What Is A Visa Run ?

[cabralad]

Sounds like a stupid question,but after many hours of researching i still dont have a precise answer..

Question 1..is a visa/border run only for activating another 60 day entry on a multible entry tourist visa?

Question 2..when a single entry tourist visa expires (after 90 days), can i obtain another tourist visa at the border?

Question 3..If i cannot obtain a 60 day tourist visa at border then does that mean i have to go to Vientiane Laos and visit a thai embassy which involves spending a night in Laos and next day come back to thailand.

So a visa run is not the same for everybody.Am i right or wrong.

[ubonjoe]

A visa run means a trip to a Thai embassy or consulate to obtain a a visa.

A border run is to get another visa exempt entry or to re-enter using an entry from a visa that allows for more than one entry.

You will not get a visa at any border. After your visa runs out you will need to go to Vientiane (or Savvanakhet) where you can get a 2 entry visa.

Edited February 10, 2013 by ubonjoe

[lopburi3]

1. A border run is to activate a new visa or visa exempt entry - a visa run should be to a Consulate to obtain a new visa (but often used as a term for actual border run).

2. No. Tourist visas are only obtained from a Consulate (which may be in a border city but not at an actual border crossing).

3. Yes you would have to visit a Consulate and most places that means overnight or longer. People misuse term as pointed out in one above and what is required depends on your passport country and if they have special agreements with Thailand.

[joepattaya1961]

First of all: a visa-run is a trip to a neighboring country in order to obtain a new visa at the nearest Thai consulate or embassy.

A border run is a short trip to the nearest border-crossing in order to activate the next period of stay.

A non-immigrant visa will give you 90 days (or 365 days, depending on the kind of non-immigrant visa)

A tourist visa will give you 60 days (which can be extended with another 30 days at the nearest immigration office near you)

No visa (visa exempt) will give you 15 days.

For a border run you won't need any particular document apart from your passport and departure card.

For a visa run you need all the necessary documents as described on the http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/home website

[lopburi3]

Not as simple as that - some countries will get a 30 day stay on a tourist visa and a tourist visa on arrival would only be 15 days stay.

Visa exempt entry can be 14 to 90 days depending on country passport you hold and can also change by method of entry.

[MrWorldwide]

I only know this - Georgetown has the worst one-star hotel I've ever stayed in, and said hotel has a guy who passes your passport on to his mate at the Consulate and you get a tourist visa without having to show proof of an outbound flight (or anything beyond your two passport-sized photos). It was great not having to line up at the Consulate (Vientiane is a lot of fun in that regard), but the obvious concern is whether its a scam : all I can say is that I got my passport back the following afternoon, jumped on a plane and had no problems getting back into Thailand.

From memory, it cost me about a thousand baht - roughly ten times what they should have charged me for the hotel room. Lesson learnt - there are times when even a single night in a hotel just isn't worth saving a few baht.

[ubonjoe]

And you only got a single entry tourist visa. In Vientiane you can get 2 entry.

Also Penang has been reported many times as not giving more than couple of back to back visas or even if you got the 30 day extension from immigration.

[Colabamumbai]

"Run" can also apply to the line of people who try to run to be the first to get their number in the line at the Embassy. They are making you walk single file in Vientiane, from the entrance to the ticket man/machine.

[kjelljit]

And you only got a single entry tourist visa. In Vientiane you can get 2 entry.

Also Penang has been reported many times as not giving more than couple of back to back visas or even if you got the 30 day extension from immigration.

A girl sits at a table outside BigC Pattaya and sells 3 months visas for 12,000 baht. Just submit the passport and get it back in the evening. I do not know if it is legal, but she says it's ok. Is there anyone who has bought a visa like this and can confirm that it works?

[Mario2008]

It is fishy at the least and could end with you spending some time in Thailand on the expenses of the Thai government. It will only not be a hotel where you will be staying but jail.

[overherebc]

And you only got a single entry tourist visa. In Vientiane you can get 2 entry.

Also Penang has been reported many times as not giving more than couple of back to back visas or even if you got the 30 day extension from immigration.

A girl sits at a table outside BigC Pattaya and sells 3 months visas for 12,000 baht. Just submit the passport and get it back in the evening. I do not know if it is legal, but she says it's ok. Is there anyone who has bought a visa like this and can confirm that it works?

It will be good enough to get you a few days or weeks stay at one the small police run hotels, you know the ones with bars instead of walls, really wonderful small portions of boiled rice once a day. A delightful trip to visit a man who dresses in a funny hat and black cape , this trip cost is extra by the way. The whole holiday ends up with a really pretty stamp in your passport that is something on the lines of DCB (don't come back).

However the choice is yours.

[BrianCR]

It's amazing what the girls sell at "Big C" Pattaya. I once had a girl sitting on a chair who offered to sell me........... (she wasn't cheap either)

[jamhar]

Just did my first visa run.

1) I had opted for 3 re-entries when i got my first visa.

2) at the Cambodian boarder, i opted to get one of the visa run companies, to get me a cambodian visa.

-they took my pass port, I sat in the shade for 20 mins, drinking a coke, and my passport was returned , with completed visa

3) Went to the Thai emigration building, spent 40 mins in line exiting Thai to get an exit stamp.

4) exiting the Thai emigration building, i was met by the guy who got me my cambodian visa. he asked if i wanted a "quick quick" cambodian entry and exit. I said yes. He took me to a cambidian official, and i gave him 500bhat and my past port. I sat in an office in front of a nice cool fan. in 10 minutes, my past port was returned, with a cambodian entry and exit stamp

5) Afterwards, i went to the Thai entry point. spent 45 mins in that line and got a 60 day stamp

I saw my Visa helper friends and gave them each a 200bhat tip.

DONE. no fuss no mess.

upon getting back across to the Thai boarder, my friends asked, "how was the casino"?

CASINO!!?? <deleted>.???

I got thru the cambodian side so quickly i missed the entire fricken CASINO!

Someone shoot me

Edited February 10, 2013 by jamhar

[ubonjoe]

Just did my first visa run.

You did a border run not a visa run.

You already had visa. All you did was leave the country and return using another entry from your existing visa.

[hullupullo]

Someone shoot me

How much you paid for cambodian visa?

200b tip for helpers/each to get cambodian visa, how many there were in line?

500b for visahelper to get cambodian stamps "quick quick!"

Quite expensive to sit and drink coke when you can get it done $20 +100b if do it yourself. And no fuss, no mess.

[overherebc]

Someone shoot me

How much you paid for cambodian visa?

200b tip for helpers/each to get cambodian visa, how many there were in line?

500b for visahelper to get cambodian stamps "quick quick!"

Quite expensive to sit and drink coke when you can get it done $20 +100b if do it yourself. And no fuss, no mess.

Always surprises me that people are willing to put their passport in the hands of a stranger and let them out of their sight so easily.

[Maestro]

What Is A Visa Run ?

The term "visa run" has become polyvalent on our forum, being used by members to mean three different things, in roughly equal measure:

1. Run for a visa
   Travel out of Thailand to a nearby country, obtain a visa from a Thai embassy or consulate, return to Thailand.
   
2. Run with a visa
   Travel out of Thailand to a nearby country with an unexpired visa valid for more than one entry, turn around and return to Thailand to activate a new entry of the visa.
   
3. Run for a visa-exempt entry
   Travel out of Thailand to a nearby country, turn around and return to Thailand without a visa. Applicable only for travellers who qualify for tourist visa exemption.
   

Therefore, if the context of a post using the term "visa run" does not make it clear which type of visa run is meant, the entire post is meaningless.