Visa Runs

[xandreu]

I'm hoping to get a one year non immigrant B visa to stay in LOS, and the one thing that baffles me about it is why I'm going to be forced to leave and re enter the country every 90 days, even though my visa lasts for a year.

This is my first time of living outside the UK, and was wondering what the official reason for making people do this is? Who benefits from it and why? What does it achieve? I can understand if your on a tourist visa, but if you've already been granted a visa which lasts for a year, what point is there in making people leave and re-enter the country every ninety days?

I used to think it had an air of "cheating the system" about it, but even on the visa form it says this is what you have to do, so if it's official government advice, there's nothing underhand about it.

Which still leaves me baffled as to why we're made to do it at all?

[Lite Beer]

A Non Imm Visa gives a stay of up to 90 days. If you have a Multiple entry valid for 12 months you can come and go as you please with each entry having a maximum of 90 days.

If you want to stay 12 months without leaving you get a 12 month extension from Immigration if you qualify.

[endure]

Because that's the law. It's no more irrational than some of the laws that pertain in your home country.

[moe666]

In the end you have a multiply entry visa for one year but each entry is only good for 90 days requireing you to leave at least every 90 days to activate the next 90 day stay. The one year extension ao stays require a visit to immigration every 90 days for place of residence. I f you leave the country on a one year extension of stay that counts as your 90 day stay.

[xandreu]

I understand the requirements involved with the types of visa, I just don't get the purpose of having to leave and re enter the country every 90 days when you've been issued a visa which lasts for a year.

It's not a complaint as such. It seems a small price to pay to be able to live in Thailand for a year, I just don't understand what benefit comes of it? There must be a reason why the government requires people to do visa runs, I just can't work out what that reason is?

Does it help them keep tabs on who's in or out of the country at any one time? I know a lot of things happen in Thailand without any obvious rhyme or reason, but there must be an official reason for this? Surely?

[mallyrd]

In the end you have a multiply entry visa for one year but each entry is only good for 90 days requireing you to leave at least every 90 days to activate the next 90 day stay. The one year extension ao stays require a visit to immigration every 90 days for place of residence. I f you leave the country on a one year extension of stay that counts as your 90 day stay.

It is not necessary for the passport holder to report in person, any authorised nominee can undertake this exercise.

[lopburi3]

The visa is not intended to be used by those living in Thailand. It is for temporary business travel to the country and allows the traveler to only have to obtain once a year rather than for each trip.

To work in Thailand would require a work permit and most people would then be able to obtain one year extensions of stay from Immigration to stay in Thailand.

[CharlieH]

"This is my first time of living outside the UK,"

If you come to Thailand with that mindset, and general approach to everything it will drive you crazy !!

You can forget all about western ways of thinking and logic and whats reasonable and fair or even common sense, they just dont apply out here.

You will soon learn to stop questioning and just accept thats the way it is and you have to roll with it.

Edited June 15, 2011 by CharlieH

[BngkkB]

I would think Non Immigrant is someone that is NOT an Immigrant. Therefor NOT living in Thailand. Just a thought?

[true blue]

the reason given to me,many years ago why one had to leave los every 90 days,was for tax purposes??????,something about the tax laws,urban myth,true,pom mia lua.tit

[RichardSmith99999]

"This is my first time of living outside the UK,"

If you come to Thailand with that mindset, and general approach to everything it will drive you crazy !!

You can forget all about western ways of thinking and logic and whats reasonable and fair or even common sense, they just dont apply out here.

You will soon learn to stop questioning and just accept thats the way it is and you have to roll with it.

Profound and so very very accurate. I salute you!

[Maestro]

the reason given to me,many years ago why one had to leave los every 90 days,was for tax purposes??????,something about the tax laws,urban myth,true,pom mia lua.tit

No, tax laws have nothing to do with it. As Lopburi said, the multiple-entry non-B visa is designed for people who need to travel to Thailand several times a year for business purposes.

[EvilDrSomkid]

I have wondered about OPs question, too. I can't make sense of it either.

The best I can come up with is that the authorities don't want to make things easy for foreigners.

I know what the rules are and that you can apply for an extension of stay and all that, but it seems mighty strange to have to leave every 90 days and be able to come back in the same day. <deleted>?

It how things are over here. The culture here is: "Don't ask WHY!" Asking 'why' is considered dangerous in this country.

It is confrontational so must be avoided at all cost.

The powers that be make up whatever rules they like and these must be obeyed, whatever they are.

One must accept this or not stay here.

