Tod Daniels

Just curious when you last did this bargain basement, I'll bounce myself run to Aranyaprathet/Poipet? I usually get a couple messages a week from people stuck on the Cambo side who got denied entry comin' back in at that border. AND they hadn't used their two entries a year, by land, OR had extensive entry/stay histories

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS THAI CONSULATE SAVANNAKHET POLICY CHANGE The thai consulate in Savannakhet Lao will go to online appointment booking only effective June 1st (actually on Tuesday June 4th which is the first day they're open after the holiday). They will no longer allow walk up service, you have to book an appt to get in the gate. At this time the appointment booking website is "under construction" but here's the link Online Appointment Booking Savannakhet Also their processing time for visas have changed and they have the same processing time as Vientiane. Apply for a visa and get the passport back two business days after the application (NOT including the day you apply, so what I call 3 day processing) Examplez; Apply Monday morning/passport returned Wednesday afternoon Apply Thursday morning/ passport returned Monday afternoon Apply Friday morning/passport returned Tuesday afternoon

Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Buriram, Samut Prakan offices all allow you to get an extension when you have 45 days or less left on your current stamp. That means IF you show up free entry (30 day visa exempt) you can go the very next day if you want to and apply for a 30 day extension at those offices. Where as if you have a real 60 day tourist visa entry (TR60) you can go for the extension 2 weeks after you stamp in Keep in mind there are a couple offices Jomtien which requires you have a week or less left on your 30 day entry or 60 day tourist visa stamp and Samui that wants you to go when you have 2 weeks or less left on those stamps

It was not uncommon (before the online 90 day reporting program came live) for the Thai immigration offices to take weeks and weeks to mail that receipt of a 90 day report back to the applicant. I once waited 10 weeks to get the receipt and got it just days before I'd decided to go in and apply for the next report in person 🙂 If you don't get the receipt back in the mail you DO have your receipt from Thai post showing the EMS tracking number and what day they received the previous report, so even if you don't get it in the mail before your next report, when you go to apply (which you WILL have to do in person) next time you can show you did indeed apply previously. I have also seen people going out to report, saying they never got their receipt mailed back and have the officer pull out a BIG BOX of 90 day report return receipt envelope that they had returned to them by thai post as un-deliverable and pull their envelope out of it 😮

There is no minimum amount of time between applying for another METV posted on any website. SOME consulates are adopting the 1-n-done policy where if you get an METV you can't get another one for a year from the date they gave the first one but some are not All you can do is apply and see how it goes. They'll either issue it OR message and say you can't get it OR just sell you a single entry if they feel you don't show the 'need' for one. I'd be much more worried about getting pulled aside by passport control flying back in on a new METV after just having maxed one out a few months before (because you can stay almost 9 months on an METV if you work the bounces/extensions right) You run a much higher risk of being questioned by passport control about if you're trying to live here on tourist visas.

sadly when the Thai consulate in the UK went to eVisa online applications they eliminated the multiple entry choice for Non-O visas based on marriage to a thai. The system defaults to a single entry and there is no way to change the field to multiple These are the choices to get the 90 day single entry

I just did TWO passport renewals by mail thru the ACS division of the US Embassy here in bangkok One was a replacement for a stolen passport and the person got that in 15 days from the date I mailed off the packet to ACS via EMS Thai Post The other person was just a renewal, and they got both passports delivered to their door 42 days from the date I mailed the packet in to ACS. (so that 6 week estimated time is pretty accurate) In BOTH cases the issue date of the passport was just like a week after the application was mailed to ACS All I can say is if you're doing it by mail follow the directions TO THE LETTER.. That means take your time, get it right, it's not a race, because skipping a step or getting a step wrong is what makes those renewals DRAG out. You start here: Click the link on the bottom to see if you can renew by mail US Passport Renewal

