Visa runs for the incapacitated

[Bangkok Barry]

 

I've just done a run to Savannakhet for my ME marriage visa and, as a person of a certain age, the thought occurred to me that in the future it might not be so straight-forward. What happens if you are sick or have some disability that prevents you from going outside of the country to get a visa renewed, or for a 90-day exit for that matter?

[lopburi3]

That is exactly the reason for extensions of stay - can you save the 400k required?  There is no need to travel except to immigration using one year extensions of stay.  In the case of hospital type stay short extensions are available with medical certification.  For old age believe immigration have some latitude but much better plan to get 400k into an account to protect yourself.

[Bangkok Barry]

14 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

That is exactly the reason for extensions of stay - can you save the 400k required?  There is no need to travel except to immigration using one year extensions of stay.  In the case of hospital type stay short extensions are available with medical certification.  For old age believe immigration have some latitude but much better plan to get 400k into an account to protect yourself.

 

Thanks. That seems like a fix of sorts, but doesn't address if someone is too frail to travel anywhere.

[CharlieH]

No use comment and response to it .have been removed.

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks. That seems like a fix of sorts, but doesn't address if someone is too frail to travel anywhere.

If you are in hospital or a nursing home, special arrangements can be made. Those aside, there are ways of getting to immigration in a wheelchair, and immigration offices may be willing to give the very frail priority queuing.

[lopburi3]

10 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks. That seems like a fix of sorts, but doesn't address if someone is too frail to travel anywhere.

Outside country travel is never required with extensions of stay so only immigration visits would be needed and arrangements can often be made directly with immigration, or if in hospital through them, if unable to physically visit.  

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks. That seems like a fix of sorts, but doesn't address if someone is too frail to travel anywhere.

If you have a letter from a doctor that states you are unable to travel it is possible to get up to a 90 day extension for medical treatment.

[notamember]

i took a lady who is normally wheelchair bound to immigration in Jomtien once and the immigration officer came out to the car to deal with her rather than her have to get out and get into the wheelchair for a few minutes paperwork. There are some kind hearted IO's despite many opinions to the contrary

Edited November 22, 2018 by notamember

[colinneil]

5 minutes ago, notamember said:

i took a lady who is normally wheelchair bound to immigration in Jomtien once and the immigration officer came out to the car to deal with her rather than her have to get out and get into the wheelchair for a few minutes paperwork. There are some kind hearted IO's despite many opinions to the contrary

Some immigration officers are as you say kind-hearted, but many are not.

Take me for example, a paraplegic, wife went to do my extension 3 years ago with me in the pickup.

She went inside to do the paperwork, io came out to the pickup demanding i go inside and do it myself.

He opened the door and said get out please, so i passed him my catheter bag, which he quickly dropped, then said ok your wife can do.

[bluesofa]

10 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Some immigration officers are as you say kind-hearted, but many are not.

Take me for example, a paraplegic, wife went to do my extension 3 years ago with me in the pickup.

She went inside to do the paperwork, io came out to the pickup demanding i go inside and do it myself.

He opened the door and said get out please, so i passed him my catheter bag, which he quickly dropped, then said ok your wife can do.

So he soon stopped taking the piss then Colin.

[lopburi3]

12 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

He opened the door and said get out please, so i passed him my catheter bag, which he quickly dropped, then said ok your wife can do.

So he became understanding when convinced you were for real.  I expect they see their share of lazy bodies trying to use the handicapped card just as shopping centers do.  

[JackThompson]

8 hours ago, BritTim said:

If you are in hospital or a nursing home, special arrangements can be made. Those aside, there are ways of getting to immigration in a wheelchair, and immigration offices may be willing to give the very frail priority queuing.

I have also seen this at Issan border checkpoints - front of the line.  Of course, getting to the border may still be difficult for many.

[Bangkok Barry]

Useful information. Thanks.

[Huayrat]

Ok here is my take on it.. Lived here for 9 years and a wheelchair user paralysed from waist down due to a RTA..

Firstly Jomtien immogration i have never had a problem with or either been inside as the ramp going into the place is comical and very dangerous (steep).

My Gf always goes inside and does it for me and the IO always comes out takes a pic of me and that's that..

All very nice officers and no problems ever..

 

Secondly ... Last week did a visa Run to Vientiane Laos..

