BritTim

As a general rule, whatever your prior immigration history, entering visa exempt through the Vientiane/Nong Khai Friendship Bridge is never a problem. As at most land crossings, the only restriction you need to worry about is the limit of two visa exempt entries by land in a single calendar year. You will be fine.

Although recent reports are lacking, it would not be wise to risk entering through this border crossing (if you have previously spent long periods in Thailand). It is still probably a rogue crossing.

If you have a visa (any visa) immigration officials are not supposed to deny you entry except pursuant to specific reasons specified in Section 12 of the Immigration Act. Unfortunately, in recent years, officials at some entry points have been known to give themselves powers they do not possess under the law to refuse to honour your visa. In your case, if entering with a tourist visa, I think you will almost certainly be OK. Based on the past, you would definitely be OK if entering at almost all land crossings (the main exception is Poipet/Aranyaprathet) or at Chiang Mai airport. If you are judged an inadmissible person by immigration at an airport, the airline that brought you into Thailand is responsible for your removal (even, as is often the case, the airline is totally blameless). By default, they will tend to return you to your embarkation airport. However, this is often negotiable between you and the airline representative if they will agree to engage with you. What you cannot do is use a flight on another airline to leave the airport where you have been denied entry. You must under virtually all circumstances leave on a flight of the same airline that transported you to Thailand.

As someone else asked: "what written documentation do you have about the case?" It is entirely possible that the government records on this are messed up, and your lawyer really did do whatever was necessary to make the problem go away. It is also possible that all the lawyer did was have the officials in charge at the time bury the case without properly resolving it. You need, first of all, to know where you stand. If the case was really closed properly back in 2018, and you have written documentation to that effect, it should be possible to resolve this quickly and without the need for any extreme action. If the case was only buried at that time, and still technically active, you are in deep trouble. Arrest and deportation could happen at any time, It could happen Friday. You must then act with urgency to head off the problem. See if a local MP is associated with a legal firm (they often are). If so, a lawyer from that firm, furnished with all the facts, may be able to help. Only someone with powerful influence is likely to solve this once the provincial attorney is involved. It will become even more difficult if you are arrested and taken to court.

Are you here on a visa exempt entry? Are you here on a tourist visa entry? Are you in Thailand on a Non Immigrant visa entry? Where are you intending to apply? Those on visa exempt or tourist entries can get Covid extensions at most immigration offices.

@ubonjoehas given you the correct answer, in principle. The STV will be gone once you leave Thailand, and does not inhibit an embassy from issuing you a new visa. There is a slightly different question. Pre Covid, some embassies/consulates were beginning to be strict about issuing tourist visas to those who had already, recently, spent a lot of time in Thailand as tourists. Could embassy policy on issuing tourist visas be triggered by someone who has spent six months or more already in Thailand on an STV? I do not think you will encounter any such problem in Vientiane in this instance, but it could be an issue at one of the stricter embassies.

In general, the Vientiane embassy only offers single entry Non O visas.

For the last month, there have been reports of border runs via Mukdahan/Savannakhet, including the use of the Svannakhet consulate for visa applications.

The procedure is: After you receive the Non OA visa, you apply for a Non O visa for your spouse at an embassy outside Thailand. (A Non O visa can often be applied for at Immigration inside Thailand, but not in this case.) When the 90-day permission to stay on the Non O is near an end, your spouse can request an extension of stay (piggy backing off your permission to stay based on the OA visa) which ends on the same date as your permission to stay (initial or extended). It is reasonably straightforward, as I understand it, as long as the Non O visa is applied for outside Thailand.

The border run will cancel the STV, and the potential final extension. Your idea of a visa exempt and 30-day extension is fine in principle. By land (as long as you avoid the Aranyaprathet/Poipet crossing) there should be absolutely no problem. If planning to re-enter by air, be aware that immigration officials at some airports might possibly hassle you as someone who has been in Thailand as a tourist for six months already, and is trying to use a visa exempt entry "to stay longer in Thailand than is compatible with normal tourism". You will need a Thailand Pass and 30-day US$10,000 insurance covering Covid-19, but I assume you are aware of this. Presumably, you are fully vaccinated.

