Visa Options

[Ghent]

I have been in and out of Thailand for the last several months and really enjoying it - no issue with getting a 30 day tourist visa at the border but I want to be able to stay longer without having to leave the country. I have read that there are ways to get either a 30 day extension or a 90 day visa but have been unable to locate any detailed information about it. does anyone have detailed information about how I would get the longer term visa?

 

I will have to leave Thailand every few months for work (at least once a quarter) so 90 days at a time would be perfect if I can figure out how it works

[ubonjoe]

You got a 30 day visa exempt entry not a tourist visa. That 30 day entry can be extended for 30 days at an immigration office for a fee of 1900 baht.

You can get a single entry tourist visa that allows a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days. You can get them at nearby embassies and consulates.

[Ghent]

is there any limit to the number of 30 day or 60 day visa that I can acquire or a limit to the number of extensions? I was hoping to stay here for a year or more

[ubonjoe]

By air there is no written limit on the number of 30 day visa exempt entries you can do but after several you may be question as to what you are doing here. At land border crossings they are limited to 2 per calendar year.

For single entry tourist visas some embassy and consulates have a limit on how many they will issue back to back. You can go to different embassies or consulate and get more visas.

There is no limit on the number of 30 day extension you can get other than the only one perm entry rule.

[CyclingLight]

Many nationalities are limited to 2 x 30 day visa exempt entrances via LAND per year. Otherwise, there are no other "official" limits. But, if you accumulate many back to back visa-exempt entries and/or tourist visas, you are apt to get questioned, detained, or turned away by an immigration officer when you attempt to enter the country.

 

They may demand to see your onward travel ticket or 10,000 baht in cash for the 30 day entry, or 20,000 baht cash for the 60 day entry.

 

Varying the locations where you get SETVs, staying out of Thailand for more than 3 or 4 days, being over 50 years old, returning to your home country for several months or more, etc may improve your chances of staying longer term. As far as embassies, some are friendlier than others and required documentation varies. For example, in Vientiane you don't currently need any supporting documentation beyond the SETV application; in Savannakhet, they want to see bank statements and plane tickets and even tour itineraries for some applicants. Some embassies may deny your application or "red stamp" it with a warning if they think you have too many. tourist visas already. You'll want to research the requirements and latest reports from nearby embassies. 

 

In general, things seem to be getting tighter and more difficult for long term staying on tourist visas and visa-exempt entries. Things can change at any time. Recently, BKK and DMK airports have been getting stricter.

 

If you do your research, and pick the right embassies, etc, you can possibly get a year or more. But, it's not guaranteed. If you want to travel and spend a bit of time out of Thailand, it may be worth it to pursue this route. If you really want to be in Thailand continually, you may be better off looking into the METV, elite, retirement, education, volunteer, or work-based visas and options. 

 

As @ubonjoe notes there is no hard rule other than the 2 land entries per year. But lately, there are more and more "soft"rules depending on where you enter the country.

 

 

[Ghent]

I am a US national if that helps. I am a complete newb to Thailand and don't know what a SETV or METV is. I am semi retired and only work a about 1 week a quarter but as I am age 40 I don't think I can apply for a retirement visa but showing 10-20k baht in cash wouldn't be an issue. I had planned on travelling in and out by plane from either BKK or Phuket

 

I have spent the last 3 years going around Europe and now want to spend some time in Thailand and Asia. You mentioned several types of visas including elite and education but I don't know if those would work for me or not. Is there some information on all the different visas that are available?

I am just looking for somewhere that I can chill out on the beach, read a good book and experience a new culture - hope to learn the language as well. I wanted to rent a condo for a year but I want to be sure that I will be able to come and go.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Ghent said:

I am a US national if that helps. I am a complete newb to Thailand and don't know what a SETV or METV is. I am semi retired and only work a about 1 week a quarter but as I am age 40 I don't think I can apply for a retirement visa but showing 10-20k baht in cash wouldn't be an issue. I had planned on travelling in and out by plane from either BKK or Phuket

SETV is a Single Entry Tourist Visa that allows one 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days. It is available at several nearby locations.

METV is Multiple Entry Tourist Visa that allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue. You can get almost 9 months of total stay from it by doing an entry just before the visa expires and extending that last 60 days for 30 days. It can only be applied for in your home country or country of legal residency.

