Bit of a rushed trip and have some visa questions

[mahb]

I hope this is the right place to ask. My wife got a job in Chiang Mai and leaves in 2 weeks. I'm staying back for two weeks to move us out of our apartment then heading there with her. The gig is 5 months long and due to the nature her industry we just found out, so that doesn't leave us much time to plan.

 

I'm wondering what my best course of action is in regards to a visa for myself. From my research it looks like the best route would be a "non immigrant - O" visa?

 

Her gig has everyone fly in with no visa (we are coming from the US) then has someone at the office in charge of getting everybody set up with a work visa. Is it safe for me to fly in the same way then switch to the "type O" visa once I get situated? Is that the right kind of Visa for me or do you guys have a better recommendation?

 

I'm just trying to avoid flying in and having to leave after 30 days. I've looked up the Multi entry visa and would think that would be a good backup, but if the type O visa will work I believe that's the best route.

 

 

Would appreciate any insight and help you guys can provide me! Not sure if there's anything I can do stateside in the meantime to help this process, but I'm all ears to your suggestions. Thank you!

[sanemax]

Get a tourist visa in USA  , valid the 2 months and a 30 day extension , then after 90 days , go to Laos and get another tourist visa ,  or come back on a visa exempt stamp , valid for 30 days and can be extended by another 30 days 

[mahb]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

Get a tourist visa in USA  , valid the 2 months and a 30 day extension , then after 90 days , go to Laos and get another tourist visa ,  or come back on a visa exempt stamp , valid for 30 days and can be extended by another 30 days 

Thank you for your response!  Is it not a good idea to go for a dependent visa for this trip?  I'd love to avoid having to extend and leave if I can.

[bendejo]

2 hours ago, mahb said:

Her gig has everyone fly in with no visa (we are coming from the US) then has someone at the office in charge of getting everybody set up with a work visa.

 

Perhaps try communicating with the person who takes care of these things.  I would guess you are not the first spouse they've had to deal with.  Also be sure to bring a sense of humor, as there will be at least one person along the way that will find it amusing that the woman is the 'breadwinner' and that you are the ancillary spouse.

 

[mahb]

26 minutes ago, bendejo said:

 

Perhaps try communicating with the person who takes care of these things.  I would guess you are not the first spouse they've had to deal with.  Also be sure to bring a sense of humor, as there will be at least one person along the way that will find it amusing that the woman is the 'breadwinner' and that you are the ancillary spouse.

 

Will do this as well thank you for the advice!  We are in a freelance industry and typically one of us is working while the other isn't (unless we are both on a job at home, then we'll dual wield for a bit)  But I'm totally down to play up the her breadwinning bit for some laughs ???? 

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, mahb said:

Thank you for your response!  Is it not a good idea to go for a dependent visa for this trip?  I'd love to avoid having to extend and leave if I can.

To get a non-o visa based upon your wife working here with an extension of stay would require paperwork from the company to apply for it.

It appears those may not be available at this time. Entering on a single entry tourist visa would be the best option and then after she has her work permit, non immigrant visa (category B) visa entry and extension of stay based upon working you could apply for a non immigrant visa (category O) at immigration.

You could also enter the country visa exempt to get a 30 day entry that can be extended for 30 days but any delay in your wife getting her visa might require you leaving the country for a new entry since you must have 15 days remaining on it to apply for the visa at immigration. With a tourist visa you could extend the 60 day entry from it for 30 days.