Using Dual Passports To Stay In Thailand Longer

[Gurkha]

I want to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai for 2 years. The camp owners have told me that I would not be able to get a education visa because the gyms are not registered as schools. However, I have dual passports from Canada and Hong Kong, and I'm thinking that I may be able to work around this. As I understand it, one is allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days in a 180-day period.

If I

1) Get a 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport and enter Thailand with it

2) When the 60 days are up, extend it for 30 days (Question: Is this done relatively easily by visiting a Thai immigration office and paying the fee?)

3) When the 30 days are up, leave Thailand and fly to Hong Kong.

4) Stay for a couple days in HK and apply for a 60-days Tourist visa on my Hong Kong passport (Question: How many days does it take roughly?)

5) Extend it for 30 days when the original 60 days are up.

6) When the 30 days are up, fly to Hong Kong again and this time, apply for 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport

7) Repeat

Would I be able to circumvent the rule and stay 2 years by doing this?

[Mario2008]

There is no longer a 90 days in a 6 month perod rule. However, the Thai embassies in the region have announced that they will no longer give tourist visas in a row, as they consider people doing that not being tourists.

If you use 2 passport you might be able to circumvent this, as long as you fly in and out of the country. (At landborders they check the entryy/exit stamps and cannot change your passport).

Time and money wise you might want to consider to try to get a multiple non-O visa based on visiting friends in Perth, Australia. This would give you almost 15 months to start with, with having to leave the country every 90 days.

[antony77]

they will check your name and date of birth on their immigration computeres. so I would not try it.

[Gurkha]

There is no longer a 90 days in a 6 month perod rule. However, the Thai embassies in the region have announced that they will no longer give tourist visas in a row, as they consider people doing that not being tourists.

After my initial 90 days stay, how long would I have to wait until I can apply for another tourist visa (on the same passport)?

If you use 2 passport you might be able to circumvent this, as long as you fly in and out of the country. (At landborders they check the entryy/exit stamps and cannot change your passport).

Time and money wise you might want to consider to try to get a multiple non-O visa based on visiting friends in Perth, Australia. This would give you almost 15 months to start with, with having to leave the country every 90 days.

In normal circumstances, I don't think visiting friends is valid grounds for a non-O visa. Is Perth, Australia more lenient regarding this? BTW, I don't have any friends in Thailand. But I should be able to get the camp owner to pretend to be my friend. Would I need to go to Perth to apply for the visa or can I do this through mail?

they will check your name and date of birth on their immigration computeres. so I would not try it.

May I ask you your source for this info? I hope I'm not coming across as questioning you but I am curious because I never noticed this before. While going through immigration at airports (not Thailand), I never noticed that they record a visitor's information. If I'm following you correctly, it is the Thai embassy at HK keeps a record of the people who have Thailand tourist visa (?). Is this a centralized database shared by all the Thai embassies around the world? If not, maybe I can work around it by visiting different Thai embassies, like HK, Singapore, KL.

Thanks a lot for the replies! I've never been to Thailand and it's been hard to find updated information on the Kingdom's visa policies. You've been a great help.

[CrossBones]

I want to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai for 2 years. The camp owners have told me that I would not be able to get a education visa because the gyms are not registered as schools. However, I have dual passports from Canada and Hong Kong, and I'm thinking that I may be able to work around this. As I understand it, one is allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days in a 180-day period.

If I

1) Get a 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport and enter Thailand with it

2) When the 60 days are up, extend it for 30 days (Question: Is this done relatively easily by visiting a Thai immigration office and paying the fee?)

3) When the 30 days are up, leave Thailand and fly to Hong Kong.

4) Stay for a couple days in HK and apply for a 60-days Tourist visa on my Hong Kong passport (Question: How many days does it take roughly?)

5) Extend it for 30 days when the original 60 days are up.

6) When the 30 days are up, fly to Hong Kong again and this time, apply for 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport

7) Repeat

Would I be able to circumvent the rule and stay 2 years by doing this?

Better to apply for a one year non imm O visa for visiting friends. Get the school to write you a letter. You should be fine. Its valud for 12 months, on the last day of validity do another visa run and get extra 3 months (so 15 months in total).

After that you might fly back to HK and try the same their on HK passport

I cant see you having any problems

[Mario2008]

You could get a double entry tourist visa to start with from Vientianne, Laos. Maybe even from Hong Kong if you apply on your Hong Kong passport.

Consulates outside of Asai are more friendly, espececially honorate consulates, like Perth, as they get a provision from each visa they issue (instead of getting a salary). Perth will issue if you simply state visiting friends, but you can only apply by mail from within Australia.

