The perpetually annoying "onward flight" requirement for visa runs.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, roundtheworld said:

My friend tried to use a flight booked for after the 60 day tourist visa period expires. The manager at the Thai consulate in Yangon explained that the tourist visa is for 60 days, not 90. He said the 30 day extension is for those who have a particular reason to extend their stay in Thailand, not for those who want a 90 day tourist visa. He said a tourist can’t say to the consulate he is applying for a 60 day tourist visa but intends to apply for a 30 day extension so will in reality be staying 90 days. The applicant was told to book an onward flight for within the 60 day visa period and had to hand in the print out of this new booking before a tourist visa could be issued. 

Thanks that's helpful. I thought they wanted to see you were going home but it sounds like they just want to see you on a plane anywhere as long as it's not in Thailand.

[asdfrules]

1 hour ago, Sapporillo said:

Usually this comes up faster in these discussions, but there are two services that "rent" air tickets for exactly this purpose, meaning that you will have everything you need (flight number, booking number in your name for the desired date) for 10$. I've never used it, but other TV members reported that it's reliable. I only remember one of them: 

 

https://flyonward.com/en/

Fly onward is a scam.  I used them before.  But recently trillions of people been saying they get no ticket and no refund.  I checked the website yesterday and got a virus warning.  There is a new alternative, which some suspect is the same dude.

[Nick ZepTepi]

Last year same pattern: 1 from USA, 1 from Vientiane and 1 from Phnom Pen for a total of 10 months (one visa exempt entry also). My feeling is I can maybe get away with this again this year (just barely with a warning) but I don't think I should come back to Thailand next year unless I'm prepared to get denied. This is basically what I've been doing for 10 years now but I got 3 entries in the past so I avoided all these single entries and embassies.

I agree, getting the SETV shouldn't be a big problem. You've also got back up visa exempt entries at a land border.

 

How far away are you from a retirement extension?

 

The fact that you do leave is also a good argument that your are a tourist and not a worker.

 

Plus you might full up your passport and be needing another by next year. [emoji6]

 

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

 

 

 

[NorthernRyland]

4 minutes ago, Nick ZepTepi said:

I agree, getting the SETV shouldn't be a big problem. You've also got back up visa exempt entries at a land border.

 

How far away are you from a retirement extension?

 

The fact that you do leave is also a good argument that your are a tourist and not a worker.

 

Plus you might full up your passport and be needing another by next year.

 

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

 

 

 

I'm 34 so that's a long way off. 

 

After Phnom Pen I was going to do the 2nd one (not including the US one) in Vientiane which I take a bus to from Chiang Mai. My ticket back to the US won't be until 6 months from now so I need to buy another ticket for the Phnom Pen visa I guess. Can I just buy a one way ticket to wherever is cheapest and not get on the flight? I'd just assume fly to Laos but it's like $300 which is really pushing it after the ticket to Phnom Pen. My girlfriend was just telling me about some discount tickets to Taiwan for $30, which would be cheaper than flying to Laos. Ideas?

[Nick ZepTepi]

I'm 34 so that's a long way off. 
 
After Phnom Pen I was going to do the 2nd one (not including the US one) in Vientiane which I take a bus to from Chiang Mai. My ticket back to the US won't be until 6 months from now so I need to buy another ticket for the Phnom Pen visa I guess. Can I just buy a one way ticket to wherever is cheapest and not get on the flight? I'd just assume fly to Laos but it's like $300 which is really pushing it after the ticket to Phnom Pen. My girlfriend was just telling me about some discount tickets to Taiwan for $30, which would be cheaper than flying to Laos. Ideas?

There's direct flights from CM to Hong Kong that has had some good reports of not requiring ticket out

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

[Nick ZepTepi]

In PP a good visa agent will call their guy before you pay any cash who say if you need that flight out ticket out not.
Agent fee is good value of you consider hassle factor and tuk tuk to and from the embassy.

