Visa exempt query

[MarkyM3]

Hi All, 

 

I am a UK citizen with the following recent travel history to Thailand (entering via BKK) using visa exempt entries:

 

March 2016 (3.5 weeks)

October 2016 - December 2016 (just over 7 weeks, with flights during that visit to Malaysia and Laos for a visa run and tourism respectively). 

 

So that's a total of 4 visa exempt entry stamps to Thailand since last March (N.B. I also have yearly or bi-yearly visits to Thailand in my old passport covering 2006 - 2015 inclusive, plus some previous visits as well). I haven't had any issues with immigration to date. 

 

My next trip is planned to be during April and May 2017, with a further 2 month stay towards the end of the year.

 

The main concern I have is whether I am accumulating too many visa exempt stamps? I have read that the previous limit of 90 days' stay within a 6 month period using this entry method is no longer an issue (though the Royal Thai Embassy in London website still seems to say otherwise....) and it is more a case of being in the country for more than 180 days in a calendar year that would trigger a problem (a limit I won't be breaching). However, I have also read about people being challenged about the number of stamps in their passport after reaching 4 in a year, which concerns me?

 

Can anyone clarify the situation????

 

I've considered the SETV but taking side trips outside Thailand at the weekend will still mean further visa exempt entries in most cases, although perhaps having this in the passport gives a more favourable impression???? The METV would get around this, but getting it from London looks to be a pain - they require the employer letter, bank statements etc and it represents poor value at £125 so I have discounted that as an option.

 

Cheers. :-)

 

 

[Doiger]

You could get a setv from London which I believe are free until the end of January, that will give you 60 days that will possibly cover your April and may trip. (If not enough it can be extended by 30 days at any immigration office for 1900 baht)

if you are going to be doing some trips out of Thailand during that time then you could get either a single re entry permit or a multi re entry permit and that would keep your original 60 day setv valid for these short trips.

[steve187]

as Doiger posted get a free SETV ( £20 from Hull) and re-entry permit(s) within Thailand if needed

Edited January 10, 2017 by steve187
misread op

[MarkyM3]

Thanks both, I didn't realise this option was available.

[boriga]

Sorry labour the point, however this is something I have not heard of before. i.e. Re-entry permit on an SETV allowing two or more entries within 60 days.

 

(Steve187 / Doiger) - You are saying that it is possible to enter and then leave Thailand on an SETV and return within the 60 days so long as (my Taiwanese wife) obtains a re-entry permit at the airport before departure and it would allow her to return and stay in Thailand until the expiry date of the initial entry. I assume in lieu of visa number on the entry form when returning, I use the re-entry permit number and mentioned elsewhere.

 

This would seem an excellent way to make two short visits within a 60 day period or to arrive one evening / leave the next morning without wasting a visa / queing for visa on arrival or having to go through the extra hoops and costs of applying for an METV.

 

A single re-entry permit costs Bt1,200, I believe reading elsewhere, and simply requires appropriate form completed, onward / return tickets and passport...correct?

 

Look forward to your further advice as this option would make buying tickets much easier with the flexibility to enter in the evening and depart next morning and then return for a longer stay on an SETV.

[BritTim]

A single re-entry permit costs 1,000 baht, and can indeed be an excellent way of using a single entry tourist visa for two trips to Thailand in quick succession. It is particularly useful if traveling by air or through a land border (only a very few) where you can get a re-entry permit as you leave without needing to visit an immigration office to arrange one.