Red Phoenix

In your case applying for the METV eVisa would be your best option. Alternatively you could simply travel to Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day Permit to stay on arrival. Then in the last 2 weeks before Permit to stay expiry you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay, which is provided on the spot with the 30 additional days added to the expiry date of your initial Permit to stay (costs 1.900,- THB). In the final days before expiry of that second Permit to stay, you can then do a border-run to a neighboring country. This can be done same day or you could combine with a holiday in that neighboring country. On re-entering Thailand VisaExempt you will be once again stamped in for 30 days, which also can be extended for an additional 30 days. That's already 120 days (4 months). If you want to stay longer, then do once again a border-run before expiry of your permit to stay. Following the above process you can stay 6 months in Thailand without having applied for a Visa. NOTE 1 - You can only use land-border Visa Exempt entries 2 times per calendar year, but that would be OK when staying max 6 months. NOTE 2 - When flying to Thailand VisaExempt you would need to show at departure when checking in to your flight an outward bound ticket to an international destination from Thailand on a date prior to expiry of the 30-day Permit to stay you will receive on entry. Buying a fully legit flight-reservation online on a site like onwardflight.com or another on-line onward flight ticket-reservation company cost only 12 to 15 US $. Such reservation is automatically cancelled within 2-3 days, so needs to be done on the day before or day of departure and they are provided on-the-spot when paying by credit-card.

The only thing that changed, was that you were 'serviced' by a new Imm Officer with an attitude. Which is a deadly combination when at same time they are inexperienced and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Yes, he can apply for the 90-day Non Imm O eVisa (retirement). And even if the application goes sideways (the eVisa application process can be confusing) or when he did not receive his Visa before planned departure, he can can still fly VisaExempt (without a Visa) to Thailand and will be stamped in for 30 days on arrival. And in ultimate case he can still apply for the Non Imm O Visa (retirement) at his local Imm Office when he still has at least 15 days left on that initial Permit to stay.

When entering Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) you are stamped in by border-immigration with a 30-day Permit to stay. The application for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa needs to be done when you still have at least 15 days left on your Permit to stay (and in Chaing Mai they require 21 days, and in Phuket 15 working days). Since your friend already has a Thai bank-account with the required funds, he would be able to apply at his local Imm Office in the 1st week of arrival. And if it turns out that he needs additional time he could simply apply for a 30-day extension of stay which is provided on the spot and added to his initial Permit to stay expiry date (cost 1.900,- THB). In view of the above there is little need for him to apply for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement). He would however when departing for Thailand without a Visa, need to show at departure from the US an outward bound ticket to an international destination from Thailand on a date prior to expiry of the 30-day Permit to stay he will receive on entry. Buying a fully legit flight-reservation online on a site like on onwardflight.com or another on-line onward flight ticket-reservation company cost only 12 to 15 US $. Such reservation is automatically cancelled within 2-3 days, so needs to be done on the day before or day of departure and they are provided on-the-spot when paying by credit-card.

For the first part (3 months on Thailand), you could apply for a 60-day Tourist Visa at the Thai Embassy in Switzerland. Note that this cannot be done in person anymore, as in most European countries - as well as UK - you can now only apply for an eVisa on-line. Alternatively you could simply travel to Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day Permit to stay on arrival. Then in the last 2 weeks before Permit to stay expiry you can apply at any Imm Office in Thailand for a 30-day extension of stay, which is provided on the spot with the 30 additional days added to the expiry date of your initial Permit to stay (costs 1.900,- THB). In the final days before expiry of that second Permit to stay, you can then do a border-run to a neighboring country. This can be done same day or you could combine with a holiday in that neighboring country. On re-entering Thailand VisaExempt you will be once again stamped in for 30 days, So that will provide you with 90 days, and in case you need more days to bridge the period till your flight back home you can once again apply for a 30 day extension of stay at any Immigration Office. NOTE that you can only use land-border Visa Exempt entries 2 times per calendar year. For your 2nd trip of 6 to 9 months, it would be worthwhile to apply for a 180-day MultipleEntry Tourist Visa. Such METV will provide you with a 60-day permission to stay with each entry, at the end of which you will either have to apply for a one-time per entry 30-day extension of stay at a local Imm Office (costs 1.900,- THB) or do a border-run. On re-entry you will be once again stamped in with a 60-day permission to stay. When you re-enter Thailand on the last day of the validity of that 180-day METV, you can effectively squeeze 8 months of stay out of that Visa (and even extend it to 9 months by applying for a one-time per entry 30 day extension. For your 3rd trip when you plan to stay in Thailand permanently, your best option would probably be applying for a 90-day Non Imm O Visa (either in your home-country or country of permanent residence OR after having entered Thailand VisaExempt or on a Tourist at your local Imm Office). In the last month of the Permit to stay from that Non Imm O Visa, you could then apply for the 1-year extension of stay based on that original Non Imm O Visa. Obviously the requirements for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa and the 1-year extension of stay, are more demanding than the applications for a TouristVisa. But since you are planning to do first the 3 months and later the 6-9 months trips to Thailand, it will become only relevant more than 1 year from now, so it would be premature to address all the ins and outs of that process already now in this post.