[JohnC]

There must be a reason why the government requires people to do visa runs, I just can't work out what that reason is?

Two reasons:

1) Job creation for Thais (immigration police, mini bus drivers etc)

2) Income generation!

[phuketrichard]

one reason why more and more people move to Cambodia.

$250-275 for a 1 year multiply entry visa, Never have to leave or report

show no money

not be married

no business

Edited June 17, 2011 by phuketrichard

[IMA_FARANG]

When I first came to Thailand the first time in 1977 I asked why every 90 days I had to get a new tourist visa.

The only answer I ever got was "to satisfy a Thai tax requirement", but exactly what it was or why was never explained very clearly.

I remember that you used to be able to go to immigration and get a 2 week extension free of charge. But they never called it an extension, the entry just read "This application is currently under consideration. Please return on (date)". That (date) just happened to be two weeks later...so in effect you had a two week extension without paying a fee...and without immigration actually having to acknowledge that they had actually given you a two week extension.

I always regarded as a neat "Thai style" solution to the problem.

They usually let you get 3 or possibly 4 "under consideration" entries before they told you no futher such entries were going to be given.

That's how you knew it was time to do a visa run to a neighboring country to get a new tourist visa...and start the whole process over.

I used to go to Penang for mine, then.

Edited June 17, 2011 by IMA_FARANG

[tartempion]

Because that's the law. It's no more irrational than some of the laws that pertain in your home country.

Wrong, the laws here (Thailand) are perfectly irrational, therefore

[differentbutsamesame]

The visa is not intended to be used by those living in Thailand. It is for temporary business travel to the country and allows the traveler to only have to obtain once a year rather than for each trip.

To work in Thailand would require a work permit and most people would then be able to obtain one year extensions of stay from Immigration to stay in Thailand.

So when a work permit is obtained one is allowed to stay in the kingdom for 365 days without having to leave every 90 days?

Edited June 17, 2011 by differentbutsamesame

[lopburi3]

Most will have that option - cost is 1,900 baht per year for the extension of stay. But it is not the work permit alone that would allow stay - you must apply for and receive the extension of stay.

[Jingthing]

I would think Non Immigrant is someone that is NOT an Immigrant. Therefor NOT living in Thailand. Just a thought?

Could have fooled me! I have lived here for years now on a non-immigrant visa with no need for visa runs. No, non-immigrant simply means you are not living here on a permanent resident status. Foreigner living in Thailand, not becoming a Thai. Living here/not immigrating here. There is a difference and the descriptor is apt.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Jingthing

[KamnanT]

It's not that different from other countries - look at the US, for example. A Thai can obtain a B1/B2 Non-Immigrant Visa that is valid for 10 years, but only for a maximum stay of 180 days on each entry. Theoretically, one could leave the US on the 180th day, go to Canada and then return the following day and get another 180 day entry. In practice, however, your friendly US CBP agent is going to have a LOT of questions for a B1/B2 visa holder who is attempting to re-enter after such a short period outside the country. Why? Because a Non-Immigrant Visa alone is permission to visit, not permission to reside.

[KhunRobert]

To make it easy for yourself:

Obtain a 90 day visa at your home country, after arriving in Thailand visit the Immigration office in the area where you wish to stay.

Explain that you want to stay longer and apply there for a 9 months extension on your visa, if approved that means every 30 days a

visit to local immigration for prove of residence.

After in total 1 year go for extension again.

This avoid every 90 days a visa run to the border.

Possible visa to obtain:

Non-O if older than 50 years

Non-B if you want to work in Thailand.

[lujanit]

This is an interesting subject. I am in a slightly different situation. I have a multiple entry two year work permit yet I still have to report to Immigration every 90 days. This is to verify?? my address. I honestly don't see the logic in it as if I was to leave Thailand and re-enter the new reporting period starts from the day I re-enter. Note that I can put on the entry card at the airport my address is Bangkok and nothing more (not my full address) and I have no problems getting back in. I don't have to show my work permit with my address in it. So the conclusion is that this 90 day reporting and IMHO the 90 day visa run is nothing more than government bloody-minded useless bureaucracy. As someone said earlier it is to create jobs and let farangs know who is on top of the pecking order. My 2 satangs worth.

[Suradit]

I have wondered about OPs question, too. I can't make sense of it either.

The best I can come up with is that the authorities don't want to make things easy for foreigners.

As has been stated in several messages posted before yours, the visa is not for long term residents. It is for people who need to travel to Thailand frequently on business and it saves them from the need to get new visas each time.

