The Multiple Entry Tourist Visa Topic (METV)

[ubonjoe]

23 minutes ago, Fireyfish said:

I want to live alternate 3 months Thailand and 3 months Australia ongoing ... what  Visa should I apply for ... I'm on the Australian age pension?

If you are 50 or over you could apply for a OA land stay visa at the embassy in Canberra or the consulate in Sydney if you can meet financial requirements. You would need to show the equivalent of 800k baht in a financial institution in Australia or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2. The OA visa allows unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue and you can get a total stay of almost 2 years from it by doing an entry just before it expires.

You could also apply for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration here and get a multiple re-entry permit to keep it valid when your return from your trips. To apply for it the 800k baht would have to be in a Thai bank for 60 days.

You other choice would be to get a single entry tourist visas that allow a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days. You would need to get a new one for every trip to here.

[donaldinho9]

No change, i did a visa run last week. Same old crazy drivers

Good to know, thanks! Just an English friend of mine told me they are cracking down on same day border/visa runs and that every time I leave the country I now need to fly out/in...But, if you had no issues, should be sweet!?


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[Fireyfish]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

If you are 50 or over you could apply for a OA land stay visa at the embassy in Canberra or the consulate in Sydney if you can meet financial requirements. You would need to show the equivalent of 800k baht in a financial institution in Australia or 65k baht income or a combination of the 2. The OA visa allows unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue and you can get a total stay of almost 2 years from it by doing an entry just before it expires.

You could also apply for a one year extension of stay based upon retirement at immigration here and get a multiple re-entry permit to keep it valid when your return from your trips. To apply for it the 800k baht would have to be in a Thai bank for 60 days.

You other choice would be to get a single entry tourist visas that allow a 60 day entry that can be extended for 30 days. You would need to get a new one for every trip to here.

Thanks  for that ... I'll have to ponder that one maybe the 60 day one first up to give it a trial.

[elviajero]

10 hours ago, donaldinho9 said:

Good to know, thanks! Just an English friend of mine told me they are cracking down on same day border/visa runs and that every time I leave the country I now need to fly out/in...But, if you had no issues, should be sweet!?


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A one off border hop shouldn't be a problem.

 

They are clamping down on people doing back to back visa runs, exceeding the yearly limit or suspected of working. If you use a visa run company they will let you know when you book if you're likely to have a problem.

[donaldinho9]

A one off border hop shouldn't be a problem.
 
They are clamping down on people doing back to back visa runs, exceeding the yearly limit or suspected of working. If you use a visa run company they will let you know when you book if you're likely to have a problem.

What is the yearly limit??


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[JackThompson]

56 minutes ago, donaldinho9 said:

What is the yearly limit??

 

It is a Mystery, and varies by border-point.  But there are various hypothetical formulas of estimation which we and visa-run companies banter about. 

[scubascuba3]

 
It is a Mystery, and varies by border-point.  But there are various hypothetical formulas of estimation which we and visa-run companies banter about. 

I can understand why visa exempts or visa on arrivals might be an issue but once you've purchased a METV you are expected to leave every 60-90 days

[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

I can understand why visa exempts or visa on arrivals might be an issue but once you've purchased a METV you are expected to leave every 60-90 days

 

There have been no reports of problems with re-entries using an METV, that I recall.  But note that Poipet is now denying or threatening Non-O-Multi runs, and Ranong is requesting an unofficial "fee" for the same.  We shall see if this becomes more widespread at other border-points, as some have speculated, and/or includes the METV.  In the meantime, I would avoid those two crossings.

 

I am sure some believe that "living here most of the time" for nearly 9 months on an METV is "abuse" of the visa (i.e. - putting too much foreign-sourced capital into the Thai economy) - recalling some comments it "was not designed" for this.

[athousand]

I'm from the UK and have been wondering why the UK Embassy and Consulates are enforcing a position of having £5,000 in a bank account for at least 6 months, while other countries do not seem to have this requirement - they seem to only require a statement showing that there is currently that amount in the account.

