Hey folks !

I did just see that passport expires on the 13th october this year. That is in less than 6 months so the embassy in vientianne or anywhere else will not give me a new Tourist visa.

My current SETV expires also on the 3rd may so I dont have lots of time now to figure out what to do.

Im from germany and the german embassy needs about 4 working days for a new temporary passport + some time the embassy needs to receive an authorization from germany to make my new passport (they dont answer to my emails how long that will take).

However tomorrow I have an appointment at the embassy to apply for my new passport - or at least I will try it.

I case they tell me that my new passport will not finish until the 3rd may are there any other ways how I can stay in thailand until the passport finishes ?

Im already on the 30 day extension of my SETV so that is not an option unfortunately

I would be very happy to get some help.

• You could get an extra 7 days to leave the country for 1,900 baht.

Short term you could do a border hop. On re-entry you'll get a 30 day visa exempt stay. That stay can also be extended by 30 days for 1,900 baht.

• Short term you could do a border hop. On re-entry you'll get a 30 day visa exempt stay. That stay can also be extended by 30 days for 1,900 baht.

Can I do the border hop by land ?

Will they still give me a 30 day visa exempt stay when my passport expires in less than 6 months ?

And after the 30 days of visa exempt stay I can go to the local immigration and extend my stay for another 30 days ?

That would be 60 days in total without need to leave the country ?

Im abit confused now.

That method above seems pretty nice if I understood it right.

• Short term you could do a border hop. On re-entry you'll get a 30 day visa exempt stay. That stay can also be extended by 30 days for 1,900 baht.

Can I do the border hop by land ?

Will they still give me a 30 day visa exempt stay when my passport expires in less than 6 months ?

And after the 30 days of visa exempt stay I can go to the local immigration and extend my stay for another 30 days ?

That would be 60 days in total without need to leave the country ?

Im abit confused now.

That method above seems pretty nice if I understood it right.

1. Yes. But not at all borders. A few will not allow out/in visa exempt entry.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Yes.

Germany is a G7 country. 30 day entry by land

• Short term you could do a border hop. On re-entry you'll get a 30 day visa exempt stay. That stay can also be extended by 30 days for 1,900 baht.

Can I do the border hop by land ?

Will they still give me a 30 day visa exempt stay when my passport expires in less than 6 months ?

And after the 30 days of visa exempt stay I can go to the local immigration and extend my stay for another 30 days ?

That would be 60 days in total without need to leave the country ?

Im abit confused now.

That method above seems pretty nice if I understood it right.

"And after the 30 days of visa exempt stay I can go to the local immigration and extend my stay for another 30 days ?"

If you intend to apply for a new passport during the first 30 days, you'll need to take the old and new passport to immigrations when you apply for the extension (and possibly a letter from your embassy confirming that they issued you a new passport).

Some experienced posters here indicating that a border hop to a neighboring country is OK with less than 6 months remaining on your passport. I am sure that is not true if traveling by air. If entering these countries by land, which ones will allow it?

Edited April 21, 201610 yr by BritTim

• Short term you could do a border hop. On re-entry you'll get a 30 day visa exempt stay. That stay can also be extended by 30 days for 1,900 baht.

Can I do the border hop by land ?

1. Yes. But not at all borders. A few will not allow out/in visa exempt entry.

Some experienced posters here indicating that a border hop to a neighboring country is OK with less than 6 months remaining on your passport. I am sure that is not true if traveling by air. If entering these countries by land, which ones will allow it?

Would be very happy to get an advise on that.

Where should I do the hop ?

Some experienced posters here indicating that a border hop to a neighboring country is OK with less than 6 months remaining on your passport. I am sure that is not true if traveling by air. If entering these countries by land, which ones will allow it?

Would be very happy to get an advise on that.

Where should I do the hop ?

The only clear advice I can give you is that you cannot use most borders with Myanmar (the only exception being crossing from Rayong in Thailand).

Usually, crossing to Laos is fine everywhere. Malaysia border crossings are fine except at Sadao. Crossing into Cambodia is no problem if you have few previous visa exempt entries.

All the above ignores the issue of whether passports with less than six months remaining validity are acceptable. For that, we require someone else's input.

There have been reports that Cambodia border crossings will allow allow a crossing with less than 6 months of passport validity. Perhaps contact a visa run company about it.

You could also fly out and back to Hong Kong. They only require one month of validity beyond your stay there since you are from Germany.

Thank you so much for all the replies guys !

The embassy ensured that I will have a new passport by next week. The "express-passport" will be only valid for one year. So when they issue the passport next week lets say on the 28th april what is the best line to get the most out of it untill I have to fly back to germany and make a new passport ?

Border hop (2 months), get a new SETV (3 months) and make a new border hop to get another 30-60 days after that ?