I have a valid work permit that was recently renewed. My visa expires this week and I am currently sitting in immigration to get it extended.

I'm being told that I will get a 30 day stamp and I will need to be in town on April 20th to get a 1 year stamp. The problem is that I will be out of town until May, and I really don't want to change my vacation plans if at all possible.

Has anyone ever dealt with this? They claim they need 30 days and not a minute more or less to upgrade my stamp. The lady in my office says I'll need to come back over 2 weeks early or start a whole new visa. Please tell me if there is a way around this.

You can get a re-entry permit for the under consideration period that will be valid to the report back date on the stamp.

Sometimes the approval is done early. You could check back before you leave to see if is done.

You will have to start all over again by getting a new non-b visa if you are not here on the report back date.

Thanks for the quick response. It confirms my worst fears that no matter what I do, this will be an expensive process. Either changing the airline tickets or starting the entire visa/work permit procedure would be horrible.

Any clue how long it usually takes? I have a little under 3 weeks before I'm due to depart.

I was once in this position. Once I explained the situation, they gave me a special form to complete to request fast tracking - all finished in a week.(This was in Chiangmai.)

Any clue what that special form was called? I've just made another trip back from the immigration office, and the answer was still no. Every Thai person that I've talked to said that they probably just wanted a bribe, but the number quoted was stupidly high.

I can't believe there isn't any flexibility on their end for the date.

I have never heard of such a form being used. Perhaps a Chiang Mai only form.