Business Travelers

[girlx]

if someone is staying long term in thailand and has to fly to a place like hong kong once or twice a month for business, soon their visa-on-arivals will have been used up and then what sort of options would they have? anyone in the situation of going into and out of thailand often like that?

[Crossy]

There is no limit to the number of visa exemption entries you can have, just a limit to the number of days you can be in the Kingdom without a pukka visa, so you can go in and out as often as you like

That said, someone staying long term in Thailand will likely have a visa anyway although re-entry permits may be necessary to prevent using up limited entries (tourist visa).

[sriracha john]

Most long-term Thailand stayers that are also "Business Travelers" obtain a Non-B with a work permit from a surrounding country or from their home country on one of their "travels" home.

[ercorn]

I have the same problem and what I do is get a tourist visa and re entry permit in Bangkok I only use VOA visa-exempt entry when I obsulutely have to.

Aust citizen.

regrds Ercorn

//Edit: corrected visa terminology to prevent confusion.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Maestro

[girlx]

how do you get a re-entry permit? if the company is not in thailand how could you get a B visa for it?

[ovenman]

how do you get a re-entry permit?

You apply for one at an immigrations office. See re-entry permit.

if the company is not in thailand how could you get a B visa for it?

The implication is that many regional business travelers are also conducting business in Thailand and therefore have a non-immigrant 'B' visa to do so (oftentimes a multiple-entry non-'B' visa).

[girlx]

hmm the company is not in thailand, no business being done in thailand... this person just wants to stay long term here but will have to fly to hong kong once or twice a month to work there. it looks like he is restricted to visa-on-arrivals and will not be able to stay long term in thailand after his 180 days are used up. is this correct?

[Krub]

hmm the company is not in thailand, no business being done in thailand... this person just wants to stay long term here but will have to fly to hong kong once or twice a month to work there. it looks like he is restricted to visa-on-arrivals and will not be able to stay long term in thailand after his 180 days are used up. is this correct?

If this person does not fly out of Thailand, on what grounds, what type of visa would she be staying in Thailand under ?

Without any type of visa, that person could stay in Thailand for 90 days in a block of 180, the number of exits/entries is unlimited.

Why not obtain a tourist visa (assuming that no work will be perfomed in Thailand and only performed in Hongkong) in Hongkong and then obtain a re-entry permit to cover any in/out of Thailand ?

[mouse]

NO COMMENT!!!!

Edited May 25, 2007 by mouse

[astral]

if someone is staying long term in thailand and has to fly to a place like hong kong once or twice a month for business, ..........

Anyone "staying long term" will be able to apply for a re-entry permit under their current visa.

So you hypothetical situation does not arise.

[sriracha john]

hmm the company is not in thailand, no business being done in thailand... this person just wants to stay long term here but will have to fly to hong kong once or twice a month to work there. it looks like he is restricted to visa-on-arrivals and will not be able to stay long term in thailand after his 180 days are used up. is this correct?

If this person does not fly out of Thailand, on what grounds, what type of visa would she be staying in Thailand under ?

Without any type of visa, that person could stay in Thailand for 90 days in a block of 180, the number of exits/entries is unlimited.

Why not obtain a tourist visa (assuming that no work will be perfomed in Thailand and only performed in Hongkong) in Hongkong and then obtain a re-entry permit to cover any in/out of Thailand ?

"Aye.... that's the rub"

The work is likely being performed in Thailand....

[girlx]

NO COMMENT!!!!

that's a comment.

it's a hong kong company that wants this guy to come work onsite, no work done in thailand. but he doesn't want to live there. can't get a tourist visa for thailand in hong kong so he would have to re-enter thailand once or twice a month on visa on arrivals... sounds like after 90 days in a 6 month period are used up he either has to go elsewhere for 90 days or go get a tourist visa from someone else eh? and if he gets the tourist visa he can apply for a re-entry permit every time he leaves? ...thanks for the info!

[lopburi3]

Why can't he get a tourist visa in Hong Kong? They do issue them. Full details including application form is at this link:

http://www.thai-consulate.org.hk/ENG/ThaiC...Visa/vsmenu.htm

[Moonfruit]

If this guy/girl wants to reside in Thailand, and go work in HK, then he/she needs to be on a proper visa for residing here (that is, if they really want that home to be stable/permanent).

That means that they have limited choices, and if they dont meet the criteria for those visa's, they should choose to reside elsewhere where the visa requirements arent so stringent. Singapore has unlimited VOA's for instance.

[dekka007]

This is similar to my situation. So what you are saying is HK can issue a Thai Tourist Visa (Multiple or Single Entry) then when you are in Thailand you apply for a Re-Entry permit?

1. What is a Re-Entry Permit?

2. How does a Re-entry Permit work with a tourist visa?

3. What are the costs for it.

4. How many can I get?

Thanks. Other option is booked back to the UK Next week for a 1 year Non-O. But working in HK every week the above solution interests me.

[girlx]

oh, thanks lopburi- on another thread people were saying you couldn't get a thailand visa in hong kong

i also am interested in the re-entry permit info

[sriracha john]

oh, thanks lopburi- on another thread people were saying you couldn't get a thailand visa in hong kong

Can you point out for us what thread that was?

