COVID-19: Immigration proposes extending visas for people stranded in Thailand to 30 June 2020

[ubonjoe]

22 minutes ago, bkkexplorer said:

Hi UbonJoe,

 

Can I apply for the one year extension of stay without leaving the Kingdom?

It is possible to apply for a non immigrant visa (category O) visa based upon qualifying for an extension of stay based on marriage to or being the legal parent of a Thai. You would need 400k baht in a Thai bank or proof of 40k baht income.

Then you could apply for a one year extension of stay during the last 30 days of the 90 day entry from the visa.

[MagnumForce]

1 hour ago, Cashboy said:

I went to Udonthani immigration

Hi Cashboy,

Could you please PM me about which officer you dealt with? 

[marko kok prong]

Are there any greater blockheads than Thai imigration,just say look until things return to normal don't worry,like Indonesia has,but no,fill out 5 forms in triplicate,map of were you stay,special fee for you,ect,thank the lord i got mine done [retirement] 2 weeks ago,pretty soon the immigration staff will be out with covid,what then,why does this country insit of multipul copies of paper when they have it all on computer,even when i do a transfer from my bank i need my passport,i have held an account for 8 years it is like ncc says lsd without the lsd.

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, CDTT said:

So if I want a one year extension in the future a judge needs to confirm it first? It’s not enough that the child has my last name on the birth certificate

That is correct. I had incorrectly posted that for the 60 day extension but then deleted my post

 

Unless you were married to your child’s mother or have since married her then legally you are not the child’s father. Your name on the birth certificate is not relevant. 

 

you can go through the Thai family court system to become the legal parent. At the moment my guess is that you will be unable to do that in the time you have available, this is pure speculation as it is possible that the courts are functioning. You may find that you will be unable to get the required documentation needed to marry the mother of your child as well, due to many offices being closed or on long delays.

[utalkin2me]

Are tourists and visa exempt travelers the only ones who can get the current 30 day coronavirus extensions? Or are those available to everyone who's permission to stay is ending? 

[jackdd]

4 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

Are tourists and visa exempt travelers the only ones who can get the current 30 day coronavirus extensions? Or are those available to everyone who's permission to stay is ending? 

Everyone

[sallecc]

4 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

Are tourists and visa exempt travelers the only ones who can get the current 30 day coronavirus extensions? Or are those available to everyone who's permission to stay is ending? 

At this point it's just rumored proposal, nothing specific... will be more clear in coming days... we hope.

[utalkin2me]

17 minutes ago, sallecc said:

At this point it's just rumored proposal, nothing specific... will be more clear in coming days... we hope.

I meant the extensions they are already running though.

[ubonjoe]

35 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

Are tourists and visa exempt travelers the only ones who can get the current 30 day coronavirus extensions? Or are those available to everyone who's permission to stay is ending? 

Under the existing 30 day extension memorandum all visa entries can be extended for 30 days.

 

[greggraham]

Thought this was worthy of a new topic but apparently not, so posting again here:

 

 

Edited March 30, 2020 by greggraham

[greggraham]

Also; don't forget to give this a RT if you think it might help 

 

 

[riclag]

14 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Allowing immigration to extend ......... assume a visit and a payment to an immigration office.

Why not propose an automatic extension for everyone, no forms, no trips to immigration, no queue?

 

Like many other countries have done.

I have to go in April 2 for my first 90 days. My wife txt the IO he said I had to come in. He told her for me to just bring in my Passport. I'm thinking he probably has to make and copy 3 or 4 doc, plus the TM 47!

I just thought for her to ask him if I can do  the copies  at home to speed it up ! I'm in the high risk category

[bkkexplorer]

28 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It is possible to apply for a non immigrant visa (category O) visa based upon qualifying for an extension of stay based on marriage to or being the legal parent of a Thai. You would need 400k baht in a Thai bank or proof of 40k baht income.

Then you could apply for a one year extension of stay during the last 30 days of the 90 day entry from the visa.

Hi UbonJoe, Thanks for the reply, you've always been of great help in these matters. I'd like to ask if the rules have changed. From what I read before, I'd need 400k in the bank for a minimum of 3 months and would have to apply from an overseas Thai embassy. Are these the same rules?

[BritTim]

12 minutes ago, bkkexplorer said:

Hi UbonJoe, Thanks for the reply, you've always been of great help in these matters. I'd like to ask if the rules have changed. From what I read before, I'd need 400k in the bank for a minimum of 3 months and would have to apply from an overseas Thai embassy. Are these the same rules?

Applying to convert from a tourist entry to a 90-day non immigrant entry at an immigration office within Thailand is an alternative to getting a Non O visa at a consulate overseas. The 400,000 baht only needs to be in the bank on the day you apply for the conversion. However, you need proof that it originated from overseas. The two month seasoning of the money in the bank is required for the one-year extension of stay that follows the initial 90-day permission to stay.

[johnny1966]

If put through, wonder if this will only apply to tourist visa holders or a blanket policy to cover everyone. As a holder of a non o visa, I really don't fancy taking my diabetic wife into immigration to apply for a 60 day extension.

[BritTim]

1 minute ago, johnny1966 said:

If put through, wonder if this will only apply to tourist visa holders or a blanket policy to cover everyone. As a holder of a non o visa, I really don't fancy taking my diabetic wife into immigration to apply for a 60 day extension.

Possibly a letter from your wife to Immigration, in conjunction with a short appearance by video link might satisfy Immigration in view of the exceptional situation. It will obviously depend on the office.

