Sixty Day Covid 19 Extensions Order Extended To March 26

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Which land borders are open.

Flights available? Yippi I might nip over to Saigon this weekend for some Saigon Green 15k dong in Bui Vien street and nip back. 

OK, they  didn't reopen as planned due to the omicron damp squib. When they do, it's already clear that the screws that were already being placed on border hoppers and 'tourists' have been further tightened. So those milking the Covid extension will be on a dry teat after all.

 

Is Vietnam the ONLY place to go? The Thai Consulates there don't even issue those easy-peasy, 1-year multi-O's for married people any more. Bummer.

[DrJack54]

6 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Is Vietnam the ONLY place to go? The Thai Consulates there don't even issue those easy-peasy, 1-year multi-O's for married people any more. Bummer

And who would want one. You need to exit Thailand.

Oh sorry you meant go to Savannakhet to obtain one.

What's the plan....nick up to Nong Khai border.

Talk sense. 

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, sateuk said:

I normally make the non o visa because of being married, now I'm on covoid extensions, I assume we will be ok to continue on covoid extension untill the borders open and we can obtain another non o visa , always baffles me why we have to border hop every 90 days though instead of going to Thai immigration and paying them every 90 days, Thailand must lose out on lots of extra income not doing that

Any Covid extension issued now appears to depend on what entry entitlement you were on when they closed the doors in early 2020?

 

Last December, it was reported that border-hopping would NOT be allowed once the land borders open. There's also no confirmation that Laos would resume this 'business as usual' either.

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/news/thai-land-borders-still-closed-to-most-tourists-and-visa-runners-383274

 

Your Non-O has obviously expired but there may be a viable option to get back onto "married to a Thai" Non-O status in-country. My last Marriage Extension expired while I was out of the country and I entered Thailand on visa-exempt entry, planning to get a 1-year Non-O in either Laos or Saigon. I missed out on this due to the great shut-in of 2020 by a weekend. I rode Covid extensions for a few months but quickly got tired of their 11th hour extension announcements so acquired a 90-day Non-O (parent of a Thai) at my local immigration office and subsequently converted that to a 1-year Retirement Extension... just renewed yesterday morning.

 

I'm still married but being the parent of a child was far easier than being married to secure that first Non-O (less paperwork and no need for my boy to attend) and of course, Retirement Extensions have always been the easier way to go (less paperwork and no need for my wife to attend).

 

If flying home to get a new Non-O (marriage) isn't practical, why not get the ball rolling on getting legitimized in-country as above. It may  require an agent but removes the stress of these drip-feed 60-day permits.

[NanLaew]

16 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

.... You need to exit Thailand. ...

 

The penny has finally dropped.

[shackleton]

Until the Borders open officially 

This is a nice money earner for the Immigration office 

[DrJack54]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

The penny has finally dropped.

And currently not possible (without great difficulty) to nearby countries for either visa or exempt reentry.

Hence covid extensions.

Most likely to continue untill some normality with land borders. 

Anyway tired of this (your) nonsense.

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by DrJack54

[NanLaew]

Just now, shackleton said:

Until the Borders open officially 

This is a nice money earner for the Immigration office 

That's certainly one way of looking at it.

 

I am surprised that so many forum members apparently like being milked. Coming up to 2 years already for some?

[itsari]

9 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

That's certainly one way of looking at it.

 

I am surprised that so many forum members apparently like being milked. Coming up to 2 years already for some?

Milked? Far better to pay 1900 baht for 60 days than running around neighboring countries to get a entry stamp .

Hopefully the service remains after covid is forgotten

[yogi yogi]

12 hours ago, audaciousnomad said:

Let us know how your extension goes. I am curious to know if on Ko Tao they are demanding things like departure flight bookings, etc. Or is it an easy process?

i went today and they dont know about the extension yet.  sign on door says today is last day

[yogi yogi]

8 minutes ago, itsari said:

Milked? Far better to pay 1900 baht for 60 days than running around neighboring countries to get a entry stamp .

