Immigration Is Allowing 30 Day Extensions Of Entries (memorandum dated 18/03)

[audaciousnomad]

If you have never extended yet, you should not need a letter. 

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Overthetop said:

Hi

 

30 day entry at a border, do I need a letter to extend for 30 days from UK? Have proof flight cancelled and new flight booked

Not needed for the 1st or the 2nd 30 day extension.

[Steve Vincent]

8 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

Yes Eva is constantly busy. The hour long wait for phone contact them made me miss the last flight I could get into Taiwan on March 18 with all the evening flights canceled and the only available one after midnight. They hadn't even been notified of the travel ban-I had to read them the article from an English language Taiwanese newspaper. They called me back after the office closed when I was in the shower. I called back immediately, but the office was closed and then no message, e-mail or additional call from them. I should have just ran to the airport and sorted it out there. I will probably pass on them next time.

Was reading somewhere earlier maybe on there app travel or twitter that Eva air have cancelled all flights from March 24th through until April the 7th.... sorry you’ve experienced such stress stressed me myself as information not been forthcoming ‘ all we ask for is clarity ... good lucky with the journey back home 

[audaciousnomad]

 

14 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Not needed for the 1st or the 2nd 30 day extension.

If so, that's good news! Are they granting 2nd extensions now without a letter? Is it official policy now to do so?

[bangkokboy888]

2 hours ago, Kivetoruk said:

US citizen, entered on a 30 day visa exemption. Later I applied for and received a 30 day extension of stay at Udon Thani immigration office.

Plan was to do a border run to Laos or Cambodia and obtain a new visa exemption valid until my scheduled flight home in May. That's not possible now.

 

My flight route to return to the US involved make a connecting flight in Taipei, Taiwan. That's currently not permissable as Taiwan has recently prohibited non-national passengers from transiting their airports.

 

I sent an email to the US Embassy today explaining my situation in detail and included a photo copy of my passport. I requested a letter that I could present to the Immigration office for use in obtaining another 30 day extension of stay. This is the response I received back one hour ago.

No letter!

Thanks to all who have made positive contributions to this thread and others concerning travel issues.

Good luck to everyone.

I will keep searching for a solution to my problem.

I am getting my letter within 72 hours. Try again with your full name passport number date of birth and clear scan of your passport bio page

[bangkokboy888]

2 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

How can we get the original when they are being e-mailed to us?

Hopefully this won’t apply to us in Bangkok 

[jackdd]

After reading the problems here i did of course do my best to annoy the immigration hotline.

As always difficult to get a straight answer out of them, so after some back and forth, this is not what was said, but my interpretation of it:

This order is real and exists, but they are not using it yet (no idea how they can justify this, because imho the document is binding since 5 days). So i assume that maybe the immigration police head of every province got this order, but they didn't instruct their IOs at the front desks to follow these orders.

I did also contact the 1111 government helpline to ask about this document, but they couldn't find this in their system yet. She promised to do some research tomorrow and call me back when she knows more.

If i know more i will let you know ????

 

So it could happen that if you go to get an extension tomorrow they might still ignore this document and give you 7 days to leave the country.

 

 

 

[vermin on arrival]

28 minutes ago, jackdd said:

After reading the problems here i did of course do my best to annoy the immigration hotline.

As always difficult to get a straight answer out of them, so after some back and forth, this is not what was said, but my interpretation of it:

This order is real and exists, but they are not using it yet (no idea how they can justify this, because imho the document is binding since 5 days). So i assume that maybe the immigration police head of every province got this order, but they didn't instruct their IOs at the front desks to follow these orders.

I did also contact the 1111 government helpline to ask about this document, but they couldn't find this in their system yet. She promised to do some research tomorrow and call me back when she knows more.

If i know more i will let you know ????

 

So it could happen that if you go to get an extension tomorrow they might still ignore this document and give you 7 days to leave the country.

 

 

 

Lol. Interesting. So maybe they will decide later in the week or next week to do it.

