BREAKING NEWS Tourists to get unlimited 30-day extensions to stay after ‘visa amnesty’ ends

[snoop1130]

Tourists to get unlimited 30-day extensions to stay after ‘visa amnesty’ ends

By The Phuket News

 

Immigration Deputy Commander Maj Gen Pornchai Khuntee announced the news at a press conference held at the Immigration Bureau headquarters in Bangkok today (Sept 3). Screenshot: Immigration Bureau / Facebook

 

PHUKET:-- Foreigners staying in the country on any form of tourist visa will be allowed to repeatedly renew their permits to stay with immigration for periods of 30 days at a time after the ‘visa amnesty’ ends on Sept 26, the Immigration Bureau announced today (Sept 3).

 

Immigration Deputy Commander Maj Gen Pornchai Khuntee announced the news at a press conference held at the Immigration Bureau headquarters in Bangkok, saying that the Cabinet had approved the move.

 

Gen Pornchai explained that any tourists unable to return home after Sept 26 due to illness are to apply for an extension to stay by applying at an Immigration office and presenting a medical certificate to prove they are unfit to fly.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/tourists-to-get-unlimited-30-day-extensions-to-stay-after-visa-amnesty-ends-77201.php

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2020-09-03

 

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[DrTuner]

So .. every 30d from September 26th the immigration offices will be packed and deserted in the meanwhile? Can't they just do the "amnesty" until further notice, with the 30 days at the end when travel normalizes, instead of creating bureaucratic mess.

[richard_smith237]

A VERY misleading headline - the ‘extension’ is for those with a Medical Certificate proving they are unfit to fly or those with a letter from their Embassy explaining why they cannot fly. 

 

 

The existing Visa Amnesty remains the same and ends on September 26th. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2020 by richard_smith237

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A VERY misleading headline - the ‘extension’ is for those with a Medical Certificate proving they are unfit to fly. 

 

 

The report also states 

 

However, those who are unable to return home due to lack of flights or other circumstances in their home country must present a letter from their home country’s embassy or consulate in Thailand requesting that the foreign be allowed to continue to temporarily stay in the Kingdom, Gen Pornchai added."

 

  So, as long as your Embassy issues you a letter, anyone should be able to stay for an extendable 30 days 

[YetAnother]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A VERY misleading headline - the ‘extension’ is for those with a Medical Certificate proving they are unfit to fly or those with a letter from their Embassy explaining why they cannot fly. 

yes, AND no posting the expense, another thai money grab based on spurious logic

[CorpusChristie]

1 minute ago, YetAnother said:

yes, AND no posting the expense, another thai money grab based on spurious logic

Highly likely to be the usual 1900 Baht per 30 days 

[keith101]

10 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

The report also states 

 

However, those who are unable to return home due to lack of flights or other circumstances in their home country must present a letter from their home country’s embassy or consulate in Thailand requesting that the foreign be allowed to continue to temporarily stay in the Kingdom, Gen Pornchai added."

 

  So, as long as your Embassy issues you a letter, anyone should be able to stay for an extendable 30 days 

I contacted the Aus Embassy and got a email reply as follows     

Visa Letters:

 

Given how difficult it is to secure a flight to Australia, the Embassy has decided to assist in issuing letters to support people applying to extend their Thai visas. It is not the role of the Australian Government to be saying who should or shouldn’t stay in Thailand, that’s up to Thai Immigration; however, given Thai officials are reluctant to make these decisions without our involvement, we have decided to issue the letters for two categories of Australians:

 

1.      If you are transitioning from a short term tourist visa to a long term visa, Thai Immigration generally want a letter from us to allow you to do so. We are happy to do so as long as you can show us evidence that you’ve applied for a long term visa; or

2.      If you have had flights booked and cancelled, your next flight is after 26 September and you can show us evidence of this, we will also provide you with a letter to support your visa extension.

 

  So any other reason such as the one i was told by my local im office because i am on a ME O Visa valid till 4th January 2021 is not covered .

 

If i am forced to leave Thailand because they closed the borders making it impossible to exit/re-enter and get a 90 day stamp then i will definitely never return , to my wife and home + family and F them all .

Edited September 3, 2020 by keith101

[CorpusChristie]

A very sensible  and logical decision by Thai Immigration .

(I would also like to go on record and state this is exactly what I predicted that they would do )

[Oldie]

This unfit to fly certificate you can get at any clinic? Reminds me when I needed a health certificate for my driver's license. I went to a small clinic and told them that I need such a certificate. The lady at the reception said 100 Baht and after 10 Minutes I received it. I never saw the doctor. Is this the same with this certificate?

[thanaka]

14 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Well looks like all the "Thailand hates farangs" and "Immigration just want all dirty farang to leave" brigade have a lot of egg on their posts.

Next time you give your opinion to an article at least read it

 

Quote

 

However, those who are unable to return home due to lack of flights or other circumstances in their home country must present a letter from their home country’s embassy or consulate in Thailand requesting that the foreign be allowed to continue to temporarily stay in the Kingdom, Gen Pornchai added.

 

Gen Pornchai did warn that the visa amnesty for all visa types will end on Sept 26.

 

 

tldr; Headline is misleading. Extension is conditional. It was already known that with a letter from your embassy you could extend your stay. Nothing changed.