 

I looked at different English speaking websites - the US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian and have a possible theory. 

 

Could it be that the UK embassy mistranslated? If you go to the website, you will see some errors. For example - for the line I'm talking about, they write 'puonds' instead of 'pounds'. That may seem like a small thing, but as the other English language websites are translating the £5,000 as 'within' instead of 'for' , it could make a big difference. 

 

All the other English language consulates and Embassy websites I have found require the equivalent of £5,000 in a bank account at the time of applying for the visa, only the UK ones require that to have been in an account for 6 months. I really can't imagine that Thailand has decided to have a different requirement for the UK than other G7 or developed countries. Could this be simply a mistranslation?

 

I'm applying for a TV tomorrow and will raise this possibility at the consulate. I'll report back what happens. In the meantime, it would be great (longshot I know)  if anybody could check with a Thai speaker before then, they might save me embarassing myself if my theory is nonsense :)

 

I've attached a screenclipping from what I guess is the original in Thai before translation : 

 

 

If this is an error, I hope there aren't any 'face' issues to deal with before it gets resolved. I really don't see why people from the UK should have such different criteria to everyone else for the METV. 

 

[scubascuba3]

I'm from the UK and have been wondering why the UK Embassy and Consulates are enforcing a position of having £5,000 in a bank account for at least 6 months, while other countries do not seem to have this requirement - they seem to only require a statement showing that there is currently that amount in the account.
 
I looked at different English speaking websites - the US, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian and have a possible theory. 
 
Could it be that the UK embassy mistranslated? If you go to the website, you will see some errors. For example - for the line I'm talking about, they write 'puonds' instead of 'pounds'. That may seem like a small thing, but as the other English language websites are translating the £5,000 as 'within' instead of 'for' , it could make a big difference. 
 
All the other English language consulates and Embassy websites I have found require the equivalent of £5,000 in a bank account at the time of applying for the visa, only the UK ones require that to have been in an account for 6 months. I really can't imagine that Thailand has decided to have a different requirement for the UK than other G7 or developed countries. Could this be simply a mistranslation?
 
I'm applying for a TV tomorrow and will raise this possibility at the consulate. I'll report back what happens. In the meantime, it would be great (longshot I know)  if anybody could check with a Thai speaker before then, they might save me embarassing myself if my theory is nonsense :)
 
I've attached a screenclipping from what I guess is the original in Thai before translation : 
 
 
If this is an error, I hope there aren't any 'face' issues to deal with before it gets resolved. I really don't see why people from the UK should have such different criteria to everyone else for the METV. 
 

Its a good theory, i just asked my Thai girl....friend, she said it says 6 months statement £5000

[athousand]

Thanks for checking that out!

Close but no cigar - straws have been clutched


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[athousand]

The last straw was clutched ! - at the Cardiff consulate.

 

As described in the post above, I was able to fulfil all the requirements apart from having the money in my account for 6 months. I had considerably more in an account, but only for the past month. The consul explained that he had been given some discretion by the London embassy on this,  and as I'd had an METV previously from them, and had a good chunk of change to show sufficient funds, they would not, in this case, require that the funds had been in the account for 6 months. The consul said that he'd been in ongoing discussions with the London embassy regarding this point, as well as the requirement for a confirmed booking of a return flight. 

 

I'm not sure what the official policy here is as the other staff member was sticking to a more 'rules is rules' position and I was lucky that he suggested speaking to the consul himself directly. Between them however, they could not have been more helpful, and I certainly have never had a more positive experience at any embassy/consulate. I didn't have the paperwork printed out, as I was expecting only to be able to get a SETV. I was able to email them the docs, using their wifi network, and they printed them out themselves! I haven't seen that before:)

 

 

 

[Adzy88]

Hey folks,

 

i have this visa and I have stupidly overstayed by 12 days.

i am heading to mai sai to cross over and come back in for another 60 days do you think I might have problems with immigration at he border?