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

[NorthernRyland]

Just now, Nick ZepTepi said:

There's direct flights from CM to Hong Kong that has had some good reports of not requiring ticket out

I already have the ticket to Phnom Pen and I'll have a ticket back to USA for the one after that (Vientien didn't even ask last year) so it's just for Phnom Pen. Unless I'm mistaken about what these people want it sounds like I can just buy a one way ticket to literally anywhere outside of Thailand and that will make them happy. I'm not trying to break the rules but this is a totally arbitrary requirement.

 

 

[Nick ZepTepi]

Yes it's a ticket out of its borders, to anywhere yet care not, even a bus ticket.

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

[NorthernRyland]

1 minute ago, Nick ZepTepi said:

In PP a good visa agent will call their guy before you pay any cash who say if you need that flight out ticket out not.
Agent fee is good value of you consider hassle factor and tuk tuk to and from the embassy.

Yeah I talked to an agent thanks to the help I got here and they certainly want a ticket (they even wanted one last year). I guess I could go myself and see what they say but if they don't like my USA ticket I could buy another random flight to anywhere.

[Sapporillo]

6 hours ago, asdfrules said:

Fly onward is a scam.  I used them before.  But recently trillions of people been saying they get no ticket and no refund.  I checked the website yesterday and got a virus warning.  There is a new alternative, which some suspect is the same dude.

Thanks for the heads-up, I did some googling and it seems that they have been reliable in the past, but not anymore , now they just take your 10$ and you get nothing. 

[hawker9000]

17 hours ago, genericptr said:

I'm struggling to understand the visa policies at this point. Do they even care if you travel home in between those visas or is this like a life time limit per citizen, but you can fool them because they're too stupid to keep records apparently when you buy a new passport?

I have an even more basic question.  If the intent is to let a foreigner use tourist visas to reside in the country indefinitely, then why do they require them to not just visit some local immigration office, but instead actually LEAVE the country, AT LEAST 4 times a year, visit the Thai consulate THERE, obtain a new visa (with limits on the number of times this can be done at any one place), and then finally return and gain permission to enter from an Immigration Officer?  'Makes absolutely no sense.   

[BritTim]

6 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

17 hours ago, genericptr said:

I'm struggling to understand the visa policies at this point. Do they even care if you travel home in between those visas or is this like a life time limit per citizen, but you can fool them because they're too stupid to keep records apparently when you buy a new passport?

I have an even more basic question.  If the intent is to let a foreigner use tourist visas to reside in the country indefinitely, then why do they require them to not just visit some local immigration office, but instead actually LEAVE the country, AT LEAST 4 times a year, visit the Thai consulate THERE, obtain a new visa (with limits on the number of times this can be done at any one place), and then finally return and gain permission to enter from an Immigration Officer?  'Makes absolutely no sense.

The intent is to try to deter people who are broke, or who are working illegally, from staying in the country.

 

They believe by forcing people to travel to different destinations, and to spend a certain amount of time during the week out of the country, they achieve that objective. To some extent, I think it does. The restrictions on visa exempts, in particular, prevent people from doing a Sunday border hop once a month to stay without disrupting their work schedules.

 

What confuses the issue is that some immigration officials believe that even foreigners who are quite able to support themselves without working in Thailand should be prevented from staying long periods on tourist visas. On rare occasions, these independent minded officials will apply their own "laws" which differ from those on the books, or intended by the top levels of government.

[Just Weird]

21 hours ago, Nick ZepTepi said:

And consistent application of the regulations across all Embassy's would help people follow the rules.

Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.
 

 

Only the rules of the consulate that is being used should be of any concern, give them what they ask for, simple.

[JackThompson]

On 11/22/2017 at 12:53 PM, genericptr said:

I'm struggling to understand the visa policies at this point. Do they even care if you travel home in between those visas or is this like a life time limit per citizen, but you can fool them because they're too stupid to keep records apparently when you buy a new passport?