[ANDREW999]

For Brits, just read this on RIchard Barrow's page:

[BangkokReady]

9 minutes ago, ANDREW999 said:

For Brits, just read this on RIchard Barrow's page:

They will help even if you planned to leave at a land border?

 

Does this mean that if you were going to do a visa run the government will write a letter for you? 

 

How would to show evidence of this and will Thai Immigration accept that?

 

I'm on a tourist visa with a couple of weeks left and am in the process of getting a work permit/visa sorted.

Edited March 23, 2020 by BangkokReady

[ANDREW999]

1 minute ago, BangkokReady said:

They will help even if you planned to leave at a land border?

 

Does this mean that if you were going to do a visa run the government will write a letter for you? 

 

How would to show evidence of this and will Thai Immigration accept that?

Sounds weird to me too. Go to his facebook page (Richard Barrow in Thailand) and locate the post. It's from 7 hours ago. I hope he can give more clues. He literally said: " I have a direct contact. Many embassy officials follow me on Twitter and so they feed me stuff every now and then. Best send all your documents to the email listed."

 

[BangkokReady]

13 minutes ago, ANDREW999 said:

Sounds weird to me too. Go to his facebook page (Richard Barrow in Thailand) and locate the post. It's from 7 hours ago. I hope he can give more clues. He literally said: " I have a direct contact. Many embassy officials follow me on Twitter and so they feed me stuff every now and then. Best send all your documents to the email listed."

 

It's quite possible that they will only offer support to people that were due to leave at a land border and continue on some sort of tour of Asia though, right?

 

Could be tricky if your plan was to stay in Thailand.  They might want to see proof of booked tickets of some other kind.

 

Would the reason "I was going to do a visa run and then go back into Thailand and stay there for another three months" be allowed?  Especially as the embassy may write whatever you say in the letter...

[ToS2014]

On 3/22/2020 at 1:42 PM, Canuck1966 said:

Why not do what the South Koreans did and just give everybody amnesties for a period of time?

Because A) South Korea is a long walk from here AND under a different government.  B) Thailand has already tried the 'just give everybody amnesty' and most westerners have taken advantage of the blanket amnesty, and now are attempting to argue why doesn't Thailand just .....

 

While previous scholars argued for this phantom global (non border) world; well, I'd say those arguments can be readdressed.

 

I'm not trying to stomp on your post; rather, just share my tunnel vision opinion.

[Maestro]

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

They will help even if you planned to leave at a land border?

 

Does this mean that if you were going to do a visa run the government will write a letter for you? 

 

How would to show evidence of this and will Thai Immigration accept that?

 

I'm on a tourist visa with a couple of weeks left and am in the process of getting a work permit/visa sorted.

 

Apparently, you would not meet the following requirements listed, among others, on the website of the UK government for this embassy letter:

• Evidence of the cancelled flight to UK/place of residence (showing date of travel before the visa expiry date) 
• Where possible, evidence of re-scheduled/re-booked flight 

 

Therefore, you should do your so-called visa run before the expiration of your current permission to stay in order to avoid going on overstay.

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by Maestro
added link

[BangkokReady]

3 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

Apparently, you would not meet the following requirements listed, among others, on the website of the UK government for this embassy letter:

• Evidence of the cancelled flight to UK/place of residence (showing date of travel before the visa expiry date) 
• Where possible, evidence of re-scheduled/re-booked flight 

That's what I thought, but if Richard Barrow is correct and the British Embassy is offering this letter to people who planned to leave via a land border, then there is a chance, don't you think?

 

You would have thought that if they were offering the service to a land border traveler, then they would say so.

 

Perhaps if you explain that you were leaving via a land border then show them you have a flight booked heading back to the UK, they will write a letter for you.

[Maestro]

8 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

That's what I thought, but if Richard Barrow is correct and the British Embassy is offering this letter to people who planned to leave via a land border, then there is a chance, don't you think?