Being married to a Thai national and only staying 6 months in Thailand per year, you have many options. A possible option with very little hassle could be to 1 - Enter Thailand VisaExempt (without a Visa) which will provide you with a 30-day permission to stay. 2 - In the last 2 weeks before expiry of that Permission to stay, apply at an Imm Office for a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your Thai family. Since you meet the requirements it will be provided on the spot and the 60 days will be added to the initial 30-day permission to stay due date (cost 1.900,- THB). 3 - In the final days of that 60 day extension of stay, do a border-run to a neighboring country, which can be done same day or combined with a holiday in that neighboring country. On re-entering Thailand this will provide you once again with a 30-day permission to stay. 4 - You can then apply once again for a a 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your Thai family at a Thai Imm office. When having done a same-day border-run that would provide you with a max of 180 days permit to stay. 5 - In case the above does not provide you enough days till your flight back home, you could prior to the 60-day extension of stay application, first apply for a 'regular' 30-day extension of stay (also 1.900,- THB). >> Applying first for the 'regular' 30-day extension of stay followed by an application for the 60-day extension of stay for reason of visiting your family, would provide you with a max of 240 days permission to stay, without having to apply for a Visa, and requiring only 1 border-run in the middle of your stay.

@Barry864 > The main hurdle when applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa (retirement) when entering Thailand VisaExempt is the opening of a bank-account to provide evidence of +800K on that account. Since you already have 850K for a long time on your Thai bank-account, that's no issue for you (nor would you have to prove the foreign origins of those funds, as they have been seasoned already for long time). But unfortunately for the rest of the process you would have to start from scratch (either by applying for the eVisa Non Imm O - retirement in UK, or entering Thailand VisaExempt and applying at your local Imm Office), so you would also have to notify the local Immigration Office of your address in Thailand (TM-30).

When nothing has changed re your Immigration status (e.g. you did not move to a new address or did not had a change of Visa status) and your on-line application was same like previous time, the confirmation e-mail you received should be sufficient. As other posters already indicated it now sometimes happens that you can even receive the approval after the 6-day grace-period for doing it in person.

Technically you are on overstay, not only when your Permit to stay has expired, but also when you do not meet the conditions under which that Permit to stay has been provided. So those that made use of an Agent to circumvent the 'funds in bank' requirement, are technically on overstay from the moment their Permit to stay was provided. As long as the envisioned Immigration raids only focus on showing your Passport with the Permit to stay stamp, there would be little to worry about when having made use of that Agent service. However, the Visa or extension Permit to stay stamp from an easy up-country Imm Office, would be already a give-away in their Passports that the holder is not meeting the requirements. I hope it never happens, but it would become a real blood-bath when Immigration would require those Non Imm O (retirement) Visa and extension holders, to come to the Imm Office with their passports and Bank Passbook to provide proof that they met the financial requirements.

At most Imm Offices the TM-28 has been superseded by the TM-7. When you notify your local Imm Office of the change of address in person, simply bring both forms filled-in (so that they do not turn you away), as well as the lease-document proving that you are the housemaster. It's possible Immigration might also want a copy of the house-book as well as a signed front/back copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner of the premises. = = = I did sent you PM a copy of the comprehensive Guideline-document on how to register your address on the IO TM-30 website, which allows to notify Immigration of any foreigner (including yourself) staying at your address. Note that I am not sure whether it can be used for notifying local Immigration of a CHANGE of address, but it's worth a try.