Hopefully the service remains after covid is forgotten

once other asian countries open up i prefer to move around anyways.........this is a special situation.  viets and phillipines refuse to open but once they do i would rather just move back and forth

[JayClay]

Do those of us on an "under consideration" stamp need to be concerned that the new rules will be imposed retrospectively?

[itsari]

1 minute ago, yogi yogi said:

once other asian countries open up i prefer to move around anyways.........this is a special situation.  viets and phillipines refuse to open but once they do i would rather just move back and forth

Sure , i can understand that you want to have a different scene . Many do not

[Ohyesuare]

COVID extensions are a LEGAL way to stay in the country. Immigration knows exactly why the majority of people continue to use them and yet they keep extending it 2 years now despite knowing that most people using them can return home if they really wanted to. It's not milking, taking advantage of or doing anything bad by using them if you want to keep legally staying in the country and you are under 50 and not married or working here.

 

I could have easily returned home a long time ago and I actually would prefer to at this point but despite being double vaccinated and boosted, I'm in a high risk group so I'd prefer to stay here for now and hope the situation gets better. Luckily I have the luxury and money of being able to afford to do so for as long as I need to and I don't live frugally either so I'm contributing to the economy as well.

[Ohyesuare]

3 minutes ago, JayClay said:

Do those of us on an "under consideration" stamp need to be concerned that the new rules will be imposed retrospectively?

No, under consideration means you're already approved, you just need to come in and get your final stamp.

[zugzug123]

Just asked my agent and they told me they can still do 60 day covid extensions for me (arrived and currently on non-imm)

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, zugzug123 said:

Just asked my agent and they told me they can still do 60 day covid extensions for me (arrived and currently on non-imm)

Non O what.... marriage, retirement? 

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, JWNZ said:

Have I hit a nerve?
I know enough and have witnessed a number of people abusing the system, in order to stay long term, some on their 8th or 9th Covid extension, so approaching a two year stay, they may not normally qualify for. Maybe you are missing my point of differentiation of those who are entitled to stay, as opposed to those milking the system......

 

I'll bet that when your fourth grade teacher asked for someone to volunteer to be the classroom monitor, your hand was the first one in the air, with you saying "me, me, me." What difference does it make to you or me what conditions someone else gets to remain in Thailand? Doesn't effect me whatsoever. Especially during a time when the tourist industry is going bust, the Covid extenders are bringing some money into the country. 

[sateuk]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

You can obtain extension based on marriage. 

Can use money in bank method.

So you have easy option. 

That's the extension I had using the money in the bank, I couldn't renew in July because did not have the money, so I went on covoid extension, can I still get the 60 days extension?

[Ohyesuare]

2 minutes ago, sateuk said:

That's the extension I had using the money in the bank, I couldn't renew in July because did not have the money, so I went on covoid extension, can I still get the 60 days extension?

If these new guidelines will be enforced and depending on the IO you deal with, you might not be able to. Maybe best to use an agent to save yourself any hassle but your choice.

[DrJack54]

9 minutes ago, sateuk said:

That's the extension I had using the money in the bank, I couldn't renew in July because did not have the money, so I went on covoid extension, can I still get the 60 days extension?

Just to be clear. 

You are able to obtain extension marriage but cannot meet the money in bank requirement? 

The dust needs to settle on new announcement regarding covid rules. 

Clearly your not 50+ as the extension retirement would be better option.

You do realize that the 400k only has to be in bank for approx 3 months (including under consideration period) 

[zugzug123]

33 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Non O what.... marriage, retirement? 

hey hey now, I'm a young bachelor, I arrived on ED. 

[GeorgeCross]

 

1 hour ago, sateuk said:

I normally make the non o visa because of being married, now I'm on covoid extensions, I assume we will be ok to continue on covoid extension untill the borders open and we can obtain another non o visa , always baffles me why we have to border hop every 90 days though instead of going to Thai immigration and paying them every 90 days, Thailand must lose out on lots of extra income not doing that

if you could go to immigration to extend a non-o every 90 days why would anyone bother with a full extension, intrusive interview, 2 folders of documents and putting money in the bank!!