Rather than blaming Thai authorities (a popular cathartic exercise here at TV) for making things difficult for foreigners, why not blame the foreigner for planning to essentially take up full-time residence without qualifying for it or without obtaining the sort of visa that would allow him to do so?

Everyone in the world does not have some innate right to take up residence in Thailand. Even those who don't really qualify quite often find ways to play the system anyway. To first say "I've found a way to circumvent the spirit of the law," and then whine/whinge because circumventing the law is inconvenient is, at best, petulant tantrum-throwing.

As someone said earlier it is to create jobs and let farangs know who is on top of the pecking order. My 2 satangs worth.

Keeping track of foreigners living in Thailand makes perfect sense unless of course you were worried about the pecking order in the first place. One way or another every country tries to monitor foreigners within their borders. Does it create jobs? Sure. Does it make paranoid foreigners who want to believe it is they who are superior feel challenged? Apparently it does. A win-win-win situation.

Edited June 19, 2011 by Suradit

[whitejaguar]

This is how it works in Thailand:

They introduce a law to regulate the "immigrants" coming to Thailand. Than two problems occur. They make two more laws to repair these two problems. After a while four other problems occur and so they make four more laws to 'solve' the problem....... and so on! In the end you have law-soup and nobody understands where it comes from.

[californiabeachboy]

At first I also wondered why they don't allow us farangs to simply come to Thailand and spend money, without any time restrictions. But I think the reason is that the Thai government does not want people living in Thailand who are not "productive" in their minds - that is earning money, employing other people (Thai) and therefor paying taxes. When you look at it from their standpoint, not so crazy. For many farangs, we think that because we are purchasing things in Thailand, that is enough to make us valued immigrants, but that is not the case. For them (as for most countries) it is a simple economic decision - how do we get people here who will pay more in than they cost us.

[renaissanc]

In the end you have a multiply entry visa for one year but each entry is only good for 90 days requireing you to leave at least every 90 days to activate the next 90 day stay. The one year extension ao stays require a visit to immigration every 90 days for place of residence. I f you leave the country on a one year extension of stay that counts as your 90 day stay.

It is not necessary for the passport holder to report in person, any authorised nominee can undertake this exercise.

The officials at Bak Nam charge 200 Baht under / over the table if someone else goes instead of myself.

[MILT]

I have wondered about OPs question, too. I can't make sense of it either.

The best I can come up with is that the authorities don't want to make things easy for foreigners.

I know what the rules are and that you can apply for an extension of stay and all that, but it seems mighty strange to have to leave every 90 days and be able to come back in the same day. <deleted>?

It how things are over here. The culture here is: "Don't ask WHY!" Asking 'why' is considered dangerous in this country.

It is confrontational so must be avoided at all cost.

The powers that be make up whatever rules they like and these must be obeyed, whatever they are.

One must accept this or not stay here.

Because non Immigrant B visa is for business. It is not the same as a marriage, or retirement or even a working in Thailand visa. It's pretty simple. And to address the "WHY" word. I ask Why all of the time and I have lived here 16 yrs. now. To put out that we cannot ask why and to do so is supposed to be dangerous? <deleted> Asking why is perfectly find to do anywhere in the world .To paint Thailand as some sort of dark and scary place is just foolish at best. It's not that you are wrong in the way things are done here and we all have had to adjust the way we think and go about things but that has never stopped me from asking

[tombkk]

The visa is not intended to be used by those living in Thailand. It is for temporary business travel to the country and allows the traveler to only have to obtain once a year rather than for each trip.

To work in Thailand would require a work permit and most people would then be able to obtain one year extensions of stay from Immigration to stay in Thailand.

So when a work permit is obtained one is allowed to stay in the kingdom for 365 days without having to leave every 90 days?

Correct, as long as the work permit and the visa or extension of stay remain valid.

If you don't leave, you have to report your address to immigration every 90 days though (you can do it by mail).

[tombkk]

the reason given to me,many years ago why one had to leave los every 90 days,was for tax purposes??????,something about the tax laws,urban myth,true,pom mia lua.tit

No, tax laws have nothing to do with it. As Lopburi said, the multiple-entry non-B visa is designed for people who need to travel to Thailand several times a year for business purposes.

Tax laws used to have to do with it, that's where the myth comes from. In the late 1980s, we had to file a tax report if we stayed over 90 days in the kingdom, and we even had to pay taxes (based on the amount of money we presumably spent) if we stayed longer than 180 days. That was on tourist visa. Without the tax report, immigration at the airport wouldn't let you leave the country.

Alas, this was more than 20 years ago.