SETV + visa exempt + ED Visa - will this work?

[thintand]

hey guys,

 

I have plans to enter thailand as a tourist first on a SETV and extend it after 60 days so I get 90 days in total. Then I want to leave thailand and travel around SEA for 1-2 weeks or so and come back again on a 30 day visa exempt which I also plan to extend for another 30 days. So in total I want to stay around 5 months initially as a tourist.

 

Now during the visa exempt I plan to apply for a 1 year ED visa to study thai and also get the visa converted inside the country.

 

Do you think thats "safe" or am I at a risk to get denied entry at some point with my plans? I don't have a huge travel history yet, just visited thailand around 8x for a few weeks only in the past, and never had an overstay, etc. 

 

Or is it even better to do it the opposite way maybe? Meaning entering Thailand on exempt first, extend it for 30 days, leave thailand and get the SETV from a neighbour country?

 

 

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, thintand said:

Or is it even better to do it the opposite way maybe? Meaning entering Thailand on exempt first, extend it for 30 days, leave thailand and get the SETV from a neighbour country?

With your history both options will work.

Personally I would enter visa exempt first and obtain the SETV later.

Especially since you plan to travel outside of Thailand for a period.

 

Be aware of the airline map ask for onward flight if flying visa exempt.

 

If your country has e-Visa (eg UK) then obtaining the SETV first is also good option. 

[Mikeheo]

Sounds ok, some schools can convert you to an ed visa in country but many cannot and will require you to go to Laos.

[JayClay]

On 6/1/2023 at 1:23 AM, thintand said:

30 day visa exempt which I also plan to extend for another 30 days. So in total I want to stay around 5 months initially as a tourist.

 

Now during the visa exempt I plan to apply for a 1 year ED visa to study thai and also get the visa converted inside the country.

An ED visa obtained in-country only allows a maximum stay of one year from the date that you enter the country. That being the case, you may as well get it done as soon as you arrive on visa-exempt; extending for 30 days first will just waste 1,900bt.

[thintand]

5 hours ago, JayClay said:

An ED visa obtained in-country only allows a maximum stay of one year from the date that you enter the country. That being the case, you may as well get it done as soon as you arrive on visa-exempt; extending for 30 days first will just waste 1,900bt.

interesting, didn't know about that. I thought the 1 year is counted seperately. My idea was to travel a bit before I commit to the ED visa and also checkout some nice places first where I want to stay for a longer time

 

So in that case I it makes more sense to enter on a 60 Days Tourist visa, extend it, leave the country and enter again with visa exempt and get the ED visa in-country as you said