Can I Have Two Visas In My Passport At The Same Time?

[chausette4]

Hello,

I'm a 24 year old American currently an English teacher at a school in Chiang Mai.

I have a one year work permit that will expire on August 23rd, and my contract with my school finishes in the middle of September. I'm not going to continue working in Thailand, but would like to stay in Thailand until February 10th, 2008 on tourist visas.

Right now I'm in New York visiting my family, and I will return to Thailand on July 6th. I have a re-entry permit.

Today I went to the Thai Consulate in New York to apply for a tourist visa for after my work permit expires, but the officer there told me that if I applied for a 2 month tourist visa he would have to cancel my re-entry permit and the 60 days would start from July 6th. He also told me that with my work permit I would be allowed another 90 days when I went back so it wasn't worth getting a 60 day tourist visa. I don't think is true, because every other time I've re-entered Thailand with my re-entry permit my stamp always says August 23rd.

My goal here is to finishing working and then stay until Feb. 10th, with as few visa runs as possible, and do as much of the paperwork as possible while in NY. My school is fine with giving me time off near August 23rd to do whatever I need to do to deal with my visa issues. I was hoping to take one day off to do a visa run to Burma and start a 60 day tourist visa then to go to Vientienne and apply for a tourist visa.

Thanks very much!

[Mid]

is your current visa a 12mth non-immigrant B valid for miltiple entries ??

[jdinasia]

is your current visa a 12mth non-immigrant B valid for miltiple entries ??

if he has a re-entry stamp then no ot is not a multi-entry

He MIGHT be able to send his passport with his work info and get a NEW non-imm-B multi in Houston ... that would cover him

[Mid]

if he has a re-entry stamp then no is not a multi-entry

true , I'm confused on linking a work permit to a visa as described unless it's special for teachers ??

[jdinasia]

if he has a re-entry stamp then no is not a multi-entry

true , I'm confused on linking a work permit to a visa as described unless it's special for teachers ??

one twilights when the other does (the extension)

[lopburi3]

What visa do you have. A work permit is not a visa. You are either making 90 day visa runs on a multi entry visa (in which case loss of work permit would not effect you as long as visa remains valid), or you are obtaining a new single entry visa every 90 days and have a re-entry permit to keep the current stay alive, or you have a one year extension of stay from Immigration (permitted to stay) and that will end when you end your employment so you would need a visa after that if you want to stay longer. Which is it?

At any rate Consulates are not likely to allow two active visas in your passport. But if you return using a re-entry permit you will only receive the stamp date you had when you departed so they advised you wrong on that.

If you are on an extension of stay you will have seven days to leave after your employment ends so you could then go and obtain a tourist visa in Vientiane. And another if needed.

[chausette4]

I came in with a multiple entry Non-Imm B, but got a work permit, a one year extension to stay and all the other stuff and now do the 90 day check in until August 23rd. No visa runs or anything, just a re-entry permit for when I leave the country.

Ok, how about this...

August 23rd - do a Burma border run get a 30 day visa exemption so I only miss one day of work. (I have to work until the middle of September.)

September 21st - go to Laos and do a proper 60 day tourist visa, get it extended 30 days in Thailand.

December 21st - go to Laos and get another 60 day visa and that will hold me until February.

Can I do that? I don't want to ask anything from my school because I'm not going to continue working for them.

Thanks everyone for your help.

[jdinasia]

I came in with a multiple entry Non-Imm B, but got a work permit, a one year extension to stay and all the other stuff and now do the 90 day check in until August 23rd. No visa runs or anything, just a re-entry permit for when I leave the country.

Ok, how about this...

August 23rd - do a Burma border run get a 30 day visa exemption so I only miss one day of work. (I have to work until the middle of September.)

September 21st - go to Laos and do a proper 60 day tourist visa, get it extended 30 days in Thailand.

December 21st - go to Laos and get another 60 day visa and that will hold me until February.

Can I do that? I don't want to ask anything from my school because I'm not going to continue working for them.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Hmmm this is one for Lopburi .....

IF you were NOT on extension of stay then you could just make a border run the day before your visa expires giving you 90 days from that point

If you make a borderrun for a visa exempt entry then you will need proof of onward travel by the end of the free 30 days they give you. Which could male the plans for Laos a bit problematic if you are going overland.

[lopburi3]

You still did not advise if your multi entry visa is valid (the date on the visa itself). If it is still valid you just use that to enter for 90 days at a time. But I will assume your visa is no longer valid as your one year extension seems to be running out August 23.

Your work permit would not be valid without a valid non immigrant entry or extension of stay. So any work done after 23 August would put you and school in violation of laws. You either need a new extension of visa/re activation of work permit or a new B visa/re activation of work permit.

You must ask school to either provide another extension/give you time to obtain a B visa re activate work permit, or release you prior to August 23.

I know many teachers work in less than legal situations but you have no reason to allow this to happen if you are leaving anyhow.

[chausette4]

Thanks for your reply.

My Non-Imm B will expire June 21st, 2007 while I'm still home.

My school doesn't pay for any visa expenses. Can you tell me how much the extension of stay/reactivate work permit and new Non-Imm B/reactivate work permit are?

Will either of those allow me to stay once I stop working and my school cancels my work permit or will I still have to go to Laos and do the tourist visa anyway?

Last question - Is there anything I can do while in New York to lessen the visa burden when I get back to Thailand? It sounds like no, but just want to check.

Thanks very much.

[Mid]

Is there anything I can do while in New York to lessen the visa burden when I get back to Thailand?

get a new non-immigrant B , if you have the necessary paper work and problem solved .

edited to add multi entry .

Edited June 22, 2007 by Mid

[jdinasia]

Is there anything I can do while in New York to lessen the visa burden when I get back to Thailand?

get a new non-immigrant B , if you have the necessary paper work and problem solved .

edited to add multi entry .

I would assume sending the paperwork with proof of your current legal employment and an explanation that you MAY be changing jobs and would appreciate a new multi-non-imm-b ... along with your passport and the visa fee would be all that Houston or Denver would require.

[chausette4]

Ok! This is all sounding very good. My first Non-Imm B visa was from Houston.

Would that be a reason to return to them or a reason to use Denver or doesn't it matter either way?

And last question - what is "necessary paperwork" from my job and how do I get them to give me the necessary paperwork if I'm only going to continue working for them for two and half weeks after my visa is up? Is saying I work for them right now enough?

My school is nice and is probably happy to give me what I need, I just want to know what I'm asking for.

I appreciate everyone's help!

[lopburi3]

I suspect no Consulate is going to want to invalidate a re-entry permit and his work permit. I would talk with Consulate on phone first.

Believe you should return as normal, using re entry permit, and extend your current extension of stay through to the end of your contract period and then leave to obtain a tourist visa or two for the time you plan to be here as a tourist. School should know what to do for the extension and re-activation of work permit so it should not be a problem for them or you.

[jdinasia]

I suspect no Consulate is going to want to invalidate a re-entry permit and his work permit. I would talk with Consulate on phone first.

Believe you should return as normal, using re entry permit, and extend your current extension of stay through to the end of your contract period and then leave to obtain a tourist visa or two for the time you plan to be here as a tourist. School should know what to do for the extension and re-activation of work permit so it should not be a problem for them or you.

I would agree with calling them first!

When I went back to the USA in Oct I had 6+ months on a multi non-imm-b and switched to a multi-non-imm-o with no issues but I did not have an extension of stay OR a re-entry permit. I simply told them that trips to the USA were rare for me and this would extend my time in Thailand before I went out to Australia or India next time.