How far in advance of expiry of my SETV should I make my ed visa application?

[Badger18]

I am in Chiang Mai and have an SETV which expires early Feb. I now have the MOE approval letter that is required for an ed visa application. How long can I safely leave it before making the application?

 

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

You have to have at least 15 days (Chiang Mai 21 days) remaining on your permit to stay from the visa or the 30 day extension of it to do the application. See: https://bangkokimmigration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/03.pdf

 

[Badger18]

Better get a wriggle on then. If I were to extend the tourist visa, do you think there's any chance they'd put the extension stamp on my one remaining blank page? The entry stamp is at the top of a new page with the TM6 stapled to it, so just underneath is the obvious place to put the extension stamp and that would leave room. I'd be sunk if they put it on the fully blank page though.

[jackdd]

4 minutes ago, Badger18 said:

Better get a wriggle on then. If I were to extend the tourist visa, do you think there's any chance they'd put the extension stamp on my one remaining blank page? The entry stamp is at the top of a new page with the TM6 stapled to it, so just underneath is the obvious place to put the extension stamp and that would leave room. I'd be sunk if they put it on the fully blank page though.

Conversion to non-immigrant visa requires 1.5 pages, so if you have only 1 page left now you have a problem and should hurry to get a new passport asap.

[Badger18]

3 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Conversion to non-immigrant visa requires 1.5 pages, so if you have only 1 page left now you have a problem and should hurry to get a new passport asap.

I know. I'm waiting to get the 90 days so that there's plenty of time for it to go through. I couldn't do it when I was in the UK because they were only taking applications from people with a special reason to travel at that point. I have 3 pages that are mostly blank but one of the conversion stamps is a full page and I only have one full page left.

[ubonjoe]

20 minutes ago, Badger18 said:

I have 3 pages that are mostly blank but one of the conversion stamps is a full page and I only have one full page left.

I think can be done on the partial pages. You get a visa stamp that is about half a page vertically but I have seen them done horizontal. The there is a new entry stamp that is about a quarter of a page.

If you can get another passport during the 90 days you would be OK and if not there should still be enough for the extension stamp in the old one.

[Badger18]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You get a visa stamp that is about half a page vertically but I have seen them done horizontal.

Aha. Sounds like the "full-page stamp" that I'm looking at is actually two separate stamps that just happen to be lined up very neatly!