Thailand to offer grace period for foreigners’ visa extensions

[Sambotte]

Message looks more like : last call = 26 sept. At that time either you have a proper visa, either you will start to be on overstay.

 

It's not a visa extend, nor an amnesty, but a period of grace. Same-same but different ????

[Oldie]

10 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

To echo some of the previous posts, I think if you don't have a proper reason to be here that fits into the current visa system, e.g. you have been offered a job, you are married, etc. then it's bye bye to Thailand for a good long while. 

They could let them work for their privilege like Russia does at some Sibirien locations. 

[lemonjelly]

So I can wait until 26th September to do my 60 day extension? My head is spinning.

Edited July 17, 2020 by lemonjelly

[CorpusChristie]

3 hours ago, PhoSai said:

Right, so that means staff would have had to go through the database to find those people who qualify and then only extend those who do. Whats more they would also need to go through the data base and exclude passports which already have extensions later than the 31st July, so as to not mess up their permission. Cant see all of that happening..lol. But anyway the result is the same I suppose.

We havent got any physical extensions , no stamps in our passports stating we can stay until July 31 st , just that when we leave Thailand we wont have any overstay issues .

  Immigration officials havent done anything in regards to updating our passports 

[Caldera]

27 minutes ago, at15 said:

“So we do not propose to extend visas after July 31, but allow for visa requests from August 1 to September 26”

 

leave by sept. 26 would mean the amnesty is extended? there is no way to do a "visa request" in country for a tourist? i think the message continues to be..... get a proper visa or get out now 

The Bangkok Post article (that we cannot link to here) has that crystal clear. Those who intend to leave have to do so by September 26th and don't need to contact immigration. Everyone else needs to secure an extension before that deadline.

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by Caldera

[Oldie]

1 minute ago, lemonjelly said:

So I can wait until 26th September to do my 60 day extension? My head is spinning.

I am not sure if I understand this. You got so many days for free. Why you want to extend again after this very long time? 

[bkkexplorer]

3 hours ago, bestie said:

The article by Reuters is more interesting. It says, “we will allow visa requests from 1 August to 26 September”. This suggests that rather than an extension of the amnesty, people will be able to buy new visas without leaving the country. ‬

‪

Again, this is NOT official yet. ‬

 

Source: Richard Barrow in Thailand

I would like this option if it means I can then apply for a 'conversion O' visa.

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, Sundown said:

So what's the difference from the visa amnesty. Visa amnesty was not an extension, was itself a grace period. So another grace period of 2 months where you can either leave or pay the bribes.

 

Grace period = Visa amnesty extended another 2 months

 

Sorry for the "go home" squad. ????

I think the only real difference is that this will be the final automatic extension, and they will make that very clear.

 

Yeah, the "go home" squad is probably fuming, they'll have to put up with us for another two months all for free. ????

 

[EricTh]

As usual, things are fuzzy and confusing. What does visa requests mean?

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

No it wasnt a "pardon"

People get pardoned when they do something wrong .

The Gov automatically extended everyones visas , so the people didnt nothing wrong and thus a pardon isnt required

Where do I start. Visas cannot be extended. A visa gives you an enter before date. Once you enter you visa eg setv is done finished. When you enter you will be granted permission of stay. Look in your pp. Stamp with "untill" . The amnesty did not even extend POS. In simple terms it ignored POS expiry date. It was not extension.

That's why folk changing from say TV or visa exempt to non o retirement need to apply for extension then move to next step.

Sadly many folk used there one off extension prior to clarity regarding amnesty. 

[Zikomat]

Let’s hope for the second ‘grace period’ ending somewhere in 2021. 

[n00dle]

3 hours ago, PhoSai said:

If it was an extension why is it called an "amnesty" ?! An amnesty is a pardon, Why would a pardon be needed if everyone had their permission extended until 31/07, it would be called something else. But in any case doesnt make much difference to the end result.

No it doesnt make much difference at all, yet you persist.

 

There is no making sense of this until the cabinet decides whats going to happen, and we wont get that information until after the next sitting.

[CorpusChristie]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Where do I start. Visas cannot be extended. A visa gives you an enter before date. Once you enter you visa eg setv is done finished. When you enter you will be granted permission of stay. Look in your pp. Stamp with "untill" . The amnesty did not even extend POS. In simple terms it ignored POS expiry date. It was not extension.

That's why folk changing from say TV or visa exempt to non o retirement need to apply for extension then move to next step.

Sadly many folk used there one off extension prior to clarity regarding amnesty. 

Yes, everyone knows that when people talk about their visa expiring , they really mean their permission to stay is expiring .

  No one actually means their visa is expiring , even immigration themselves call the permission of stay to be a visa .

  Everyone knows and is aware of this 

[DrJack54]

Just now, CorpusChristie said:

Yes, everyone knows that when people talk about their visa expiring , they really mean their permission to stay is expiring .

  No one actually means their visa is expiring , even immigration themselves call the permission of stay to be a visa .

  Everyone knows and is aware of this 

Rubbish. Fact that immigration refers to everything as a Veserrs does not give licence to follow like a sheep.

Also so wrong that "everyone is aware of this"

[jackdd]

8 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

That's why folk changing from say TV or visa exempt to non o retirement need to apply for extension then move to next step.

That's not correct. Some immigration offices just block such requests in order to extort money from the affected people through agents.

[DrJack54]

18 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

The Gov automatically extended everyones visas , so the people didnt nothing wrong and thus a pardon isnt required

Even if you replace "visas" with words permission of stay ....your still wrong.