Edited September 3, 2020 by thanaka

[JeffersLos]

10:000 posts.

 

How to convert expired multiple non-immigrant to tourist visa. ????

[trucking]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Gen Pornchai explained that any tourists unable to return home after Sept 26 due to illness are to apply for an extension to stay by applying at an Immigration office and presenting a medical certificate to prove they are unfit to fly.

 

Ah so, herpes might come in useful after all.

[jackdd]

2 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

10:000 posts.

 

How to convert expired multiple non-immigrant to tourist visa. ????

Somebody who entered with a non-immigrant visa can apply for the same extensions, this is not limited to tourists.

The headline is of course very misleading

[mr mr]

26 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

So .. every 30d from September 26th the immigration offices will be packed and deserted in the meanwhile? Can't they just do the "amnesty" until further notice, with the 30 days at the end when travel normalizes, instead of creating bureaucratic mess.

how much per extension x number of people extending = cha ching. 

[jackdd]

14 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

A very sensible  and logical decision by Thai Immigration .

(I would also like to go on record and state this is exactly what I predicted that they would do )

What did they do? They announced the same things in July, and the laws/regulations exist since years.

[CorpusChristie]

Just now, jackdd said:

What did they do? They announced the same things in July, and the laws/regulations exist since years.

The previous law stated that we could all stay on the visa amnesty freely without extending our visas .

  This new law states we have to get 30 day extensions with a letter from the Embassy , back to how it was last March 

[Oldie]

2 minutes ago, jackdd said:

What did they do? They announced the same things in July, and the laws/regulations exist since years.

I think this unfit to fly certificate is new. Should be easy to get I think. 

[jackdd]

3 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

The previous law stated that we could all stay on the visa amnesty freely without extending our visas .

  This new law states we have to get 30 day extensions with a letter from the Embassy , back to how it was last March 

That's what they announced end of July, sounds identical to what they announced now

[Daithi85]

Not much good if embassies are not giving out letters, something visa agents will probably be able to sort out tho.

[edwardandtubs]

9 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

Not much good if embassies are not giving out letters, something visa agents will probably be able to sort out tho.

Agents are already selling 1-month medical visas for 6000 each so hopefully they'll have a more reasonable price for this new "unfit to fly" extension.

[Don Mega]

45 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Highly likely to be the usual 1900 Baht per 30 days 

Great.... I await the forum being flooded with moaners saying unfair it is to be charged for an extension....

[DrTuner]

50 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Highly likely to be the usual 1900 Baht per 30 days 

I think it was 400,000 that will have their permits expire .. 400,000 * 1,900 = 760M baht. Ok then, now it's obvious why they want people to go to offices. $.

Edited September 3, 2020 by DrTuner

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

This is nothing new.  It's how it was before.  If you didn't need to an embassy letter and all the red tape it would be fine.  

[Susco]

49 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Well looks like all the "Thailand hates farangs" and "Immigration just want all dirty farang to leave" brigade have a lot of egg on their posts.

 

I hope you are the first to be send home.

 

By the way, why you changed from the blue hulk avatar?..........Oh wait I see you not only changed avatar

[audaciousnomad]

32 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

The previous law stated that we could all stay on the visa amnesty freely without extending our visas .

  This new law states we have to get 30 day extensions with a letter from the Embassy , back to how it was last March 

 

4 minutes ago, JacksSmirkingRevenge said:

This is nothing new.  It's how it was before.  If you didn't need to an embassy letter and all the red tape it would be fine.  

The Embassy Letter requirement will not be removed. They need it to maintain pressure, and also you should expect to see some ads in the near future of agencies helping you to do a "no hassle" 30-day extension for a fee, in case your country is not issuing these letters. ????

[BritTim]

Nothing new ... except Immigration trying to remove speculation that the prime minister is planning to do something for stranded tourists who do not want to leave. Wait to see if there are announcements on the cabinet meeting to consider the matter.

[CorpusChristie]

4 minutes ago, JacksSmirkingRevenge said:

This is nothing new.  It's how it was before.  If you didn't need to an embassy letter and all the red tape it would be fine.  

There may be a considerable difference .

You may now have to give a valid reason to your Embassy as to why you need to stay in Thailand in order to get the letter and you may also have to give a valid reason to I.O as to why you want/need to stay .

  Or maybe they will just issue the letters and give the extensions without questioning the reasons 

[scammed]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

A VERY misleading headline - the ‘extension’ is for those with a Medical Certificate proving they are unfit to fly or those with a letter from their Embassy explaining why they cannot fly. 

 

 

The existing Visa Amnesty remains the same and ends on September 26th. 

 

 

 

 

thanks for pointing that out,

its good someone here read beyond the headline

Edited September 3, 2020 by scammed

[2 is 1]

1 minute ago, scammed said:

thanks for pointing that out,

its good someone here read beyond the headline

Yeah, normaly good to read more than just headline! Hole news is "duck" nothing new only put nice "glazing"! Like they have really think about situation, but nothing change what was before!

[CorpusChristie]

11 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Nothing new ... except Immigration trying to remove speculation that the prime minister is planning to do something for stranded tourists who do not want to leave. Wait to see if there are announcements on the cabinet meeting to consider the matter.

Could even be read as the I.O confirming that the free amnesty will NOT be extended ?