[jerrylee]

I want to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai for 2 years. The camp owners have told me that I would not be able to get a education visa because the gyms are not registered as schools. However, I have dual passports from Canada and Hong Kong, and I'm thinking that I may be able to work around this. As I understand it, one is allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days in a 180-day period.

If I

1) Get a 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport and enter Thailand with it

2) When the 60 days are up, extend it for 30 days (Question: Is this done relatively easily by visiting a Thai immigration office and paying the fee?)

3) When the 30 days are up, leave Thailand and fly to Hong Kong.

4) Stay for a couple days in HK and apply for a 60-days Tourist visa on my Hong Kong passport (Question: How many days does it take roughly?)

5) Extend it for 30 days when the original 60 days are up.

6) When the 30 days are up, fly to Hong Kong again and this time, apply for 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport

7) Repeat

Would I be able to circumvent the rule and stay 2 years by doing this?

With supporting letter from the school, you can get a 6 month visa from Thai Consulate in Vancouver, after that you go for a double tourist visa ( 2 x 2 months) at Vientiane, Laos. You may even want to spend some time there to soaked up the Muay Lao !?

I believe there's different requirements using Hongkong Bauhina passport. I also believe that Ministry of Sports or the Muay Thai Association may be able to help with subsequent visas. The tourist visa can be done back to back for few times.

Good luck.

P.S. also Muay Khmer

[Mario2008]

I want to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai for 2 years. The camp owners have told me that I would not be able to get a education visa because the gyms are not registered as schools. However, I have dual passports from Canada and Hong Kong, and I'm thinking that I may be able to work around this. As I understand it, one is allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days in a 180-day period.

If I

1) Get a 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport and enter Thailand with it

2) When the 60 days are up, extend it for 30 days (Question: Is this done relatively easily by visiting a Thai immigration office and paying the fee?)

3) When the 30 days are up, leave Thailand and fly to Hong Kong.

4) Stay for a couple days in HK and apply for a 60-days Tourist visa on my Hong Kong passport (Question: How many days does it take roughly?)

5) Extend it for 30 days when the original 60 days are up.

6) When the 30 days are up, fly to Hong Kong again and this time, apply for 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport

7) Repeat

Would I be able to circumvent the rule and stay 2 years by doing this?

With supporting letter from the school, you can get a 6 month visa from Thai Consulate in Vancouver, after that you go for a double tourist visa ( 2 x 2 months) at Vientiane, Laos. You may even want to spend some time there to soaked up the Muay Lao !?

I believe there's different requirements using Hongkong Bauhina passport. I also believe that Ministry of Sports or the Muay Thai Association may be able to help with subsequent visas. The tourist visa can be done back to back for few times.

Good luck.

P.S. also Muay Khmer

There is no 6 month visa that I'm aware of.

[Lite Beer]

There is no 6 month visa that I'm aware of.

Or Me.

[PoorSucker]

There is no 6 month visa that I'm aware of.

Or Me.

Maybe referring to double entry tourist visa.

60+30 days, border run, 60+30 days.

If you are in europe you can apply for an "ED" visa in Hull.

According to their website

Category “ED” (education – unpaid work) – this category entitles a person to:

a ) to study in Thailand

B ) to attend/participate in a conference/seminar/exhibition in Thailand

c ) to attend as an official at a recognised event in Thailand

d ) to attend a training course (teaching, diving, boxing, etc) in Thailand

e ) to study as a Buddhist monk in Thailand

Contact the consulate in Vancouver and Ask them what visa they can give you.

Hull in England is very flexible.

Edited September 13, 2009 by PoorSucker

[jerrylee]

Last time I got one from consulate in Vancouver was 10 yrs ago, non-immigrant O - valid for 6 months.

yes, long time ago, it was also the trade commission and it was a tiny office and you just submit application to the receptionist,

there was no cue for thai visas in Canada then.

Edited September 13, 2009 by jerrylee

[Gurkha]

Better to apply for a one year non imm O visa for visiting friends. Get the school to write you a letter. You should be fine. Its valud for 12 months, on the last day of validity do another visa run and get extra 3 months (so 15 months in total).

After that you might fly back to HK and try the same their on HK passport

I cant see you having any problems

The camp has said that they can write me a letter of invitation. I think this would work. The camp owner also said something about my having to do visa run every 90 days. It sounds like even with a non-O visa for 12 months, I need to get out and reenter the country every 90 days. Can someone confirm whether that is true or not. It sounds counter intuitive.