 

You would have thought that if they were offering the service to a land border traveler, then they would say so.

 

Perhaps if you explain that you were leaving via a land border then show them you have a flight booked heading back to the UK, they will write a letter for you.

 

The embassy letter is needed for an application of extension of stay in case of necessity under clause 2.28 of Police Order 327-2557 (2014). Yours is not a case of necessity because nothing appears to prevent you from leaving Thailand before the expiration of your current permission to stay.

[MagnumForce]

8 hours ago, elviajero said:

The advice from most countries is for their nationals to return home.

No, the advice from my embassy is to stay where you are. No travelling. 

[Cashboy]

My Tourist Extension Visa runs out on the 28 March and my flight out was on the 27 March with Ethiad.

I am a UK citizen and was returning to London UK.

UAE government has told all national airlines ( including Emirates and Ethiad ) that there are no flights permitted for 14 days from the 25th March.

 

I just emailed the UK government for the email letter from them though reading this forum is not acceptable but showing I have made the effort.

 

I shall try to online check in on Ethiad website on the 26th March where I expect to be able to do a screen dump of the actual cancelled flight.

 

I am going to wait until the 26th March to go to the IO in Udonthani in case they tell me to book an earlier flight than the 25th March (doubt i there are any left) to be able to leave Thailand.

I suspect (and hope) by the 26th March most airlines /governments will ban overseas flights so not possible to leave anyway.

 

I also expect that by then the Thai Immigration Offices will have better instructions and be more obliging.

 

If the IO Udonthani refuses an extension at least I can show I made the effort and I shall then have to stay until at least the 8th April for a possible flight with Ethiad.

I would not expect an overstay fine based on the Bangkok Post article or have problems with re-entry in the future.

 

 

Edit by Maestro: deleted inadmissible link as per forum rule 26 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by Maestro
As per edit note.

[MagnumForce]

Here's a possibility. Every Immigration Officer who refuses an extension to anybody in this current crisis situation should have their photo taken while at their desk with their names and rank badges/placards on their desks visible in the photos. Then send these to the big boss at Immigration HQ in BKK, but even more importantly, to our respective Embassies with a detailed explanation of events leading up to refusal. They have been taking the <deleted> out of every foreigner here in Thailand for long enough. My country has allowed an automatic two-month visa extension to non-nationals caught up in this. If there is no reciprocity from Thailand, then we should also campaign collectively to our respective Embassies to boot every Thai national out of our our respective countries, especially those who live in a country beginning with the letter 'G' in Europe where a certain unmentionable resides.

 

Yes, there are some cases where no leeway is forthcoming, but there are a lot (wife+kids here) where it should be. 

 

Also, there are Immigration Officers who are trying to line their own pockets by offering "VIP" services to people. They should be exposed for the scum that they are. I have been referred to one but am reluctant to be at the mercy of a <deleted> like that.

 

On a side note note, stay safe everyone, and I wish you all good health and visa success during these terrible times.

[Langkawee]

On 3/22/2020 at 1:15 PM, KhunKenAP said:

However, going to the Thai Immigration office could expose you the virus. Why force people to go to a crowded office full of potential carriers? Just make it automatic and check on departure.

Because worldwide psychopaths are in power. They like to see people suffer and die. Thus they instruct foreigners to go to crowded places. These extensions should be free. It is a humanitarian crisis. 

[superatoz]

15 hours ago, bestie said:

why tourists can extent 30 days without the letter and a non immigrant visa holder need the embassy letter. Or I'm wrong? I don't get it.

 

 

i also like to know why ,l why hasnt thailand issued a formal statement in the news allowing foreigners to stay , its not about money or whatever its bloody for everyones health and safety omg 

[superatoz]

12 hours ago, bangkokboy888 said:

Result: DENIED and given seven days extension. ????
 

came in on visa exempt stamp. And extended one time already. Came with original poster letter and also generic USA embassy from other poster. 
 

immigration official insisted the letter need my name and that I need to pay the embassy money to crate it. 
 