 

 

[overherebc]

13 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Just to be clear. 

You are able to obtain extension marriage but cannot meet the money in bank requirement? 

The dust needs to settle on new announcement regarding covid rules. 

Clearly your not 50+ as the extension retirement would be better option.

You do realize that the 400k only has to be in bank for approx 3 months (including under consideration period) 

Yet when I moved to BKK from another area (had married extensions there) I had to show updated bank book and bank letter etc going back one year.

Why did they ask for it?

Because they want to.

[Caldera]

9 minutes ago, zugzug123 said:

hey hey now, I'm a young bachelor, I arrived on ED. 

That's a non-immigrant visa as well, so if they enforce the new rules as per yesterday's order, it will not be possible to obtain Covid extensions any longer.

 

You mentioned that your agent told you otherwise, and that might well be true, but at this point I'd caution that they might not know for sure either.

[sateuk]

27 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Just to be clear. 

You are able to obtain extension marriage but cannot meet the money in bank requirement? 

The dust needs to settle on new announcement regarding covid rules. 

Clearly your not 50+ as the extension retirement would be better option.

You do realize that the 400k only has to be in bank for approx 3 months (including under consideration period) 

I had the extension of stay using the cash in bank, but I could not renew it in July as I didn't have the money, so I went of covoid extensions

[Caldera]

5 minutes ago, sateuk said:

I had the extension of stay using the cash in bank, but I could not renew it in July as I didn't have the money, so I went of covoid extensions

So you've been on Covid extensions since July? If you've replenished the money in the bank in the meantime, you should be able to apply for a marriage extension again.

[DrJack54]

5 minutes ago, sateuk said:

I had the extension of stay using the cash in bank, but I could not renew it in July as I didn't have the money, so I went of covoid extensions

In that case I don't know if you will be able to obtain covid extensions post Jan 25.

The new covid extension "guidelines" seem unclear.

In any event my personal view is that covid extensions should not be available to folk that can obtain annual extensions based on marriage or retirement.

 

[zugzug123]

39 minutes ago, Caldera said:

That's a non-immigrant visa as well, so if they enforce the new rules as per yesterday's order, it will not be possible to obtain Covid extensions any longer.

 

You mentioned that your agent told you otherwise, and that might well be true, but at this point I'd caution that they might not know for sure either.

And you know better? ????

 

All I see is a bunch of fear mongering here and on facebook. All the anti covid visa people coming out of the bushes.

 

It has been known for months now that immigration was getting stricter with the requirements for the CEs, no surprise there, just use an agent if you really want one or go through the test&go hassle of obtaining a "real visa". There will always be options. 

 

They probably got tired of the hordes of tourists that show up every time at immigration to get their extensions. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by zugzug123

[Ohyesuare]

21 minutes ago, zugzug123 said:

They probably got tired of the hordes of tourists that show up every time at immigration to get their extensions. 

Why would they get tired of the only reason many of them still have a job? Plus all the backhander deals many of them do with agents. I bet they love to see hordes of tourists/walking ATMs showing up each time.

[Caldera]

16 minutes ago, zugzug123 said:

And you know better? ????

 

All I see is a bunch of fear mongering here and on facebook. All the anti covid visa people coming out of the bushes.

 

It has been known for months now that immigration was getting stricter with the requirements for the CEs, no surprise there, just use an agent if you really want one or go through the test&go hassle of obtaining a "real visa". There will always be options. 

 

They probably got tired of the hordes of tourists that show up every time at immigration to get their extensions. 

I don't know better, and personally, I'm not anti Covid extensions - for anyone and everyone who wishes to ride out the pandemic in Thailand.

 

All I'm saying is that it remains to be seen, as there's still considerable confusion with regards to yesterday's order. It's conceivable that an agent can still obtain Covid extensions for those on non-immigrant visas from tomorrow on, but that doesn't look like a sure bet to me. @ThaiVisaCentre already commented that it won't be possible, so even different agents might have different takes on this for the time being.