I assume you have applied for a Thailand Pass (which requires $10,000 of Covid insurance for 30 days). If not, you need to do so immediately.

Were you entering Thailand visa exempt or with a visa? The onward flight is only a requirement if entering visa exempt.

Immigration's role is checking whether you meet the continuing requirements for the Non Ed visa and associated extensions. These depend on attending class, and there is a minimum number of hours you are supposed to attend class. It is a bit like the rule that you lose your extension based on having a Thai spouse if you divorce. Immigration is not involved in the divorce process in any way, but they are supposed to enforce the rule that your extension ends as soon as you divorce.

It depends on the relationship the school has with the local immigration office. Officially (as I recall) it is a minimum of eight hours per week, but four hours is often enough if the school has friendly relations with the officials, and none at all is sometimes possible.

Also, Air Asia has restarted their fly-ride service from Don Muang to Mukdahan which is quite convenient for the return. For travelling to Mukdahan, although I dislike long bus journeys, the overnight bus from Morchit to Mukdahan connects so well with the international bus to near the consulate in Savannakhet that it has usually been my choice. The fly-ride service arrives too late to make the visa application the same day. [For the moment, Nok Air has no convenient fly-ride service to Mukdahan, though they were the better choice pre Covid. While cheap, their journey durations and timing are horrible] EDIT: Technically, it is possible to fly to Savannakhet. Lao Airlines flies there. However, there currently appear to be no convenient connections. Also, fares are astronomical.

As long as you inform the immigration office in advance of your plan trip abroad, the failure to be at home on a particular date is not held against you.

Before going for the 60-day extension, explain the situation to your local immigration office and ask if they will accept an early extension to your permission to stay in light of your travel plans. Chiang Mai immigration tends not to be very friendly, so they may not be willing to help (at least if you do not enlist the help of an agent) but many immigration offices can be sympathetic to issues like yours. Also bear in mind that there is nothing preventing you from leaving without protecting your current permission to stay, returning visa exempt, and applying anew for the Non O or, perhaps better, applying for a single entry Non O from an embassy prior to your return. Note that, if you are eligible to use the Thai e-visa site (depends on nationality) the visa application is very convenient.

It is certainly one of the leading candidates. Mukdahan/Savannakhet is another possibility. If only needing a border bounce (not a new visa) there are other border crossings with Laos that may be more convenient, depending on location. We have yet to get much information on visa runs to Malaysia, but this might be far preferable for those in the South of Thailand. Finally, the crossing at the bridge at Maesot is open. Historically, this has been an excellent place for just a border bounce (no new visa, just visa exempt or new entry on a multiple entry visa). I suspect Maesot would be cheapest from Bangkok if just wanting a border bounce.

You do not mention your current visa status, and the need for the visa run. In general, a tourist visa being essential over the visa exempt entry suggests an employer who wants you to work without a Non B/work permit. Are you comfortable with that?

It depends mainly on the quality of the relationship between the school and the local immigration office. Most often (and invariably years ago) the extensions were for 90 days. However, students of less favoured schools often now only receive 60 days at a time.

It should be noted that the ultimate boss is the Interior Minister (currently Anupong Paochinda). However, the Immigration Bureau is usually left to get on with things undisturbed unless there is a particularly lucrative opportunity attracting the Minister's notice.

It is possible that, in addition to the scan of the QR code from your ThaiPass, you might also be asked to fill out a health declaration card to the effect that you do not feel ill, and are not suffering symptoms of monkeypox.

In addition to the fine, there are long term risks with the overstay. It acts as a bit of a black mark that can be taken into consideration by Immigration Officials in various situations in the future. My advice is to avoid the overstay. Apply for the extension (denied) and receive an order to leave Thailand within seven days. That way, everything is legal.

You will also need a ThaiPass, vaccination certificate, 30-day Covid insurance and (to satisfy the airline) likely an onward flight out of Thailand within 30 days.

The suggestion was to get a martial arts Non Ed. If the immigration official wanted to check his progress with his training, it would not be by testing his Thai. Make sure you go to a small female immigration official and you should be safe.