Tourist Visa Never Stamped At Airport When I Arrived

[kburn]

i just realized that immigration never stamped my tourist visa when i arrived at the airport. they only gave me the 30 day on arrival stamp.

is this something that can be corrected at the immigration office in Bangkok or am i going to have to make a visa run?

[steve187]

what are your plans to stay here?

[kburn]

it's a double entry visa and i planned on staying for 5 months.

[beechguy]

it's a double entry visa and i planned on staying for 5 months.

Did you enter the Tourist Visa number on the arrival card, perhaps the officer didn't see the visa? You can go to an immigration office and try to get the entry corrrected, or just do a border run before the permission to stay expires. For the double entry, you just need to make the second entry before the visa validity date expires.

[lopburi3]

Go to Chiang Watanna and have it corrected - many have to do so every day.

[kburn]

it's a double entry visa and i planned on staying for 5 months.

Did you enter the Tourist Visa number on the arrival card, perhaps the officer didn't see the visa? You can go to an immigration office and try to get the entry corrrected, or just do a border run before the permission to stay expires. For the double entry, you just need to make the second entry before the visa validity date expires.

yeah i put the visa number on the arrival card. guess they missed it.

[kburn]

Go to Chiang Watanna and have it corrected - many have to do so every day.

thanks for the help

[steve187]

if you are staying 5 months wait until the end of the 30 days, then do a border run getting a 60 day stamp, then at the end of that 60 days do another border run for 60 days, a total stay 5 months,ish, with two border runs.

make sur your last entry on the double visa is made, before the use by/expire date of the visa

[lopburi3]

He may already have used his first entry so not a good plan - most of the time it is just a stamp error and visa information would have been entered correctly into the computer. He should visit Chiang Watanna.

[beechguy]

Go to Chiang Watanna and have it corrected - many have to do so every day.

thanks for the help

It depends on your travel plans, but some people intentionally try to avoid having their visa used upon the first entry, especially if they have plans to visit a neighboring country. I was considering that it may work to your advantage that they made a mistake, but lopburi3 makes a valid point about the informaion may have already been entered into the system.

[thailandbluegrass]

if you are staying 5 months wait until the end of the 30 days, then do a border run getting a 60 day stamp, then at the end of that 60 days do another border run for 60 days, a total stay 5 months,ish, with two border runs.

make sur your last entry on the double visa is made, before the use by/expire date of the visa

They do not give 60 day visas at boarders. These 60 day visas we refer to as "Visa runs" which means you must go to a Thai consulate in another country. "boarder runs" are just that. You go to the boarder and get the 15 days by land travel. Many people seam to get the termanolgy of "visa run" and "boarder run" mixed up mate.

Not good to give mis-leading info to newbies.

[lopburi3]

Poster was talking about tourist visa entry from the visa the poster already has - that would get 60 day entry at border as any multi entry tourist visa does.

[steve187]

if you are staying 5 months wait until the end of the 30 days, then do a border run getting a 60 day stamp, then at the end of that 60 days do another border run for 60 days, a total stay 5 months,ish, with two border runs.

make sur your last entry on the double visa is made, before the use by/expire date of the visa

They do not give 60 day visas at boarders. These 60 day visas we refer to as "Visa runs" which means you must go to a Thai consulate in another country. "boarder runs" are just that. You go to the boarder and get the 15 days by land travel. Many people seam to get the termanolgy of "visa run" and "boarder run" mixed up mate.

Not good to give mis-leading info to newbies.

I did not give misleading advice. i told him to do a two x border runs, and that is what i meant two x border runs, I at no time mentioned visa runs, he has a double entry visa why would he need to do a visa run, read the post before you critise, and i do take notice of what lopburi posted.

i did not get the termanolgy of "visa run" and "border run" mixed up mate!

[Tod Daniels]

I concur with other more learned posters;

There is a high probability that the Tourist Visa number was entered into the computer correctly as they usually type that right off the arrival card (and the O/P noted he DID put that number on the card too). In all likelihood the Immigrations officer picked up the wrong stamp and used the 30 day visa exempt stamp instead of the 60 day Tourist Visa stamp. (this being a 'stamp-happy' country and all..)

A trip to Changwattana will sort it out quite easily. Seeing as they have an entire section out there which ONLY deals with correcting wrong stamps, this ain't the first time this has happened here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais".

While I don't recommend it at all; if the O/P decides to take other advice about just waiting out the 30 day visa exempt, then "runnin' for the border" to re-enter on his seemingly un-used 'first' entry of his double entry tourist visa, he could be in for a shock insofar as that first entry was keyed in and they just stamped him wrong. He could very well be re-entering on the SECOND entry of the visa and after 60 more days he'd be err, 'visa-less'.

My advice; go to Changwattana and get it sorted out.. It's just not worth tryin' any other way. Once the stamp's corrected you'll be in tall cotton regarding your intention of stayin' 5 months. ..

While slightly off topic (still of marginal value):

In other news, an acquaintance from the US recently TRIED to enter at Suvarnabhumi on a 30 day visa exempt stamp while having a brand new unused double entry tourist visa in his passport. He was told by Immigrations there that if he wanted to enter by the 30 day visa exempt method they'd write "used" on the Tourist Visa (as in; he'd totally lose it). At least that's what he said, and as he's a frequent visitor I have no reason to doubt what he said.

Your mileage MAY indeed vary. ...