'Re Entry Permit

[ianmcd76]

 

An elderly friend on a extension based on retirement recently left the country without obtaining an re-entry, is there anything he can do other than go through the whole rigmarole of getting an o visa again then reapply for extension again? Many thanks in advance

 

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[ubonjoe]

He will have to start all over again by getting a non-o visa and then applying for a new extension.

[ianmcd76]

Thanks Joe just as I thought!

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[YetAnother]

personally, i have never understood the need for re-entry permits; perhaps the experts here can share with all of us the thai 'logic' of it

[partington]

18 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

personally, i have never understood the need for re-entry permits; perhaps the experts here can share with all of us the thai 'logic' of it

Yes, I can.

 

A visa is a permission to enter Thailand at a border.

 

Depending on the type of visa you have, the entry is associated with a fixed period that you are "permitted to stay". This can be, for example, 90 days or one year.  The visa is not the permission to stay, the visa is permission to enter at a border.

 

When you apply for a retirement extension you are applying, not for a new visa, but for the period that you were given permission to stay for (when you used your visa to enter the country) to be extended.

 

When this is granted it is often the case that your visa validity has expired - that is, your permission to enter has now expired. As you are inside the country, staying legally on your extended "permission to stay" period ( for example on the grounds of retirement), not having a valid visa (permission to enter at a border) doesn't matter.

 

However if you leave, you are leaving without a valid permission to enter because your visa has expired. So you must buy a legal permission to enter to replace your expired visa.

 

Surprise: this is called a "re-entry permit"!

[YetAnother]

partington:

ok, pretty decent explanation, thanks for that,but then why not just enact it with the passport and an indication of single/multiple entry along with the extension stamp; why have another form (and fee) that so many expats do not know about and run afoul of ?

[partington]

3 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

partington

Too weird: a link to me!

[ubonjoe]

Some off topic post meant to derail the topic have been removed.

[partington]

15 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

partington:

ok, pretty decent explanation, thanks for that,but then why not just enact it with the passport and an indication of single/multiple entry along with the extension stamp; why have another form (and fee) that so many expats do not know about and run afoul of ?

For God's sake: actually part of the the retirement extension stamp in your passport are the words:

 

"TO KEEP YOUR STAY PERMIT RE-ENTRY PERMIT MUST BE MADE BEFORE LEAVING THAILAND"

 

There comes a point where not reading, not enquiring and not finding out the legal basics of your stay in a foreign country becomes irresponsibility. People have to be adults.

[ianmcd76]

As I said before when I first posted, it was an elderly friend off mine who had left with out getting a 're entry PERMIT for personal reasons, however udon Joe has clarified wht I suspected, pls not let us turn this thread into a bickering match about the Thai immigration police, many thanks for all your input!

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