Traveling home - or even staying out of Thailand for months, doesn't "reset the count" of visas at Consulates.  Only getting a new passport does.  Having a "lifetime limit" would not make sense - so they just count what is "in the passport" and leave it at that. 

 

This system accomplishes:

1. You are not a wanted-criminal in your country (or you won't get a new passport).
2. You have the money and organizational-skills to keep up with this (generally excludes flakes / bums / drug-addicts / hard-core drunks / etc), in addition to the other factors (extensions, leaving on-time, etc).
3. They don't have to keep long-term records, and come up with a "count of X visas max in so many (months, years?)" system.

 

23 hours ago, genericptr said:

I'll wait for some replies before starting a new thread but I really need to confirm about that date of the exit ticket because there's apparently no official policy.

Varies by consulate.  Looks like HCMC and Savanakhet (my personal experience) are ok with under 90-days.  Some others (including Yangoon, apparently) they may want a ticket-out within 60-days of one's stated arrival-date.  Note that this count only works in cases where you must show your incoming (to Thailand) flight, since you could enter up to 90-days after visa-issuance ("enter before" date).

 

Quote

Buying my ticket 3 months from now is going to be a good $300 more expensive then if I buy in the summer like I usually do, even if I just change the date after getting the visa.

Your ticket-out doesn't have to be all the way back to your passport-country.  Consider a flight to Kuala Lumpur on Air Asia for ~1000 Baht.

 

21 hours ago, genericptr said:

Can I just buy a one way ticket to wherever is cheapest and not get on the flight?

Yes, exactly.  That's what many do.  It's not against the rules to change your mind, get an extension, and leave on another flight/bus/etc - provided you don't overstay.

 

21 hours ago, genericptr said:

Last year same pattern: 1 from USA, 1 from Vientiane and 1 from Phnom Pen for a total of 10 months (one visa exempt entry also). My feeling is I can maybe get away with this again this year (just barely with a warning) but I don't think I should come back to Thailand next year unless I'm prepared to get denied. This is basically what I've been doing for 10 years now but I got 3 entries in the past so I avoided all these single entries and embassies.

You will have no problem ever entering with a Tourist Visa + 20K Baht worth of cash, if you avoid the points of entry which make up their own rules vs following the actually-existing (written and published) laws and rules.  The perilous entry-points include many/most airports and just one land-border crossing at Poipet/Aranyaprathet.  You should have no problem entering at any other land-border crossing.  No reports yet of trouble entering with a Tourist Visa at Chang Mai airport, that I recall - but at any airport, denial means detention and a last-minute flight out.

Edited November 23, 2017 by JackThompson

[asdfrules]

What's the best way to get local currency for Vietnam?  I'm thinking either withdraw from my bank at an ATM in the airport.  Or is it better to exchange it in Bangkok somewhere?

[Nick ZepTepi]

What's the best way to get local currency for Vietnam?  I'm thinking either withdraw from my bank at an ATM in the airport.  Or is it better to exchange it in Bangkok somewhere?

Yes ATM - some have a 2 million limit. But BIDV bank has 5 million.
Less number of withdrawals less total fee.


Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.

[asdfrules]

1 minute ago, Nick ZepTepi said:

Yes ATM - some have a 2 million limit. But BIDV bank has 5 million.
Less number of withdrawals less total fee.


Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.
 

Great thanks, Nick.  Planning this stuff is a pain, but you've been so much help. ?

[Mrshorthair]

My friend used the flight itinerary that he had from entering the country with air Asia and used word doc to change it to say different dates to suit the visa application.

Do you really think they are going to call the airline to find out?

[Nick ZepTepi]

My friend used the flight itinerary that he had from entering the country with air Asia and used word doc to change it to say different dates to suit the visa application.
Do you really think they are going to call the airline to find out?

It's the same as those temporary tickets, it's a risk and who knows what flags they might attach to your passport number if discovered.


Sent from my mobile, please forgive the autocorrect.