matcube

Maestro, sorry for the confusion.

It doesn't quite matter where I am at the moment. Yes, I am in Thailand and will need to commute between the two countries several times in the coming months. I am evaluating several options, including one-way to Italy, roundtrips from there (more expensive) or roundtrips from here (cheaper but seem to involve a more solid visa/permit of stay, as Lopburi and others pointed out).

I just discovered, by the way, that Thai embassy and consulates in Italy won't issue a 12 months multiple entry type-O any longer:

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/1232.php?id=873

Why it is possible in other Countries (including, at least that I know of, Malaysia and UK), is beyond my understanding. I also called them, well, to tell the truth I called Milan consulate, and he said that all over Italy is the same and he is not aware whether and why it would be different in other countries.

Yes, I did search the forum but the search functionality doesn't seem to work from my browser, so here is again the asked-so-many-times kind of question:

How much is the fee for Non-Imm O (thai wife) visa in Penang? I was also reading it takes 2 days (back-to-back) if you use some agency, possibly longer if you go alone.

Thanks.

Summary: I need/want to fly BKK-Italy and back.

Proposed solution: it looks like I'll get a tourist visa. Still, to get a 2-month tourist visa, they need a ticket reservation, so I will make up a reservation for an Italian-based roundtrip ticket which I will never purchase.

Question: Could the airline check-in in Milan stop me if I try to embark on the return lag of the flight (Milan-BKK) holding just a 60-days tourist visa?

Thanks again.

I see, thanks guys. I was (still am) a bit frustrated that Italy (or whatever airlines/agency I was using) gives a different treatment than other places.

But they should know that as an Italian passport holder you'll get a stamp on entry, no visa required. Why get a tourist visa if I don't need one? It's a waste of time and money.

(Again, I made this its own topic, since it belonged to a mixed old message nobody paid attention to)

It has been for me impossible, so far, to purchase either a one-way ticket Italy-Thailand or a return ticket with a validity over 45 days without holding a visa or a rentry permit. I mean, the travel agency/airline won't sell it to you. Do they have that power? Why? Only in Italy? I travelled one-way to Thailand from Indonesia and India (although some years back), and was reading of some fellow here going one-way to Bkk from London.

But that's not the whole story. When I fly roundtrip BKK-Milan, on the way back (Milan) they always ask to see proper documentation to let you on the plane. I am afraid they won't let me in even if I were able to find an airline/travel agency that'd sell me a one-way or else if I buy a roundtrip from here (BKK).

Thanks for any advice.

An update from an older post of mine, and some questions:

I went to Suan Plu today, to extend my permit of stay, expiring 20 Sept, based on a non-imm B, and change it to "support Thai wife". Suan Plu wouldn't do it: first I'd have to go to the labour department and cancel my non-imm B Visa, they said. It sounded quite weird to me, labor dept cannot issue the visa, but they have the power (and the only one, apparently, with that power) to cancel it. Not to mention that I thought I had finally understood the system, that is, I am legal in Thailand because of the permit of stay, not because of the original visa issued more than a year ago in Italy...

Anyway, since I will be outside of the Country for October and November, I asked whether they could give me the response by the end of September, which wasn't an option. At that point we left, thinking of what to do. Later I called but they couldn't give much information "without seeing my documents", but it appeared that if I provide them with a return ticket they may be able to extend the permit ("under consideration") until I come back to Thailand.

Anybody has tried (successfully)? I can't afford to cancel my current permit of visa first, to find out that they won't extend my support-wife-permit long enough (they said they "may")... it'd be a waste of time and money, and won't solve the problem.

Thanks and sorry for the long mixed message (some info, some complaints, some questions...)

I heard the average waiting time is between 1 to 2 months but for my case, I got it on the spot. I think it is case by case.

