sfmadison2

Thanks for confirming. Coming from the US, as far as I know we don't need one.

I'm flying back in in a few days too after three years away. I heard whispers at one point of insurance being required in case one comes down with covid. Is that a thing or did that get scrapped?

Thanks in advance.

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Unless you are from one of the 21 countries that qualify for a 15 day visa on arrival after applying for it and paying a 2000 baht fee for it you will get a 30 day visa exempt entry.

Perfect. Thanks, Joe.

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

You apply for a single entry non-o visa based upon marriage to a Thai at any age. I think you are confusing a non-o visa with a non-oa long stay visa for retirement.

You would get a 30 day visa exempt entry not a 15 day visa on arrival if you don't have a visa for entry.

Ah you're right, thanks again.

Though isn't visa on arrival still 30 days at the airport? If not I'm really out of the loop....

Thanks for the quick response, Joe--always appreciated.

Ok noted. I don't think I'm old enough to apply for the non-O, but I take the point that a non-Imm visa would be superior to a visa upon arrival. Thanks again.

I think I know the answer, but is there any recourse for missing your date of extension?

I'm out of the country at the moment and have my yearly extension-based-on-marriage date coming up early next month. It's inconvenient to travel back at the moment, just wondering if this means I'll have to start the whole process over again upon return if I miss it.

My assumption is that the visa would be voided if not extended, which would mean I'd have to enter on a tourist visa, which would mean there'd be nothing I could do to 'resurrect' the original visa and have to start again from scratch.

21 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Going on Tuesday should not be a problem.

Thanks again, Joe. Actually ended up going today and it was as quiet as I've ever seen it. Maybe everybody thought it was gonna be crazy today and stayed away. Anyway, all good now.

Thanks, Joe.

Just wasn't sure what my status was, since it seems like until I get the official stamp (on Tuesday), my visa technically expired last month.

The date they put in your passport to go 'pick up' your one-year extension: is it ok to go a few days late on that?

I applied for my marriage-based extension back in September and they told me to come back on Friday, October 14th. That was the day after H.M. The King's death and immigration was closed unexpectedly. 

Ideally I'd like to skip going tomorrow (Monday), as I anticipate it being a bit crazy, and go on Tuesday instead. I'm in Chiang Mai.

Kind of a hypothetical question, but could one begin with that multiple entry Non-O and then decide later on to do the 12-month extension? My understanding is that with the single-entry one applies for the extension during the last 30 days...does this translate to the multiple-entry as well?

So in theory, maybe one leaves after 90 days and comes back in to activate the second entry--at this point does one need to wait sixty more days to extend the multiple-entry Non-O? Or can he apply for extension immediately?

Hmm, I don't remember having to show anything special to open an FCD account, but this was maybe 18 months ago when I did it, and as you said perhaps it is new policy.

Sounds like you've thought this through then. Yes, a good idea for the future if you ever plan on moving not-insignificant amounts of money again.

Haha... $800 isn't a big deal. Like I said, I will eat the charge if I have to. I still think the Thai Elite Visa is worth it even with a gigantic currency transfer fee.

However, I recognize the value of a dollar and I would rather spend that $800 on something a little more gratifying than some random banker's pocket.

I honestly have no other reason to have a Thai Bank account, but I walked into a couple Bangkok Bank branches today as they have a US branch which accepts domestic ACH transfers and I read that they are still foreigner friendly. Unfortunately, both didn't want anything to do with me unless I had a work permit or a certificate of residence. I even brought my lease from my condo with me, but a no-go. That would've solved my problem.

I don't work in Thailand, and I've only got a week to make the deposit, so I don't have time to apply at immigration and wait for a certificate to be mailed to me. I'm going to try a couple more branches tomorrow, but if that fails it looks like I will just have to accept the huge fee. Getting 500k THB from a bunch of ATMS would be difficult at best. No biggie, I suppose.

