Don Muang Airport clamping down

[TechnikaIII]

Don Muang Immigration is now clamping down 

My passport has always been in order, with never as much as an hour 'over stay'. However, last year I'd had more than 180 days in total, both on 30-day stamps and full 60 day Tourist visas obtained in Penang, and someone has noted this 180+ on my history, which now pops up on the screen.

The officers have obviously been told to notify the supervisor when they see such alerts, and so I was hauled aside for an hour, and it took some convincing that I wasn't there for work. For what it's worth, I dress respectfully, & I'm 67.

I have not exceeded 180 days in 2017. Nowhere near it, but the supervisor was carrying over the excess from 2016 and made it very clear that she was not wanting to allow me any further time as a tourist.

I will spare you the intricate details of my situation, which was mostly family related. She wrote a note on my history, which will be there on the screen for my next entry. I will need an appropriate visa to continue the story.

(Because I still need frequent trips to Australia and Europe, the usual "Retirement visa" style of thing is very inconvenient for me.)

 

Food for thought for you other old fellas!

[ukrules]

Can't you just get a multiple entry re-entry permit once a year along with a 'retirement visa' ?

 

 

[Phuket Man]

A Retirement Extension of stay and a Multi Re Entry Permit will do the job.

 

Or a Multi Entry Non Imm O Visa.

Edited May 4, 2017 by Phuket Man

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

Because I still need frequent trips to Australia and Europe, the usual "Retirement visa" style of thing is very inconvenient for me.

 

One day in immigration, 1,900 Baht for the extension, 3,400 Baht for the multiple re-entry permit, "inconvenient"?

 

[Phuket Man]

A Multi Entry Re Entry Permit costs 3,000 baht.

[Crossy]

1 minute ago, Phuket Man said:

A Multi Entry Re Entry Permit costs 3,000 baht.

 

I think we're both wrong, it's 3,800, not that it matters in this instance.

 

[jacko45k]

I think you are both wrong. Mine was 3800 baht.

[tomwct]

I don't understand why you live in Thailand and you want to get B2B Tourist Visas? 

[ubonjoe]

Your tourist visa entries were not the problem. The alert immigration gets is for a total of 6 visa exempt entries. There is really no 180 day alert but 6 visa exempt entries does add up to that.

You do have other options.

As said you could get a a one year extension of stay based upon retirement with a multiple re-entry permit.

You could also get a OA long stay visa from the embassy in Canberra or the official consulate in Sydney. The OA visa allow unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue. It is possible to get almost 2 years of total stay from the visa by doing an entry just before the visa expires.

You could also get a multiple entry tourist visa while in Australia. The visa allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue.

[elgenon]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

Your tourist visa entries were not the problem. The alert immigration gets is for a total of 6 visa exempt entries. There is really no 180 day alert but 6 visa exempt entries does add up to that.

You do have other options.

As said you could get a a one year extension of stay based upon retirement with a multiple re-entry permit.

You could also get a OA long stay visa from the embassy in Canberra or the official consulate in Sydney. The OA visa allow unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue. It is possible to get almost 2 years of total stay from the visa by doing an entry just before the visa expires.

You could also get a multiple entry tourist visa while in Australia. The visa allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue.

Ubonjoe -  Are the OA long stay visas still obtainable in the US?

[tonray]

Just now, elgenon said:

Ubonjoe -  Are the OA long stay visas still obtainable in the US?

I just obtained one from the NYC Consulate 3 weeks ago.

[JackThompson]

5 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

Don Muang Immigration is now clamping down 

You were coming in Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa??

With 6+ Visa Exempts in your history, the alert might pop-up in either case, but there are special rules specified in recent Police Orders, which restrict entering Visa Exempt far more than entering with Tourist Visas.

 

The "180 Day Rule" refers to an old Police Order which only ever applied to Visa Exempts, and is No Longer In Effect even for Visa Exempts.  Any IO who attempts to use that as justification for denial of entry is either ignorant or not telling the truth.

 

2 hours ago, tomwct said:

I don't understand why you live in Thailand and you want to get B2B Tourist Visas? 

Because ...

5 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

frequent trips to Australia and Europe

... does not equal "living in Thailand."  "Living in" means you don't need to leave every 90 days or less. 

 

Spending a lot of time here is not in any way restricted by law or police-order if Tourist Visas are used, but is No Longer Permitted using Visa Exempts.