Desmond, you got it on the spot?! you mean the same day you applied? Where was that, BKK or somewhere else? Was it the first time you applied?

matcube

The money used for a support Thai wife extension of stay should be yours. Your application may well not be approved if your wife is putting this money up. In that case the best you can do is to try and obtain a multi entry non immigrant O visa which will require visa runs every 90 days.

Good to know! How do they know whose money it is? Do they have a way to know?

Thanks Lopburi. What I find absurd and funny at the same time is that most of the 400K money comes from my wife. She doesn't need any support from me, in fact she earns enough to cover her and my living expenses... Thai law doesn't seem to contemplate that case, apparently. To thai lawmakers, the only reason a Thai woman may want to marry a foreigner is to get financial support.

On a related issue, which I asked a couple of days before but it disappeared out of page 1 before receiving any reply: I will leave the Kingdom with a return ticket from BKK on Oct 1. By then the extension of permit of stay is unlikely ready. I am afraid that once in Milan airport, they may not allow me on the (one-way) plane to Thailand without proper permit of stay/visa. It's the airline personnel that may interfere, as they did before. Do I have any voice? Anybody know the law/rules? After all, were I to walk into Thailand, I'd have no problem entering.

Thanks again.

I am sure it's explained somewhere, but I am also sure someone could reply to me much faster than I would be able to find the answer myself:

I have the 400K in the bank, got the statement, going to Suan Plu on Monday for the application. When can I start getting some money out of the bank? I will need 20K at the beginning of September, my application won't have been processed for sure. But would they go and check my bank account is still the initial 400K? And even if they do, would it be a problem to have withdrawn a small amount, since the money is there to suppor the family, right, so I should use it to that aim.

Thanks.

Matcube

Lopburi at al,

sorry I didn't mean to stir the forum nor play a game. In fact, my intention was to simplify the situation: since I thought I would shortly go out of the Kingdom and back in (without a re-entry permit), I was projecting my situation once I am back. As for the tourist visa/stamp distinction, it wasn't completely clear to me at the time of writing. Your answers helped a lot and now I have a much clearer idea.

If you want to hear the whole story with details, here it is:

Intended trip abroad: Sept 2- Sept 8

Non-Imm VISA+Stamp: Expire Sept 20

Work contract: Expire Oct 1

Intended long trip abroad: Oct 1-Nov 30

Nov 30: Back in Thailand with a Non-Imm O visa (to be obtained abroad) or with the "supporting family member permit of stay" which I should apply now but I am not sure what happens if they call me in to report back after I have left (Oct 1).

Any additional comment or suggestion is welcome. Still, I don't want to bother anybody too much with my personal story, at some point next week I'll go to Suan Plu and ask them.

Matcube

Thanks Lopburi3 for the clarification. That opens up a third question. My permit of stay + visa (Non-Imm expires at the end of September. If I apply now for the "supporting thai wife stay extension", can I leave the Kingdom (with or without purchasing a re-entry permit) while they process my application?

Matcube.

Thanks Sunbelt,

My situation is a bit more complex than that, and your reply answers to that. In fact I have a Non-Immigrant Visa B that is going to expire soon. Since I am going for a short trip out of the country before my Non-Imm B expires, I was considering the two options: getting the Non-Immigrant O before exiting, or go out witout any re-entry permit and get a Non-Imm O when I am back, but apparently this is not possible, as your reply suggests. Thanks.

On my second question, how long does it take them to issue the Non-Immigrant O at the immigration bureau? If my document/status get stuck there for long, I won't be able to go for my short trip outside Thailand.

Thanks again (you or anybody else).

Matcube.

I am in Thailand, holding a regular tourist visa (or, better said, the "permit of stay" that they issue at the border when entering), can I go to the immigration bureau in BKK with the required documents and apply for a family visa? I am Italian married with a Thai woman, although I have never "trasnformed" the Italian marriage certificate into any Thai equivalent, but I have a certified English and Thai translation of it.

Also, would they usually issue the visa the same day, or is it a lengthy process?

Thanks,

Matcube