In Thailand on a tourist visa. Can I get a STV at a Thai Immigration office? Looking for the best way to stay as long as possible

[jvjv]

Did anyone come on a Tourist visa to Thailand recently, then successfully applied for a STV visa at the Thai immigration office?

I want to stay as long as possible (to be with my girlfriend. I do not work, and I certainly do not qualify for a retirement visa).
I find forms on the Thai immigration website where I should fill in the number of days I wish to request for my extension. I am not sure what the maximum is that I could fill in there. These are also normal extension forms, and do not specifically name STV. I only find STV info on the website of the embassy in my home country, where I could apply in the case when I was in my home country (including ASQ etc etc, but I have gone through all that). I cannot find the process described anywhere for people who are already in Thailand. (STV became only available right after I got my tourist visa, unfortunately...)

I never went to a Thai immigration office before. Can I go there and talk with the officers about what my best choice is, and then fill in the forms there? (my girlfriend could explain the situation in Thai).
Any answers here could help to save time and misunderstandings (language barrier) at the office.  Are they helpful and understanding, or do they expect you to show up with filled in forms and no difficult questions?

To make things more complicated... I read about the Covid extensions, but I don't understand that, since I am not stuck because of Covid (I came here recently and can easily fly back to my country whenever I like).

Then there is also the normal extension for tourist visa. It was one month, but I believe they made it 45 days now, so you get your 15 quarantine days back.  This is nice, but STV sounds way better.
(The Covid extension does not seem to be interesting for me, since I could stay until the end of march on the 45 days normal tourist visa extension)

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

[ubonjoe]

You cannot apply for a STV at a immigration office. They are only issued by Thai embassies and official consulates in your home country or country of legal residence.

 

Edit: The 45 days is what you get now from a visa exempt entry. The standard extension of a tourist visa or visa exempt entry is still 30 days.

You can apply for a the 60 day covid extension at immigration. You do not have to prove you are "stuck here". You simply complete a affidavit immigration will give you with tick boxes for the reason your want the extension.

[jackdd]

7 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

You can apply for a the 60 day covid extension at immigration.

He would most likely only get the regular 30 day extension when applying for the first time, and only after he has used this one up would they give him the 60 day Covid extension. Might of course vary depending on the immigration office, this is no written rule.

[jvjv]

Thanks for the replies. Too bad if I can't get the STV.
I guess I start with requesting 60 days (and otherwise 45 or 30).. And then try to do it again whenever that expires.

[jvjv]

So I went to the immigration office yesterday with my tm.7 form, passport etc, as specified on
https://www.immigration.go.th under section Visa extension - In the case of tourism purposes.

They didn't even want to consider looking at it, they pointed at a document on the wall with the required documents for 2.28 extension. Which is some other type of extension. And that one needs a lot more documents that I did not prepare.

My girlfriend says it is a problem that I stayed with her in the apartment we rented. I had to register my place of residence within 24 hours (staying a month here now). She says i get a fine, unless we tell them I lived at her families house first, and just moved to this apartment. Does this make sense?

We go back on Monday, together with the landlord. They say I get 60 days extension, which would be fantastic of course.
(But I don't think I get it, since I need a letter from the embassy according to the file on their wall)

I am super confused. I think I have to forget that I am on a tourist visa, and look at the 60 day Covid extension requirements only. Every source of information on tourist visa extension seems like a trap of outdated information that does not help me at all.
 

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, jvjv said:

They didn't even want to consider looking at it, they pointed at a document on the wall with the required documents for 2.28 extension.

That is for an extension at the request of a embassy and it is not longer being used.

They are probably thinking you want a 60 day covid 19 extension that is not in any clause of the immigration order. They are done under article 5 of it.

[Mamertian]

Hi, sorry for hijacking the thread, but I'm in a similar situation and completely lost... It's possible to apply for a covid extension being in Thailand with a visa exempt entry? Either the 30-day or covid extension, it will start counting the day I request it or I can do in advance?

 

I'm doing the ASQ right now, should I register my residence as soon as I finish it (gf rented condo)?

 

Thanks!

[ubonjoe]

8 hours ago, Mamertian said:

Hi, sorry for hijacking the thread, but I'm in a similar situation and completely lost... It's possible to apply for a covid extension being in Thailand with a visa exempt entry? Either the 30-day or covid extension, it will start counting the day I request it or I can do in advance?

