Tourist Visa Once Already In Country With A 30 Day Voa

[lokitrev]

Hello I am a 25 year old on an extended vacation in Thailand. I am a U.S. citizen. My original plan was to get my 30 day VOA "visa on arrival" and continue on a whole 6 month SE Asia circuit. However after staying in Thailand's north for a little over two weeks I am falling in love with this country, I would now like to change my plans to stay in Thailand for as much of the six months as possible.My question is multi part. A: Can I apply for a tourist visa in Laos (since that is closer to me than Cambodia) even though I already have VOA ? If so i would assume I would need a Laos visa of some sort ... B: How long does it generally take to get a tourist visa once you apply?... C: I have read conflicting reports on how long a person can stay in Thailand within a 6 month period. This concerns me seeing that my plane ticket home several months from now is out of Bangkok and I am not sure if I were to reach this "limit" how I would get back in country to catch my flight... Ideally I would like to stay in Thailand for the whole six months with a combination of tourist visas and extensions, but I cannot figure this out because of all the recent visa changes and contradictory info on the web. I would appreciate any help from you travel vets out there as I am still a greenhorn in this whole extended holiday thing..Thanks

[digitalchromakey]

First you have a 30 day Visa Exempt Entry, not a Visa on Arrival.

A. Yes you can get a free Double 60 Day Tourist Visa in Vientiane, Laos, each 60 day entry can be extended for 30 days at a local Thai Immigration Dept.

B. Two Working Days.

C. Continuous with visa runs/extensions, no limit - no problem.

[lokitrev]

Whew you just took a big load off my back thank you. Sorry I am still trying to get the nomenclature down. When you say two 60 day visas does that mean I can get them both in one trip to Vientiane? I am going to assume that if this is the case I burn up the first sixty get a thirty day extension..go on a visa run to the border then repeat? or do I have to go back to Vientiane after the first 60 + 30? Can I get a visa exempt entry to land borders of Laos to go to the Thai Embassy? Thanks for the help..

[Maestro]

You apply at the Thai consulate in Vientiane for one visa valid for two entries and they will put one visa sticker in your passport valid for these two entries.

As the visa application form used in Vientiane does not have a specific field to indicate the desired number of entries, after the printed text "tourist visa" you write "2x"

This double-entry tourist visa will be valid for travel to Thailand within 90 days from its date of issue. When you get your 30-day extension of stay after your first entry the expiration of your permission to stay will likely be later than the expiration date shown on the visa. Be sure to do your border run for the second tourist-visa entry not later than one day before the "enter before" date shown on the visa. See this useful information on the website of the Immigration Bureau: http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/content/visaxpiredate.html

[lokitrev]

I am looking over the visa app and looking for clarification on a couple points. Under "Travel Document" that would be my passport correct? The "Local Guarantor" what are they looking for , and who would i put for the Guarantor in Thailand? If I get approved I will be looking for a serviced apartment in probably Chiang Mai, but since I do not know where yet what do I put for the proposed address section? Sorry for all the questions ,but I do not know how much they scrutinize this app and I obviously want it to go through without any hitches. Should I have this app already filled out when I show up to the Embassy or can I do it on the spot?Thanks for all the helpful advice this is all new to me.

[lopburi3]

Less nerve racking if you do in advance. I always put 'self' when guaranteer asked. For location put first hotel you plan to use. You can always change your mind.

[Xircal]

There's a photo of one on this forum which might help. See Visa example You would underline "Tourist Visa" when you make your application, otherwise all the other details are the same.

[lokitrev]

Less nerve racking if you do in advance. I always put 'self' when guaranteer asked. For location put first hotel you plan to use. You can always change your mind.

Yea I will notch this one in the belt for "lesson learned"

[lokitrev]

One last question. On the app it asks "previous visits to Thailand" well I arrived on sept 22nd ,and I am staying for 20 some odd days of my granted thirty. Then I will be going to the Thai embassy in Laos. So does this count as a previous visit when I am filling out this app? would I put Sept. 22nd now that I am out of the country and applying for a new visa? Or does this all count as "this" visit? I hope that's not confusing, I don't know if I am over-thinking this I just do not want to screw this up. Thanks everybody<br>

[lopburi3]

Sep 22 was your previous entry so I would use that date.

[lokitrev]

Thank you for the helpful advice everybody. I am taking off tonight to go on my visa run. I will be going with AYA services ,it will be a round trip to Nong Khai and back. I will post my experience and how everything went for my last post on this topic. If everything goes as planned I will be back in Chiang Mai early Saturday morning. (fingers crossed)

[lokitrev]

Visa run went off pretty much without a hitch...the only thing was the guarantor sections, one guy ahead of me just put "self" and did not fill out the rest, and they made him go back and complete the whole section, using his address at home ,and his address in Thailand for guarantor in Thailand, so you cannot just leave these blank or silpmly write "self". Thanks for the great advice everybody, I was very well prepared and it all went so smooth thanks to all the info. This forum rocks!