2 visas at the same time

[7euner]

This quetion was also posted on a FB group earlier!

 

I often see people write, that you can not have 2 visas at the same time. I have an O-A visa. I just applied and got an METV also. The O-A expires later this month. I am coming for 6 months, and would prefer to use the O-A as I would not have to leave the country and/or extend. I bought a travel insurance as it has much better coverage than a health insurance. It is also much cheaper.

 

I would prefer to use the O-A, but I doubt it will be accepted without a normal health insurance.

 

Will it be a problem to come with 2 visas and ask if I can use the O-A. If I can not, I will use the METV.

 

If I am not allowed to have 2 visas, maybe I should not try to ask.

[Red Phoenix]

When you applied for your Non Imm O-A Visa, which can only be done in your home-country, you must have provided a valid Non Imm O-A compliant health-insurance policy, otherwise they would have not issued you the Non Imm O-A Visa.

When you (re)-enter Thailand on that Non Imm O-A Visa before its validity expires (you wrote that this is in 1 month), you will be stamped in for whatever is the shortest:

- 12 months from date of entry; or

- the expiry date of your Non Imm O-A compliant health insurance policy. 

Immigration will not accept your travel-insurance policy as such policies are not Imm O-A compliant.

So you would need to bring that Non Imm O-A compliant health insurance policy which you used to apply for the Non Imm O-A Visa.  Of course if that insurance policy is only still valid for 30 days or shorter, there is no use to do that, as you can also receive a 30-day VisaExempt Permission to stay.

You could of course also apply for a renewal of that Non Imm O-A Visa compliant health-insurance, as bringing that and entering before expiry of the Non Imm O-A Visa, would provide you with a 12-month permission to stay.

= = =

Re the METV > I am not sure how you got hold of that METV, but if you do not get a new Non Imm O-A visa health-insurance, I would keep quiet about that Non Imm O-A (although your passport will show your entry stamp when you used that Non Imm O-A Visa) and try entering on that METV. 

It is possible that because your Non Imm O-A Visa is still valid, that border Immigration will not accept that METV, and that you will end up with a simple 30-day Permission to Stay VisaExempt entry...

 

[DrJack54]

OP, is your METV an eVisa? 

 

If your non O-A is still valid and you enter Thailand prior to expiry you would be given a 12 month stamp provided you have the appropriate insurance.

Don't know why you bothered with a METV 

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by DrJack54

[OJAS]

5 hours ago, 7euner said:

The O-A expires later this month

If by this statement you mean the actual visa itself (rather than the latest 12-month permission to stay granted under it, which in any event should already have been safeguarded with a re-entry permit), you would only, upon your arrival back in Thailand, be granted a permission to stay expiring on the same date as the visa itself (on the basis that this also coincides with the expiry date of the mandatory health insurance policy you obtained for the OA visa).

 

So you can, to all intents and purposes, kiss goodbye to using the OA visa to gain a further 6-month permission to stay, I think. And I would strongly recommend that you delay re-entering Thailand through using your METV visa until after the OA visa has expired, to prevent any potential IMM problems arising at BKK Arrivals, as referred to by @Red Phoenix.

[NanLaew]

I recall reading a thread where someone tried entering with two valid visas and immigration were quite nice and asked the traveller to choose which one he wanted to use, whereupon the other one was stamped cancelled.

 

Not sure what the OP's experience will be if they're not nice and decide for him (and still cancel the other).

[7euner]

First of all. My O-A visa is an E-visa with multiple entry. I entered first time October 21 2022 and the stamp in my passport is valid until October 19 2023. My letter of approval must be used before September 18.

My ticket to Bangkok was bought a long time ago, and can not be changed. 

I originally bought a prepaid insurance for one year. It turned out to be absolutely useless, so I cancelled it when I left Thailand last time. I am coming back for 6 months, and I do not want to buy a new health insurance. I have bought a travel insurance for 6 months, and it has much better coverage than my previous one. I wanted to see if they would accept my travel insurance, but I guess there is no reason to, as it would be rejected.

