30-day extension with embassy letter

[RCoz]

UbonJoe,

Can I go from the 30-day extension to an Elite Visa or must I leave the country first? I have applied for the Elite Visa, but will most likely get an answer after I have went from a non-immigrant O-A retirement visa to the 30-day extension on the 27th. My current permission to stay stamp in my passport ends on the 24th of September. 
Thanks for any insight you can provide. 

[BritTim]

In principle, a Thailand Elite visa will be possible without leaving the country. However, it is debatable whether you will have time to get the application approved and pay in time (before October 26) if you have not already started the process.

[RCoz]

In principle, a Thailand Elite visa will be possible without leaving the country. However, it is debatable whether you will have time to get the application approved and pay in time (before October 26) if you have not already started the process.
 

Thanks BritTim. I applied on the 19th of August, so I hope to hear back in the next week or two. Today I took the letter from the U.S. embassy to IO in Chiang Khan and received the 30-day temporary stay stamp. They only needed the embassy letter and a copy of the email itself since it is electronically generated. The IO did say they would only grant the 30-day temporary stay one time.

Edited September 14, 2020 by RCoz

[2530Ubon]

28 minutes ago, RCoz said:

They only needed the embassy letter and a copy of the email itself since it is electronically generated. The IO did say they would only grant the 30-day temporary stay one time.

That's interesting, I read that they were giving unlimited extensions. Did they mean they would give you 30 days with this embassy letter, then you would need a fresh letter for another extension?

 

Here's the report;

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1180834-tourists-to-get-unlimited-30-day-extensions-to-stay-after-‘visa-amnesty’-ends/?tab=comments#comment-15778002

 

[RCoz]

I took that to mean unlimited with regards to medically unfit to fly. 
The IO said they would not entertain a second temporary stay even if I had a new letter from the embassy.

[2530Ubon]

This forum member has managed to springboard from an embassy letter visa to another visa type, so it's looking good for your case! May i ask, which IO did you visit, was it Ubon? I'd like to know as i may be applying for embassy letter(s) later and am planning what to do!

 

Quote;

Hi Peter Denis.My wife got a call from our local IO this afternoon asking that we go in tomorrow as my application for the special 30 day extension has been approved and that I will be able to apply for the one year extension based on marriage with money in the bank method when the 2 months maturation has been achieved.I'll keep you posted about the outcome. 

Edited 12 minutes ago by FarFlungFalang

 

 

[RCoz]

Very good! I used the IO in Chiang Khan, Loei Province. I did not complete an application, just in and out with 30 day special extension on the same day. They did want to see a copy of the email itself from the embassy and kept two copies of the letter, email, two photos and requisite copies of passport.

[Peter Denis]

13 hours ago, RCoz said:

Very good! I used the IO in Chiang Khan, Loei Province. I did not complete an application, just in and out with 30 day special extension on the same day. They did want to see a copy of the email itself from the embassy and kept two copies of the letter, email, two photos and requisite copies of passport.

Hi, you also wrote > The IO did say they would only grant the 30-day temporary stay one time.

There have been other IOs stating same.

But the important thing would be whether your local IO would allow you to use that 'special' extension of stay as a spring-board to later apply for a 'regular' extension of stay.

The post by FarFlungFalang (copied in post #6) confirmed that his Yasothon IO would be willing to do so.  But there are reports from other IOs where the IO refuses to handle any regular application after having applied for a 'special' extension of stay, as they consider it a Waiting Room extension until you are able to leave the country.

[Max69xl]

16 hours ago, 2530Ubon said:

This forum member has managed to springboard from an embassy letter visa to another visa type, so it's looking good for your case! May i ask, which IO did you visit, was it Ubon? I'd like to know as i may be applying for embassy letter(s) later and am planning what to do!

 

Quote;

Hi Peter Denis.My wife got a call from our local IO this afternoon asking that we go in tomorrow as my application for the special 30 day extension has been approved and that I will be able to apply for the one year extension based on marriage with money in the bank method when the 2 months maturation has been achieved.I'll keep you posted about the outcome. 