[scubascuba3]

Hey folks,
 
i have this visa and I have stupidly overstayed by 12 days.
i am heading to mai sai to cross over and come back in for another 60 days do you think I might have problems with immigration at he border?

Yes, let us know how you get on.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, Adzy88 said:

Hey folks,

 

i have this visa and I have stupidly overstayed by 12 days.

i am heading to mai sai to cross over and come back in for another 60 days do you think I might have problems with immigration at he border?

You should be ok as long as you have a valid multiple entry visa and pay the 12 day overstay fine of 6,000 baht.

[donaldinho9]

My stamp is up on the 24th, need to get an extension. Is the immigration office in Bangkok (near Mo Chit) open this weekend, or should I go tomorrow?? Thank you!


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[Upnotover]

2 minutes ago, donaldinho9 said:

My stamp is up on the 24th, need to get an extension. Is the immigration office in Bangkok (near Mo Chit) open this weekend, or should I go tomorrow?? Thank you!


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They are not open at weekends.

[donaldinho9]

So tomorrow it is. If I went Monday would they ding me for the 2 days overstay? Cheers!


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[elviajero]

13 minutes ago, donaldinho9 said:

So tomorrow it is. If I went Monday would they ding me for the 2 days overstay? Cheers!

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• No. As your permission to stay expires when they're closed they should let you apply on Monday without charging for overstay.
• FYI. You can apply for extensions within the last week or so. You don't lose anything by applying early.

Edited December 22, 2016 by elviajero

[donaldinho9]

• No. As your permission to stay expires when they're closed they should let you apply on Monday without charging for overstay.
• FYI. You can apply for extensions within the last week or so. You don't lose anything by applying early.

Ok great, thanks very much! Have you ever heard of someone being charged overstay fees when they've gone on a Monday when their stamp expires on the weekend?


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[elviajero]

2 hours ago, donaldinho9 said:

Ok great, thanks very much! Have you ever heard of someone being charged overstay fees when they've gone on a Monday when their stamp expires on the weekend?

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Yes, but it shouldn't happen and won't happen at the immigration office in Chaeng Wattana.

 

Technically they can charge, but waive the charge as long as you apply on the first available working day.

[donaldinho9]

Just did my visa extension today in BKK. No problems with my stamp expiring on the weekend. BUT, officer told me you are now only allowed ONE 30-day extension PER YEAR! Now it's only 7-day extensions, max! He said they want to see people/encourage tourists flying in/out of the country...


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[donaldinho9]

Anyone else run into/hear about this?! Pretty major change! Last year I think I did 3 visa extensions for 30 days each, no questions asked.


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[buick]

i did a 30 day extension to an SETV at the immigration office in buriram on thurs, dec 22.  they didn't say anything about the possible 'adjustment' to the 30 day extension program.

[donaldinho9]

Ok I'm on a METV though, not a SETV...


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[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, donaldinho9 said:

Ok I'm on a METV though, not a SETV...

It does not matter. As far as I know there has been no change.

 

[donaldinho9]

It does not matter. As far as I know there has been no change.
 

Ok, the immigration officer told me 1x 30 day extension/year, then after that only 7 day extensions...Do you know someone who works at Immigration? Hopefully the language barrier was there and it's not true what he said, but I'm just telling you guys that's what he told me...


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[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, donaldinho9 said:

Ok, the immigration officer told me 1x 30 day extension/year, then after that only 7 day extensions...Do you know someone who works at Immigration? Hopefully the language barrier was there and it's not true what he said, but I'm just telling you guys that's what he told me...


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Perhaps he meant only one extension per entry which would be correct.

[donaldinho9]

So as far as you know there's no limit to the number of extensions you can make in one calendar year?


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[Adzy88]

On 10/7/2016 at 9:59 AM, BritTim said:

 

Yes, that should be fine.

yep it went fine 

cheers