I will keep quiet about my O-A, and only show my METV approval letter, and hope that it would accepted. I am just worried about what happens when they see I already have the O-A.

If worst case is that they will give me a 30-day exempt, I can work with that. But if they reject me, it would be a disaster.

Thank you for all the answers!

[brianthainess]

14 hours ago, 7euner said:

This quetion was also posted on a FB group earlier!

 

I often see people write, that you can not have 2 visas at the same time. I have an O-A visa. I just applied and got an METV also. The O-A expires later this month. I am coming for 6 months, and would prefer to use the O-A as I would not have to leave the country and/or extend. I bought a travel insurance as it has much better coverage than a health insurance. It is also much cheaper.

 

I would prefer to use the O-A, but I doubt it will be accepted without a normal health insurance.

 

Will it be a problem to come with 2 visas and ask if I can use the O-A. If I can not, I will use the METV.

 

If I am not allowed to have 2 visas, maybe I should not try to ask.

Why are you whispering?

[7euner]

4 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Why are you whispering?

I know CAPITAL LETTERS mean shouting, but I never heard about whispering. Is it because text is not black? I do not know how I managed to write in grey!

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, 7euner said:

....
I will keep quiet about my O-A, and only show my METV approval letter, and hope that it would accepted. I am just worried about what happens when they see I already have the O-A.
...

The IO processing you will already "see" your previous O-A use on their screen after he/she initially scans in the passport. If he/she doesn't see any reference to the eVisa he/she may just proceed with the O-A entry for which you have proof of insurance.

 

I am not sure if the issuance of the eVisa will appear on their screen as, like all visas, it is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the database he/she uses is the Immigration Police one. Thus I would suggest keep the eVisa letter out of sight until he/she mentions it.

 

Worst case is they see your O-A AND the existence of an as yet unused eVisa and after flipping back and forth through your passport, whereupon you will be handed over to a supervisor. Your experience at that point onwards will depend on whether he/she is having a bad day at the office.

 

Good luck!

[BritTim]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I am not sure if the issuance of the eVisa will appear on their screen as, like all visas, it is issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the database he/she uses is the Immigration Police one. Thus I would suggest keep the eVisa letter out of sight until he/she mentions it.

These days, the airline is supposed to inform Immigration of the visa you are using to enter Thailand using the APPS (Advance Passenger Processing System). Summary at https://dcs.aero/product/thailand-api/

Edited September 7, 2023 by BritTim
Corrected name of Thailand's advance passenger system and give link

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

These days, the airline is supposed to inform Immigration of the visa you are using to enter Thailand using the APPS (Advance Passenger Processing System). Summary at https://dcs.aero/product/thailand-api/

Ah, OK. Good to know, thanks.

[7euner]

Update:

Today I entered with my 2 visas. The IO asked me why I did not use the O-A. It did not seem to be a problem that I had 2 visas. I asked if my travel insurance was acceptable for O-A, but it was not as expected. Then I asked for him to use the TV, which he did without any problem!

[DrJack54]

3 hours ago, 7euner said:

Update:

Today I entered with my 2 visas. The IO asked me why I did not use the O-A. It did not seem to be a problem that I had 2 visas. I asked if my travel insurance was acceptable for O-A, but it was not as expected. Then I asked for him to use the TV, which he did without any problem!

What do you find surprising on this.

You did not have insurance.

As a result you would be given a 30 day visa exempt entry.

However you had a eVisa .

What do you find unusual. 

Bit of silly thread. 

[BritTim]

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

What do you find surprising on this.

You did not have insurance.

As a result you would be given a 30 day visa exempt entry.

However you had a eVisa .

What do you find unusual. 

Bit of silly thread. 

It has often been claimed (and I have tended to accept this) that consulates and immigration try to prevent you having two concurrently active visas. Perhaps, policies on this have recently changed.