 

I'm doing the ASQ right now, should I register my residence as soon as I finish it (gf rented condo)?

You can apply for a 30 day extension or a 60 day covoid 19 extension. The extension will start from the end of your 45 day entry.

Your girlfriend should do a TM30 report of you arriving at her residence.

[jvjv]

I went to the immigration office again today. They gave me 30 day extension for 1900 thb. (the normal tourist visa extension). I requested 60 days on the tm.7 form.

Before that, my landlord registered that I stay at this address, and I submitted this proof with the visa (it is a paper attached to my visa in the passport now).
I rent a condo on my girlfriends name, since she will live here for at least a year, and I will live here only for the time I am allowed to stay. I am still confused as to why I had to register where I stay. It could be miscommunication. I believe that on a tourist visa you can be a tourist and stay at a different hotel every night, right? And still get the 30 days extension.

So I still can't give a clear roadmap, only tell you what I got right now. If you are going to settle down at one place, you could register that as soon as possible at the immigration. If you do it after 45 days or so, and go for the extension in the same immigration visit,  you could consider to pretend that you just (last 24 hours) arrived at that place. That is what I did. As described above they make me believe it is important to register within 24 hours, but I still don't know why that is important for a tourist. I hope your girlfriend or landlord will find out some clear answers.

I will go back after 4-5 weeks, when this extension expires. I hope I can get the 60 day Covid extension then. But no idea what I should expect.
If someone arrived around December 2020 like me on a 60 day tourist visa, I am of course very glad to hear if you got a 60 day Covid extension already?

Now the only decision I have to make is to re book my return flight. I have to do it within 2 weeks, and I have to choose to set it at either the extension date I got today, or 60 days later (assuming that I get 60 more days...)
If anyone has a creative solution for staying longer, please share. I feel like a work visa is the best choice for a long stay, but I don't aspire to work full time for a company. Anyone heard about a company arranging work visa for a part time job (2-3 work days per week)?

 

[jvjv]

And thanks a lot for the quick answers ubonjoe!

The TM30 that Ubonjoe mentioned is the key here, you should look that up. I learned about it today.
"all properties that have non-Thai nationals living on their premises must register them with the immigration department"
 

[DrJack54]

15 minutes ago, jvjv said:

If anyone has a creative solution for staying longer, please share. I feel like a work visa is the best choice for a long stay, but I don't aspire to work full time for a company.

No offense but you didn't look into options very much prior to arrival.

Others may have more creative advice. Mine is to obtain ongoing 60 day covid extensions. They have  hassles, however many are using them.

Next option would be to use agent to obtain you a non O (based on volunteering) along with the 12 month extension. Note  you don't do any volunteering. Not cheap, maybe 45k however trouble free ongoing stay.

Rebook your return date flight within time frame or chuck the flight ticket.

[jvjv]

Thanks, I did not know that is possible and I don't think the 45k is that much (for example compared to Elite visa for 5 years, or to the price of my ASQ that I needed for this potentially short visit). If you can very comfortably plan your stay, flights, etc, etc. That is worth something!

Prior to arrival I skipped all options that do not make sense to me (medical: no, student: no, etc), but of course most of them could become an option if you really want to. Initially I was against the bull<deleted>ting (like a visa based on volunteering without volunteering ??). But I am changing now to "whatever visa can make me stay without much hassle and without being super overpriced".
That said: my idea was to stay a few months in Thailand, then go back to Europe to sell stuff and sort things out there, and then come back to Thailand for a long while. But for now I wouldn't mind to postpone my return for many months. So for this trip, I only focused on how to actually get here (with the ASQ COE PTRtests F2F stuff), rather then how to actually stay long. But before I return, I hope to have figured out my plan for the next visit.
 

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Mamertian]

16 hours ago, jvjv said:

I went to the immigration office again today. They gave me 30 day extension for 1900 thb. (the normal tourist visa extension). I requested 60 days on the tm.7 form.

 

Do Inmigration always force to "spend" the 30-day extension before start getting 60-day covid extensions?

 

If I do in that order, my visa will expire on mid April, so I'm not sure if I would still be able to request covid extension(s)...

[jvjv]

Unfortunately, I am not sure. (I wish I could understand the procedure)

As far as I understand (and as long as I cannot find a crystal clear roadmap), there could be one officer who says no, and another who says yes.
So I would definitely try to request the Covid extension specifically, and don't agree on another one. But then you have to be willing to visit (different?) immigration more then once...