7 day Extension of visa exempt entry - questions

[ukrules]

My long term visa ran out and I won't be getting another one until June when I return to the UK - I'm not going now because it's too cold - I'll wait until the summer as that suits me better.

I'm not travelling to any other Asian country and sitting there for days in a hotel waiting for them to issue a single entry tourist visa - I don't want to do this so I'm not going to do it.

I have a British passport and I'm entering the country on a visa exempt stamp for the next few months which now gives me 30 days at either an airport or land border.

I can extend each 30 day entry stamp by 7 days by going to immigration and applying for an 'extension of stay' but they appear to deny it and give a stamp that tells me to leave the country in 7 days even though I do in fact get an extra 7 days from when I apply which is normally the date on the entrance stamp.

Going to immigration in Hua Hin is a very simple process and it's a small quiet office, it takes only about 10-20 minutes to do this so it's worth it and virtually hassle free.

Last month I got in the car and drove to the new Burma border crossing about 70km past Kanchanaburi which was just fine. I can do this once every 37 days, no problem.

This is the stamp they gave me in January - note it's a 'denial' stamp but I still get 7 exta days before I have to leave :

So the main question : Is this 7 day extension of stay what it appears to be ?

If I do this every month will they continue giving me the 7 day extension 'denail' stamps or is it going to create some kind of problem with the immigration department - I don't want to annoy them too much in any way although I don't mind pushing it to the limits.

Does anyone have any ideas if immigration have any problems with issuing these 7 day extension denial stamps on a continuous basis over 5 or 6 months ?

Ideally I'm looking to hear from someone who's done this 4 or 5 times back to back to find out if it creates any problems.

I'm going for another one this week so I'd like to hear from anyone elses experiences doing this and I'll ask some more detailed questions directly to immigration when I'm there this week.

Thanks !

[ubonjoe]

It is a denial because there is no clause in the police order that allows for a 7 day extension so they accept the application charge the for extension and give you 7 days to leave.

I wouldn't suggest trying to do it on a monthly basis. I think they might consider it abusing a loop hole in the rules and is really only meant to used in an situation where you can't leave the country.

You don't have to sit for days to get a tourist visa. All nearby locations with the exception of Cambodia are next day service for visas.

[olddoc]

Would seriously suggest a tourist visa is obtained.

Continual "border" runs" will attract attention and may lead to difficulty.

A short term trip to any of the nearby countries would resolve the problem.

[ukrules]

Well I'm going for another 7 day extension in a couple of days time followed by another drive to Burma next weekend.

Maybe next time I'll fly out somewhere and get a tourist visa. That should see me through until June with a 30 day extension.

Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?

In truth I don't mind staying somewhere for 2 nights but I've only really been to Cambodia in recent years and I heard it can take 2-4 days so I didn't bother going back.

[Suradit69]

Well I'm going for another 7 day extension in a couple of days time followed by another drive to Burma next weekend.

Maybe next time I'll fly out somewhere and get a tourist visa. That should see me through until June with a 30 day extension.

Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?

In truth I don't mind staying somewhere for 2 nights but I've only really been to Cambodia in recent years and I heard it can take 2-4 days so I didn't bother going back.

"Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?"

Don't mean to be snarky, but this matter of getting a tourist visa in a neighboring country has been addressed in countless threads. Have you considered doing a search? If you were a newbie that might not be an obvious way to find the answer, but obviously with over 2000 posts you have to have run across similar questions coming up many times each week and understand how the search function works.

[ukrules]

Well I'm going for another 7 day extension in a couple of days time followed by another drive to Burma next weekend.

Maybe next time I'll fly out somewhere and get a tourist visa. That should see me through until June with a 30 day extension.

Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?

In truth I don't mind staying somewhere for 2 nights but I've only really been to Cambodia in recent years and I heard it can take 2-4 days so I didn't bother going back.

"Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?"

Don't mean to be snarky, but this matter of getting a tourist visa in a neighboring country has been addressed in countless threads. Have you considered doing a search? If you were a newbie that might not be an obvious way to find the answer, but obviously with over 2000 posts you have to have run across similar questions coming up many times each week and understand how the search function works.