I showed her the unavailable appointment slots printed out from USA embassy website. She said it was not her business. I told her I could not get an appointment and and there are no walk ins. Fell on dear ears. 
 

there was a young American girl with the same letter and email correspondence from embassy (I didn’t have email correspondence) and she was denied too. Perhaps because they seem to have an argument (I could hear them from the sitting area) the young American girl did not get even seven days. 
 

as I was waiting for my passport and extra seven days an elderly gentlemen also came in with the same letter. 
 

the immigration officer repeated her story and insisted we all needed this letter. This was in the “K” section the section for visa exempt arrival extensions. 
 

I saw two other people with the letter get rejected. Not looking good. 
 

at least seven days puts me past Malaysia lock down? What are my options for visa runs on April 5?

 

what a headache.  

im in same situation as you , what visa are u on ? 

[superatoz]

11 hours ago, PST said:

You can apply for a 60 day extension of any 90 day entry from a NON O visa based on visiting your Thai wife or child. This has nothing to do with COVID.

problem is my visa expired in feb ....  

[elviajero]

2 minutes ago, superatoz said:

problem is my visa expired in feb ....  

It doesn't matter when your entry visa expired. You are extending your permission to stay.

 

If you are on overstay they might still allow you to extend if you pay the overstay fine, but that would depend on the length of overstay.

[Maestro]

2 hours ago, MagnumForce said:

No, the advice from my embassy is to stay where you are. No travelling. 

 

I do not doubt the accuracy of what you say about the situation regarding your country, but to satisfy my curiosity I'd be grateful if you posted the name of this country.

[jacko45k]

10 hours ago, Overthetop said:

Hi

 

30 day entry at a border, do I need a letter to extend for 30 days from UK? Have proof flight cancelled and new flight booked

First extension available as normal.

Second time, get a letter as IO seem to be requiring it. 

[metisdead]

A post that had a link to Bangkok Post has been removed:

 

26) The Bangkok Post and Phuketwan do not allow quotes from their news articles or other material to appear on Thaivisa.com. Neither do they allow links to their publications. Posts from members containing quotes from or links to Bangkok Post or Phuketwan publications will be deleted from the forum.

[Varrius]

On 3/22/2020 at 1:45 PM, ubonjoe said:

I think the majority of people that will need the extension are here as tourists.

Not many people are on a non immigrant visa entry.

My American friend and I are both on Non Imm multi entry O visas from Laos. we went to Chong Chom 

border crossing to try to do our 90 day in and out. The border was effectively closed. We then attended Kap Choeng Immigration office with Marriage docs passport and all copies and the office was being run outdoors with seating for the applicants. Much better than their stuffy office. Anyhow we were given a 60 day extension and no hassle, Nobody could say what will happen in 60 days but at least we got some breathing space.

We did learn that Surin Immigration office is moving closer to Surin in 2 months time into a newly built government office, which is currently being used to quarantine returnees from South Korea.

 

[PST]

2 hours ago, Varrius said:

My American friend and I are both on Non Imm multi entry O visas from Laos. we went to Chong Chom 

border crossing to try to do our 90 day in and out. The border was effectively closed. We then attended Kap Choeng Immigration office with Marriage docs passport and all copies and the office was being run outdoors with seating for the applicants. Much better than their stuffy office. Anyhow we were given a 60 day extension and no hassle, Nobody could say what will happen in 60 days but at least we got some breathing space.

We did learn that Surin Immigration office is moving closer to Surin in 2 months time into a newly built government office, which is currently being used to quarantine returnees from South Korea.

 

Did both your wifes go with you to immigration when you applied for the 60 days extension?

[bangkokboy888]

8 hours ago, superatoz said:

im in same situation as you , what visa are u on ? 

Americans are in the visa exempt category. so i entered on a visa exempt stamp with 30 days validity. extended once (allowed only one extension) and now tried to extend with this special memo and letter supplied by the community