Took the sleeper train from Bangkok to Nong khai.. Train was fantastic with a bed to chillout on and a curtain for privacy.. Train also has a big Disabled toilet and a chair lift for you to get into the Train.  Had a car Taxi from Laos waiting for me at Nong khai that took me all the way over the bridge to the Thai consulate.. Taxi waited for me outside to take me to my Hotel.. Went inside the consulate and my GF had to go in the line as a wheelchair could not get in the Q.. Then a very nice Thai Gentleman came and spoke to me and said i could pick up my visa the sameday at 4pm.. The Gentleman turned out to be the big boss the Consular General.. A very nice gesture by him so i didn't have to go back the next Day to collect it and could of returned to Thailand same Day if i wanted to..

 

So that is my Experience on living here.. Always been helped from nice ppl and no problems for me..

Edited November 22, 2018 by Huayrat

[Huayrat]

9 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Outside country travel is never required with extensions of stay so only immigration visits would be needed and arrangements can often be made directly with immigration, or if in hospital through them, if unable to physically visit.  

If your under 50 this is not possible..

[lopburi3]

23 minutes ago, Huayrat said:

If your under 50 this is not possible..

Yes it is possible if you can meet financials - you extend on basis of marriage on TM7.  Age 50 is only required for retirement extensions.

 

The marriage financial requirement is 400k in bank 2 months or 40k per month income.

 

Edit:  I note you say GF rather than wife - but my post was to a married member.  Perhaps you intended to say it was not possible for you?

Edited November 22, 2018 by lopburi3

[stud858]

In regards to visas and illness. I struggle to understand.

I travel 4 hours on a bus for an immigration officer to put a stamp in my passport then 4 hours back.

Can someone explain the purpose of the actual travel to a borderline.

Why can't I get a stamp in pattaya.

It would save on fuel pollution, get one vehicle off the busy dangerous roads, allow officers to do more important work and most importantly I wouldn't have to feel nauseous for 8 hours. 

 

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

6 minutes ago, stud858 said:

Can someone explain the purpose of the actual travel to a borderline.

Probably to tell you that they are in control. If you have a one-year visa it should be exactly that, with no need for utterly pointless border runs. I sometimes cross into Laos at Mukdahan/Savannakhet for just five minutes. Really, what is the point?

[Odysseus123]

1 hour ago, Huayrat said:

Ok here is my take on it.. Lived here for 9 years and a wheelchair user paralysed from waist down due to a RTA..

Firstly Jomtien immogration i have never had a problem with or either been inside as the ramp going into the place is comical and very dangerous (steep).

My Gf always goes inside and does it for me and the IO always comes out takes a pic of me and that's that..

All very nice officers and no problems ever..

 

Secondly ... Last week did a visa Run to Vientiane Laos..

Took the sleeper train from Bangkok to Nong khai.. Train was fantastic with a bed to chillout on and a curtain for privacy.. Train also has a big Disabled toilet and a chair lift for you to get into the Train.  Had a car Taxi from Laos waiting for me at Nong khai that took me all the way over the bridge to the Thai consulate.. Taxi waited for me outside to take me to my Hotel.. Went inside the consulate and my GF had to go in the line as a wheelchair could not get in the Q.. Then a very nice Thai Gentleman came and spoke to me and said i could pick up my visa the sameday at 4pm.. The Gentleman turned out to be the big boss the Consular General.. A very nice gesture by him so i didn't have to go back the next Day to collect it and could of returned to Thailand same Day if i wanted to..

 

So that is my Experience on living here.. Always been helped from nice ppl and no problems for me..

Yes-that was my experience.

 

Thai immigration was very  good once the problem was outlined..

 

My last visa interview was conducted with me lying outside on the grass at the Princess Sirinthorn office (Ubon)

 

"But"..they said _We will come to you.."

"Naw" I replied.."I enjoyed the journey" which I did.

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Probably to tell you that they are in control. If you have a one-year visa it should be exactly that, with no need for utterly pointless border runs. I sometimes cross into Laos at Mukdahan/Savannakhet for just five minutes. Really, what is the point?

The point is your visa only allows a 90 day stay - not one year.  A US Tourist visa is normally valid for 10 years but you are not allowed to stay longer than a few months.  If you want to stay long term you extend your stay for work/marriage/retirement or such.  Or you buy into the Elite visa plan.

[Bangkok Barry]

24 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

The point is your visa only allows a 90 day stay - not one year.  A US Tourist visa is normally valid for 10 years but you are not allowed to stay longer than a few months.  If you want to stay long term you extend your stay for work/marriage/retirement or such.  Or you buy into the Elite visa plan.