[johnny1966]

3 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Possibly a letter from your wife to Immigration, in conjunction with a short appearance by video link might satisfy Immigration in view of the exceptional situation. It will obviously depend on the office.

Good call. I suppose we may find out in the next day or 2.

[bkkexplorer]

20 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Applying to convert from a tourist entry to a 90-day non immigrant entry at an immigration office within Thailand is an alternative to getting a Non O visa at a consulate overseas. The 400,000 baht only needs to be in the bank on the day you apply for the conversion. However, you need proof that it originated from overseas. The two month seasoning of the money in the bank is required for the one-year extension of stay that follows the initial 90-day permission to stay.

Thanks for clearing that up, when I did my first spouse 'O' application over 10 years ago I wasn't given a choice to do it in Thailand, I was told I had to go overseas, possible that I was misinformed at the time...

 

As of my last entry on arrival visa (arrived in Dec./ UK passport), i already used the 30 day extension as well as another 60 day extension based on being married to a Thai. Can i now still apply to start the process to convert and apply this current visa to a Spouse 'O' yearly visa?

 

The 90 days you mentioned,.   does it get extended to a year after that? Would I have to leave the Kingdom anytime during this period?

[Alittleguy]

It would be good that they will allow the visa extend without going to the immigration personally. Perhaps apply the exxtension online? Saw some foreigners with kids waiting long queue. Very bad. They can get the virus unknown. Pity them

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Allowing immigration to extend ......... assume a visit and a payment to an immigration office.

Why not propose an automatic extension for everyone, no forms, no trips to immigration, no queue?

 

Like many other countries have done.

That is far too simple for the Thais and there's no money in it.

It is what should be done but this is Thailand (TIT).

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, bkkexplorer said:

As of my last entry on arrival visa (arrived in Dec./ UK passport), i already used the 30 day extension as well as another 60 day extension based on being married to a Thai. Can i now still apply to start the process to convert and apply this current visa to a Spouse 'O' yearly visa?

The rule is that there must be at least 15 days (possibly as long as 21 days at some offices) left on your current permission to stay when you request the conversion. An extended permission to stay is fine as long as there is enough time remaining.

 

2 hours ago, bkkexplorer said:

The 90 days you mentioned,.   does it get extended to a year after that? Would I have to leave the Kingdom anytime during this period?

As I explained, it takes the place of the 90 days you get from entering with a regular Non O visa. Thus, when you request an extension towards the end of the 90 days, you get a further full year.

[bkkexplorer]

21 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

As I explained, it takes the place of the 90 days you get from entering with a regular Non O visa. Thus, when you request an extension towards the end of the 90 days, you get a further full year.

As I entered on a 30 day EOA, this does not apply to me correct?

[Maestro]

23 minutes ago, bkkexplorer said:

As I entered on a 30 day EOA, this does not apply to me correct?

 

It depends on what you mean with EOA.

[BritTim]

24 minutes ago, bkkexplorer said:

46 minutes ago, BritTim said:

As I explained, it takes the place of the 90 days you get from entering with a regular Non O visa. Thus, when you request an extension towards the end of the 90 days, you get a further full year.

As I entered on a 30 day EOA, this does not apply to me correct?

I am not sure I understand your question. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you entered Thailand as a tourist. You have extended your tourist entry, and now wish to stay longer. You want to do this without leaving Thailand.

 

As long as your current permission to stay has enough time remaining, you can apply to change your tourist entry into a non immigrant entry which has exactly the same effect as entering Thailand with a Non Immigrant O visa. That gives you a 90-day entry which can be further extended for a full year towards the end of that 90-day period.

[fhickson]

any civilized country would just blanket extend for those who are already here.

Edited March 30, 2020 by fhickson

[phetpeter]

I would like to know, has this been done? In KSA when doing a visa run for 90 days, we went to the border, went out turn around without entering Bahrain ad back in. Seemed to satisfy Passport control? is that something that can be done here? If I travel to Laos. Exit Thailand and u-turn back into Thailand without crossing into Laos? I have a multi entry O Visa based on Marriage.

[Maestro]

This cannot be done in Thailand.

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, jacob29 said:

All fine if they had told people to leave before the borders were closed. If I had been given a notice on entry, that I would not be welcome in Thailand should the CV19 situation get worse - I could have made an informed decision. I doubt many could have predicted their response.

Why would you need someone else to tell you what to do in this type of situation? Or even a notice on entry ..... probably at a time nobody envisaged where this was going.  You should be able to make an informed decision, as you say, without their input. I am amazed people hung around here. 

[Winky Wilson]

US Embassy just issued an International travel advisory letter stating not to travel anywhere and remain isolated. They are asking international immigration authorities for cooperation till the pandemic subsides. It doesn’t take anyone with the least bit of intelligence to figure this out if you plan on living a long time.

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Winky Wilson said:

US Embassy just issued an International travel advisory letter stating not to travel anywhere and remain isolated. They are asking international immigration authorities for cooperation till the pandemic subsides. It doesn’t take anyone with the least bit of intelligence to figure this out if you plan on living a long time.

The one I got late yesterday afternoon by email states this.

 

Quote

Flights Out of Thailand

There are currently no government restrictions or requirements for U.S. citizens departing Thailand or entering the United States.   However, the Royal Thai Government has implemented enhanced screening and quarantine measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19.  Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. U.S. citizens who are considering returning to the United States are urged to work with airlines to make travel arrangements while flights are still available.

We advise temporary visitors in Thailand to arrange for immediate return to the United States while there is still an opportunity. All flight routes are subject to cancellation without notice, and many flights are heavily booked.  Hub countries with connections to the United States are also imposing increasingly strict requirements.