Immigration at Chiang Mai aiport

[damole]

Hello

 

The last time I arrived in BKK in June ( Suvarnabhumi ) I was asked a lot of questions at immigration.  It was my 3rd entry this calendar year, the first two were visa exemptions, one extended in Chiang Mai, that one was a SETV from London (I'm a British citizen with a UK passport).  I didn't have an onward ticket because I was mistakenly believed that was only necessary for VEs.  After lots of questions and checking with other officers I was allowed in but advised that next time I should get a retirement or elite visa.  I only turned 50 this March.  I'm now in India.  I won't be back in the Uk until next summer when I will investigate getting a retirement visa.

 

In total I jave been in Thailand for 15 weeks this year and last year 4 weeks.  I am planning to go again next month for 6 weeks and it would be much easier to go on a VE as travelling to Delhi to arrange the visa is not very convenient plus the additional cost will be quite a bit more than extending the VE in Chiang Mai.

I have seen any reports of problems of people arriving in Chiang Mai on this forum so I'm wondering if I get a connecting flight and do immigration in CM that there is a good chance of being allowed in.  I have a 5 year tourist visa for India so if they send me back it shouldn't be too much of an issue just inconvenient.

[Maestro]

Seeing that you know already from the outset that you will be staying in Thailand longer than 30 days on your next trip I suggest that you should get a single-entry tourist visa, despite the higher cost than a 30-day extension of stay in Thailand. 

[BritTim]

6 hours ago, damole said:

In total I jave been in Thailand for 15 weeks this year and last year 4 weeks.  I am planning to go again next month for 6 weeks and it would be much easier to go on a VE as travelling to Delhi to arrange the visa is not very convenient plus the additional cost will be quite a bit more than extending the VE in Chiang Mai.

I appreciate the potential difficulty of arranging a visa in India which is time consuming and uncertain. However, entering visa exempt is not a good idea, especially in Bangkok. If you are taking a flight to Bangkok with a connection to Chiang Mai, be careful. That very likely will involve clearing immigration in Bangkok.

I think you might consider flying from India to, perhaps, Hanoi, getting a tourist visa there, and flying on to Chiang Mai. Ho Chi Minh City and Vientiane are other good places for tourist visas.

[wump]

Just get a tourist visa and show 20k in cash. You should be fine.

[thaibeachlovers]

9 hours ago, damole said:

I am planning to go again next month for 6 weeks and it would be much easier to go on a VE

Assuming you would have an onward ticket this time, they don't like multiple visits on exempt entries. The good old days are gone.

BTW, there is no such thing as a retirement visa. You have to obtain a non O visa, and extend it on the basis of retirement, assuming you fulfil the financial and residential requirements. Some consulates will not issue non O for retired people. I had to get my last one on the basis of marriage. I suppose you could obtain a non O from an embassy for 3 months and just not extend if you don't want to return, but a tourist visa would obviously be a lot less hassle for only 6 weeks.

[wump]

A tourist visa @1000 Baht is actually cheaper than extending an exempt entry for 1900 Baht. Plus, you'll have less hassle getting in and won't have to waste time at immigration after one month. Any required documents can be easily obtained by booking fully-refundable return tickets. If you don't wanna spend the money on tickets first, some agents can put flights on hold for you and cancel them straight after the printout.

 

Edit: I just noticed you're only staying for 6 weeks. So you already have your ticket. Get a tourist visa.

Edited November 13, 2018 by wump

[connda]

Avoid the drama by getting a Multiple Entry 6 month tourist visa when you're in your home country.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Consider flying to KL and getting a Thai TV there; connexions on AirAsia are good from many Indian cities and KL is less hassle for a TV than it used to be (though check requirements carefully). Flights onward, KUL to DMK, are plentiful and cheap.

[damole]

Thanks for all the replies.

I don't have my ticket yet as I wanted to get some advice but prices have been slowly going up so I want to book very soon  The nearest VFS office is a 12 hour bus ride from where I am and now it takes 6 working days to process a tourist visa for foreigners (non Indians) and so it means potentially making two trips or staying an extra day before I fly to collect the visa.  Delhi is one of the polluted cities in the world so these days I avoid staying there as much as possible.
 

I guess I'll have to make the trip unless I can find someone who is going to Delhi who would be happy to take my application to the office.

[ubonjoe]

They have changed the requirements in India for getting tourist visas from the embassy or one of the consulates in India.

The list of required documents now shows this "Evidence of permanent residence in India (non-Indian passport holder)".

See: http://www.vfs-thailand.co.in/Delhi/tourist.html

Best to not even bother to try and get a tourist visa in India.

[holy cow cm]

10 hours ago, damole said:

Thanks for all the replies.

I don't have my ticket yet as I wanted to get some advice but prices have been slowly going up so I want to book very soon  The nearest VFS office is a 12 hour bus ride from where I am and now it takes 6 working days to process a tourist visa for foreigners (non Indians) and so it means potentially making two trips or staying an extra day before I fly to collect the visa.  Delhi is one of the polluted cities in the world so these days I avoid staying there as much as possible.
 

