Hi Guys

 

is it possible to extend a visa with less than 6 months left on my passport?

 

I intend to go to Thailand in January for 30 days, my passport at the time of entry will have over 6 months remaining, but if i want to extend my visa by another month after it will be just under 6 months remaing.

Has anyone here had any experience of doing this?

 

Thanks

There is no 6 month requirement to apply for a extension of stay,

If your passport has less time remaining on it before the the extension will end it will only be issued to the day your passport expires,

47 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no 6 month requirement to apply for a extension of stay,

If your passport has less time remaining on it before the the extension will end it will only be issued to the day your passport expires,

Thanks for the reply ubonjoe, im guessing the 6 month passport rule is only applicable when applying for a visa before entering the country?

18 minutes ago, finger said:

Thanks for the reply ubonjoe, im guessing the 6 month passport rule is only applicable when applying for a visa before entering the country?

That is correct.

For those from many countries there is no 6 months requirement to enter the country. The only requirement is that it must be valid for the length of stay you get when entering the country.

I know of people who got stuck in Thailand and could not leave for one reason or another, when COVID hit. Would it not be better to get a new passport sorted out before coming here? All you need is an accident or illness to get you in hospital for months...

Airlines can also have their own rules. 

Your departing with 6+ months validity so can't see any issue.

Personally can't understand why folk do this. How long are  passports valid for? 

In Oz it's 10 years and yet folk run them down to few months validity remaining. 

Poor planning imo.

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

Poor planning imo.

Why?

To enter Thailand your passport has o be valid for your length of stay.

Why waste money?

Reported flame and response removed.

1 hour ago, Lite Beer said:

Why?

To enter Thailand your passport has o be valid for your length of stay.

Why waste money?

If things go perfectly, it is a very small amount of "waste of money", but if things go wrong, it can cost 100s of times more to clean up the situation, compare to the waste of money in replacing passport 5% before expiry of it.

 

Maybe not as critical, but take a look at Lamia flight 2933 for what happens if you shave it very close and then something goes wrong.

 

Hence I agree with Dr Jack. This will be "poor planning" if something goes wrong. I'd classify it as gambling.

 

Despite that, I wish all goes well for the OP.

10 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

Why?

To enter Thailand your passport has o be valid for your length of stay.

Why waste money?

An Australian would ‘lose’ about $15 of ‘value’ if renewing 6 months before the expiry date…… ???? seems legit 

Why do you wait to have PP RENEWED?.  Many countries are taking 6+ weeks to issue new PP's due to Covid.  Renew your PP now while you have 6 months left on it. 

 

What happens if you get sick, or in a traffic accident and your PP EXPIRES? 

 

I have had 6 PP's and renew 1) when 6 months left, 2) when I have 4 clean page regardless of expire date. ( 2 times )

 

Stop a problem before you create a problem.

7 minutes ago, edwardflory said:

Why do you wait to have PP RENEWED?.  Many countries are taking 6+ weeks to issue new PP's due to Covid.  Renew your PP now while you have 6 months left on it.  What happens if you get sick, or in a traffic accident and your PP EXPIRES? 

The OP wrote he will have over 6 months remaining on his passport when he enters the country and was only asking about getting 30 day extension of his visa 30 day visa exempt entry.

Nott the same as only having 2 or3 months left on his passport.

While it is legal to do so I would never travel 'especially now after the worldwide 'situation' with a passport with so little time left of its validity. But as we say here; 'up to you' ...

16 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

That is correct.

For those from many countries there is no 6 months requirement to enter the country. The only requirement is that it must be valid for the length of stay you get when entering the country.

Well with my luck, a few years ago I was going to Bangkok from Toronto, Canada via JFK airport, I was only going for 1 month, coming back the first week of September and my passport expired on the 4 December, Air China refused me at the checking-in counter saying that they wouldn't let me in Bangkok, so I had to go back, $ 620.00 USD and one hour flight, I was back in Toronto.

14 minutes ago, Gerard052 said:

Well with my luck, a few years ago I was going to Bangkok from Toronto, Canada via JFK airport, I was only going for 1 month, coming back the first week of September and my passport expired on the 4 December, Air China refused me at the checking-in counter saying that they wouldn't let me in Bangkok, so I had to go back, $ 620.00 USD and one hour flight, I was back in Toronto.

They were wrong and probably did not check the requirements to enter Thailand.

Check here using passport dates that are less than 6 months with intended stay of less than 6 months. https://www.skyteam.com/en/flights-and-destinations/visa-and-health or here on the IATA site. https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/passport-visa-health-travel-document-requirements.htm

 

15 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

Why?

To enter Thailand your passport has o be valid for your length of stay.

Why waste money?

 

I never thought  of having  valid passport as being a waste  of money.

 

18 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no 6 month requirement to apply for a extension of stay,

If your passport has less time remaining on it before the the extension will end it will only be issued to the day your passport expires,

Thanks for your recent good advice about extensions only good till passport validity, with 6 months remaining, I applied for a new passport this week. Extension in March. 

19 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no 6 month requirement to apply for a extension of stay,

If your passport has less time remaining on it before the the extension will end it will only be issued to the day your passport expires,

@ubonjoein such a case, let's say I get a new passport before end of extension. Would that extension be transferrable to new passport and what would be most likely standard procedure? I know, it could differ in details between offices but certain details tend to be universal Thailand-wide, eg. official cost. Is there cost involved? Which docs (TM) would I need?

 

28 minutes ago, fabruer said:

@ubonjoein such a case, let's say I get a new passport before end of extension. Would that extension be transferrable to new passport and what would be most likely standard procedure? I know, it could differ in details between offices but certain details tend to be universal Thailand-wide, eg. official cost. Is there cost involved? Which docs (TM) would I need?

 

They will transfers your stamps from the old to your new passport and a stamp with spaces for info about your old passport and the visa that allowed the permit to stay you have been extending.

There is no fee for the stamp transfer.

You will need copies of both passport photo pages. Copies of your the your visa, extension stamp, entry stamp and TM6 departure card in the old one. Some office will want a copy of every page of your passport that has a stamp or visa for Thailand on it.

You will need this form completed. Transfer Stamps To A New Passport

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

They were wrong and probably did not check the requirements to enter Thailand.

Check here using passport dates that are less than 6 months with intended stay of less than 6 months. https://www.skyteam.com/en/flights-and-destinations/visa-and-health or here on the IATA site. https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/passport-visa-health-travel-document-requirements.htm

 

Again, thank you very much for your quick response, unfortunately the damage is already done.