For current/future reference, Bangkok Bank will help you open what's called a 'Savings Foreign Currency Deposit Account', or FCD for short. This will allow you to deposit your home country's currency into your Bangkok Bank FCD account without the money being exchanged for Thai baht. After this, you can then choose to move money from the FCD account into a regular Bangkok Bank savings account whenever you want, and at rates which are as favorable as you will be able to find. This is obviously advantageous if you're waiting for the exchange rate to reach a certain point before you make the transfer, because you can execute the trade instantly rather than waiting for a wire transfer to come through.

I used to just use my ATM card to move money over (my bank reimburses the ATM fees, so this is a pretty decent option anyway), but I found I couldn't be sure of Visa's exchange rate while doing that. Opening a FCD account allows you to request the current rate which is represented on Bangkok Bank's updating FX rates board as 'TT'. In fact, if you're exchanging a large amount (maybe around 500k+) you can even request a rate higher than what is being posted on the board. I have asked for rates 5-10 baht higher than what is listed and the banker then calls to the head office in BKK to get it approved.

This is a little bit time consuming on the front end as you have to open two accounts, but afterwards you will be able to transfer money in the most financially efficient way possible. Also I've just seen another post elsewhere where Ubon Joe has said that sometimes it's possible to do a fee-free transfer from a Bangkok Bank branch in your home country to BB here in Thailand, so this would further reduce costs if it's an option for you.

That is correct. When you arrive in Thailand you get a stay of 90 days, let's say till 1 June. Before the 90 days are finished you apply for a 1 year extension of stay. So on or before 1 June you apply for a 1 year extension of stay, let's say on 15 May. The extesion still starts on 1 June. Next year you apply say on 1 May and your extension starts again on 1 June, despite you applying early.

(In practise you recieve a 30 day under consideration and at the end the rest of the 1 year extension).

Perfect! Totally clear now.

Thanks Mario and others for helping to explain how the process works. Much appreciated.

And you are correct in saying that you can determine the date of your first extension of stay by deciding when to enter Thailand on your non-O visa and when you visit the immigration office to extend your stay based on marriage. You can go to do your first extension of stay withing the last 30 days of your current permission to stay (based on your non-O visa). Some immigration offices will allow you to that in the last 45 days.

Thanks, skatewash.

Regarding the part of your answer that I bolded, does the date "when you visit the immigration office to extend your stay based on marriage" really affect your final yearly-renewal date? Or is your final yearly-renewal date simply going to be 90 days from the date when you first enter Thailand on that original Non-O?

I may have misunderstood Mario's answer above, but I thought he was saying that the 12-month extension would begin after the original 90-day visa period was finished. Or in his words, "The extension starts when the current permission to stay ends."

Perhaps I haven't explained myself clearly, but I've been trying to figure out the timing of this thing so that I could "set" my yearly extension to a month that was convenient on a yearly basis. So once again, can anybody confirm that one's yearly extension based on marriage would occur approximately 15 months from the time one first entered the country on a Non-O visa?

For example:

-Enter with Non-O on June 1st,

-Apply for 12 month extension which starts from the date the Non-O expires (90 days, so approximately September 1st* in this example)

Therefore, if one wanted one's yearly extension date to fall around September 1st, one would need to enter the country on the initial Non-O around June 1st.

If one wanted to apply for his extension in October of each year, he would need to enter the country on the initial Non-O in July.... etc, etc

Does this sound right? Many thanks!

*it would probably actually be something like August 28th

2 remarks:

1. You can apply 30 days early and at some offices even 45 days early, without losing any days. The extension starts when the current permission to stay ends.

2. In case of an extension based upon marriage you receive an under consideration stamp and must return 30 days later to get the actual extension, at which point you must be in the country to receive it.

Ok, so using my above hypothetical dates, if I begin my 90-day Non-O visa on June 1, regardless of when I go into extend it based on marriage, that 12 month extension will begin from the date my 90-day visa is set to expire (approximately September 1st in this case)?

