6 Month Stay With A Slight Twist

[fennman]

Hi everyone,

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you may have for me. This forum is a tremendous resource and I hope I can find the answers to this query in here too.

Long story as short as I can.

My girlfriend (UK) and I (Irish) are currently in Thailand.

We got a 60 day double entry tourist visa and got an extension for 30 days at the Krabi immigration office.

In four weeks we go back home for Christmas and wish to return to Thailand at the start of January for another 3 months.

The 30 day extension on our visa will take us up to the day we leave Thailand to go home.

The 'use by date' on our double entry visa is the start of January and we could feasibly return to Thailand before this date.

Ideally this would mean that we could get another 60 days on our original double entry visa when we land in Bangkok in January.

The main queries I have are:

1 Will the double entry use by date be valid in January even though our 30 day extension will have expired prior (December) to this date?

2. Is there a maximum stay restriction in Thailand over a 6 month period (I believe there was a 90 max in the past but I have read this has been discontinued)?

3. What is the likelihood of getting an extension again for another 30 days on the double entry visa? (that's a bit more of a subjective one I accept).

If there is anything I have missed or any more information that I should post here please let me know.

Any advice would be greatly appreciate.

Thanks,

Barry

[lopburi3]

Yes you can use for entry and new 60 day (and 30 day extension if you want) as long as you arrive before the expiration date on the visa. No there is no limit on the amount of time you may stay in Thailand (and never was for visa entry). Nothing subjective - you pay the price and you will receive.

[attrayant]

This is good info, as I am in a similar situation although on a single entry visa, not a double. I'm taking refuge (from the flooding) out in Sa Kaeo province. My 60 days runs out December 30, or thereabouts. I plan to get the 30 day extension which will take me through January, and then fly to Vietnam (I wanted to visit there anyway for the Tet holiday). While there, I will apply for a fresh 60 day tourist visa back to Thailand. Hopefully by then the flood will be gone and they will have cleaned off the ring around the city.

A few folks I've run into here say to me "I hear they're clamping down on that back-to-back tourist visa thing", but when I press them for details they can't really provide any more info and they don't know anyone who has been denied. It's just "something they heard". Hopefully I won't be clamped-down upon :-)

[MTH]

OP:

1. Yes

2. No

3. 99.9%

attrayant, you shouldn’t have to be concerned about getting a second tourist visa in Vietnam.

What you hear about the “clamp down on back-to-back” tourist visas is currently related to two or more tourist visas.

[attrayant]

You said "two or more", but that's my situation. I am currently on my first, and I will get the second one when I am in Vietnam. Problem or not?

[lopburi3]

There should not be a problem until 3 are in your passport (or more at most places). You should not have any issues but believe Vietnam does require show of exit ticket from Vietnam to issue.

[attrayant]

Thanks. Of course I will have an exit ticket from Vietnam, else why would I be applying for a second visa back to Thailand? I will also have my exit ticket from Thailand, dated some time in late March.

Thanks again everyone.