They extended nothing. 

They allowed amnesty.

[lemonjelly]

42 minutes ago, Oldie said:

I am not sure if I understand this. You got so many days for free. Why you want to extend again after this very long time? 

Because I lose my hansum status back home.... I’m Paul Newman over here

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Even if you replace "visas" with words permission of stay ....your still wrong.

They extended nothing. 

They allowed amnesty.

Really doesnt matter what words you use , they allowed people to stay after their permission to stay expired and automatically changed the PTS to be July 31 st 

   There was no amnesty, because people did nothing wrong , they were allowed to stay until 31 st July , so, no need for an amnesty 

[CorpusChristie]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Rubbish. Fact that immigration refers to everything as a Veserrs does not give licence to follow like a sheep.

Also so wrong that "everyone is aware of this"

Everyone uses the term "Visa extension" , no one ever says *Permission to stay extension*.

I would even say that 100 % of people use these terms

[lemonjelly]

At the end of the day, there’s still hundreds of thousands of foreigners stranded in Thailand. With land borders closed and the scarcity of flights, I think setting definite dates by which they have to leave when the authorities themselves don’t really have an idea when borders will reopen and some kind of normality will return to the Suvarnabhumi flight board is unrealistic and setting up a scenario of chaos. 

[phungo]

Pol Lt Gen Sompong said:

"If they are unable to return because there are no flights or due to lockdown measures in their countries, they must submit proof. The granting of a short-stay visa will be made on a case-by-case basis" 

 

Can someone smarter than me translate this to normal English?

 

Do we need to submit proof that we cannot leave before July 31st so we could stay in Thailand until Sept 26?

[steven100]

He's saying you have until Sept 26th  to get your visa in order / get the correct visa or be considered on overstay.

Get your sh_t together by 26th September .....   

[vermin on arrival]

2 hours ago, at15 said:

“So we do not propose to extend visas after July 31, but allow for visa requests from August 1 to September 26”

 

leave by sept. 26 would mean the amnesty is extended? there is no way to do a "visa request" in country for a tourist? i think the message continues to be..... get a proper visa or get out now 

Yes, you can get them through agents, so a change to Edu and Non immigrant Os are on the table. Just needs to be done by Sept 26.  Don't think we need to leave by July 31. Why is it so important to some people that we get kicked out?

 

I think it is get a proper visa or get out by Sept 26. In any case, we don't know for certain what this is. I will wait until we get more info next week after the cabinet meeting.

 

Check the Bangkok post and it's very clear. It says we will be given a grace period from August 1st until Sept 26 to apply to stay for a specific period. However, if we are in country after September 26 we will be considered on overstay, face legal action and be blacklisted. So it really is an amnesty to Sept 26, but then we need to get out if we have not secured a new visa or extension. Otherwise, we are in heaps of trouble.

 

It even says people who are going to return to their home countries also have until Sept 26, but don't need to contact to immigration so for them in essence it's an amnesty.

Edited July 17, 2020 by vermin on arrival

[phungo]

4 minutes ago, steven100 said:

He's saying you have until Sept 26th  to get your visa in order / get the correct visa or be considered on overstay.

Get your sh_t together by 26th September .....   

How is this different than an amnesty extension until to Sept 26?

[vermin on arrival]

5 minutes ago, steven100 said:

He's saying you have until Sept 26th  to get your visa in order / get the correct visa or be considered on overstay.

Get your sh_t together by 26th September .....   

And I think that is fair. I wasn't trying to change my visa because I thought Taiwan or Laos would open up or travel bubbles would take place. Now I need to come up with a new plan.

 

 

[vermin on arrival]

1 hour ago, Caldera said:

The Bangkok Post article (that we cannot link to here) has that crystal clear. Those who intend to leave have to do so by September 26th and don't need to contact immigration. Everyone else needs to secure an extension before that deadline.

 

Yes, once you read the BKK Post article it is crystal clear. Thanks ????

[DrJack54]

36 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Everyone uses the term "Visa extension" , no one ever says *Permission to stay extension*.

I would even say that 100 % of people use these terms

Foolish folk use the term visa extension. 

We cut tourists slack. Folk that live here should use correct terms.

[Okis]

I wonder if those with expired non-o's that wasnt lucky and already required extensions based on thai spouse and visit family now will be forced to go on these 30 day extensions instead of 60 day and 1 year extensions and then leave in september unless their embassy provides letters for them? 

 

There's cases here on TV where they turned people away and told them to come back in the end of the current amnesty to do their extensions then instead. Bummer for those people if this is the case. 

[drbeach]

7 hours ago, edwinchester said:

Not entirely clear reading that but assuming I have until Sept 26th to apply for a 60 day extension to my non-o multi entry that ran out on June 4th leaving me on amnesty.

If so gives me a little linger to prepare for a one year extension of stay which is useful.

I'm in exactly the same boat and my 90 day stamp ran out on the exact same date as yours, June 4th.

[drbeach]

Just now, Okis said:

I wonder if those with expired non-o's that wasnt lucky and already required extensions based on thai spouse and visit family now will be forced to go on these 30 day extensions instead of 60 day and 1 year extensions and then leave in september unless their embassy provides letters for them? 

 

There's cases here on TV where they turned people away and told them to come back in the end of the current amnesty to do their extensions then instead. Bummer for those people if this is the case. 

No, these people can likely do their 60 day extensions anytime prior to the expiration of this period and then a 1-year extension within those 60 days.