Totally Confused Now With 90 Day In 180 Visa Ruling

[Chivas]

Despite being told by immigration (really should have taken her name-lesson learnt) some 9 months ago that days entered on the visa exemption where no longer counted (or whatever its called) I find conflicting information on different sites.

I dont have time to obtain a tourist visa now so I have listed the last 3 entries using visa exemption (have not entered with tourist visa in same periods).

If anyone can comment on a problem that may be about to arise please tell me.

Entered 21st May-19th June - 30 days

Entered 02th Sept-20th Sept - 19 days

Entered 15th Oct - 4th Nov -21 days

Now if I enter November 25th until December 22nd on visa exemption (if they let me) do I have problem ??

To my mind a rolling 6 months started again 21st November effectively removing a day at a time from first entry ??

I consider that will have only had 40 days in rolling 6 month period with one day expended/added each day ?

Regards,

Chivas

[Lite Beer]

Despite being told by immigration (really should have taken her name-lesson learnt) some 9 months ago that days entered on the visa exemption where no longer counted (or whatever its called) I find conflicting information on different sites.

I dont have time to obtain a tourist visa now so I have listed the last 3 entries using visa exemption (have not entered with tourist visa in same periods).

If anyone can comment on a problem that may be about to arise please tell me.

Entered 21st May-19th June - 30 days

Entered 02th Sept-20th Sept - 19 days

Entered 15th Oct - 4th Nov -21 days

Now if I enter November 25th until December 22nd on visa exemption (if they let me) do I have problem ??

To my mind a rolling 6 months started again 21st November effectively removing a day at a time from first entry ??

I consider that will have only had 40 days in rolling 6 month period with one day expended/added each day ?

Regards,

Chivas

You will have no problem.

[Mario2008]

Will depend very much on the individual immirgation officer, as the rules about how to count the 90 days in a 6 month period are unclear.

In worst case senario they will only give you 20 days, after which you will have to do a visa run.

[Chivas]

Will depend very much on the individual immirgation officer, as the rules about how to count the 90 days in a 6 month period are unclear.

In worst case senario they will only give you 20 days, after which you will have to do a visa run.

Yes this was the scenario I was possibly envisaging re the 20 days.

Any other comments appreciated.

Chivas

[Lite Beer]

As you can see. This rule is a nightmare.

Have a look here.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/90-Days-Calc...or-t172395.html

[Chivas]

Hi,

Yes saw that but am clearly a having a bad day (or the downloads not opening properly on my PC ?) as it makes little sense to me ??

Any obvious help seriously appreciated re that !!

Chivas

[Lite Beer]

Hi,

Yes saw that but am clearly a having a bad day (or the downloads not opening properly on my PC ?) as it makes little sense to me ??

Any obvious help seriously appreciated re that !!

Chivas

Yes it seems to give a strait 90 days and not odd days here and there.

I still think that your 6 months start again on 21st November. But do not put your house on it.

[Lite Beer]

Here you go. From the MFA Website.

But as Marco said, any immigration officer may well have a different idea.

[Chivas]

Here you go. From the MFA Website.

But as Marco said, any immigration officer may well have a different idea.

Thanks LiteBeer,

MFA stands for what ??

Hopeless to quote a source and ensure loss of face for official but perhaps if put in a tactful manner ........ !

Chivas

[Lite Beer]

This is the whole website.

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2637.php

[tropo]

Yes, 2 years down the road we are no clearer on exactly how they count. To make it even more confusing we've heard reports of certain lucky people getting 4 x 30 days in a row. (One recent case in Vientiane).

I wouldn't be at all surprised if some officers just say "to hel_l with it" and don't even bother to count.

At the end of the day, with this rule you're at the mercy of the immigration officer you strike on the day you arrive.

I know for sure that the Immigration Officers at the Ban Laem (Cambodia) border mark each subsequent 30 day entry with a 1, 2 and 3 (highlighted in yellow). This is probably because that border post usually only serves Pattaya visa runners who stay in 30 day blocks.

