Dual Citizenship - Passport questions

[Max SP]

Hello everybody,

I had little issues while travelling around S-E Asia last year and had two red stamps on my former French passport because I stupidly overstayed twice in Thailand for a couple of days. I then  went to immigration office in Bangkok, paid the fine with a wai and a smile; long story short : no problem at all, they even seemed happy to get these extra bahts.

Now -after more than a year out of the country, I'm back here looking for a job and things are going pretty well, I will definitely get a work permit + visa with the help of a language school - poor salary but hey, I'm not here to make loads of money, just to live another experience in this amazing country.

As I didn't secure a job yet and can't be 100% sure until it's approved...etc. My questions are :

- I've entered Thailand this year with a British Passport (I have dual citizenship FR/UK) : will Immigration be able to find out that I was previously here with a French Passport ? Or am I a totally "new" person in their system ? I had never travelled here with the UK one before and need to extend on 10/11/17 for one more month (that would give me another 30 days to find a nice job...)

- When you get a contract with a school that provides Visa and WP, does it take long to get the proper legal 1 year visa ? Or is it a short process as soon as they sign you in ?

- Would you recommend  to get out of the country on 09/11/17 and do a visa run or to make the extension at the Bangkok Immgration Office ?

 

THANKS in advance for your advices :) Krop khun krap.
Chok dee krap

[BritTim]

9 minutes ago, Max SP said:

- Would you recommend  to get out of the country on 09/11/17 and do a visa run or to make the extension at the Bangkok Immgration Office ?

If 30 days will be enough, definitely just do the extension. If you may need longer, I would suggest you get an actual single entry tourist visa (perhaps, in Vientiane) rather than a border bounce for a fresh visa exempt entry.

[BritTim]

11 minutes ago, Max SP said:

- When you get a contract with a school that provides Visa and WP, does it take long to get the proper legal 1 year visa ? Or is it a short process as soon as they sign you in ?

To some extent, that will depend on how efficient the school is. Most often, they get together required paperwork, then you go somewhere like Vientiane for a single entry Non B visa. On your return to Thailand, the school finalizes your work permit at which point you start work. Your Non B only gives you a 90-day stay, so at some point you visit immigration to apply for a one-year extension of stay on the basis of working.

[elviajero]

43 minutes ago, Max SP said:

I've entered Thailand this year with a British Passport (I have dual citizenship FR/UK) : will Immigration be able to find out that I was previously here with a French Passport ? Or am I a totally "new" person in their system ?

Your name an date of birth will alert a possible link to the French passport. An IO would then have to manually link the two, so the answer is maybe.

[Max SP]

@BritTim : thanks for both answers, much appreciated. 
Is it complicated to get it in Vientiane ? What are the requirements ? I've found some stuff about it on various websites and it looks pretty simple. So where's the catch (if there's any) ?

 

@elviajero : gracias...that's what I thought too : "maybe"...it is really difficult/impossible to find reliable information about the dual citizenship "possibilities" on Internet. I mean, you could even go out of the country with your British Passport, and then enter Lao with the French one. Come back here with a fresh stamp on the French Passport and play that game for a couple of months. Not planning to do that at all, but it might be possible. 
I'd rather ask an Immigration Officer about it but that would be the end of the story straight away :D It is very probably illegal...
 

[elviajero]

25 minutes ago, Max SP said:

I mean, you could even go out of the country with your British Passport, and then enter Lao with the French one. Come back here with a fresh stamp on the French Passport and play that game for a couple of months. Not planning to do that at all, but it might be possible. 
I'd rather ask an Immigration Officer about it but that would be the end of the story straight away :D It is very probably illegal...

You could do that by air, and there is absolutely nothing illegal about it. However, if they do link the passports your full history would be seen by the IO and defeat the object of the exercise. You wouldn't be able to swap passports at land borders.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, Max SP said:

Is it complicated to get it in Vientiane ? What are the requirements ? I've found some stuff about it on various websites and it looks pretty simple. So where's the catch (if there's any) ?

The reason I suggested Vientiane is because, for those who have spent limited time in Thailand in the past, it is a very straightforward (albeit busy) place to get a tourist visa. There really is no catch unless you have been living in Thailand for a while on tourist visas.

[Max SP]

@BritTim: if I do a Visa extension + 30 days at Bangkok Immigration tomorrow and don't have a Work Permit by the end of it. What should I do ? Would it be possible to go Vientiane and ask for a single entry visa since I would have been already staying in Thailand for 60 days ?

Thanks !

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, Max SP said:

Would it be possible to go Vientiane and ask for a single entry visa since I would have been already staying in Thailand for 60 days ?

 You should not have a problem getting a tourist visa. The only restriction is having 3 or 4 visas issued by them before in your passport. 

[Max SP]

Hi @ubonjoe: no I only have one stamp from 12/10/17 and have to do the extension tomorrow at Chaeng wattana. So it will be valid until 09/12/17...and I've been told that the process to get a WP might involve another extension +30 days before I get it. So in a nutshell : 90 days in a row, in total...

Should I plan to get out of the country a few days before 09/12 and ask for a Single entry visa in Vientiane ? Then come  back with a 30 days extra to sort out the WP ?

[Max SP]

Thanks by the way !

[ubonjoe]

10 minutes ago, Max SP said:

Should I plan to get out of the country a few days before 09/12 and ask for a Single entry visa in Vientiane ? Then come  back with a 30 days extra to sort out the WP ?

You could leave on the 11th or 12th. It would not affect getting the visa leaving on the last day.