Dear respected members of forum,

 

We've just got out of mandatory hotel quarantine like a week ago, a family arrived from Malaysia (we were expat family in Malaysia and my contract had finished, now we are back to where my in-laws live)

 

My wife had been accepted to continue her master degree studio, she has received Ed visa

 

My child got 90-day non-imm visa which the university helps to include as accompany-family member

 

I, was supposedly to receive the same visa as my child since i will be accompany my wife while she is finishing her studies but instead Thailand embassy issued me a normal 30-day tourist visa which can be extended once (report due next 2 weeks)

 

What are my options to accompany my wife and child while she studies here? I run online business and my in-laws are all living in Thailand (but none of them are Thais). I do not intend to leave Thailand alone, once in every 60 days or so just to re-apply for another tourist visa and Thailand Pass, then undergo mandatory hotel quarantines all over again. I also have no plan to physically work in Thailand momentarily, but focus to homeschool my child.

 

I believe liason officer from the university will help to take care my child 90-day visa but i dont think they will help me find an alternate visa for my case. They did issue the same letter of request so all of us would have gotten longer-stay visas but unfortunetely my case was only given a tourist visa after i refused to pay certain "fee" for a 90-day non-imm visa application (unofficially, off the book) while i was submitting my visa applications. I saw the visas fee, but i was asked almost triple the cost just for myself. Luckily he did not ask my child the same amount of money but went by the book instead.

 

Please help. I need to stay in Thailand throughout the period of my wife finishes her master degree, i can leave the country once a year (maybe) then return with renewed visa. Is there another type of visas that i can apply? What are the requierements? like deposit THB 800.000 in local bank for three months? What do i need to prepare?

 

Thank you for any advices

This is one for @ubonjoe

anyone? i'm feeling uneasy and worried all time. I really do not want to leave my family too often just for renewing visa, and during covid pandemy...plus with all the haste that comes with it.

 

my extension date is getting closer. I'm worried if i ask these questions to immigration officers while applying my 1900 baht extension, lay out all my situation, officer will deny my extension and instead deport me back to my origin country or keep me on watch list.

12 hours ago, strandedmalaysia said:

I, was supposedly to receive the same visa as my child since i will be accompany my wife while she is finishing her studies but instead Thailand embassy issued me a normal 30-day tourist visa which can be extended once (report due next 2 weeks)

There is no 30 day tourist visa. A tourist visa issued by a embassy allows a 60 day stay when you enter the country.

If you only got a 30 day visa exempt entry you can extend it for 30 days.

I don't understand why the embassy did not issue a non-o visa for being a member your wife's family.

Immigration will not issue a non-o visa as a member of your wife's family. Look at this list  to confirm that. 

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=2537

 

OP, you can obtain a 30 day extension to your visa exempt entry.

If (big IF) covid extensions are made available after March 25 you could obtain one of those (60 day extension).

At some stage land borders will open and you will have options. 

Are you 50+? 

How old are you?

 

Where are you? Then members might suggest an agent(s) that could help you.

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 20224 yr by SunsetT

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no 30 day tourist visa. A tourist visa issued by a embassy allows a 60 day stay when you enter the country.

If you only got a 30 day visa exempt entry you can extend it for 30 days.

I don't understand why the embassy did not issue a non-o visa for being a member your wife's family.

Immigration will not issue a non-o visa as a member of your wife's family. Look at this list  to confirm that. 

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=2537

 

I think OP meant 60 days tourist visa (30 days first entry then another 30 days upon extension at the cost of THB 1900). Last time i checked, Special Tourist Visa is no longer applicable at local Thai Embassy -- maybe it was reverted back to just a normal tourist visa (i dunno, it is really a headache to deal with embassy hotline nowadays)

 

I was due to return to Thailand sometime this summer, i'm also concerned like how do i extend a tourist visa into long-term stay or what kind of long term stay visas am i eligible to apply given the nature of my return is family visit.

 

Border-crossing isnt exactly a good ol' choice during this time of uncertainty, and would cost more than before pandemy.

10 minutes ago, arfandy said:

I think OP meant 60 days tourist visa (30 days first entry then another 30 days upon extension at the cost of THB 1900).

A tourist visa issued by a embassy or consulate allows a 60 day permit to stay when using it to enter the country that can be extended for 30 days. The visa is valid for the 3 months from the date of issue to use fore entry.

See: https://image.mfa.go.th/mfa/0/zE6021nSnu/3_Types_of_Visa_Tourist_Visa.pdf

A STV (special tourist visa) that allows a 90 day entry that can be extended twice for 90 days is still available. A single entry tourist visa is often referred to as SETV.

 

17 minutes ago, arfandy said:

I was due to return to Thailand sometime this summer, i'm also concerned like how do i extend a tourist visa into long-term stay or what kind of long term stay visas am i eligible to apply given the nature of my return is family visit.

If your family is Thai (wife or child) you can apply for a non-o visa that allows a 90 day stay at a embassy or official consulate or at immigration if you can qualify or it. Then you could apply for a one year extension of stay at immigration.

21 minutes ago, arfandy said:

I think OP meant 60 days tourist visa (30 days first entry then another 30 days upon extension at the cost of THB 1900

A tourist visa gives stamp of 60 days and can be extended by 30 days.