[Kabula]

Good to hear.....

 

A country that respects it's sovereignty and jobs is rare these days.

 

It's a country that I want to continue to live in.

[Beachdude]

This may not be for everyone but I get , in NY, every year an OA multiple entry and simply leave and return within the 90 day period. 

 

My only issue has been a young lady at immigration who incorrectly gave me 90 more days on the visa instead of one year which I solved without too much trouble.

 

Always check the stamp at the desk at immigration at the airport before leaving. 

[tonray]

5 minutes ago, Beachdude said:

This may not be for everyone but I get , in NY, every year an OA multiple entry and simply leave and return within the 90 day period. 

 

My only issue has been a young lady at immigration who incorrectly gave me 90 more days on the visa instead of one year which I solved without too much trouble.

 

Always check the stamp at the desk at immigration at the airport before leaving. 

Why are you worried about leaving and returning within a 90 day period with an O-A ?

[humqdpf]

With all the various involved complications in Thai immigration, I am amazed that no university is offering a Thai Immigration Advisor masters degree, whether to lawyers or others.

 

It should also be offered as a special subject on University Challenge and Mastermind (both UK high level quiz shows)

[steven100]

OP ....  why don't you simply get an Elite card for 5 or 10 yrs ....?

[Eff1n2ret]

6 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

(Because I still need frequent trips to Australia and Europe, the usual "Retirement visa" style of thing is very inconvenient for me

I suppose it might be inconvenient if you have neither the income nor the available lump sum on deposit to qualify for a retirement extension, but your alleged frequency of travel suggests that those shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, once you've set it up, the annual renewal of a retirement extension is really quite easy, and if you travel in and out on a re-entry permit frequently enough, you don't even have the "inconvenience" of 90-day reports which most of us do.

[seancbk]

6 hours ago, TechnikaIII said:

I will need an appropriate visa to continue the story.

 

So what visa have you been entering on?

Or are you not getting a visa before you come and simple entering on Visa Exempt entries?

 

[WorriedNoodle]

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

One day in immigration, 1,900 Baht for the extension, 3,400 Baht for the multiple re-entry permit, "inconvenient"?

 

 Plus 800,000THB in a Thai bank account for three months up front or the retirement funding verified?

Edited May 5, 2017 by WorriedNoodle

[buick]

OP - i know how it feels.  i got stopped at suvarnabhumi about 6 yrs ago.  told to use more tourist visas and fewer visa exempt entries.  i've spent over 240 days in thailand in each of the last 11 years, via visa exempt and tourist visa entries.  i reached age 50 in april 2016 and just this week finally obtained the 12 month extension of stay-retirement (after converting a visa exempt entry to a non imm O in bangkok).  so after my interview at the airport, i still managed to enter the country w/o problems for 5 more years.  typically, i used 2 tourist visas (plus extensions and rentry permits) and then 2 visa exempt entries each year.  you can likely do the same.  like you, i have an annual travel schedule that has me leaving thailand every 30 to 60 days. 

 

with respect to some of the comments on 'convenience' (and when i say 'respect' i'm saying i'm not try to start a war of words), i think some of us may have a different definition of the word.  i can say the process for me was far from convenient.  i had to open a thai bank account (which i don't need and now get to report it the USA every year at tax time), then had to transfer money to such account.  my USA bank limited those transfers to 5k each time, 15k max per month.  in the midst of that, my USA bank also changed the way they approved the transfers.  could no longer do it with a phone call, had to have a text sent to me.  which was not possible to an overseas number (or my USA number when i'm in thailand).  so i had to use a friends number and call him before i was making a transfer so he could be ready to get the code and call me back.  of course the time change btwn thailand and USA made that difficult as he is working and has a family to deal with.  once i got the money in the bank, i had to get two bank letters supporting the 800k of thai baht (a portion of which is in a USD foreign currency account).  it took 30 minutes to get the USD letter and an hour to get the THB letter.  why it takes an hour to get a bank letter, i don't know, ask the folks at the silom branch.  i entered on a visa exempt entry and converted to the non imm O in bangkok.  that required two separate trips to immigration.  then  had to get the bank letters again and make another trip to the immigration to get the 12 month extension (i arrived at 9:15 and left at 3:15).

