Traveling to Thailand from outside home country

[onebaht]

Does anyone know what my best approach should be to come back to Thailand?

 

I'm currently outside my home country and want to come back. I can't go back to my home country first because it's on a red list and tough right now.

 

1 Can I apply for a Thai visa at any embassy outside Thailand?

 

2 I want to get an education visa once here so I can stay longer. Do I apply for visa once I'm here (and come on travel visa) or try to organize study visa before I come?

 

I'm sorry for the questions, it's so hard to dig into everything and figure out the facts.

 

I appreciate all the replies.

 

 

Edited August 23, 2021 by onebaht
change title a bit

[ubonjoe]

1. No

  At most embassies and official consulate you have to be a citizen or a resident of the country you are in.

2. You would have to be enrolled in a formal school (university and etc) to apply for a non-ed visa.

You can though apply for certificate of entry (COE) at any embassy or official consulate in any country that you start your trip to here from.

[onebaht]

I have a temporary residency permit for Egypt if that makes any difference, so I technically have a residency and everything that comes with it.

 

At least I can still apply for a COE permit anywhere which is good.

 

Does the COE permit last for 3 months or 30 days? 30 days would seen short if I have to quarantine first.

 

If it's 3 months is there any way to stay. Like getting an agent to get me a visa for Thai language school?

[DrJack54]

OP, sounds like you just want an visa education to enable stay Thailand.

Suggest you arrive visa exempt and access your options then. Initially you can obtain 30 day extension to your exempt entry and covid extension (assuming they continue...they will) 

[onebaht]

Do you mind telling me how that's possible?

 

I didn't think you could just get on a plane without a visa.

 

Would you just apply for the COE and say you don't have a visa?

[ubonjoe]

32 minutes ago, onebaht said:

Does the COE permit last for 3 months or 30 days? 30 days would seen short if I have to quarantine first.

The COE is only for entry to the country. It does not allow you to stay for any amount of time.

This is the stie to apply for a COE that has info about its requirements. https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/

Dependent upon you nationality you could enter visa exempt and get a 45 day stay that can be extended for 30 days.

You can check here on the Cairo embassy website for more ino. https://cairo.thaiembassy.org/

[Salerno]

2 minutes ago, onebaht said:

I didn't think you could just get on a plane without a visa.

 

Depends on your passport, where is that from? Visa exemp was reinstated last December.

 

3 minutes ago, onebaht said:

Would you just apply for the COE and say you don't have a visa?

If eligible for visa exempt it's a choice on the COE website.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, onebaht said:

I didn't think you could just get on a plane without a visa.

You do not need a visa if you qualify for a visa exempt entry.

A list of countries that quaify for visa exemp entries is here. https://thaiembdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Visa-Exemption-Scheme-7-Dec-768x1087.png

[onebaht]

I've learned more here in minutes than hours searching online. Thanks everyone.

 

I'm actually a British national with UK passport, so I guess I don't have to go to embassy.

 

Would I just:

 

1 - apply for pre approved COE

2 - book flight, quarantine hotel, and insurance

3 - add details to get proper COE

4 - print COE and get PCR test to show airline

5 - go see agent once I'm out of quarantine and used extension

[ubonjoe]

You list is about complete.

You will need a onward ticket within 45 days or arrival to show the airline. It is not required for the COE.

[DrJack54]

OP, you have it covered and also require onward flight.

You can try "rent a flight" services on Google.

[DrJack54]

13 minutes ago, onebaht said:

go see agent once I'm out of quarantine and used extension

As I mentioned earlier currently 60 day covid extensions available and that most likely will continue.

You can obtain yourself its not difficult or agent can act on your behalf.

Depends how long you wish to stay in Thailand.

[Salerno]

2 - not quite, you need to buy the insurance to upload for pre-approval; you then have 15 days to upload flight and hotel details (arriving on visa exempt so need onward flight details in the 45 day window; can get throw away/cancellable/fake, whatever option suits).

 

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Salerno said:

2 - not quite, you need to buy the insurance to upload for pre-approval; you then have 15 days to upload flight and hotel details (arriving on visa exempt so need onward flight details in the 45 day window; can get throw away/cancellable/fake, whatever option suits).

 

A onward flight is not required for a COE application. A one way flight will be accepted since they only want it to confirm your arrival date and airline.

[Salerno]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

A onward flight is not required for a COE application.

I never said it was; it was an aside hence in brackets as it "may" be asked for on boarding given he will be travelling visa exempt.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, Salerno said:

I never said it was; it was an aside hence in brackets as it "may" be asked for on boarding given he will be travelling visa exempt.

It would of been better to clarify by making it a separate line in you post.

I read it as saying it was needed for the COE like most people probably would.

[Salerno]

It wasn't and there's no harm in uploading the throwaway flight details if it was misinterpreted. 

