tricky tourist visa run to Vientiane

[krdowney]

I need advice, badly, because I don't know how Immigration is enforcing tourist visas in Vientiane.

I am a 49 year old male. I have 37 days left on my work contract, but school is out for summer and I do not have to report. My contract may or may not be renewed, and I may or may not decide to sign it if it is offered. My non b visa expired a month ago and I'm now on a visa exempt 30-day stamp because the school did not prepare my extension like they said they would, so I can't honestly consider myself employed anymore.

On the school's "strong suggestion", I will be going to Vientiane on June 1st to get a double entry tourist visa because my visa exemption expires. They say they need more time than a 30-day extension at Chaeng Wattana would give them to figure out the contract issue (eyeroll). The problem is that my passport screams that I'm someone who is working without proper documentation (which I guess is technically true seeing as my contract is still active until June 30). What is the likelihood of immigration actually denying me re-entry?

I am working on other options as well. I'm trying to get myself out of a jam. But if I go to Vientiane in a week, is it likely I have to abandon my stuff and my money in Thailand because I am denied a tourist visa?

Thanks guys! I'm in a mess that keeps getting messier.

[ubonjoe]

I can't understand is why they cannot give you the paperwork to get a new non-b visa in Vientiane. They should forget the extension paperwork for now. You will need to have the non-b to apply for the extension.

If you do get the tourist visa you would not have a problem entering the country. They would not know you have a contract and work now.

[krdowney]

Because I failed some rich kids and gave them hell, and the university has to decide if I am fired or not. My faculty supports me, but the University Council may not. The meeting is the 29th of May but I was told it would take a few weeks to decide. The department has my paperwork ready but cannot issue it without the contract being approved. The head of the department keeps telling me things will be fine, but I'm not at all convinced.

[krdowney]

It's a dumb situation, and in the Thai universe it's one that I brought on myself. I understand that.

I'm just trying to find out if I should cut and run instead of going to Vientiane.

[krdowney]

But please, regardless of what is happening with the school (I told you so there you would have the back story) the question I'm asking is straight forward:

Are the immigration officers likely to guess that I still have a dying nub of a contract and deny me entry?

[ubonjoe]

I think I would get the 30 day extension of the your visa exempt entry. That would give you more time to wait and see what they do.

Then if they get the paperwork go out for the non-b visa.

Edit: How would immigration know you were on a contract? As I wrote before you would not have a problem on entry.

[krdowney]

That was my plan. The admin people in charge of doing my visas categorically said NO.

They don't understand that Immigration has become tougher over the last year, and they are convinced that a letter from the University can fix anything--and that used to be the case. This is an ongoing struggle. Since the coup, they keep messing up the foreign professor's paperwork, missing deadlines, and giving bad advice. We have a new head of the department and he's learning the hard way that the staff does whatever it wants.

[krdowney]

I was worried about the recently expired non-F visa right there on the same page as my tourist exempt stamp.

[ubonjoe]

Ignore what they say and go to immigration and get the 30 day extension. The fee is 1900 baht.

[krdowney]

And thanks Ubon Joe. Your answers have helped. I will go to Vientiane.

[ubonjoe]

I was worried about the recently expired non-F visa right there on the same page as my tourist exempt stamp.

People leave and re-enter the country after having various types of visas and extensions of stay all the time without a problem.

[krdowney]

okay Now I can ham jai...

[stevenl]

And thanks Ubon Joe. Your answers have helped. I will go to Vientiane.

Good to hear the answers have helped, but why don't you listen?

Go to immigration and get a 30 day extension of your visa exempt entry.

[krdowney]

And thanks Ubon Joe. Your answers have helped. I will go to Vientiane.

Good to hear the answers have helped, but why don't you listen?

Go to immigration and get a 30 day extension of your visa exempt entry.

Hi Steven

I get what you and UbonJoe are saying about the 30-day extension and I am listening, but there are factors that I didn't make a point to talk about that are swaying my decision. For instance, my contract extension will not be decided before the extension expires, and I would have to make this Laos trip then anyway. So why pay 1900 baht for a 30 day extension that doesn't solve the problem when I can pay 2000 for a double entry tourist visa that with extensions gives me 5 to six months (so I can take a TEFL course maybe), Another thing is the admin staff sent me an email telling me explicitly not to get the extension from Chaeng Wattana and to go one of the nearby embassies for a full tourist visa. It was underlined and in bold. Now I might not agree with everything they tell me, but they have proven to me that if they don't want to do my paperwork I end up right where I am now. So I'm gonna play it their way unless they tell me to do something ridiculous, like staying in BKK for around 35 days overstay and then deal with it if the contract is renewed. I refused to do that one which is why I'm running all over SE Asia these days. So unless going to Vientiane will get me in a lot of trouble, I'm going to do as they say.