 

the above process was more convenient than getting the OA in the USA.  when i visit, i'm there to see friends and family and am rarely in the same place for more than a few days.  and i never know where i'm headed next as my friends and familys schedules change often (it is unbelievable !!!).  getting police check, a medical check, figuring out where to have the passport mailed back to me (most likely to a friends house who will then send it to where i really am, because his plans change and i've left already !!!).  plus i have to say the list of the top 10 places i really don't want to visit definitely include the police station (for any matter !!), the doctors office, and the post office. 

 

it would have been much more convenient for me to just continue to use visa exempt entries and tourist visas.

i'm sure that process is fine for those that really want to stay in the country and not leave.  but that is not my case.  one real classic in all this is my parents lived an hour from los angeles and i have friend who lives there.  so it was easy to just drive to his place and stop at the consulate on the way.  then pick visa up the next day.  but of course when i was 48, my parents moved to washington so the easy stop off at the consulate was over and the whole mailing issue sprang into life.

 

p.s.  and i'm still not done as there wasn't enough time to get the reentry permit at the same time as getting the extension.  so i'll be headed back again to enjoy the convenient process !!!

Edited May 5, 2017 by buick

[realenglish1]

With a retirement visa along with a Multiple entry visa attached you can come and go as often as you like NO questions asked Its that simple 

 

Problem solved 

[moe666]

37 minutes ago, buick said:

OP - i know how it feels.  i got stopped at suvarnabhumi about 6 yrs ago.  told to use more tourist visas and fewer visa exempt entries.  i've spent over 240 days in thailand in each of the last 11 years, via visa exempt and tourist visa entries.  i reached age 50 in april 2016 and just this week finally obtained the 12 month extension of stay-retirement (after converting a visa exempt entry to a non imm O in bangkok).  so after my interview at the airport, i still managed to enter the country w/o problems for 5 more years.  typically, i used 2 tourist visas (plus extensions and rentry permits) and then 2 visa exempt entries each year.  you can likely do the same.  like you, i have an annual travel schedule that has me leaving thailand every 30 to 60 days. 

 

with respect to some of the comments on 'convenience' (and when i say 'respect' i'm saying i'm not try to start a war of words), i think some of us may have a different definition of the word.  i can say the process for me was far from convenient.  i had to open a thai bank account (which i don't need and now get to report it the USA every year at tax time), then had to transfer money to such account.  my USA bank limited those transfers to 5k each time, 15k max per month.  in the midst of that, my USA bank also changed the way they approved the transfers.  could no longer do it with a phone call, had to have a text sent to me.  which was not possible to an overseas number (or my USA number when i'm in thailand).  so i had to use a friends number and call him before i was making a transfer so he could be ready to get the code and call me back.  of course the time change btwn thailand and USA made that difficult as he is working and has a family to deal with.  once i got the money in the bank, i had to get two bank letters supporting the 800k of thai baht (a portion of which is in a USD foreign currency account).  it took 30 minutes to get the USD letter and an hour to get the THB letter.  why it takes an hour to get a bank letter, i don't know, ask the folks at the silom branch.  i entered on a visa exempt entry and converted to the non imm O in bangkok.  that required two separate trips to immigration.  then  had to get the bank letters again and make another trip to the immigration to get the 12 month extension (i arrived at 9:15 and left at 3:15).

 

the above process was more convenient than getting the OA in the USA.  when i visit, i'm there to see friends and family and am rarely in the same place for more than a few days.  and i never know where i'm headed next as my friends and familys schedules change often (it is unbelievable !!!).  getting police check, a medical check, figuring out where to have the passport mailed back to me (most likely to a friends house who will then send it to where i really am, because his plans change and i've left already !!!).  plus i have to say the list of the top 10 places i really don't want to visit definitely include the police station (for any matter !!), the doctors office, and the post office. 

 

it would have been much more convenient for me to just continue to use visa exempt entries and tourist visas.

i'm sure that process is fine for those that really want to stay in the country and not leave.  but that is not my case.  one real classic in all this is my parents lived an hour from los angeles and i have friend who lives there.  so it was easy to just drive to his place and stop at the consulate on the way.  then pick visa up the next day.  but of course when i was 48, my parents moved to washington so the easy stop off at the consulate was over and the whole mailing issue sprang into life.