You would have to enroll in a school to get a non immigrant EDucation (aka non-ed) visa. Many people study Thai to get them. You would first get a single entry non-ed visa that allows a 90 day entry. Then you would apply for 90 day extensions at immigration up to a total stay of one year.

A Thai Elite visa is valid for 5 years and allows unlimited one year entries. You would pay 500k baht for a 5 year membership in the Thai Elite program. Info is here about the 5 year membership https://www.thailandelite.com/#/at-your-service/card/elite-easy-access-membership There are other memberships that are valid for 10 or 20 years.

[Karooneet1]

Hi,

 

My fiance and I used to live in Thailand. I had a work permit, working as a teacher, and she was on a student visa, studying Thai.

 

We are currently back in South Africa. She is an artist and is self employed. We would like to come back to Thailand on a more permanent basis. I would easily get another work permit as I have all the required qualifications to get one from the school, but she would also like to continue working as an artist. Is there a way of getting a work permit for someone that is not employed by a company in Thailand, but rather works independently?

 

I'll appreciate your advice.

[acenase]

If I apply for METV which is Valid for 6 months... does that mean i can stay in Thailand for 6 months without having to leave and re enter? I thought I saw that the METV is valid for 6 months, but you still have to stamp out and leave before the 60 days or 90 days if you pay 1900 baht for the extension but you just dont have to re apply for a Visa, so then when you re enter, you get another 90 days, but then you still have tk leave and then re apply for a new Visa since the 6 months would now be over. So wouldnt it be the same if you got the cheaper SETV and extended it for a total of 90 days?

[steve187]

5 hours ago, acenase said:

If I apply for METV which is Valid for 6 months... does that mean i can stay in Thailand for 6 months without having to leave and re enter? I thought I saw that the METV is valid for 6 months, but you still have to stamp out and leave before the 60 days or 90 days if you pay 1900 baht for the extension but you just dont have to re apply for a Visa, so then when you re enter, you get another 90 days, but then you still have tk leave and then re apply for a new Visa since the 6 months would now be over. So wouldnt it be the same if you got the cheaper SETV and extended it for a total of 90 days?

but if you do a fresh entry the day the actual visa runs out you will get a new 60 day permission to stay stamp and that together with a local 30 day extension will take it to 3 x 90 day entries giving you almost 9 months in Thailand- Ubonjoe mentioned this in his post #7

Edited September 6, 2017 by steve187

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, acenase said:

If I apply for METV which is Valid for 6 months... does that mean i can stay in Thailand for 6 months without having to leave and re enter? I thought I saw that the METV is valid for 6 months, but you still have to stamp out and leave before the 60 days or 90 days if you pay 1900 baht for the extension but you just dont have to re apply for a Visa, so then when you re enter, you get another 90 days, but then you still have tk leave and then re apply for a new Visa since the 6 months would now be over. So wouldnt it be the same if you got the cheaper SETV and extended it for a total of 90 days?

Your understanding of the METV is correct. The advantage of an METV is flexibility. You can just do a border bounce anywhere at any time to get a new entry. A trip outside Thailand does not need to consider the practicalities of applying for a visa. To get a fresh SETV you need to go only to locations outside Thailand with a friendly consulate, must go on days the consulate is open, and need to stay long enough to complete the visa application process.

[acenase]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

Your understanding of the METV is correct. The advantage of an METV is flexibility. You can just do a border bounce anywhere at any time to get a new entry. A trip outside Thailand does not need to consider the practicalities of applying for a visa. To get a fresh SETV you need to go only to locations outside Thailand with a friendly consulate, must go on days the consulate is open, and need to stay long enough to complete the visa application process.

 

I think for someone who isnt planning on traveling and staying in Thailand, the SETV is more convenient but the only downside is that you need to give an extra day to wait and pick up your Passport. Considering the cost of the METV being 5000 Baht compared to 1000 Baht for the SETV, plus the additional 1900 Baht for the standard 30 day extension, the 4,000 extra Baht can be used for a fresh Visa with just the inconvenience of waiting in a bordering country for 1-2 extra days instead of crossing the border/re-enter on the same day. 