Currently CM is the place where you have your official address for Immigration purposes, which means that for any service you require from Immigration you have to apply there (e.g. 1-year extension of stay, Residence Certificate, etc.). You also have to do your 90-day reports there, but these can also be done on-line or by mail. But if it is inconvenient for you having to go to CM Immigration for any of the above, you could indeed consider moving your official address to Bangkok. In that case you need to notify Bangkok Immigration within 24 hours of arrival that you have moved there by TM-30 notification together with the required documents. Those documents in your case being the lease-contract, and it's possible that Bangkok Imm would also want a copy of the house-book and a signed front/back copy of the Thai ID-card of the owner of the premisses. The notification of having moved to your new address within 24 hours is normally somewhat flexible, although it can be a quick money-grab for the Imm office so better not postpone it too long if you want Note: You could also consider NOT notifying Bangkok Immigration, that you are permanently staying at that new address. That would mean that your official address for Immigration purposes stays in CM, and that you are just a 'visitor' at that Bangkok address (like staying at a Hotel/guesthouse). However, to meet Thai law, the owner of the premises needs to notify Immigration that a foreigner is staying there. And as in that case you don't need any services from the BKK Immigration office (since your address would remain in CM) there is no reason for you to notify them.

TM-30 guideline sent PM and you're welcome.

The statement was that when using a VPN the Embassy/Consulate will have no way of knowing from where you are applying. Obviously if the application requires documents that you are not able to show, then it's of no use applying. It's indeed correct that when the border Immigration official stamping you on arrival, notices that the eVisa was issued when you were not in your home-country according to your passport stamps, that this might create a problem. But as I wrote, I do not understand the reason for the requirement that you can only apply for the eVisa from your home-country or country of official residence. Is there a sensible reason for that requirement or is it just bureaucratic nonsense?

Note that I often get the question why I do not post my comprehensive Guidelines on the Forum. It's not 'cloak and dagger' stuff and everybody requesting it will receive it PM. See also my earlier response: #1 - It is a comprehensive 6-page document, with 4 embedded attachments. And I also provide these attachments separately in the PM as some members will not be able to open them when embedded in the document. #2 - When the recipients of the document have questions relating to their specific situation and need additional information, they can then easily contact me PM. #3 - By sending PM I am able to ensure that requesters of the info, receive the latest version as I use any comments/questions on content that I receive to update the document or the intro PM-text that I sent with it.

Like all things Immigration, it's a typically Thai unclear and confusing situation. My understanding is as follows: - You can apply IN PERSON for a Visa (Tourist Visa or Non Imm O Visa) at a Thai Embassy/Consulate in some countries neighboring Thailand, e.g. Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia. But you need to inform yourself very well before attempting this, as the requirements and the specific Visa these Embassies/Consulates can provide are different (even in same country, e.g. Vientiane Embassy and Savannakhet Consulate have different requirements/application rules). Note also that the websites of these Embassies/Consulates are often unclear/incomplete, and so it is highly recommended to get 'first hand information' on one of the Visa Forums from people that have done same. - In many countries you cannot apply in person anymore, and it has to be done by eVisa. The eVisa application process is not fully clear either, as the requirements do not always indicate for which specific Visa they are applicable, and it can become a 'hit and miss'. - In principle you need to apply for an eVisa while you are staying in your home-country or country of official residence. This is a rather strange requirement, as imo the Visa application should not depend on where you are staying when doing the application, but on providing all the required evidence to meet the Visa requirements. Also an eVisa application obviously opens the door to apply from another country, because when using a VPN the Embassy/Consulate will have no way of knowing from where you are applying. Note that you would always have to leave Thailand even when applying from there, as the Visa entitles you to a permit to stay that has to be stamped in your Passport by Thai border-immigration.

As @DrJack54 wrote: The reentry permit office is located Zone 2 after security check and PRIOR to passport control. BKK offer 200b service fee and that includes filling in TM8 including photo. Or print out a TM8 and have it filled in ready to hand over. 3800b multi and 1000b single reentry. It's quick and efficient. The Re-Entry Permit desk and office are located in Zone 2 - International departures, after security check and in the hall for Passport control (when entering the hall it's at the far left). Last time I got my Re-Entry Permit at Suvarnabhumi (October 2022) there were 2 people before me, and it took approx 10 minutes. Quick and easy. I made use of the small desk that charges 200,- THB for filling in the required form for you and taking your picture, so you only need to bring your passport. Beware that they only accept cash, so you need to bring 1.200,- THB (or 1.000,- THB if you don't make use of that service and go straight to the office with the form you filled-in yourself and a pass-photo).