Just so everyone is clear DMK and BKK airports deny HUNDREDS of people every week and send 'em back out to where they flew in from. You BIG mistake was doing a bounce out and back by AIR to get a new free entry stamp after the entry/stay history you have 😕 You are unlikely to be able to get a tourist visa from either consulate in Vietnam (Hanoi or HCMC) with a denial of entry stamp in your passport I'd say if you're hell-bent on flying in do it to Chiang Mai <- that airport has NO confirmed denial of entries and is the softest touch airport to get in at. Otherwise, fly to Malaysia or Lao and enter by LAND. Cambodia is gonna bot be the border to try to enter from with your denial of entry. That Aranyaprathet/Poipet border is the WORST border crossing to thailand out of all of them so avoid trying to come in there You're allowed 2 free visa exempt entries by land in a calendar year (so there's no way you've used those seeing as it's Feb 3 😛 ) fly to Vientiane Lao and enter at Nong Khai OR fly to Penang and enter at Sadao

Sadly you can't get a Non-O visa issued for "trailing spouse" to a foreigner on a "retirement visa" inside the country AND the only consulate that used to sell them (Penang) stopped.. 😕 What I have seen "creative" agencies do 😮 is get the trailing spouse a non-ED visa for 90 days, get ONE extension on it based on education (because the first extension has to be for the reason it's issued) THEN what they do is "CHANGE THE REASON" for the extension from education to "trailing spouse". 😛 There are reports agencies are doing it for people in Pattaya and Phuket. Never seen it in bangkok or Chiang Mai though One thing you WILL need to do is get that marriage to a foreigner certified by the embassy of the country you married in because without that you can't get the "trailing spouse" extension against your retirement visa That's IF the embassy of the country you married in here will do it. FWIW; the UK and US embassies won't certify marriages anymore. You have to send it back to those countries and do the process there, get them stamped by the thai embassy there and then sent back here).. Hated to be the bearer of bad news but that "trailing spouse" Non-O is a TOUGH visa to get, no consulate in S/E Asia will issue it for a person married to a retirement visa holder 😕

I can confirm with 100% certainty that to get a year long, multi-entry, non-o visa based on marriage to a Thai they require a bank book updated shortly before you go there showing you have 400k baht in a Thai bank account in your name only for 2 months before you apply or you will only get a 90-day single entry.

This is an image from the poster on the wall at Chaengwattana Bangkok Bank showing the letter (which can be in thai or engrish) It is just a simple letter stating the account, your name (sometimes your passport number) and the balance of the account the date you got the letter.

𝟭) 𝗔𝘀 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 "𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲"( 𝟯𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹) 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗼𝗯𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺? You can enter visa exempt, FIND a school, enroll, pay the tuition, have them apply to the Ministry of Education and once that paperwork comes back you can apply for a 90 day ED visa at the immigration office in the area where the school is and where you live 𝟮) 𝗜𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 (𝟯𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹) 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁? That is between you and the air carrier.. SOME carriers have a policy that if you come in "free stamp" (no valid visa in your passport) that you have to show onward travel within the number of days you will get stamped in for (in your case 30) 𝟯) 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗯𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗗 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮? Most schools take between 2 and 4 weeks to get the paperwork from the MOE once they submit your packet for approval you also need to have between 2 and 3 weeks left on your current stamp once the paperwork comes back to apply for the ED visa inside the country at the immigration office 𝟰) 𝗜𝗳 𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮, 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗗 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶 𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱? Yes, no problem and in reality you should probably get a single entry tourist visa before you come here because that stamps you in for 60 days when you arrive and you can get one 30 day extension for 1900baht at the immigration office. That will give you plenty of time to find a school, have them process the paperwork, and to still have the time you need on your stamp to apply for the ED visa at the immigration office

The LTR BOI website has a pop-up stating they have a list of approved companies that are authorized to "push paper" (apply for the LTR for you) They list them under Certified Agency tab https://ltr.boi.go.th/page/ca.html

I thought that was about someone trying to use 40K baht a month income method? Good to know if it's just 400K in a thai bank though, thanx I will edit my post

That would be an incorrect speculation. 😮 Neither Savannakhet nor Vientiane offer year-long, multi-entry Non-O visas based on being over 50 (retirement) nor do they offer a year long, multi-entry Non-O based on having thai children. Both those reasons can only get a 90 day single entry visa The ONLY year-long, multi-entry Non-O they issue is based on marriage to a thai and that now requires you show proof of 400K baht in a thai bank account in your name only OR proof of the equivalent in your bank account in your country. Sorry, there are reports now that they will only accept proof of funds in a thai bank account in your name only for 2 months Sorry for the bad info 😞

The two consulates that definitely issue year long multi entry non o based on marriage to a Thai in Southeast Asia are Savannakhet Lao and Penang Malaysia Both require proof of funds 400k baht in a Thai bank account in your name only for two months before you apply,or the equivalent of that in a bank account in your country. It appears that proof of the equivalent of 400K baht in a bank account in your country is no longer accepted. Sorry for the bad info 😞 Neither consulate will issue year-long visa for Thai child, only 90 day single entry There are no reports I could find of people getting year multi non-o from HCMC or Hanoi.

