6month TR visa

[Stevey]

Hi

 

I’d planned to spend , from November, the next 5 months in Thailand. Jacked my job and started winding my life up and seriously considering giving my flat up and save paying the rent. Yesterday I read through the application and Section.5 asks about my employer. I send an enquiry to Hull via email and explain that I’ve left my job and am solvent. They quickly return stating my only choice is to have a letter from my employer saying I am employed and that they will be keeping my job open for my triumphant return. 

 

So you win the lotterlee and quit your job and can’t get a 6month TR ME visa ? 

 

I seem to be relugated to sitting in Blighty till Dec and doing a 3month single entry ...

 

Am I missing something? 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Stevey
Spelling

[ubonjoe]

You could get a single entry tourist visa that would allow a total stay of 90 days by extending the 60 day entry from it for 30 days. Then go to a embassy or consulate in a neighboring country to get another tourist visa or you could do a border hop for a 30 day visa exempt entry that can be extended for 30 days.

[Stevey]

Hi

 

Thanks 

 

So if I get the 60+30 days from the single entry I would be able to get another 30 days  V.o.A by flying back in from another country ? So the 3mths limit in any 6mths rule is for consecutive V.o.A only ?  So single entry 60 day extended to 90 at local immigration then leave the country and get another 30 days v.o.a by flying back in..... ? 

 

Its so frustrating that  the  Thai Consulate demands for the 6month ME TR for you to purchase a plane ticket and submit proof you are employed the whole period you are out of the UK, what happens to your ticket if they reject your application for any reason ! 

[BritTim]

8 minutes ago, Stevey said:

Hi

 

Thanks 

 

So if I get the 60+30 days from the single entry I would be able to get another 30 days  V.o.A by flying back in from another country ? So the 3mths limit in any 6mths rule is for consecutive V.o.A only ?  So single entry 60 day extended to 90 at local immigration then leave the country and get another 30 days v.o.a by flying back in..... ? 

 

Its so frustrating that  the  Thai Consulate demands for the 6month ME TR for you to purchase a plane ticket and submit proof you are employed the whole period you are out of the UK, what happens to your ticket if they reject your application for any reason ! 

My suggestion would be

• Single entry tourist visa from Hull, giving you an initial 60-day entry
• Travel to Vientiane, getting a single entry tourist visa there (requires at least one night stay). This gives you another 60 days.
• Either extend this by 30 days at an immigration office in Thailand, or do a border hop to get a 30-day visa exempt entry.

Edited September 20, 2018 by BritTim

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Stevey said:

So you win the lotterlee and quit your job and can’t get a 6month TR ME visa ? 

 

I seem to be relugated to sitting in Blighty till Dec and doing a 3month single entry ...

 

Am I missing something? 

They ask for proof of a job to return to demonstrate you have a reason to return to your home country, and not become another long term visa runner.

 

There are other visa options for lottery winners to stay/live long term.

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, Stevey said:

So if I get the 60+30 days from the single entry I would be able to get another 30 days  V.o.A by flying back in from another country ? So the 3mths limit in any 6mths rule is for consecutive V.o.A only ?  So single entry 60 day extended to 90 at local immigration then leave the country and get another 30 days v.o.a by flying back in..... ?

You could get a 30 day visa exempt entry (it is not a VOA) by land or air and then extend it for 30 days after the stay from the tourist visa ends.

The the 90 days in 6 months rule for visa exempt entries was rescinded about 10 years ago.

[Stevey]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You could get a 30 day visa exempt entry (it is not a VOA) by land or air and then extend it for 30 days after the stay from the tourist visa ends.

The the 90 days in 6 months rule for visa exempt entries was rescinded about 10 years ago.

Hi

 

So I return from outside of the country after exhausting my single entry 60day + 30day extention , where does one obtain this visa exemption ? I assume not at the passport check point where I get my Voa stamped 

[ubonjoe]

27 minutes ago, Stevey said:

So I return from outside of the country after exhausting my single entry 60day + 30day extention , where does one obtain this visa exemption ? I assume not at the passport check point where I get my Voa stamped 

I am certain that you have never gotten a 15 day visa on arrival after paying 2000 baht for it since you are not eligible for one because your are not from one of the 21 countries that can get one.