I've done extensive searches countless times over the years, the information is constantly changing and often out of date and with a long list of countries it takes hours of trawling through pages of information to find what I need.

On the other hand someone in the know who's done it recently could simply post 'Vientiane - in and out in 2 days - use an agent, no problems, did it last week' which would really be a time saver. It would take only a few seconds to do that.

[ubonjoe]

Vientiane Laos or Penang Malaysia both offer next day service.

You could check Nok Air for flights to Vientiane that are fly/ride via Udon. Lao Southern airways offer the lowest cost flight directly to Vientiane.

Air Asia to Penang is a good choice.

You can find reports for both here: Latest Reports Of Getting A Visa In The Region

[ukrules]

It is a denial because there is no clause in the police order that allows for a 7 day extension so they accept the application charge the for extension and give you 7 days to leave.

I wouldn't suggest trying to do it on a monthly basis. I think they might consider it abusing a loop hole in the rules and is really only meant to used in an situation where you can't leave the country.

You don't have to sit for days to get a tourist visa. All nearby locations with the exception of Cambodia are next day service for visas.

Interestingly enough I went to get my 7 day extension today and while there I got my girlfriend to clarify in Thai the issue of doing this kind of extension every time with the immigration officer.

He said 'one stamp per visit to the country' explaining that after this 7 day extension I have to leave the country and then enter again. There are no limits to the number of times you can do this, but you can only do it once for each visit you make.

I guess if you're willing to pay them 271 Baht per day for an extra 7 days they're quite willing to accept it without limit.

I'm still going to get a tourist visa in a neighbouring country in about a month and a half from now but I'm going to do the 7 day extension next time as well just to push my eventual travel date back to Europe a little further into the summer.

[olddoc]

Serial "runners" eventually find themselves closed down !

There are limits to Thai patience and "understanding !

[ukrules]

Serial "runners" eventually find themselves closed down !

There are limits to Thai patience and "understanding !

Really ? I'm certain the immigration department will continue to apply the law which clearly allows for this at the moment.

It has nothing to do with 'understanding' or leniency and there is no leeway, if the law changes then things will change.

The rubber stampers at immigration do what they're told to do whether they like it or not.

[beechguy]

Well I'm going for another 7 day extension in a couple of days time followed by another drive to Burma next weekend.

Maybe next time I'll fly out somewhere and get a tourist visa. That should see me through until June with a 30 day extension.

Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?

In truth I don't mind staying somewhere for 2 nights but I've only really been to Cambodia in recent years and I heard it can take 2-4 days so I didn't bother going back.

"Where's the best place right now to get a single entry visa from without having to wait several days ?"

Don't mean to be snarky, but this matter of getting a tourist visa in a neighboring country has been addressed in countless threads. Have you considered doing a search? If you were a newbie that might not be an obvious way to find the answer, but obviously with over 2000 posts you have to have run across similar questions coming up many times each week and understand how the search function works.

I've done extensive searches countless times over the years, the information is constantly changing and often out of date and with a long list of countries it takes hours of trawling through pages of information to find what I need.

On the other hand someone in the know who's done it recently could simply post 'Vientiane - in and out in 2 days - use an agent, no problems, did it last week' which would really be a time saver. It would take only a few seconds to do that.

Did you look in the Pinned Topics Section for obtaining visas within the region? Not always completely up to date, but a good guide on others experiences.

[notmyself]

Penang Malaysia both offer next day service.

Need to get there early though.

Was there early December with a friend who needed a visa. I was due to do a bounce to active the second of three entries on my tourist visa so decided to fly down with her for a couple of days. Handed in the docs at hotel Mingood at around 6PM and she got her passport with visa back at 4PM the following day. Don't remember the cost which is strange as I stumped up the Ringit because I had plenty on me. Flight was from Samui with firefly at around 6.5k return as I remember. Worth going if only for the food I say! What's the cost of an Air Asia flight from the OP's location?