 

I thought that when I saw "Validity 6 Months" for the METV, it meant you didn't have to do a border run for 6 months, which I thought was very convenient but if you still have to leave after 3 months, I think the SETV would suit me better since I will be staying just in Thailand and after 90 days, I will need to just get a fresh new Visa. 

Edited September 6, 2017 by acenase

[darrendsd]

31 minutes ago, acenase said:

 

I think for someone who isnt planning on traveling and staying in Thailand, the SETV is more convenient but the only downside is that you need to give an extra day to wait and pick up your Passport. Considering the cost of the METV being 5000 Baht compared to 1000 Baht for the SETV, plus the additional 1900 Baht for the standard 30 day extension, the 4,000 extra Baht can be used for a fresh Visa with just the inconvenience of waiting in a bordering country for 1-2 extra days instead of crossing the border/re-enter on the same day. 

 

I thought that when I saw "Validity 6 Months" for the METV, it meant you didn't have to do a border run for 6 months, which I thought was very convenient but if you still have to leave after 3 months, I think the SETV would suit me better since I will be staying just in Thailand and after 90 days, I will need to just get a fresh new Visa. 

If you are weighing up the costs of a SETV to a METV then you are forgetting the extra costs of getting a SETV 

 

Travel costs, Hotel, Visa fees to enter the country you are applying from

 

All this can easily add another 5k to the cost of getting a SETV

 

For example if I use ThaiVisaService to get a SETV in Laos the whole trip costs around 5600 Baht (including SETV cost) On top of that I live in Hua Hin so have to pay travel costs to join the trip in BKK and then have to pay to get back to HH, the trip arrives back in BKK after midnight so I have to get a taxi back

 

All in all the trip will cost me around 8000 Baht,

Edited September 6, 2017 by darrendsd

[acenase]

2 hours ago, darrendsd said:

If you are weighing up the costs of a SETV to a METV then you are forgetting the extra costs of getting a SETV 

 

Travel costs, Hotel, Visa fees to enter the country you are applying from

 

All this can easily add another 5k to the cost of getting a SETV

 

For example if I use ThaiVisaService to get a SETV in Laos the whole trip costs around 5600 Baht (including SETV cost) On top of that I live in Hua Hin so have to pay travel costs to join the trip in BKK and then have to pay to get back to HH, the trip arrives back in BKK after midnight so I have to get a taxi back

 

All in all the trip will cost me around 8000 Baht,

 

 I'm trying to weigh in the costs and convenience factors.  The 3 months goes by so quickly that I thought I could stay for 6 months without leaving.  But even with a METV I still have to pay for travel costs to leave BKK after 90 days, not before 6 months. 

 

I'm currently in Bangkok and the past 6 months I've already done two Visa runs from BKK to Vientiene, Laos and only getting the SETV, which my trip cost with hostel run me only about 3,000฿, plus the SETV cost of 1,000฿. Now my Visa is just about to expire and I am planning to do another Visa run and thinking should I opt for the METV and spend 5,000฿? The total for 90 days will cost me 6,900฿ after extension compared to 2,900฿ for a SETV.  Not including trip costs because I have to spend that anyways.

 

For me, I think that it I have to do a border run anyways for both after 90 days, wouldn't the SETV be more convenient for me, since I have to pay for a trip and Laos Visa to leave BKK after 90 days no matter which Visa I have.... so if I have to go to another country anyways, isn't it just the matter of convenience, if I would rather stay for 2 days and go to the local Thai consular, compared to if I have a METV, I would just leave and come back in the same day? What other factors should I think about?

Edited September 6, 2017 by acenase

[steve187]

METV's are not really designed for living in Thailand for the whole 9 months they allow, there are other visas/extensions for that.  They are designed for travelers leaving and entering Thailand into surrounding countries.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, acenase said:

 

 I'm trying to weigh in the costs and convenience factors.  The 3 months goes by so quickly that I thought I could stay for 6 months without leaving.  But even with a METV I still have to pay for travel costs to leave BKK after 90 days, not before 6 months. 

 

I'm currently in Bangkok and the past 6 months I've already done two Visa runs from BKK to Vientiene, Laos and only getting the SETV, which my trip cost with hostel run me only about 3,000฿, plus the SETV cost of 1,000฿. Now my Visa is just about to expire and I am planning to do another Visa run and thinking should I opt for the METV and spend 5,000฿? The total for 90 days will cost me 6,900฿ after extension compared to 2,900฿ for a SETV.  Not including trip costs because I have to spend that anyways.