You have gotten a 30 day visa exempt entry before that was stamped in your passport at the immigration arrivals desks.

[Stevey]

Sorry I’m a little confused. I know what a voa is and I’ve had both 15&30day for free. But where can you obtain the Visa exempt entry ? 

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, Stevey said:

Sorry I’m a little confused. I know what a voa is and I’ve had both 15&30day for free.

There is no 30 day visa on arrival. What you are calling a visa on arrival is a visa exempt entry. The 15 days you got were also visa exempt entries at a land border crossing but they are now 30 days.

See this list that may help you understand the difference. http://www.consular.go.th/main/contents/filemanager/VISA/Visa on Arrival/VOA_แก้ไข 15-03-61.pdf  You will see that the UK appears on the visa exemption scheme list of countries.

[Stevey]

Ok. So VOA is ‘Visa exemption’. No more 3 x VisaExemption’s in 6months rule anymore. I need to get a 60 day single entry visa then. 

 

To be clear then I have copied this text from the Hull Consulate web page .. is it out of date ? 

 

“If exiting to a neighbouring country and re-entering Thailand by air without a visa you should be allowed a stay of 30 days, if re-entering overland you will be allowed a stay of only 15 days, however, this is entirely at the discretion of the Immigration Officer on duty at the time. Please be aware that if entering Thailand without a visa you will be allowed a maximum of 90 days within any 6-month rolling period”

[jackdd]

11 minutes ago, Stevey said:

To be clear then I have copied this text from the Hull Consulate web page .. is it out of date ? 

 

“If exiting to a neighbouring country and re-entering Thailand by air without a visa you should be allowed a stay of 30 days, if re-entering overland you will be allowed a stay of only 15 days, however, this is entirely at the discretion of the Immigration Officer on duty at the time. Please be aware that if entering Thailand without a visa you will be allowed a maximum of 90 days within any 6-month rolling period”

Yes, out of date since several years

[Stevey]

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

Yes, out of date since several years

Mongrels!! 

 

One last question? I would like to book my flight say depart Dec '18 return April '19 but arriving with a 60day TR visa will I get queried at  immigration about my outbound flight not being within the visas' capabilities? And do they wear valid reasons like I will always be returning to BKK which ever country I finish my time in ? 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Stevey
Spelling

[elviajero]

1 hour ago, Stevey said:

Mongrels!! 

 

One last question? I would like to book my flight say depart Dec '18 return April '19 but arriving with a 60day TR visa will I get queried at  immigration about my outbound flight not being within the visas' capabilities? And do they wear valid reasons like I will always be returning to BKK which ever country I finish my time in ? 

Nothing to worry about.

 

As long as you are not a long time tourist the IO will not ask about, or be interested in, your flight out of the country. They leave the checking of flights to the embassies/consulates that issue the visa.

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, Stevey said:

Ok. So VOA is ‘Visa exemption’

No, a visa exempt entry means you are allowed to enter Thailand without a visa. A VOA is a visa on arrival. This is available for some nationals who are not eligible for visa exempt entry, is applied for at a visa on arrival desk before going to immigration, and costs money.

[JackThompson]

Yes, the rules for the ME TR Visa, as enforced at that consulate, are not helpful to those in your situation - and this Visa is only available in your country of residence.  What others suggested will work fine for 5 months. 

 

If anything did come up with your exit-ticket, just explain you will be visiting other countries in the area (Siam Reap in Cambodia, for example), using Thailand as a base, and then taking your flight home.

You mentioned closing-up affairs in the UK, so if you decide to stay longer, there are several other possibilities of varying costs and requirements such as Investment, Elite, Education (usually learning Thai), Volunteering, or Tourist-Visas obtained at consulates near Thailand.  There is much discussion on all of these options in this forum. 

