Our baby was born in Thailand and as such has a Thai birth certificate. Both parents are Farang.

I had been informed that the baby was Ok to be in Thailand until she turned 18 without a visa.

She is now 15 month old.

We have just returned from a holiday abroad and been told by the immigration officer that the baby is Farang and as such gets 30 days and thats it irrespective of having a Thai birth certificate.

Is this correct?

If so how do I go about getting a correct visa for her. I am on a non b, can she be added to this somehow or is she allowed to be here due to being born here and I was just unlucky and got someone that doesnt even know their own policies?

thanks

Baby is not Thai. So must have a foreign passport for entry. She has no birthright to be in Thailand. Overstay will not normally be charged until age 14 so there is no financial need for keeping visa current but it will be noted on each exit that she has overstayed. If you are here on a one year extension of stay the child should be able to obtain a non immigrant O visa (from a Consulate) and then be extended yearly to match your extensions of stay.

Thanks for the quick reply

I am aware that she is not Thai and she does have a UK passport.

I am not on an extension although I may go back to that later this year.

What would be the best way forward do you think for her to be here? I dont want to get some jobsworth tell me that I need to pay 20k and waste hours of time when we next go out the country for a holiday.

If I am on non b's rather than extensions is it possible for her to get a visa issued to match those or not?

cheers

exactly as lop said. If you are with a multi national, or if it is in you contract, my experince is that you should be able to get a free trip to say, Singapore, to get your child a non-O visa, which can then be extended in thailand based on your work here. Of course, your work should handle that too.

Nobody is going to be demanding 20k under current guidelines and it being pointed out will in all likelihood be in good humor. Once you return to extensions of stay you should not have any problem getting here an extension to match (but it is likely to involve travel outside Thailand to obtain the necessary visa).

thanks for the advice

I imagine when you were talking about your daughter being able to stay in Thailand until age 18, it is probably if she never leaves. Born here, remaining here. When she left, she became just like any other foreigner entering Thailand?

If not that, then maybe they were meaning that because she was a child, she did not need a visa. Just enter on visa exempt stamp and stay, and not having to pay overstay.

I wonder, are children still limited to the 90 days in 6 months rule? So if a child came in on a visa exempt entry and the parents were on a extension of stay, and the child stayed 3 months, then tried to come right back, would they deny the child because of the 90 in 6 month rule?

It has been reported - although the poster was able to get it turned around on appeal at a high level. But do not believe most officials would cite this.

well as she is only just walking i am sure she wont be nipping out for a quick holiday / trip without us so at least we wont have that problem

The person involved was a baby as I recall - but having been here on a visa exempt stamp and overstay had used the allowed 90 days so Immigration decided the parent could enter but not the child (until overruled). I believe it may have been a visa run by the parent.