My youngest daughter has recently finished her Master's degree, and has got an internship for two or three months (she doesn't know exactly how long yet) at the UN in Bangkok. She will have the relevant paperwork from the UN to apply for a non-imm B visa (I think?) for the period that she will be working for the UN. However, she would like to arrive a week or two before she starts, so she can organise accommodation etc, and also to settle in (she has been to BKK before, but briefly), and she would also like to have a week or two at the end to do a bit of travelling around Thailand.

Do any of you visa-meisters know how she could achieve this, visa-wise? Is there a period of grace at either end of the contract? Could she leave (to Lao, for instance), and come back in on an exemption?

Any wisdom gratefully received.

She thinks that because I spend a lot of time in Thailand and am married to a Thai that I should know all these things!

It's like "Oh, you come from London? Do you know Pei? He lives in London..."

Huh???

The easy part is the answer to your question as to whether she could cross a land border and come back on a visa exempt entry at the end of her assignment. If she is from most developed countries, the answer to that is definitely yes. If entering on a UK passport, she would get 30 days, extendable for another 30 days at an immigration office.

The best way of handling the period before her assignment starts is less clear to me, but I would assume it is a pretty standard problem, and I am sure others can give you a good answer.

If she has a non-b (or any non immigrant visa) she will get a 90 day entry. It will not be tied to the term of her contract. She could arrive early if she wanted to.

Then a the end of her contract she could stay until the end of the 90 day entry.

If she has a non-b (or any non immigrant visa) she will get a 90 day entry. It will not be tied to the term of her contract. She could arrive early if she wanted to.

Then a the end of her contract she could stay until the end of the 90 day entry.

Which is fine if her contract is for two months, but it may well be for three months. What can she do then? Could she come in on an exemption, go to Lao just before the contract starts and come back in on her non-imm? And do the same at the other end of the three month contract, but in reverse?

Without additional info I cannot say whether she will be able to get a non immigrant visa in a nearby country. For example a non-b visa would normally require a work permit application approval letter in order to get it. I would guess she should qualify a non-f visa to perform official duties.

It is also possible that she could qualify for a 90 day extension if her visa entry ended before her internship ended..

If she finished her internship and wanted to stay longer after the entry ends she could get a visa exempt entry by doing a border run.

Thanks for that, Joe. I'll pass the info on.