to stop anybody going to somewhere like Aranya Prathet, crossing the border and getting fifteen days as per the advice given by the Thai Embassy in London and referred to above.

30 days for holders of passports from UK, USA, Japan, Germany, France, Canada and Italy now

Originally Posted by boloa

Originally Posted by can123

Nothing to stop anybody going to somewhere like Aranya Prathet, crossing the border and getting fifteen days as per the advice given by the Thai Embassy in London and referred to above.

30 days for holders of passports from UK, USA, Japan, Germany, France, Canada and Italy now

Thank you. I don't see any sense in the guy going to the Embassy in Vientiane just to get a Tourist Visa. He should get his documentation sorted out as a priority and go for the O visa as soon as he can.

Jools..... If your friend goes to Chang Wattana Immigration Office in Bangkok he should be able to get a 90 Day 'O' Visa so he can sorts out his monitory requirements and paper work he needs

http://www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com...achecklist.pdf

Danielz, yes Toddanielz, get your arse over here and sort this shit out!

In CAMBODIA.....no....you do NOT. Visa processing is outsourced t0 travel agencies. Depending on fees, you can have your visa back in two days or four. This is why Cambodia was so attractive an option. I am ready to go to either place but I need firm facts on whether I can get one in Cambodia through the usual "travel agency" method. If not, I would just as soon go to Laos.

Originally Posted by Luigi

Originally Posted by can123

Originally Posted by Luigi

Didn't think that the Thai embassy in Cambodia was visa friendly at all.

It certainly wasn't a few years ago.

I think that you have your wires crossed here, Luigi. I could be wrong because OP was not precise but I think they hope he can just cross the border and return with a Tourist Visa with no Embassy involvement.

Wow, a tourist visa from out of nowhere. Printed from some guys wooden shack along the border area? Amazing.

You mean a Visa Exemption. Crossing into Thailand without a visa.


To get a visa, any visa, you need to go to an Embassy or Consulate.

The one in PP is notoriously kuntish for all different kinds of Thai visas.

can123, now now, try not to spout off nonsense if you can help it. Luigi is right on the mark in his questioning both your logic and your use of terminology..

Hang in there though, you'll get the hang of it, someday, just not today.

NO ONE gets a "tourist visa" at the border, period end of story. Tourist visas are gotten at Thai Embassies or Consulates. People who "run-4-the-border" exit and re-enter get " visa exempt stamps" <- the reason it has that catchy name is you are entering thailand without having purchased a visa at an Embassy or Consulate and because you're from one of the countries which gets visa exempt stamps.. Right now as has been stated G7 countries get a 30 day visa exempt stamp at land border crossings, most everyone else gets a 15 day visa exempt stamp...

Seeing as the O/P's "friend" hasn't been living here by border bouncing (a highly frowned upon practice nowadays), he's gonna have no problem exiting and re-entering and getting a 30 day visa exempt stamp.

What the O/P indicated is his "friend" who has spent a total of 90 days so far in country (a single entry 60 day tourist visa and a 30 day extension at Immigrations) couldn't get his shit together in time to apply for a single entry 90 day Non-Immigrant Type-O visa inside the country.

Unless I'm mistaken Jomtien can't even issue them anymore.. Bangkok requires at least 14 days left on your permission to stay or they won't even accept your application. When you apply for a Non-O at Immigrations in Bangkok it goes under review for 14 days, then you come back to get the Non-O visa stamped into your passport and the new 90 day permission to stay stamp. After that when you have 45 days left on that you apply for a year's extension based on being over 50 and meeting the criteria.

The O/P's "friend" should just border bounce, get a 30 day visa exempt stamp and then hoof it to immigrations without delay and get the show on the road.

Anything else?

Originally Posted by toddaniels

NO ONE gets a "tourist visa" at the border, period end of story.

I fully understand that. The terminology used in the original post was open to question as most people refer to an" exemption" as a "visa" You and I both know that this is wrong.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

Right now as has been stated G7 countries get a 30 day visa exempt stamp at land border crossings, most everyone else gets a 15 day visa exempt stamp...

The Thai Embassy in London has a confusing website which has many inaccuracies. Matters are not helped by the fact that none of the Consulates in the UK provide the same information for visas. I am grateful to the poster who made me aware that a 30 day stamp is available to some countries. This could not be discerned by looking at any official site in the UK.