The OP was stamped in for 30 days. (Visa exempt entry).

This can be extended by 30 days.

Cost 1900 baht. 

You can enter exempt or tourist visa and obtain a non O if you qualify for one. i.e married, retirement. 

Just getting into the country, you should have a plethora of options available, and not need agents.

But I'm not sure even how long you are trying to stay, or your country of origin  (I read twice with no definitive clue).

But I had a host of "problems" (according to Jomtien officials) to stay.  However, checking outside of Jomtien area (thank you FB for snooping my convos)...I was able to get a 9 month ED visa for learning Thai (online classes included)  for 40k total.  No other fees.

You should be able to do so thru any school (most I've seen are around 36k now) since you just arrived.  Although may be cutting it close with processing time now.

I was already on a 1 day overstay, here 2 years, and was (what was then recommended) on a volunteer visa and my agent was still able to do my ED. 

So I don't think you'll have any problems since you are not already on overstay if you check around.

 

If you have any kind of unused visa from a consulate in your passport (or a visa was marked used when you entered) airport immigration made a mistake in only giving you a 30-day permission to stay. It is possible to have this corrected. If you post a copy of the visa here (with personally identifiable information blanked out) we can also confirm what kind of visa you were given, and the correct length of stay you should be given.

On 3/15/2022 at 11:56 AM, ubonjoe said:

I don't understand why the embassy did not issue a non-o visa for being a member your wife's family.

Immigration will not issue a non-o visa as a member of your wife's family.

 

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative but, I don't understand the above comment.

51 minutes ago, Wagga said:

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative but, I don't understand the above comment.

What don't you understand?

The non-o visa should of been issued by the embassy.

If he is in the country already on a tourist visa immigration will not accept a application for one since it is not on their list of non immigrant visas they will issue.

14 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

What don't you understand?

The non-o visa should of been issued by the embassy.

If he is in the country already on a tourist visa immigration will not accept a application for one since it is not on their list of non immigrant visas they will issue.

Ah now, explained like that, I understand.

I did not understand the way it was worded in the post. First it states..........

"I don't understand why the embassy did not issue a non-o visa for being a member your wife's family"

 

Then, the next line below that you say.......

 

"Immigration will not issue a non-o visa as a member of your wife's family."

 

As I said, I'm not trying to be argumentative but the seven (7) lines in the post contradicted themselves.

Thank you for the (better worded) explanation. 

1 hour ago, Wagga said:

Ah now, explained like that, I understand.

I did not understand the way it was worded in the post. First it states..........

"I don't understand why the embassy did not issue a non-o visa for being a member your wife's family"

 

Then, the next line below that you say.......

 

"Immigration will not issue a non-o visa as a member of your wife's family."

 

As I said, I'm not trying to be argumentative but the seven (7) lines in the post contradicted themselves.

Thank you for the (better worded) explanation. 

Your confusion is probably due to the common misconception that consular staff (part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and immigration officials (a branch of the Royal Thai Police, and thus under the Ministry of the Interior) belong to the same organisation. They are completely separate fiefdoms. One operates exclusively outside Thailand; the other exclusively inside Thailand. Their rules have evolved independently and, mostly, bear no relation to each other, except as influenced occasionally by cabinet decisions.

21 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Your confusion is probably due to the common misconception that consular staff (part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and immigration officials (a branch of the Royal Thai Police, and thus under the Ministry of the Interior) belong to the same organisation. They are completely separate fiefdoms. One operates exclusively outside Thailand; the other exclusively inside Thailand. Their rules have evolved independently and, mostly, bear no relation to each other, except as influenced occasionally by cabinet decisions.

Ummm, my confusion was due to the fact that

one sentence says 'why didn't they do it' and the other sentence says they 'don't do it'

Two contradictory sentences for the the same thing.

 Thank you BritTim for your excellent explanation. I did not know that.

And....... no offense intended to ubonjoe, I was just being facetious.  

 

18 minutes ago, Wagga said:

Ummm, my confusion was due to the fact that

one sentence says 'why didn't they do it' and the other sentence says they 'don't do it'

Two contradictory sentences for the the same thing.

 Thank you BritTim for your excellent explanation. I did not know that.

And....... no offense intended to ubonjoe, I was just being facetious.  

 

I understand, and am not trying to attack you. You saw embassy refused X, and Immigration is not allowed to do X, and you considered these contradictory. This is understandable in someone raised in a country where different branches of government largely operate in a coordinated fashion. I was just trying to clarify that third world countries, like Thailand, simply do not operate in ways that match the mental image we develop as citizens of first world countries. Anyway, I hope you see my comments as educational and not condescending. Culture shock is real, and should not reflect badly on those who are victims of it.

3 minutes ago, BritTim said:

I understand, and am not trying to attack you. You saw embassy refused X, and Immigration is not allowed to do X, and you considered these contradictory. This is understandable in someone raised in a country where different branches of government largely operate in a coordinated fashion. I was just trying to clarify that third world countries, like Thailand, simply do not operate in ways that match the mental image we develop as citizens of first world countries. Anyway, I hope you see my comments as educational and not condescending. Culture shock is real, and should not reflect badly on those who are victims of it.

Educational and not condescending. All good man. Copy that.