And regarding the following year's process then, approximately 11 months from September 1st I could go in and apply for another 12-month extension, which would be available to pick up approximately 30 days from the day I applied for it (which again, would be around September 1st in this case)?

I'm preparing to apply for my first ever Non-O visa (and then the extension based on marriage), but I need to understand the exact timing of it a little bit better. The reason for this is that I'm sometimes back in the US for holiday at certain times, and I wouldn't want my window for the following year's extension to pass while I was outside Thailand.

Here's my best guess: (hypothetical dates)

1) Stamped into Thailand on 90-day Non-O visa on June 1

2) Apply for extension (based on marriage to a Thai) on, say, August 1

3) Receive a 1-year extension based on application date (in this case, August 1)

4) Application for next year's extension will have to be filed by August 1 of the following year

Is that right? I'm guessing it's not, but hopefully somebody can point out where I've got it wrong. Thanks in advance!

The income affidavit has a space for a monthly income in dollars. Which must be equal to at least 40k baht on the date you apply for the extension of stay based upon marriage.

The best back up proof for the affidavit is a Thai bank book showing funds coming into the country on a regular basis.

1) Joe, what is the 'income affidavit' you're referring to? I was under the impression that I had to make up a document myself which I then presented to the consulate and got them to sign off on. If there's a pre-made form, where do I find it?

2) If I have to show the Thai bank book, then it almost feels like I might as well just do the 400k seasoning. Though I understand you to be saying that this is the 'best' back up proof, not the only back up proof.

I think I remember reading on another thread (or maybe it was this one) that you yourself use the affidavit method. Do you find this to be overall more convenient than having to keep a 400k balance in the thai bank for a minimum of a couple months each year?

Thanks for the feedback!

Ok, so just to confirm:

1) One prints out a document claiming to have $xx,xxx in income each year (this number should exceed the equivalent of 40,000 baht x 12 months)

2) One signs this document in front of the consular officer

3) One takes this signed (and now officially stamped) document to immigration to be submitted as part of one's application for an extension of stay based on marriage.

In terms of being prepared to show proof of one's income claims: is a US tax return acceptable proof? If not, what would Thai immigration (Chiang Mai) require?

Thanks again for taking the time to fill me in. Much appreciated.

The affidavit is good for extensions based on marriage as well.

The US-consulate does not require proof of income to issue, because of this immigration sometimes asks for additional proof. Dividend is normally seen as income.

Thanks for the quick response, Mario.

Do you know if it's possible to simply show proof of a US bank account with a value exceeding $12,000 (that's the current exchange rate of 400,000 baht, though I would show them an account with far more than $12k in it).

I'm semi-retired and don't have any formal job income. While showing dividends are a possibility, I think it would probably be easier if I could just show them my bank statement from the US if asked for proof to back up the affidavit.

When one asks for an affidavit from the consulate, is the consulate signing off on my claims about monthly income or net worth? Is the latter an option?

Does this affidavit of funds from the US Consulate work for a Non-O extension based on marriage as well?

That is, provided I claim a certain amount of income/existing funds and get an affidavit from the consulate, can this replace the requirement of 40k/month or 400k in a Thai bank account needed for the extension?

In terms of being prepared to show proof of funds, is it enough to show a bank balance from abroad? Or, if one needs to show income, does money from dividends count? The key point here is that it would be totally independent of a Thai bank account. I have a Thai bank account--and could wire 400k into it if needed--but if it's as simple as just paying for an affidavit and being prepared to show proof of funds in my US bank, I'd prefer that as it seems much easier.

Assuming this is possible, does one need to get a new affidavit each year when re-applying for the extension?

Whilst we are on the "remind people to look at their visa" bandwagon, depending on where they are issued, multiple entry tourist visas may either have a 3 or 6 month period between "DATE OF ISSUE" and "ENTER BEFORE"

What does surprise me every time a thread like this appears is that people do not set reminders in their phones for such important dates.