I've gone back over several months and did not find one single post (let alone the plural "people") that said you couldn't get a tourist visa for Thailand in Hong Kong.

[lopburi3]

This is similar to my situation. So what you are saying is HK can issue a Thai Tourist Visa (Multiple or Single Entry) then when you are in Thailand you apply for a Re-Entry permit?

1. What is a Re-Entry Permit?

2. How does a Re-entry Permit work with a tourist visa?

3. What are the costs for it.

4. How many can I get?

Thanks. Other option is booked back to the UK Next week for a 1 year Non-O. But working in HK every week the above solution interests me.

1. An immigration stamp that keeps your current permitted to stay alive if you travel outside of Thailand - you put the stamp information on your new arrival card and get stamped in for the same date you previously had.

2. Same as an extension of stay or any other visa - as in para 1 above.

3. Cost is 1,000 baht single entry or 3,800 baht multi entry. As they are only valid for the period of your current permitted to stay stamp the multi entry would be cost effective only for those with one year extensions of stay and who travel often (more than 4 trips a year).

4. As many as you need - be remember it does not extend your stay in any way - it only allows you to return and use the permitted to stay days you already had - it does not subtract the days away and provide you a new permitted to stay until date.

[wandinhk]

I have been reading thai visa for a few months now, and im amazed at the low quality of most posters replies. It seems most people reply to peoples questions with a blantant disregard for their intelligence, insult other people, or provide very poor partial answers.

If you will both to post, then please make it useful or do your proper research with real facts and life experience.

Now to help the person who originally posted, here is the best information that I have available

(some background, I am a Canadian citizen, Hong kong resident for 7 years, on a corporate residency permit in HK, and I have been posted from HK to Thailand on expat for several year recently; I do my homework, both legally as well as practically (which is just as important in Thailand where the law never reflects reality totally)).

Facts:

1. You are a long term resident of Thailand, but often travel to HK for work.

2. You are employed

3. You work in hk sometimes

missing information critical to give an answer:

1. do u provide work services in thailand?

2. do you do #1 above legitimately?

3. Do you work in Hk as a business traveller or as someone 'employed' in hk?

If you are really 'working' in thailand, but commutting to hk, then u have no rights to be based or work out of thai, nor hk. That SAID, UR HOME or employement country may be able to give u a business visa to work/travel/reside in either place. you did not specifiy your country of employment, as welll as citizenship, which makes providing aun accurate answer impossible

Facts for Thai visas:

Assuming you come from a major western country:

a. Thailand embassy in HK will give you a tourist visa on 1-2 days notice without too much issue. you will need to pay a small fee. They will give u a sheet of info they require ( it is not unreasonable nor difficult).

b. if u are employed on a hk contract in hk but work in thai, u need a copy of your hk company registration, an invitation letter from a thai partner company or client, an address u will conduct business at (eg. client office), and your hk residency permit. note in order to get a Thai non-immigrant B visa for an Hk employment contract you normally need to be a HK resident ( temp or perm).

c. if u are going back and forth to thai without a legimate residency in hk or thai nor work permit in either place, then the following applies:

(i) In Thailand, if u do not get tourist visa, it means you are applying for Visa exemptions every time you arrive in tha (30 day non-reentry visa). You can keep doing this without limit in thailand for a rolling 6 month window from the first time u enter rthai after oct 1, 2006 as long as you do not exceed 90 days in a 180 period. if you do, u have problems. sometimes the immigration dept staff at airport get confused by this rule and it takes u a few hours and escalation to correct them (according to other people, i have never had an issue).

(ii) or going in/out of thailand often, wher u know u will be in more than 90 days in a 180 day period, just apply for a tourist visa in hk when u are there BEFORe the period when u know u are less likely to travel in/out of thai in the near future the next time u return to thai. The days u spend on a 60 day tourist visa are NOT counted on item (i) above.

(iii) if u cannot do (ii) above (eg. you really do travel 2 times a month to HK for a total of less than 15 days / month in HK) then u really do have a difficult problem. you have no rights in either place (eg, not a resident/employee in hk - so no HK ID card which means u cannot APPLY for a non-imm B class O visa in HK, and no non-tourist rights in thai). In this case the only option available to you is ot get your employer in your employer country to sponsor u for a non-imm B class O visa in thailand and find a thai company that will agree to act as 'sponsor client' for the letter of invitation for you. note that the sponsor client company will needto provide their tax id, a copy of their last years tax return in thailand as well as a invite letter. If you follow this, u can get a multientry, unlimited 1 year visa in thai. (but u still must leave thai at least once every 90 days).

I hope this helps. If you still need more help, post again on this thread //remove request to post email address// and ill contact you.

BTW'

The instructions the thai embassy in hk will give u in terms of docs they require for visa will likely differ from the thai govt website , as well as those from most other thai embassies. It seems most thai embassies make up their own requirements with subtle variations, but ususally they r fairly close. dont get annoyed if it differs a little from what u expect, live with it the first time. just call to them ot ask to be sure if u need to know before u go.