Caught In The Middle Of New Visa Changes

[woopwoop]

heya,

my husband and i arrived in thailand in late september, unaware of the upcoming changes in the visa regulations. our visa expired on october 11, and on october 12 we approached the immigration office in bangkok to apply for a paid tourist visa. we were told we could only get a 7 day extension with fines, so we flew to KL to apply at the embassy. we were told there that we could only apply for a 60 day visa, and upon return asked for clarification. our visa became valid on october 17, and is valid until january 11. the officer told me that we can stay in thailand for 60 days, then we must leave the country and can return immediately for 30 more days. (i suppose that we could extend and return immediately prior to january 11 and have 30 days from entry at that point.) at any extent, after the end of the 90 days however procured, we must wait SIX MONTHS before obtaining any visa to return to thailand. somehow, this seems ludicrous! i realize that alot has changed since we arrived, but is there any way to legally stay in thailand longer than 90 days??? we have the means, no need to work, and we are willing to pay whatever visa fees are necessary.

caught in the middle, again.

thanks and cheers!!

[britainmal]

A single entry tourist visa is valid for 60 days plus 30 days more for 1900 Baht at an immigration office. After that you would have to go to a Thai Embassy or Consulate for another Tourist visa. I personally recommend the Thai Consulate in Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

[woopwoop]

A single entry tourist visa is valid for 60 days plus 30 days more for 1900 Baht at an immigration office. After that you would have to go to a Thai Embassy or Consulate for another Tourist visa. I personally recommend the Thai Consulate in Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

Have you heard of anyone being able to obtain a subsequent tourist visa after the expiration of the 90 days since october 1st? The immigration official in KL told us that we would have to leave the country for six months after the 90 days was up, effectively meaning that as a tourist we can stay a maximum of 90 days, period. We are hoping that was a misinterpretation.

Thank you for the reply!

[jbaldwin]

Just to be clear the changes that have been made are not to tourists visas but to the 30 day visa free entry. You can only stay 90 days in six months visa free. However, time spent on tourist or any other type of visa does not count towards that 90 days.

If you are over 50, a retirement visa is another possibility

[The Dude]

The Dude wonders what exactly the KL embassy dudes told the OP. Also would like to know what the trip is about the Kota Bahru consulate. Is that a mellow consulate or what?

[britainmal]

Dude, The Thai Consulate in Kota Bharu, Malaysia grants tourist visas with no problem.

[woopwoop]

guys,

sooooo sorry to be dense about this, but i'm still not clear. most likely because this is our first visit to thailand so we don't know what was common before. we are not over 50 years old, so a retirement visa is not an option and we don't need a work visa. the immigration office in KL told us that after 60 days we must go to an immigration office to obtain 30 more days on the tourist visa. after the 30 days, totaling 90 days provided by the tourist visa, we would have to leave the country for six months. i asked specifically if we could return to KL and purchase another tourist visa at the end of that 90 days, and she said NO we would have to leave for six months before another visa would be granted. so, is this the way it was before october 1st? is it likely she misunderstood my question and that we can purchase another tourist visa prior to the expiration of our 90 days?

thanks for your patience. i'm a bit of a novice, as you can tell.

[lopburi3]

Prior to Oct 1 there was no problem staying on visa exempt entry or obtain tourist visas, without limits. The new rules say not more than 90 days in a six month period on visa exempt entry. The Consulate is saying not more than 90 days period it seems. But the people who decide to let you in, or not, are immigration and do not work for the Consulate.

But that Consulate may well not provide you another visa. If remains to be seen if another will. And you may be able to use 3x30 entry without visa after the visa stay. Questions we have now - answers seem to be arriving later.

[1Lucky]

As I understand it the basic point is that you can only get 3 x 30 day visa exempt stays in a 6 month period. Once you have used your 90 days you must stay out of the country for 90 days before you can come back in on the visa exempt approach. In theory once your 3 visa exempt trips have been used up you may be able to apply for tourist visas at a Thai embassy and so come straight back. However what seems unclear at the moment is whether Thai embassies will actually give you tourist visas in those circumstances or similarly adopt a 90 day waiting period stance. This is currently unclear because no one has yet reached that point as the 3x30 day approach only started at the start of October. Also different Thai embassies seem to have different approaches to granting tourist visas in any event. Some European embassies for example are still granting 6 month multiple entry tourist visas. If you are planning to go via Europe at any point before your 90 days will be up I would advise getting the best tourist visa you can there.

Luckyh