How soon do I have to re-enter on ED visa?

[Nayet]

I will be spending my vacation outside of Thailand this summer.

Does anyone have an idea of how long I can be away and still be allowed to re-enter on my ED visa?

Would two weeks be too long?

[elviajero]

Assuming you have an extension of stay issued by immigration you need to get a re-entry permit before you leave from either your local immigration office, or the airport.

 

The re-entry permit will be valid until the expiry date of your extension of stay. You can stay out as long as you want, but would need to re-enter before the re-entry permit expires if you want to keep your extension of stay alive.

[Nayet]

Thanks, elviajero.

 

The reason I'm asking is because a couple of years ago I was warned by immigration when coming back that I can't just spend weeks in other countries when I'm supposed to be attending classes, though they did end up waving me through.

[JackThompson]

18 minutes ago, Nayet said:

The reason I'm asking is because a couple of years ago I was warned by immigration when coming back that I can't just spend weeks in other countries when I'm supposed to be attending classes

Yes, best to get a note from your school "excusing your absence" since lOs now seem to be acting as truancy officers for adult-students.  I'm serious - get the letter, even if you have to pay some "tea money" to someone at your school for it.

[darrendsd]

10 hours ago, elviajero said:

You can stay out as long as you want,

People can't just stay out as long as they want if they are on a ED Visa, there have been reports posted on this forum of people being denied when trying to enter again if they have been out for more than a few weeks

 

The I/O's told them that if they are here on a ED Visa they are expected to attend classes, if they are out of the country they are obviously not attending classes something the OP has already had a warning from Immigration about

Edited April 10, 2018 by darrendsd

[Nayet]

That's great advice. Thanks, Jack.

[Hardie]

I have a multiple entry ED visa, not an extension, and just spent four months in Cambodia, came back in to Thailand with no question asked, full three month entry...

[yuiop]

3 hours ago, Hardie said:

I have a multiple entry ED visa, not an extension, and just spent four months in Cambodia, came back in to Thailand with no question asked, full three month entry...

May I ask you which embassy/consulate did you get your multiple entry ed visa from?

Is it for studying Thai?

[elviajero]

On 10/04/2018 at 9:44 AM, darrendsd said:

People can't just stay out as long as they want if they are on a ED Visa, there have been reports posted on this forum of people being denied when trying to enter again if they have been out for more than a few weeks

Can you evidence where it says someone cannot leave, or is limited to the time spent out of the country?

 

More importantly, can you link just one of these “reports” claiming someone in the OP’s situation was denied entry.

 

I’m not interested in IO’s giving someone a hard time because they are right to do so. Just denied entries.

[JackThompson]

On 4/17/2018 at 1:10 PM, Hardie said:

I have a multiple entry ED visa, not an extension, and just spent four months in Cambodia, came back in to Thailand with no question asked, full three month entry...

Out of curiosity, at what checkpoint or airport did you enter Thailand?  Granted, an actual ME-Visa is different than an Ed-Extension with a re-entry permit, which are the cases I recall being "cracked down" on.  And it seems to be a "luck of the draw" / IO-Lottery at airports, anyway.

Rough-treatment of ED-re-entry cases is ironic, because if abusing an ed-extension to work a job illegally, taking "breaks" for vacations would not be possible.  By contrast, a "real student" at a private-school could easily take a vacation and resume classes upon their return.  This treatment seems to be more about hassling people than any constructive purpose.