How they would count when a person enters and exits more often and who stays for shorter periods each visit is anyone's guess.

[visarunner]

This is the whole website.

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2637.php

MFA stands for Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Under Section:

"TOURIST VISA EXEMPTION

Foreigners who enter the Kingdom under the Tourist Visa Exemption category may re-enter and stay in Thailand for a cumulative duration of stay of not exceeding 90 days within any 6-month period from the date of first entry."

Coming in on November 25 will give you a start of a new Six Month Period.

[ubonjoe]

Despite being told by immigration (really should have taken her name-lesson learnt) some 9 months ago that days entered on the visa exemption where no longer counted (or whatever its called) I find conflicting information on different sites.

You started your 6 month count in May but did you have an entry 3 months before that? Was the entry in May the begining of a new 6 months?

You need to look back further. If you had one 9 months ago and it was the the first after a long enough break from exempt entries that could be the start of your 6 months.

[tropo]

Despite being told by immigration (really should have taken her name-lesson learnt) some 9 months ago that days entered on the visa exemption where no longer counted (or whatever its called) I find conflicting information on different sites.

You started your 6 month count in May but did you have an entry 3 months before that? Was the entry in May the begining of a new 6 months?

You need to look back further. If you had one 9 months ago and it was the the first after a long enough break from exempt entries that could be the start of your 6 months.

Who knows what "first entry" really means. For people who have been coming and going for years it's basically meaningless.

Don't get caught up with trying to think you know what's going on because it will come back to bite you on the a*s.

For years people have been debating the logical meaning of what had been stated by Thai Immigration on their website only to find that even they don't know.

These days the conventional wisdom is: If you're in doubt, get a tourist visa.

[Chivas]

UPDATED 26TH NOVEMBER

With immigrations lines extremely quiet, never was there a better time for an immigration officer to have time to look carefully at my passport !!

Scanned passport and looked at back of passport where any tourist visa would have had to been (as nearly full).

Showed absolute ZERO interest in mutiple visa exempt stamps already there and stamped 30 days with a smile and nothing else said.

Make of it what you may !!

Chivas

[ubonjoe]

Was this at the airport?

I don't think it would happen at a border crossing.

[Chivas]

Yes at Swampy but personally I still consider that a border crossing ??

More likely the immigration now have a software programme apon scanning passport which will alert them if there is a possible breach of the 90 days likely.

[Maestro]

No, the 90-day visa-exempt limit within six months is not tallied by computer. There have been some posts saying that at Suvarnabhumi the immigration officers have stopped enforcing the rule, something which I had expected to happen much earlier. Whether this is permanent and done by all officers is not yet clear.

--

Maestro

[Chivas]

No, the 90-day visa-exempt limit within six months is not tallied by computer. There have been some posts saying that at Suvarnabhumi the immigration officers have stopped enforcing the rule, something which I had expected to happen much earlier. Whether this is permanent and done by all officers is not yet clear.

--

Maestro

Maestro you may well be correct in saying there is no software in place tallying entrys, but am sure that in reality NO ONE knows exactly what an immigration officer is viewing on his screen when scanning your passport ??

[tropo]

No, the 90-day visa-exempt limit within six months is not tallied by computer. There have been some posts saying that at Suvarnabhumi the immigration officers have stopped enforcing the rule, something which I had expected to happen much earlier. Whether this is permanent and done by all officers is not yet clear.

--

Maestro

Maestro you may well be correct in saying there is no software in place tallying entrys, but am sure that in reality NO ONE knows exactly what an immigration officer is viewing on his screen when scanning your passport ??

Maestro is correct on this point, 100%.

If there was a computer program available to calculate the length of stay, then they would be able to give us an exact explanation on how it works...but they can't. Awhile back people were banked up at immigration check points while they manually thumbed their way through passports.