There really is nothing to wait and see about honestly. The faculty supports me. That might not be enough. There is only a final answer to wait for, and that will take more than 35 days.

I appreciate your viewpoint, but I would only do the 30-day extension if I just planned to leave Thailand when it was expired.

K

[nealthewheel]

But please, regardless of what is happening with the school (I told you so there you would have the back story) the question I'm asking is straight forward:

Are the immigration officers likely to guess that I still have a dying nub of a contract and deny me entry?

You haven't got a problem!

I went to Savanakhet in January to obtain my non-b (no problem) but my school dragged its feet because of contractual issues with my sponsor who would pay my salary and I ended the school semester no further forward (no work permit). I then went to Savanakhet at the end of March to get a double entry TV - again no problems so stop panicking and just go and get a TV from either Savanakhet (recommended) or Vientiane - people often finish contracts and get TVs until they sort out the whole process again - believe me it is not a big issue. The consulate do not look into your passport with a fine toothpick and comb. They take your application and more or less process it while you stand there to make sure they are happy with the paperwork and you then pick it up the next day from both locations. And coming back in doesn't appear to cause any heartache either - you are just processed into the system.

Best of luck

[thesetat2013]

But please, regardless of what is happening with the school (I told you so there you would have the back story) the question I'm asking is straight forward:

Are the immigration officers likely to guess that I still have a dying nub of a contract and deny me entry?

They will not deny you entry if you have tourist visa.

[ubonjoe]

Off topic posts have been removed and a reply to them.

[krdowney]

Pip Pip Pip Pip. Wow, you have your little world and can't see beyond it. Let me explain some things.

1)My spelling and English are fine. But I can't type well on my phone.

2) I didn't ask for general advice. I asked for advice about the visa rules and the tendencies of immigtation officers. Thats it. That's all I asked. Your answer voes way beyond the scope of the question.

3) I don't need a TEFL to teach Politcal Science at a University. I'm not teaching English, my students speak English pretty well already...although I do teach argumentation and composition. I can't believe you said I need a TEFL. You don't know the first thing about teaching in an English-medium college international program. You have no credibility.

4) I agree that the typical Thai approach is to fire falangs whenever possible, which is why I am making other plans. I know I can be repaced.

5) BUT, This all happened six months ago. My cotract had expired and they could have just let me go. Instead they signed me to another cotracr ON MY LIGHT SEMESTER and paid me my full salary to teach ONE course. I'm not saying I kept my job. I am saying no final decsion cas been made. But I did ask something about cutting and running so I see why you weighed in.

6) At Thammasat, each faculty is self-contained and make mosi internal decisions themselves. Heads of departments are powerful, and the dean even more so. Both of them are on my side. Don't laugh and call me naive, but they have been the whole time.

7) I know I can be replced, I've already said it. I know firsthand how the English teacher merry-go-round is. But I am not a nobody. I havr one of the finest educations from top schools. My students enjoy my classes and learn. When I help students with letters of recommendation and with their statements of pupose, they get into good MA programs in the US and Europe. They may not keep me, but they know they would be letting go of a somebody.

Pip, unsolicited advice is worse than unwanted guests. All I needed was info on visas. My situation is complicated and I will manage my life on my own, for better or worse.

[JLCrab]

I have no visa information to offer but being on the PoliSci Faculty of Thammasat is no small thing. Best of luck to you.

[krdowney]

Pio. Thank you. I'm sorry coming at you the way I did. Nobody here is a nobody, and I hope I didn't tret you as one.

As for Thammasat, it's a job I would truly hate to lose. But if I do, I know I brought it on myself. So I make plans B and C. I want to do a TEFL because I taught high school English here for the first six months I was in Thaland, and I sucked. I didn't know the skill set. I still don't. I wanna fix that because no kid deserves a bad teacher.

[BKKSnowBird]

Your school needs to give you a document to leave the country by land. I think it is to prove you paid your tax.

BTW, I would edit out the name of your school. Never a good idea.

[ubonjoe]

Your school needs to give you a document to leave the country by land. I think it is to prove you paid your tax.

BTW, I would edit out the name of your school. Never a good idea.

The OP will not need any document to leave the country. Only if on an extension of stay would he need one and it would be a termination letter to cancel out his extension at 2 border crossings. No proof of tax payments is needed for anybody to leave the country.

[krdowney]

Thanks Pip. I'll edit the name out when I get to my computer. That's a good call. And I will ask about the document on Monday. I never even knew that existed.

[BKKSnowBird]

I think Joe is correct.

I needed that document to exit but I was on extention of stay (not a visa) and work permit that still had several months on it. I quit before the end of my contract.