[onebaht]

Out of curiosity, is the list almost identical with a vaccine which I might get soon.

 

Instead of booking quarantine hotel for 14 nights you just need to book for 1 night as long as it's in the sandbox areas?

[onebaht]

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

As I mentioned earlier currently 60 day covid extensions available and that most likely will continue.

You can obtain yourself its not difficult or agent can act on your behalf.

Depends how long you wish to stay in Thailand.

Those sound great, hopefully they do stay for a while longer.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, onebaht said:

Out of curiosity, is the list almost identical with a vaccine which I might get soon.

 

Instead of booking quarantine hotel for 14 nights you just need to book for 1 night as long as it's in the sandbox areas?

The sandbox also has 14 days however the restrictions are very different. Many threads about that where you can obtain clarification.

Also the sandbox is about to change rules. Previously you had to remain in Phuket for 14 days. Soon you will be able to stay 7 and travel to some other included destinations. One example is Koh Samui.

Looks like pita to me. 

Of course you need to be fully vaccinated prior to travel to Thailand. That would be sensible in any event.

[Muhendis]

On 8/23/2021 at 10:12 AM, onebaht said:

Can I apply for a Thai visa at any embassy outside Thailand?

 

On 8/23/2021 at 10:20 AM, ubonjoe said:

No

  At most embassies and official consulate you have to be a citizen or a resident of the country you are in.

This has stirred my curiosity a bit. 

Some years ago I had to do a visa run to Savannakhet. I am not a citizen of Laos and I reside in Thailand. There was absolutely no restriction on me to get a new visa. How so? 

[Mac Mickmanus]

2 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

 

This has stirred my curiosity a bit. 

Some years ago I had to do a visa run to Savannakhet. I am not a citizen of Laos and I reside in Thailand. There was absolutely no restriction on me to get a new visa. How so? 

"Some years ago" .

Things have changed since then 

[ubonjoe]

16 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

Some years ago I had to do a visa run to Savannakhet. I am not a citizen of Laos and I reside in Thailand. There was absolutely no restriction on me to get a new visa. How so? 

The embassies and official consulates in nearby countries have not had that requirement.

Just look at about all of the embassies and official consulates in Europe that have the citizen or residency requirement. Same in the USA and Japan and others.

[geisha]

On 8/23/2021 at 7:45 AM, Salerno said:

I never said it was; it was an aside hence in brackets as it "may" be asked for on boarding given he will be travelling visa exempt.

I take Emirates and even tho being a member they always ask for an onward flight .( Nice France). I do think it could depend on the airport staff at different airports. 

[KhaoYai]

On 8/23/2021 at 4:20 AM, ubonjoe said:

1. No

  At most embassies and official consulate you have to be a citizen or a resident of the country you are in.

Would he not be able to apply by post Joe?

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Would he not be able to apply by post Joe?

You can only apply for a visa from the US if you are actually in the country at the time you apply. Indeed, in most cases, you must use the correct embassy/official consulate depending on the state you are in.. Even if that were not true, I would shudder at the idea of sending my passport through the mail from Eastern Europe, hoping to eventually get it back through Covid disrupted mail services.

[KhaoYai]

21 hours ago, BritTim said:

You can only apply for a visa from the US if you are actually in the country at the time you apply.

He's from the UK.

[HashBrownHarry]

On 8/23/2021 at 3:20 AM, ubonjoe said:

1. No

  At most embassies and official consulate you have to be a citizen or a resident of the country you are in.

2. You would have to be enrolled in a formal school (university and etc) to apply for a non-ed visa.

You can though apply for certificate of entry (COE) at any embassy or official consulate in any country that you start your trip to here from.

I've applied at countries where i am not citizen, resident or even in, no problem at all.

 

If the country you're in do not have an embassy then you're directed to the closest one, where i've just e-mail directly, no online application.

 

 

[KhaoYai]

6 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I've applied at countries where i am not citizen, resident or even in, no problem at all.

Then I suggest you try applying to the Thai Embassy in the UK or one of the others that's on E-Visa. If you're not a British Citizen or have legal residence in those countries, you will not get a visa.

 

I've made visa applications in the past by post to the RTE London but I'm not sure they will do that now.

 

You may have obtained a visa in Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Malaysia and a few others but you can't enter those countries at the moment to get one so that's of no use to the OP.

 

I wasn't aware that other embassies that may not be on the E-visa system also had residence requirements but I trust Ubonjoe's word on that.

Edited August 25, 2021 by KhaoYai

[HashBrownHarry]

5 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Then I suggest you try applying to the Thai Embassy in the UK or one of the others that's on E-Visa. If you're not a British Citizen or have legal residence in those countries, you will not get a visa.

I've applied at where i've been told to.

 

To suggest to try somewhere eles is silly.