Even my £9 Nokia from Tesco here in the UK has a calendar with reminder alarms.

I can't speak for others, but the issue with me wasn't a lack of reminder/calendar notation, but merely ignorance around the meaning of that 'enter before' date.

Hopefully a couple people who would have been caught off guard by it otherwise will now not make that mistake. That's why posted this. I realize it's old news to many people who read this forum regularly.

I never knew this before, but it is possible to screw yourself out of your second (or third) entry on your tourist visa by not paying attention to the expiry date. This is surely obvious to people better-versed in how tourist visas work, but according to the officer at the Mae Sai border, I was the second person already that day to end up losing out on one of his entries.

I had (foolishly, it now seems) assumed that I could enter Thailand on my first 60-day TV entry, extend that for another 30 days, and then, towards the end of that 30 days, pop across the border and activate my second 60-day entry. My plan was to eventually extend that entry for another 30 days too, thus getting nearly six months out of my double-entry tourist visa.

The 'ENTER BEFORE' date on my visa quite clearly says April 29, and I showed up at the border on May 2nd. Now first of all, I had never paid this date any attention before, but once it was pointed out to me by the woman who stamped my visa for 30 (not 60) days, I protested that I thought this was the date by which one had to activate his first entry. Apparently not. According to them, this is the date by which one has to activate all entries. And because I came after this date to activate my second entry, it was void.

I think it's quite possible that I would have never noticed this--and not had had my second entry ruled expired--if not for the fact that I applied for the visa while on holiday in Hanoi, and then hung around for 3 or 4 more days before coming back to Thailand. So the 90-days they give you to activate both entries began when the visa was issued (January 30th). I didn't enter Thailand until February 3rd, and I didn't realize that the gap between those events was ticking against my maximum possible days I could get out of the double entry tourist visa.

Anyway, this is just a long-winded way of warning people to pay attention to your 'Enter Before' dates on your visas. Don't be stupid like me.

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I am pretty sure the OP is talking about something completely different, a "VIP" pass into Burma, which I guess is some sort of "Day Trip" pass similar as to what the Thai's use.

I am sure this has nothing to do with your actual Tourist Visa.

Someone will come along shortly to confirm.

I did this in January to activate the 2nd part of a double entry tourist visa. No problem. Stamped in and out as normal. The VIP pass stuff isn't relevant to your tourist visa question.

I've done a bit more searching around and it seems you guys are right. That is to say, the VIP pass is something one could get to cross over without being stamped out, whereas I and this other gentleman are looking to be stamped out.

Would be nice to have more recent confirmation than January about using this border, but I guess maybe no news is good news in this case.

Same question as

sfmadison2

I have a double entry visa. My first entry expires on friday, so I planned to do the Mae Sai-Tachilek crossing tomorrow thursday to activate second entry and return to Chiang Mai the same day. I already have my busticket :-) I did it last year without any trouble.

Is this still an option or is it ruled out? And what are the other possibilities?

I could do an extention at Immigration Office. But a 30 day extention is a few days short of my stay, because I'm leaving om june 3rd. And then I'll have to do the borderrun anyway, just for a few days.

Best option for me is to activate my second entry, but how do I take care of this now? I have to be back by the weekend :-)

Thanks for your advice.

I am pretty sure the OP is talking about something completely different, a "VIP" pass into Burma, which I guess is some sort of "Day Trip" pass similar as to what the Thai's use.

I am sure this has nothing to do with your actual Tourist Visa.

Someone will come along shortly to confirm.

Hmm, you may be right, and I may have misunderstood the situation.

So just to confirm, to the best of people's knowledge, is the Mae Sai border still open for people wanting to pop across, do some shopping, and then come back and activate the second entry of their tourist visa?

If this turns out to be the wrong place to ask this, apologies and I can start a new thread.