[whitemouse]

"They quickly return stating my only choice is to have a letter from my employer saying I am employed and that they will be keeping my job open for my triumphant return. 

So you win the lotterlee and quit your job and can’t get a 6 month TR ME visa ?"

 

Yep, exactly same happened to my friend right after Multiple Entry visa was introduced, he had everything the rules asked for, money, really, because in his naivete' he assumed money was the main issue. But he was not working. So he asked someone to to type up that letter, he suddenly became a waiter in a coffee shop in Eastern Europe, you see, and it just happened that his employer gave him a year off. ME visa was issued.

 

This employment requirement is possibly the most silly thing in a pile of many, many silly things here, and that is no small feat in this land. How many employed people can legitimately take 6 months or more time off work? 

 

Maybe ask your last employer to type up a letter saying they keep your job open until your return? Who knows.. one hand wants tourists numbers up, and the other hand makes it as difficult as possible, if you come here you'll get used to it quickly. Good luck!

[whitemouse]

16 hours ago, Stevey said:

Mongrels!! 

 

One last question? I would like to book my flight say depart Dec '18 return April '19 but arriving with a 60day TR visa will I get queried at  immigration about my outbound flight not being within the visas' capabilities? And do they wear valid reasons like I will always be returning to BKK which ever country I finish my time in ? 

 

Never been asked to show outbound ticket at BKK immigration desk when arriving with a visa, and I, too book flight for 6 or 7 months stay. But your airline very well may ask for ticket out within 60 days, at the check in. You tell them you'll be flying out of Thailand in 2 months, they may accept that, or they may insist on valid ticket, so one time I bought one way ticket to Cambodia in front of check in counter, takes 3 minutes on a phone  at Air Asia web site, but this has only happened once. 

[jackdd]

28 minutes ago, whitemouse said:

This employment requirement is possibly the most silly thing in a pile of many, many silly things here, and that is no small feat in this land. How many employed people can legitimately take 6 months or more time off work? 

 

Maybe ask your last employer to type up a letter saying they keep your job open until your return? Who knows.. one hand wants tourists numbers up, and the other hand makes it as difficult as possible, if you come here you'll get used to it quickly. Good luck!

The employment requirement does not exist in all countries (in for example Germany it doesn't), so to have this requirement is most likely the decision of the respective embassy / consulate. It does of course not make much sense

Edited September 21, 2018 by jackdd

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, jackdd said:

The employment requirement does not exist in all countries (in for example Germany it doesn't), so to have this requirement is most likely the decision of the respective embassy / consulate. It does of course not make much sense

It is clearly the product of a Bureaucracy.  Like you said about one hand and the other - but in this case, one hand-faction hates longer-staying farangs who may put down roots (and, we know what that might lead to), while TAT (tourism authority) wants more foreign-capital spending into the economy. 

 

This rule would make sense only for applicants in nations with significantly lower wages than Thailand.  But, a faction demanded the METV visa-application process should emulate that of people from low-wage countries applying to visit higher-wage countries - across-the-board - even though the incentive to come and take a low-paying under-the-table job is missing in the case of visiting Brits. 

 

So, in these cases, the "employment" rule works to stop a few illegal Scuba-instructors and badly-needed native-speaking English teachers from getting an METV - and who cares if X-Thousand potential longer-term visitors are put-off, and spend their money in Vietnam, instead.  Meanwhile, the scuba-guys and English teachers simply carry on as they have been - since employers continue to ignore the legal requirements to provide work-permit paperwork - so nothing was gained, only lost.

[jackdd]

16 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

But, a faction demanded the METV visa-application process should emulate that of people from low-wage countries applying to visit higher-wage countries - across-the-board

As i said, in Germany it's not a requirement, so it's not across the board.

So why did for example the embassy (or ambassador) in the UK decide that having a job waiting for when you come back should be a requirement for a METV?

If anybody in a "rich" country which has the job requirement for a METV gets a chance to ask the ambassador this question i would be interested to know what he answers.