Edited 12 minutes ago by FarFlungFalang

 

 

"This forum member has managed to springboard from an embassy letter visa to another visa type"

He got a 30 days extension based on the embassy letter, not a Visa. He's applying for a Thai Elite Card, but that's another story. 

[FarFlungFalang]

1 hour ago, Peter Denis said:

Hi, you also wrote > The IO did say they would only grant the 30-day temporary stay one time.

There have been other IOs stating same.

But the important thing would be whether your local IO would allow you to use that 'special' extension of stay as a spring-board to later apply for a 'regular' extension of stay.

The post by FarFlungFalang (copied in post #6) confirmed that his Yasothon IO would be willing to do so.  But there are reports from other IOs where the IO refuses to handle any regular application after having applied for a 'special' extension of stay, as they consider it a Waiting Room extension until you are able to leave the country.

Hi Peter I've just got back from Yasothon IO and successfully got my 30 extension and was told to now get my documents ready for the 1 year extension based on marriage with money in the bank and come back an apply when the money in the bank has matured for the 2 months.I got a stamp with permission to stay and a receipt of notification.

Edited September 15, 2020 by FarFlungFalang

[Peter Denis]

21 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

"This forum member has managed to springboard from an embassy letter visa to another visa type"

He got a 30 days extension based on the embassy letter, not a Visa. He's applying for a Thai Elite Card, but that's another story. 

@FarFlungFalang >

 

18 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Hi Peter I've just got back from Yasothon IO and successfully got my 30 extension and was told to now get my documents ready for the 1 year extension based on marriage with money in the bank and come back an apply when the money in the bank has matured for the 2 months.I got a stamp with permission to stay and a receipt of notification.

HI @FarFlungFalang, thanks for the report!

For sake of clarity < see post #9 > was the 30-day extension of stay you applied for

based on

a) The 'regular' 30-days of stay extension a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa can provide you

OR

b) The Embassy Letter with request to provide you with a 'special' extension of stay?

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Peter Denis

[FarFlungFalang]

2 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

@FarFlungFalang >

 

HI, thanks from the report!

For sake of clarity < see post #9 > was the 30-day extension of stay you applied for

based on

a) The 'regular' 30-days of stay extension a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa can provide you

OR

b) The Embassy Letter with request to provide you with a 'special' extension of stay?

 

Sorry I thought I put it in.It's with the Embassy Letter special extension. 

[Franta]

3 hours ago, Peter Denis said:

@FarFlungFalang >

 

HI @FarFlungFalang, thanks for the report!

For sake of clarity < see post #9 > was the 30-day extension of stay you applied for

based on

a) The 'regular' 30-days of stay extension a Visa Exempt or Tourist Visa can provide you

OR

b) The Embassy Letter with request to provide you with a 'special' extension of stay?

 

I am confused. Could you point me to any case where the "The 'regular' 30-days of stay extension a Visa Exempt ...", happened during the amnesty period? As my understanding is that the amnesty basically excluded this option...

[Peter Denis]

17 minutes ago, Franta said:

I am confused. Could you point me to any case where the "The 'regular' 30-days of stay extension a Visa Exempt ...", happened during the amnesty period? As my understanding is that the amnesty basically excluded this option...

Hi Franta,

Attached a link to a post of 2 weeks ago >

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1179669-new-from-us-embassy-official-extension-stamp-to-change-to-long-term-visa/?do=findComment&comment=15776119

In that post I outlined how to apply for the regular 30-days extension of stay if you did not use that one yet when having entered Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa.  Some IOs refuse to handle such application, but an applicant in Ubon Ratchathani successfully applied for that regular 30-day extension of stay as spring-board for his subsequent 1-year extension of stay application.

The link to his original post is included in the post linked above.

 

But FarFlungFalang (see post above) confirmed that at his IO in Yasothon, IO confirmed they would handle his application for the 1-year extension of stay, after having applied using the Embassy letter  for the 'special' extension of stay.

 

So, you need to enquire at your local IO about your options, and in case of no success you could consider relocating to a province with a more accommodating IO to handle your application.