Originally Posted by toddaniels

The O/P's "friend" should just border bounce, get a 30 day visa exempt stamp and then hoof it to immigrations without delay and get the show on the road.

This is exactly what I said he should do. I just wasn't aware that he could get thirty days. My only advice to him was that it was unnecessary for him to go to a Consulate and that he should visit Chang Wattana.

So, I haven't spouted any nonsense. We have said the same thing.

It's still worth emphasising that the visa exempt stamp can be refused depending on local interpretations of current immigration policy at the point of entry, be it by land or air.
It is often down to the ego of the senior immigration official of the pertinent district.

Originally Posted by chassamui

It's still worth emphasising that the visa exempt stamp can be refused depending on local interpretations of current immigration policy at the point of entry, be it by land or air.
It is often down to the ego of the senior immigration official of the pertinent district.

I agree completely and Todd seems to be accepting that everything is very "black and white" and that things will go smoothly. That just isn't the case. The Thais are clearly seeking to combat the abuse of the tourist visa and nobody can say what is going to happen in a particular case. The guy referred to in the original post apparently wants an O visa. He should make every effort to get one before the patience of Thai Immigration wears thin. Repeated extensions of a tourist visa/exemption are not the way to go.

I totally disagree, the thaiz are NOT combating people who hold valid tourist visas NOR people who use the visa exempt entry system IF they're NOT living here. gaming or abusing the system. I just saw a passport of a guy I sent to Chaengwattana to extend his latest 60 day permission to stay until stamp by another 30 days and it was FILLED with Tourist Visas from all over Asia and a couple from the US.. He's had NO problem at all entering, because when he leaves he doesn't bounce right back in..

There are only two border areas which are hassling people; UP Chiang Mai/Rai way and down south in the division run by Phuket. The rest are fine to cross and come back from.. Even Kanchanaburi which tightened up late last year, still lets people border bounce IF they're not using back to back visa exempt stamps to live here.

I'd bet dollars to durian and the O/P's "friend" is gonna get no grief at the "arm-pit border crossing of S/E Asia"; Poipet to secure a 30 day visa exempt stamp.

He didn't enter the country this time on a visa exempt stamp. He's came in on a valid tourist visa which he used for 60 days and a 30 day extension that he bought at Immigrations.. I totally believe he'll be fine bouncing for one 30 day visa exempt stamp.

If he does that, he should have plenty of time to get his shit together enough to apply for a Non-O inside the country.

If in those 30 days he couldn't manage it, he could always go back to Immigrations and extend the visa exempt stamp by another 30 days. The rule that says 15 or 30 day visa exempt stamps can be extended for an additional 30 days has been on the books since August last year..

That's all I got...

Charles, the friend I mentioned does NOT have a Visa exemption. He got a sixty day TOURIST VISA from a Thai Consulate in America, which he got a one month extension for several weeks back, Both of us keep hearing about Cambodia being stricter. Obviously, Charles needs ANOTHER tourist visa, rather than an extension since extensions are only granted in Thailand. The concern now is whether Laos would be a more advisable a travel option to get that new visa. Thanks.

I'm in Chiang Mai and had a 30 day visa exemption that I extended by paying 1,900 baht at CM immigration.
I plan to go to Mae Sai next week to try and get another 30 day visa exemption. I have a flight ticket out of Thailand on August 8.
Does anyone anticipate a problem if I border bounce just once and have a flight out in a couple of weeks?

Originally Posted by cyrille

I'm in Chiang Mai and had a 30 day visa exemption that I extended by paying 1,900 baht at CM immigration. I plan to go to Mae Sai next week to try and get another 30 day visa exemption. I have a flight ticket out of Thailand on August 8. Does anyone anticipate a problem if I border bounce just once and have a flight out in a couple of weeks?

I would have thought it should be straight forward. Is there a plan B?

Well, it's difficult isn't it.

I mean what happens if there's a problem? Do they allow you to leave but not let you reenter?

Hard to have much of a 'plan b' for that scenario.

That's why things varying place by place and week by week is such s colossal pain in the arse. But TIT I guess.

No help sorry but like you said.

Originally Posted by cyrille

But TIT

Nail head.