I guess I'll have to make the trip unless I can find someone who is going to Delhi who would be happy to take my application to the office.

We all make efforts and jump through hoops here just to stay. I have traveled to borders and other countries to secure visas when it started getting ridiculous years and years ago being uncertain, so just consider it a must on your part if you want to come and enjoy Thailand now. 

[damole]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

"Evidence of permanent residence in India (non-Indian passport holder)".

Thanks for checking on my behalf.

 

I saw this also which I why I called and emailed VFS in Delhi giving all pertinent information and they have confirmed I can apply for a visa there.

 

I actually have an Adhaar card which is the Indian ID card which has my address and a notarized rent deed so that should suffice.

[JackThompson]

On 11/13/2018 at 11:26 AM, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Consider flying to KL and getting a Thai TV there; connexions on AirAsia are good from many Indian cities and KL is less hassle for a TV than it used to be (though check requirements carefully). Flights onward, KUL to DMK, are plentiful and cheap.

This ^^, or even take a flight from India to Penang, get the TR-Visa from the Thai consulate there (next-day service), Train into Thailand (with 20K Baht worth of cash to show, if asked), then fly-ownward from Hat Yai.  This is a pattern of travel I used to avoid dealing with the arbitrary treatment you experienced at the airport.

 

If you don't have 2 land-border visa-exempts yet this year, you could also enter that way, skipping the overnight for the visa in Malaysia.

[MiNombreEsFicticious]

To answer the OP's earlier question about flying into/out of Chiang Mai instead of Bangkok, I did exactly that earlier this week to try to reduce the chances of entry refusal and am happy to report that things went off without a hitch. No questions asked by I/O upon flying out and on my entry into Chiang Mai a few days later, the female I/O asked only "do you have a visa", I answered "no" and she stamped a visa exempt entry and sent me on my way (in). It was worth the extra cost and the 4 flight sectors instead of 2. 

[damole]

I found a VFS centre that is only a 6hr bus ride from Dharamsala.  It might be possible to go there and back in one day. 

I spoke to someone at the centre yesterday and was told I need confirmed accomodation booking for the whole trip which doesn't make much sense.  I have a condo in Chiang Mai and will spend most of the time there.

They offer a courier service to return the passport but said I could only find out if my pincode was supported at their office itself which means I have the factor in the possibiliy of going back to collect it.

I'm planning to go on Monday to give myself a whole month before I intend to fly.

Just in the last few days a couple of flights vis Singapore to CNX with Singapore Airlines and Silk have come up at the same price.  The whole travel time is much longer because of flying via Kolkata but it would mean avoiding immigration in BKK.  I guess the advice would still be to get the SETV even given the experience of the previous post.

The Thai flight to CNX via BKK means doing immigration at the transit desk in BKK I have been told.

[damole]

I finally arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday.  I decided to gamble on arriving with no visa and being granted a visa exemption at CNX, I had a onward ticket and 500 Euros in my wallet.  I wrote 40 days on my arrival card as the length of stay which is how many days until the onward flight, the IO looked at my passport and after a few minutes stamped me in until Feb 17th which is 60 days.  The stamp is on the page facing my used previous tourist visa but I can't see clearly the visa type he wrote.

Is the 60 days valid?

[ubonjoe]

The 60 days is an error. You need to got to immigration to have it corrected.

[damole]

Just out of interest what do you think would happen if I exited in 40 days and pointed to the stamp?

I need to go to update my TM30 so I will do both on Monday.

 

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, damole said:

Just out of interest what do you think would happen if I exited in 40 days and pointed to the stamp?

You could be charged for overstaying. They consider it your responsibility to check that your permit to stay date is correct.

[overherebc]

When you get your correction done don't forget that close to the end of the 30 days you should have got you can extend that by 30 days for 1900 baht at your local Imm' office.

If you know this already ignore my post. ????????????????

[damole]

I thought I should finish this story.  Thanks for the helpful replies.

UJ was right, they corrected my date and when I asked what would have happened they said I would have been fined for overstaying.  They also suggested I check the date when I enter so it could be corrected at the time.  I did see the incorrect stamp at the airport but was just so happy to be allowed to enter without and discussion that I decided it was better to fix that issue later. 

The very helpful staff member there also told me I could come back at the end of my stay to extend.

 

As that all worked out I decided again to fly (18th June) from Delhi via Singapore to CNX.  Again I was granted the 30 days without any discussion, it was just over 4 months from my departure.  Both times I wrote 50 days or what ever on the TM6 as that matched my onward ticket and I wanted to complete the form truthfully.

Today I got my stay extended again at CM immigration in a record 13 minutes by polite friendly efficient staff so for now I will keep flying via Singapore where possible and from the UK always have a TV.