Hi all,

Just got my 3 entry tourist visa (Thai consulate in Montreal, Canada) and I noticed that my visa 'valid until' date is Dec 19, 2012.

Now, I know that I can extend for 30 extra days for my first entry, then do a simple border run for another 60 + 30 days BUT this will put me at around the 'valid until' date.

My question is; if I step back into the country (using my 3rd entry) on the 18 of December, will I be allowed to stay for 60 days + or will they refuse my visa on the basis that it will expire on the next day? Hence giving me a simple 30 days (if by air) or 15 days (if by land) visa.

Thanks.

If the enter before date is Dec 19 2012 then as long as you exit and reenter Thailand on Dec 18 2012 you will get another 60 days which can be extended by another 30. Your visa expiring has nothing to do with your permission to stay until date.

If so, just to confirm, I step back in to the country for my third time on Dec 18 I should be ok for another 90 days.

Thanks.

Yes. The final entry must be made before the expiry date of 19th December.

The confusion comes from the fact that what you (and I) call a visa is not really that.

It is permission to enter. What gets stamped in your passport when you enter is permission to stay and the length of that permission is (should be) decided by the kind of permission to enter you have in your passport.

For most other country's the visa combines permission to enter and permission to stay.

The long and short is that you can enter on the last day of your "visa" and be given permission to stay for 90 days (if the "visa"type allows it. )

This is why people with 1 year multi entry "visas" can stay for up to 15 months.