Those two borders are still closed. If you're up in northwestern Thailand and need to do a border bounce you could use the land borders with Lao in Chiang Rai province: Chiang Saen/SEZ (special economic zone) <- which you cross by boat or Chiang Khong/Huai Xai <- which you cross by bridge

I think you're confused, Immigration officers don't like to see people flying back in on ED visa with reentry permits, because if you're on an education visa they feel you should be here studying not flying in and out. Plus they know every Tom, Dick, and Somchai jumped on the back door, under the table, bs, education visa during the covid lockdown so all education visas now are given extra scrutiny.

You knew your previous entry/stay history when you decided to fly in and you picked the worst possible airports to fly into (BKK / DMK). Face it milking covid extensions free stamps and tourist visas is not a viable long-term way to stay here. You could have gotten two free 30-day entries by land in a calendar year and extended each of those by 30 days, and the good news is Jan 1 the calendar resets and you can have two more free Visa exempt entries by land. You would have skated through on a land entry with the tourist visa without any issue at all you just didn't want to take the time to do it. At least now you know at some point in time trying to come back in by air especially in Bangkok is most likely going to get you denied entry and shipped back. Glad you made it in live and learn, thanks for the update

they are feeding you a line of crap, there are NO new rules, they just don't want to do it is all.. and the fact you've funneled money thru your wife's bank account doesn't cut any ice with them in the least Just curious how could you NOT get a 90 day single entry Non-O visa from the US using the eVisa website for the consulate that serves your area where you lived in the US? It's all ONLINE, you upload the documents, pay and they approve the visa and email you a PDF

Okay no matter what anyone on here OR at a bank branch you visited and couldn't get an account at believe me there are NO NEW BANKING LAWS as far as foreigners opening a bank account here on a 30 day free entry or a tourist visa entry or an extension from one of those The RULES that control whether a foreigner can or can't open an account are made by the MANAGER of the branch you're standing inside of when you go to apply It's nothing but a numbers game any more, hit enough banks and you WILL find one that will let you open an account. So my advice is put your big boy pants on, get out there and pound the pavement, bank after bank, branch after branch. In Bangkok it takes about 12 tries to open an account. SO I can imagine in Nakhon Nowhere (aka Khon Kaen) it could take some traveling.. post on an Isaan or Khon Kaen related f/b page and ask, believe me you're not the first foreigner up there who needs to open a bank account

they never issued year-long, multi-entry Non-O based on thai child at that consulate (even before covid) not with money in the bank not with parental rights, it was NOT a reason they offered that visa, all you can get is a 90 day single entry Non-O, come in get 90 days, take the one 60 day visit thai family extension at your immigration office, then go get a new 90 day Non-O from Savannakhet.. I know people who had done it like that (get a new Non-O 90 day every 5 months) from Savannakhet for years and years before covid

you don't need any proof of funds in Savannakhet to get a 90 day Non-O based on having a half thai child, just birth certificate, mother's thai i/d, house book of the child and mother and your passport pages. NOR do you need legal custody to get that visa there either, just your name on the birth certificate is enough

I would say you're dreaming thinking you're going to bounce out and back easily at the Aranyaprathet Poipet border. It was a bad border before the lockdowns, and it's a terrible border now. Suck it up, go to Ban Laem or Ban Pakard. You'll get out and back with no issues at either of those borders.

And I only stated how it really works in REAL life at the land borders on ED visa extensions :) The O/P could FLY out without cancelling that extension before hand and have no problem getting or OR flying back in but they are highly unlikely to get out by a land crossing on an "open" ED visa extension