Since early this year you can apply for the 1-year Multiple Entry Non Imm O Visa by eVisa from the Thai Embassy in UK. Attached a link to a post of an AN-member that successfully got hold of such Visa. https://aseannow.com/topic/1286952-multiple-entry-non-o-london/#elControls_17910578_menu

In case you want to do a 30-day extension at the end of the 60-day permit to stay you received by border-immigration when entering Thailand, you will need a TM-30 notification as proof of the address where you are staying, as otherwise the Imm Office will not provide you with any service. When you are a Tourist (on an METV) and you are renting an appartment of which the landlord does not want to do the TM-30 notification, that puts the burden on your shoulders for notifying Immigration which can result in a fine when you do not do it within 24 hours of arrival. But in that case you also have the option of checking in at a cheap Hotel the night before you plan to apply for the 30-day extension (you don't even have to stay there), and just ask the reception for a copy of the TM-30 notification they need to make of every foreigner staying at their premises. When on an METV instead of applying for a 30-day extension at the end of the 60-day permit to stay from your first METV entry, you can of course also make a simple border-run, which will provide you once again with a 60-day permit to stay on re-entry.

He is on an METV (Multiple Entry Tourist Visa), and as a tourist you will only need proof of the address you are staying (the TM-30 notification) when visiting an Imm Office for a service you need, e.g. when you want to extend your stay by applying for a 30-day extension. And in that case it is simply a matter of asking the Hotel/guesthouse where you are staying to provide you with a copy of the TM-30 notification they need to make to meet Thai law that a foreigner is staying at their premises.

This is totally 'out of bounds'. You must have met an Imm Officer that for one reason or another had a grudge against you. There is absolutely no reason for you to provide evidence of all the places where you have stayed in Thailand earlier than your current address. And the Hotels/guesthouses where you stayed are required by Thai law to notify Immigration that a foreigner is staying at their premises, and indeed that notification is available in the central IO TM-30 database where they can see all the TM-30s issued of you staying somewhere.

Re the points they told you: 1. It is correct that if the landlord does not notify local Immigration by issuing a TM-30 report that a foreigner (you) is staying at this premises, and you need a service from Immigration that Immigration will put the burden on you for meeting the TM-30 notification requirement. And indeed it has to be done within 24 hours of arrival of the foreigner at the premises. Normally Immigration are not so strict, but when you told them that you arrived there already some time ago, they can fine you for having done it late. 2. You CAN do it on-line on behalf of the landlord. a) If the landlord already registered the place on the IO TM-30 website, that would require that you have to ask for his username/password to issue the TM-30 (takes 2 minutes). b) If the landlord has not registered the place he is renting on the IO TM-30 website, you can do it on his behalf. You would need a copy of the house-book and a signed front/back copy of the owner's Thai ID-card. Having provided those documents with the registration, you will receive the username/password, that will allow you then to do the TM-30. Immigration has no way of knowing that you did it on behalf of the landlord. 3. Yes that's correct (see point #1). A crazy and frustrating experience... And once Immigration collected the fine from you, the landlord is 'off the hook'.

You only need to notify - by providing a TM-30 - to your local Immigration office of the address where you are residing in their province, when you are applying for a service from that Office (e.g. applying for a 30-day extension of stay or applying for the 90-day Non Imm O Visa). When you are exiting Thailand after having made maximum use of your METV (i.e. having re-entered Thailand just before expiry of the 6 month METV, and having received again a 60-day permission to stay), there would have not been any reason for you to visit an Imm Office. You are a tourist and it is the responsibility of the owner of the place where you are staying (e.g. Hotel/guesthouse to inform the local Imm Office that a foreigner is staying there). And since you do not need to visit the Imm Office unless you want to apply for a service, there is no need for you to bother about TM-30.

Hi Sandboxer, As far as I can recall (it's almost 3 years ago) I downloaded the fillable Excel sheet from the Immigration Extranet site, so it should be possible for you to do same. Note that you can also fill in the TM-30 data when logged in on the site, but it was easier to fill in the Excel-sheet off-line and then upload it. Cheers and success.

Nope, the amount in THB to be paid was higher when paying by credit-card than by using a Thai debit-card or making use of other payment options.

I always use my European Mastercard credit-card for booking flights. Don't remember whether it was AirAsia, VietJet Air, Thai Smile or Nok Air that charges extra for booking the flight with your credit-card.