Visa Options

[philrtw]

Seeking some advice on visa here. Situation is this I am married & legally registered to thai women, been in Thailand since end of April this year & now on last of 3 x 30 day visa exempt stamps finish 25th July. Came to thailand for birth of my son, we had a few minor health scares early on (Jaundice), now luckly everything is fine, but with so many things left to organise, Ideally I would like to stay 1-2 months longer before returning to England where I work, so I can help wife settle down with baby. Orginal plan I would have had 6 weeks spare to do this, but as it is I will have only 2 weeks.

I am planning on going to Laos (Savannaket) to try & obtain a visa, I believe I have 2 options.

1. Standard 60 day tourist visa

2. Non Immigrant visa (90 day I think)

My question is which one would I be more likely to be given, & therefore should apply for. Worried having already spent 90 days here I might not be given the tourist visa on the other hand not 100% certain as to my chances on obtaining Non Imm Visa.

I have no plan to work here, or to stay past September, so I will not need to do another visa run after this. Any advice would be grateful.

[lopburi3]

You should not have a problem obtaining either visa but the Non immigrant O visa is best as it provides proof of your tie to Thailand. Take marriage registration and copy and a copy of wife ID card that she signs and dates. That should allow the non immigrant O visa issue.

There should not be any problem obtaining the cheaper tourist visa and there is no restriction on number of days using that if funds are short.

[philrtw]

Thanks for the advice Lopburi. I Decided to go for the Non-immigration O Visa. Below is a report of my trip to Savannakhet for anyone interested.

Arrived Mukdahan bus station 7.30am, Caught the first International Bus to Savannakhet at 8.15am cost is 45 baht. Bus arrives at the Thai border where everybody gets off the bus & stamps out of Thailand. The bus then picks everyone up & goes across the bridge to the Laos Border. Once again off the bus & fill in visa application (1 photo required) if required & go through immigration. After stamping each person in they asked 40 baht beofre handing passport back although no explanation why, for me although its a pain its small change & not worth starting a arguement about so I like all I saw paid, but I'm sure others would want to stand firm against this sort of tea money scam. Once through its back on the bus & down the road to Savannakhet bus station. It should be noted that the bus passengers are on a vehicle manifest so the bus waits for all passengers to clear immigration before departing. Also keep hold of your ticket as you are sometimes asked to show it upon reboarding the bus. This all took around 1 hour from bus station to bus station.

On arriving at Savannakhet bus station there are serveral Tuk Tuk's waiting & you can get a ride to the Thai consulate for between 20-40 baht depending on how many people you go with. On arriving at Consulate its a small room where the apllications are made & you have to get application form from them first before getting in line to make your application. There is a few tables & chairs outside to fill form in, dont try doing it in the office. Prices for visa's where:

Tourist 1000 Baht

Non-Immigrant O visa 2000 Baht

I had the following documents for the application:

- Application form.

- 2 passport photo's.

- My Passport, & 2 photocopies of the photo & information page.

- Original Marriage certificate, plus photocopy (note they want both sides copied).

- Copy of wife's I.D. card signed by her & me.

- Copy of wife's house registration book (Tabien bahn blue book) signed by her & me.

No other information was asked for.

Other than having to photocopy both sides of my marriage certificate, which you can do just across the road from the consulate (also passport photo's & other services available at 2 shops) all was done within 30 minutes. You are given a receipt & was asked to come back 2.00pm next day (Sign outside also states next day service).

Plenty of Hotels or guesthouses available for between 200-850 baht.

Next day arrived 1.45pm to find I was last to collect passport, because the staff had a meeting so had handed out passports earlier, nice of them to tell me the day before. So suggest turning up 1.00pm on the off chance they do this regulary. Visa was in order & to be fair the whole process was fast if not entirely efficient (well it is Thailand still)

Still managed to make the 2.30pm international bus to Mukdahan (45 baht again) with all the rest of the visa crowd. Same process as the day before on & off bus as you go through both border checkpoints. Laos border guards hit people up for 40 baht again as the day before. Thai border guard gave me the full 90 days without problem.

The whole process was really hassle free, so long as your documents are in order & you not abusing the visa process. Seems there should be no problem for anyone. Just read the advice given on this website & get prepared before you go.