 

p.s.  and i'm still not done as there wasn't enough time to get the reentry permit at the same time as getting the extension.  so i'll be headed back again to enjoy the convenient process !!!

Your banks problem was not caused by Thai Immigration

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, realenglish1 said:

With a retirement visa along with a Multiple entry visa attached you can come and go as often as you like NO questions asked Its that simple 

 

Problem solved 

I assume you mean an extension of stay (it is not a visa) and a multiple re-entry permit (also not a visa).

[Khun Robert]

Nice long statement of Buick. His American parents moved to another town, his American friends change plans all the time, his American bank

change policy about money transfers, Time difference between America and Thailand, he does not like to visit an American Police station.

And that is the reason it is not convenience to apply for a Visa or Extension of Stay in Thailand.

[buick]

27 minutes ago, moe666 said:

Your banks problem was not caused by Thai Immigration

 

i'm just stating what occurred to me during the process.  it was not convenient.  i don't think i blamed thai immigration for anything.  unfortunately there are steps you have to take in the process which don't include thai immigration and it can be inconvenient.  here is an example of my idea of convenience.  i wake up, realize i'm out of coffee, walk across the street to 7-11, buy the coffee, and i'm back in my room in a couple minutes.

 

saying 'get the proper visa, it is convenient' is really not an accurate statement in my case.  and those statements in this thread led to my rant of sorts.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Khun Robert said:

Nice long statement of Buick. His American parents moved to another town, his American friends change plans all the time, his American bank

change policy about money transfers, Time difference between America and Thailand, he does not like to visit an American Police station.

And that is the reason it is not convenience to apply for a Visa or Extension of Stay in Thailand.

most of what you are referring to is in the paragraph where i explain why it isn't convenient for me to apply for a non OA in america (your post implies that it is related to doing such in thailand, it isn't).  and i refer you to my comment above in terms of what i feel is 'convenient'.
 

 

[reenatinnakor]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Your tourist visa entries were not the problem. The alert immigration gets is for a total of 6 visa exempt entries. There is really no 180 day alert but 6 visa exempt entries does add up to that.

You do have other options.

As said you could get a a one year extension of stay based upon retirement with a multiple re-entry permit.

You could also get a OA long stay visa from the embassy in Canberra or the official consulate in Sydney. The OA visa allow unlimited one year entries for a year from the date of issue. It is possible to get almost 2 years of total stay from the visa by doing an entry just before the visa expires.

You could also get a multiple entry tourist visa while in Australia. The visa allows unlimited 60 day entries for 6 months from the date of issue.

 

So the 6 exempt stamps starts from when? In any 12 month period or it resets from Jan 1st?

 

This year so far I'm 90 days on 10th May (tourist visa and extension) but no visa exempts...but am more than 180 days in the last 12 months (2 visa exempts and 2 tourist visas). Will it be risky if I do a Cambodia border run to get another 30 days? I have never done a border run, but apparently you are allowed 2 now per year?

[Ashto]

4 hours ago, JackThompson said:

You were coming in Visa Exempt or on a Tourist Visa??

With 6+ Visa Exempts in your history, the alert might pop-up in either case, but there are special rules specified in recent Police Orders, which restrict entering Visa Exempt far more than entering with Tourist Visas.

 

The "180 Day Rule" refers to an old Police Order which only ever applied to Visa Exempts, and is No Longer In Effect even for Visa Exempts.  Any IO who attempts to use that as justification for denial of entry is either ignorant or not telling the truth.

 

Because ...

... does not equal "living in Thailand."  "Living in" means you don't need to leave every 90 days or less. 

 

Spending a lot of time here is not in any way restricted by law or police-order if Tourist Visas are used, but is No Longer Permitted using Visa Exempts.

Where can I find the Police Orders restricting visa exempt entries?

[jeab1980]

   4 hours ago, JackThompson said: among other things this is a snippet of his post only.

Because ...

... does not equal "living in Thailand."  "Living in" means you don't need to leave every 90 days or less. 

 

Er not quite true im "living in" Thailand and i have to leave every 90 days on a non o.

Edited May 5, 2017 by jeab1980

[TechnikaIII]

7 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

One day in immigration, 1,900 Baht for the extension, 3,400 Baht for the multiple re-entry permit, "inconvenient"?

 

800,000 Baht in a Thai bank for the initial retirement visa is certainly inconvenient, .. very inconvenient.