Re-entry Visa

[kurtdhis]

I have spent the last 3 years in Thailand on a Non - B visa, as well as having a work permit, after relocating here from Taiwan.

What I would like to know is, will it be necessary for me to get a multiple entry visa, apparently at a cost of 2500 baht at the Immigration Department, as explained to me by our schools administration department.

Or can I simply get a re-entry visa at the airport for 1900 baht? According to one of my Aussie collegues, that is all he needed to go home and re-enter LOS.

I feel that the Administration department are incorrect, but I don't want to have my Non - B cancelled, simply because I decided to go on vacation and then return.

The ladies in the administration department are a little lax and clueless at times, so I wanted to be 100 percent certain of the requirements for going on vacation for a month.

[lopburi3]

Firstly are you here on a 90 day stay or a one year extension of stay (do you have to make visa runs every 90 days)?

If you are just using a multi entry B visa for 90 day stays you do not need a re-entry permit.

If you are here on an extension of stay then you must have a re-entry permit prior to travel to keep that extension alive. The cost is 1,000 baht (one thousand). It can be obtained at any immigration office or in Terminal 1 of Don Muang airport after flight check-in but before passing through immigration.

You do not need a multi re-entry permit for one trip. If you expect to make more than 3 or 4 trips it might be worth the price (3,800 baht) but for the one trip and return I would advise the 1,000 baht single type.

[kurtdhis]

Firstly are you here on a 90 day stay or a one year extension of stay (do you have to make visa runs every 90 days)?

If you are just using a multi entry B visa for 90 day stays you do not need a re-entry permit.

If you are here on an extension of stay then you must have a re-entry permit prior to travel to keep that extension alive.  The cost is 1,000 baht (one thousand).  It can be obtained at any immigration office or in Terminal 1 of Don Muang airport after flight check-in but before passing through immigration.

You do not need a multi re-entry permit for one trip.  If you expect to make more than 3 or 4 trips it might be worth the price (3,800 baht) but for the one trip and return I would advise the 1,000 baht single type.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you for your help lopburi. I do not need to make the 90 day visa run. I have the one year extension. This will be my first trip home in 7 years, and it will be the only one for a while, so the 1000 baht re-entry permit for one trip seems to be what I need to get.

But to show you how clueless the administration department are , when I first applied and recieved my 1 year extension, they told me that it was not neccesary for me to go and report every 90 days at the Immigration department, but that I should rather not do it, because if I did, I would have to keep on doing it.

When it was time to go and get a renewal of the extension, I asked the administration lady and she said that I should have gone and I would end up having to pay a fine of 20 000 baht. This is the SAME lady that told me NOT to go. Then again, I guess it was my own stupidity, and I should have found out more information sooner. Although one would expect to trust the word of these people, or is that expecting too much?

[lopburi3]

You should be reporting your address every 90 days but, after the first report, it need not be in person as you can have someone else do for you or do by registered mail. It is now being enforced much more than previously but the fine so far has only been 2,000 baht total. That 20,000 figure would apply to someone who has overstayed there visa for 100 days or more - not for failure to report address.

Edited October 14, 2005 by lopburi3

[Maestro]

That 20,000 figure would apply to someone who has overstayed there visa for 100 days or more - not for failure to report address.

Only for the record, I should like to add that while the current practice of Immigration is to collect THB 200 per day, maximum THB 20,000, for overstaying one’s visa, the legal provision would allow also imprisonment:

Section 81 : Any alien who stay in the Kingdom without permission or with

permission expired or revoked shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding

two years or a fine not exceeding 20,000 Baht or both.

<Source: Immigration Act B.E. 2522>

[kurtdhis]

That 20,000 figure would apply to someone who has overstayed there visa for 100 days or more - not for failure to report address.

Only for the record, I should like to add that while the current practice of Immigration is to collect THB 200 per day, maximum THB 20,000, for overstaying one’s visa, the legal provision would allow also imprisonment:

Section 81 : Any alien who stay in the Kingdom without permission or with

permission expired or revoked shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding

two years or a fine not exceeding 20,000 Baht or both.

<Source: Immigration Act B.E. 2522>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you once again for this information. I made sure that I did not overstay my visa, and always ensured that my documentation was up to date. It just seemed an excessive amount for not going to report every 90 days, (Which I will be doing in future). It just once again proves the ineptness of the administration department and their misinformation.

Edited October 14, 2005 by kurtdhis

[Maestro]

…report every 90 days, (Which I will be doing in future).

I seem to remember having read on this forum that once you leave the country and re-enter, you start with a clean slate again as far as the 90-day reporting is concerned, since no record of these reports is entered in the passport. Your new entry into Thailand then starts the clock, i.e. the first 90-day period after which you have to report.

For a personal report at the Immigration Office, do so within 7 days after expiration of the 90 days, but you can of course also do it before the 90 days end.

For a report by mail (form TM-47 here), send it by registered mail in time to reach the Immigration Office before expiration of the 90 days.

[jayenram]

If you are here on an extension of stay then you must have a re-entry permit prior to travel to keep that extension alive.  The cost is 1,000 baht (one thousand).  It can be obtained at any immigration office or in Terminal 1 of Don Muang airport after flight check-in but before passing through immigration.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not wishing to be pedantic here but there is at least one immigration office that does not issue re-entry permits; Kab Cheong office. Does anyone know of any others?