 

For me, I think that it I have to do a border run anyways for both after 90 days, wouldn't the SETV be more convenient for me, since I have to pay for a trip and Laos Visa to leave BKK after 90 days no matter which Visa I have.... so if I have to go to another country anyways, isn't it just the matter of convenience, if I would rather stay for 2 days and go to the local Thai consular, compared to if I have a METV, I would just leave and come back in the same day? What other factors should I think about?

If you prefer to go all the way to Laos or Malaysia for your border run, then (as you have intimated) the additional cost to get an SETV in the process is only the cost of the visa plus a night or two in the hotel. The METV gives you the option of a much quicker in/out, by land to Myanmar or Cambodia; or by air to, for instance, Kuala Lumpur. A border bounce by land to Myanmar, it is much cheaper than a visa run to Vientiane or Penang. If you envisage going to Laos for a few days, and have been twice to Vientiane already, maybe a trip to the nicer Luang Prabang (possible if you do not need a new visa for your return to Thailand) would be preferable.

[acenase]

Thanks, that's some valuable information there.

 

I didn't even think about Myannmar, but do I still need to buy a Myanmar Visa when I arrive there? Or I simply just get stamped out at Thai border and then simply turn around and re-enter when I get to Myannmar border? Or would I actually have to enter Myannmar first and exit back to Thai border. The reason I ask this is because I have a US passport and I still need to purchase a Visa to enter Myannmar, so I was wondering if I still have to do that or not.  For example, Laos visa takes up an entire page in a passport, so with a METV, once you get stamped out at Thai border, do you actually have to enter another country and purchase their visa in your passport?

[BritTim]

3 minutes ago, acenase said:

I didn't even think about Myannmar, but do I still need to buy a Myanmar Visa when I arrive there? Or I simply just get stamped out at Thai border and then simply turn around and re-enter when I get to Myannmar border? Or would I actually have to enter Myannmar first and exit back to Thai border.

To do a border bounce to Myanmar, you just get a day border pass. The cost of this varies, depending on the crossing used, and is often combined with the cost of transport across no mans land (sometimes quite far). The cost is always much less than for a Laos or Cambodian visa. For a border bounce to Myanmar, you do get Myanmar entry and exit stamps, but no larger stamps.

[darrendsd]

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

METV's are not really designed for living in Thailand for the whole 9 months they allow, there are other visas/extensions for that.  They are designed for travelers leaving and entering Thailand into surrounding countries.

It doesn't matter what you think they are designed for, the fact is you can stay here for close to 9 months simply by leaving and coming back to activate the visa again, these are part of the conditions of the METV and as long as you abide by these conditions Immigration have no problem whatsoever in people doing this

Edited September 6, 2017 by darrendsd

[steve187]

7 hours ago, darrendsd said:

It doesn't matter what you think they are designed for, the fact is you can stay here for close to 9 months simply by leaving and coming back to activate the visa again, these are part of the conditions of the METV and as long as you abide by these conditions Immigration have no problem whatsoever in people doing this

i was replying at acenase who was saying the METV was not suitable, and he would rarther a SETV. there is no problem with using it as a 9 month stay, did i say otherwise

Edited September 6, 2017 by steve187

[JackThompson]

On 9/6/2017 at 1:14 PM, darrendsd said:

It doesn't matter what you think they are designed for, the fact is you can stay here for close to 9 months simply by leaving and coming back to activate the visa again, these are part of the conditions of the METV and as long as you abide by these conditions Immigration have no problem whatsoever in people doing this

Unless he enters at an Airport, in which case immigration may create an issue anyway (has happened to others).  He would be unlikely to get hassled entering by air initially, but the likelihood would increase as his "time in Thailand" increases.  The only insurance against being denied-entry is to make darn sure to have 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks on your person (not in plastic) if one dares use air after spending months here on TR entries of any kind (SETV, METV, or Exempt). 

 

OTOH, enter at any land-border where the laws are followed (all of them except Poipet/Aranyaprathet), and he would have no issues at all.