 

The point is why? Why issue a visa for one year which doesn't allow you to stay for one year? And what is the point of making you leave the country for less than an hour until you return? Even the Elite visa doesn't allow more than 90 days, as far as I know. They just make it easier to get around that. They really, really need to come to terms with people who are married and supporting a Thai family. Why are they forced to leave the country? Leave them alone to get on with their life. There are many thousands who have to jump through these unnecessary hoops, which wastes their (the authorities) time and ours to absolutely no purpose.

What other countries do is entirely irrelevant to this discussion.

[ubonjoe]

12 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Even the Elite visa doesn't allow more than 90 days, as far as I know.

It allows unlimited one year entries for 5 years from the date of issue.

 

14 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

They really, really need to come to terms with people who are married and supporting a Thai family. Why are they forced to leave the country?

A one year extension of stay based upon marriage can be applied for. A person does not have to leave the country every 90 days if they can meet the requirements for the extension.

 

[lopburi3]

What other countries do is very relevant.  Countries issue multi entry visas with validity up to 10 years (as in case of USA) as a service so you do not have to apply every 90 days or whatever.  Normally if you qualify for extension of stay and want to remain longer you take advantage of that method.  The multi entry can be useful to those employed in another country and that travel frequently and may not be able to apply for extension of stay.  Thailand allows immediate turn around use for those that do not qualify for extension of stay.

 

You have been provide information for extension of stay if you want to remain longer than a 90 day visa entry.

Edited November 22, 2018 by lopburi3

[JackThompson]

2 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Even the Elite visa doesn't allow more than 90 days, as far as I know. They just make it easier to get around that.

 

I am in the same boat as you with the Non-O-ME, and yes the out/in runabout is silly.  People will say "You should just show 40K income/mo or 400K in-the-bank - well, I had the income (more), but got a long, rude runaround from a corrupt office, so it was the ME-Visa or pay an agent to payoff immigration (about the same cost for either, all total). 

 

Now, with the embassy-letters gone, that narrows future options down to "Non-O-ME" or "Agent" (yuk!), especially given my income is not a "state pension."

At this point, I think the best we can hope for is that the Non-O-ME remains an option in the region (unlike the Non-OA and METV) - and if they add financials (as they did in Penang), they allow embassy-letters from our embassy in that country.  Someone reported income-letters for the USA are still available in Vietnam - not sure about other countries.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

What other countries do is very relevant. 

 

No, it is not. We are talking here about what Thailand requires, and what other countries require is totally irrelevant to that. I really don't care what the USA does. It is not relevant to me or to Thailand. I would think that is obvious.

[direction BANGKOK]

I think a better argument than the one a gentleman is making above, and I agree with him in many respects, is why can a person who is married to a Thai, and who just so happens to live very close to a good border hop area be so much better off? That seems a rather arbitrary criteria for making it easier on someone.

[Huayrat]

8 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Yes it is possible if you can meet financials - you extend on basis of marriage on TM7.  Age 50 is only required for retirement extensions.

 

The marriage financial requirement is 400k in bank 2 months or 40k per month income.

 

Edit:  I note you say GF rather than wife - but my post was to a married member.  Perhaps you intended to say it was not possible for you?

Yes myself and lots of other guys here are under 50 and not married so no easy fix for us..

[BritTim]

10 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The point is why? Why issue a visa for one year which doesn't allow you to stay for one year? And what is the point of making you leave the country for less than an hour until you return?

I guess another way of looking at it is why allow people to circumvent the requirements for being resident in Thailand on marriage extensions by permitting visas intended for visits to Thailand to be (effectively) used to live here? I think the answer is that they are sympathetic to families who cannot meet the financial requirements for the extension, and deliberately allow this loophole. That does not mean they are about to eliminate the financial requirements for an extension by giving unlimited 90-day extensions just because you have a multiple entry visit visa.

[jacko45k]

On 11/21/2018 at 9:16 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Thanks. That seems like a fix of sorts, but doesn't address if someone is too frail to travel anywhere.

I had an 82 year old friend who managed it, it seemed he was given great respect and helped well in Jomtiem. You can get another person to do the 90 day reports or try on-line. The extension renewal, maybe an agent can help.

[AGareth2]

went to CW 2 months ago in a wheelchair

after 5 mins was approached by a plain clothed Thai man

asked if I was by my self

replied yes

was pushed in to see a senior lady

took my docs

stamped my passport

finished in 10 mins

very friendly