Completely Confused With All These Stupid Visa Laws, Please Help Me

[Paul8888]

Hi everyone,

I am very sorry to bother you all with my problems, but I am really confused as to what I should do.

Ok, so I was back in England for a month from July 12th until August 12th. Then i just got my visa on entry at the airport in Thailand. I then left to Japan on September 2nd and returned on September 10th. Again, just had a visa on entry at the airport. The immigration dude studied my passport for a long time which got me worried. So I asked some friends, and they say that you can only enter the country 3 times, and then I will be banned for 3 months?!!!!

So my dilemma is, I will be travelling bk to Japan in the middle of October for 5 days, then returning to Thailand after that.

Can anyone tell me my options please? I do some work for a Thai company buying/selling and representating them abroad, so I could use their company document to get a 12 months multiple entry non immigrant business visa right? But the question begs, where do I do it?

I don't have a work permit yet, but I think it would ease things if i tried to get one right? Does anyone know the procedure for applying for it?

Anyway, the work permit was a sideline, bk to the visa, Can I do it at the Thai embassy in Tokyo? Or does it mean I have to go all the way back to England to get this visa?

My friend said he did his through a company who returned his passport 10 days later all completed. I don't think it is wise to use one of these companies right? I would rather do things properly.

So any advice you can give me on how to get out of my mess would be much appreciated!!!

Thank you very much,

A confused with visas person

[rhino533]

It's easy, when your in Japan apply for a tourist visa and as long as you have a visa there will be no problems at immigration when coming back into thailand. That law regarding 3 time entry into thailand then you must leave for 90days only applies for the 30 day Stamp. You can get a 30 days stamp 3 times in 90 days then you must leave the country. But you can leave the country and then apply for a visa and enter right away without any problems. So your problem is solved, just apply for a 60 day visa in Japan, you might even be able to apply for a multi entry tourist visa but I'm not to sure if they give out multi entries in japan. Hope this helps!

[Lite Beer]

You can enter as many times as you want without a visa up to a total of 90 days in a 6 month period.

[lopburi3]

1. You are limited to 90 days in any six month period using visa exempt entry (30 day stamps). It is not limited to 3 entry but only by the total days.

2. Do not believe your "work" will qualify for a work permit and company would have to also qualify but would be worth asking them if it may be long term - they would likely have to employ a law firm if they have no experience with expats.

3. Do not believe Consulates in Japan will issue visas to non residents.

4. Do not believe Consulates in Asia are likely to issue a multi entry B visa without a work permit.

5. Using a company from Thailand would be very risky; the visa would not be considered legal if found out (and without stamps out/in it will often be found out). If passport is being stamped without you present the issue could become a serious terrorist related case and don't believe anyone wants that experience.

6. Hull in the UK or one of the smaller Consulates in Oz are probably your best bet for multi entry visas.

[Paul8888]

thank you so much for your replies guys.

I am just a little confused.

Rhino, you said that it is easy, I can just get a 60 day tourist visa from Japan. However, the later posting by Lopburi says "Do not believe Consulates in Japan will issue visas to non residents".

So will they give me the 60 day tourist visa or won't they?

Any additional advice is much appreciated

[rhino533]

thank you so much for your replies guys.

I am just a little confused.

Rhino, you said that it is easy, I can just get a 60 day tourist visa from Japan. However, the later posting by Lopburi says "Do not believe Consulates in Japan will issue visas to non residents".

So will they give me the 60 day tourist visa or won't they?

Any additional advice is much appreciated

HMMM this I'm not sure, you best bet would be to call the embassy in Japan to find out exactly or email them and find out first hand if you can get the tourist visa there. Here is the website for the Thai embassy in Japan. http://www.thaiembassy.jp/rte2/ you might be able to find out more from this site.

[Bacus]

You can enter as many times as you want without a visa up to a total of 90 days in a 6 month period.

I can't stay in Thailand for long periods of time any more. What I have been doing for the past year is to get the free 30 day permission stamp at the airport but only using 15 days and returning home. I completely leave Thailand for another country and do not return to Thailand for at least 30/31 days. (Usually it is 60+days between visits.)

Technically speaking, couldn't I continue to use the free 30 day deal almost forever (until the rules change again) providing that I always keep at least 30 or 31 days between my last passport departure stamp and the next new arrival stamp??? This would give me less than 90 days during a 6 months period of time.

Thanks

[tropo]

Technically speaking, couldn't I continue to use the free 30 day deal almost forever (until the rules change again) providing that I always keep at least 30 or 31 days between my last passport departure stamp and the next new arrival stamp??? This would give me less than 90 days during a 6 months period of time.

Thanks

Yes, technically speaking you should be able to continue this "almost forever"...however there is still confusion as to how they count days. We STILL don't know for sure if they count forwards or backwards and it may vary depending on individual officers' interpretations too.

There's still debate over what we call the "block theory". If they count according to this method, then it could cause a problem if you enter near the end of a 6-month "block"....and result in you not getting the full 30 day allocation.

Lopburi3? Maestro? Any updates on this?

[Bacus]

Technically speaking, couldn't I continue to use the free 30 day deal almost forever (until the rules change again) providing that I always keep at least 30 or 31 days between my last passport departure stamp and the next new arrival stamp??? This would give me less than 90 days during a 6 months period of time.

Thanks

Yes, technically speaking you should be able to continue this "almost forever"...however there is still confusion as to how they count days. We STILL don't know for sure if they count forwards or backwards and it may vary depending on individual officers' interpretations too.

There's still debate over what we call the "block theory". If they count according to this method, then it could cause a problem if you enter near the end of a 6-month "block"....and result in you not getting the full 30 day allocation.

Lopburi3? Maestro? Any updates on this?

My last couple times through immigration the "official" was counting days on a calculator! I guess everything is still sort of fluid and you never know if the "official" will count actual days or have something else in mind!

Thanks

[jstumbo]

You can enter as many times as you want without a visa up to a total of 90 days in a 6 month period.

I can't stay in Thailand for long periods of time any more. What I have been doing for the past year is to get the free 30 day permission stamp at the airport but only using 15 days and returning home. I completely leave Thailand for another country and do not return to Thailand for at least 30/31 days. (Usually it is 60+days between visits.)

Technically speaking, couldn't I continue to use the free 30 day deal almost forever (until the rules change again) providing that I always keep at least 30 or 31 days between my last passport departure stamp and the next new arrival stamp??? This would give me less than 90 days during a 6 months period of time.

Thanks

Yes you could. Basically using the visa waiver you can be in Thailand a little less than half time. If you are in Thailand for 15 days and then leave for a month, you would only be in Thailand for 1/3 of the time. It does not really matter how they set the starting and finishing date, you should never reach your 180 days.

I did this for almost 2 years before I got my Business visa.