On the visa application form, I need to state the number of entries, I want multiple but I'm not sure how many times I would leave/enter Thailand since I plan on doing short trips to nearby countries, what should I put there?

[Gurkha]

I'm in Canada. Would Ottawa or Vancouver office be more easy going?

[Mario2008]

Yes, if you get a multiple non-O or multiple Ed you still will have to leave the country every 90 days. be advised the visa is valid for one year starting from the date it is issued! So don't apply well in advance. By leaving just before the visa expires and re-entering again, you get a new 90 days permission to stay. This way you get almost 15 months out of the visa.

The best consulate is a honorary consulate, look at their website which one is a honorary consulate and call them before applying there.

[sunluvr]

I would avoid Ottawa (even tho I live less than 2 hours drive from there) and deal with Vancouver. When I applied for a non-immigrant O visa last year, Ottawa wouldn't even consider accepting my application - said they didn't issue them, so I dealt with Vancouver and they were very accommodating - 1 day turnaround service.

I'm in Canada. Would Ottawa or Vancouver office be more easy going?

[tropo]

Yes, if you get a multiple non-O or multiple Ed you still will have to leave the country every 90 days. be advised the visa is valid for one year starting from the date it is issued! So don't apply well in advance. By leaving just before the visa expires and re-entering again, you get a new 90 days permission to stay. This way you get almost 15 months out of the visa.

The best consulate is a honorary consulate, look at their website which one is a honorary consulate and call them before applying there.

That could be the answer then. A multiple non-O from Vancouver, followed by a double entry tourist visa from Laos: Total 1 year and 9 months (15 months + 6 months). The OP could do a few flights out (Penang) inbetween if he wants to get the full year.

[PoorSucker]

On the visa application form, I need to state the number of entries, I want multiple but I'm not sure how many times I would leave/enter Thailand since I plan on doing short trips to nearby countries, what should I put there?

"M" = multiple

[Gurkha]

That could be the answer then. A multiple non-O from Vancouver, followed by a double entry tourist visa from Laos: Total 1 year and 9 months (15 months + 6 months). The OP could do a few flights out (Penang) inbetween if he wants to get the full year.

So it's going to be:

1) Canadian Passport Non-O visa = 12 months

2) Canadian Passport Tourist visa = 2 months + 1 month extension. I'll be in Phuket, so the closest would be Ranong or Penang. Does it make a difference if I take the bus or fly there? I'd prefer the bus if I can to save some money.

3) Fly to another country, get a double entry tourist visa on my HK passport and re-enter Thailand. 2 months + 1 month extension

That give me 18 months. After this, how do I make it to 21 months or even 24 months?

[lopburi3]

By that time what is said now will likely be outdated - take it one stay at a time and don't worry about it.

[clinique]

they will check your name and date of birth on their immigration computeres. so I would not try it.

what anthony 77 says is correct in Thailand. When entering you must complete your entry/departure card which is stapled in your passport. All details of your passport and TM card are entered and MAINTAINED on Immigration computers.

So they know when you use more than 1 passport.

I know because I have more than1 passport and ahve been asked by Immigration (2 times in 25 years) to see the other passport. Normally they are jsut curious to see you are not up to anything illigit...

But they do keep the info.

In other countries I dont know - assume its the same where they scan your passport / UK no because no one even looks.

Is the passport computers connected internationally - some but not all.

[thequaife]

I want to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai for 2 years. The camp owners have told me that I would not be able to get a education visa because the gyms are not registered as schools. However, I have dual passports from Canada and Hong Kong, and I'm thinking that I may be able to work around this. As I understand it, one is allowed to stay in Thailand for 90 days in a 180-day period.

If I

1) Get a 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport and enter Thailand with it

2) When the 60 days are up, extend it for 30 days (Question: Is this done relatively easily by visiting a Thai immigration office and paying the fee?)

3) When the 30 days are up, leave Thailand and fly to Hong Kong.

4) Stay for a couple days in HK and apply for a 60-days Tourist visa on my Hong Kong passport (Question: How many days does it take roughly?)

5) Extend it for 30 days when the original 60 days are up.

6) When the 30 days are up, fly to Hong Kong again and this time, apply for 60 days tourist visa on my Canadian passport

7) Repeat

Would I be able to circumvent the rule and stay 2 years by doing this?

when u enter HK, which passport will you be using? canadian? if so, during your trip in thailand with HK passport. how are you going to explain the HK immigration, when you leave HK using your canadian passport for stayin in HK for 90 days with canadian passport?

u can just fly to singapore using whatever passport. when u come back to thailand, u will get 30 days. jsut keep on doing it. most people do. i do.