Expat Thailand: Making Sense of Thai Visa Rules.

This week I have taken the opportunity to update some early posts that are of interest to Expats or potential expatriates to Thailand. Rules and circumstances in a host country change from time to time so today I want to consolidate and update information on Thai Visas. This will of course be of interest to tourists as well as expatriates.

Tourist Visa's.
Anyone arriving in Thailand using a LAND border from a neighbouring country e.g. Cambodia will only be issued with a 15 day visa. on arrival providing their country of origin is on the list for such visa's.Actually Visa on arrival is not the correct term since it is a permission to stay without a visa that you are granted, but I use the term VOA because that's how most folk refer to it. Persons arriving by air will are entitled to a 30 day visa on arrival as will people who hold Malaysian passports which ever way they arrive.

Type O and B Visas.
There are several other types of Visa, the most popular being O and B visas must be obtained before travel from a Thai Embassy or Consulate, I used the Thai Consulate at Hull in the UK, very efficient and friendly.

O visas are primarily used by retirees or long term stayers who may wish to retire here. But can be used if you are seeking work.They come in two forms multi or single entry. Both types require you to exit the country every 90days. With a multi entry visa it is possible to stay in the country for 15 months providing you make your last exit and entry near the end of the years validity of the visa. The single entry visa however is valid for three months from the date of issue so you must enter the country within those three months.

The B visa is for a person who has a job offer in Thailand or a business opportunity. It works the same way as an O visa but there is no requirement to exit every 90 days providing you hold a valid work permit. Once again the B visa comes in single or multiple entries.

You can convert the O visa into a retirement visa , which is actually an extension to stay and not a visa, in Thailand, subject to certain conditions, at your local Thai immigration office.

In order to qualify for a one year extension of stay the applicant must satisfy certain criteria and may continue to renew every year providing they still meet these requirement:

1. Be over 50 years of age.
2. Have 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank account or a monthly income of 65,000 Baht OR
3. A combination of money in the bank and monthly income that = 8000,000 Baht.
4. A valid passport
5. Have been in the Kingdom for a continuous period of 60 days.

The application should be made at the applicants local immigration checkpoint. The applicant will need to provide the following:

1. A completed form TM7 with photograph (4cm x 6cm).
2. A photo-copy of each page of their passport including current departure card (TM8)
3. Proof of financial status*
4. 1900 Baht fee (non-refundable if application fails)
   

* This will either be a letter from a Thai bank showing 800,000 Baht in account (for at least 3 months) or a letter from your embassy proving income of 65,000 Baht a month. Or a combination of the two. The British Embassy in Bangkok charge 2510 Baht for this service by post, slightly cheaper if you attend in person. Banks charge around 200 baht for the letter.

The main advantage of extending your stay is that you no longer need to exit the country every 90 days (multi entry-O visa conditions) but instead you just report to your local immigration office, you can also complete this procedure by post. This saves a lot of time and money on visa runs.

However should you wish to exit and return to the Kingdom during the period of your extension then you will require a re-entry permit, 1900 Baht for a single, 3000 Baht for multi, this must be obtained from your Immigration Office before you exit and NOT at the airport. Failure to do so means you have to start the whole process again when you return to Thailand having purchased a new O visa in your own country.

So if you were a UK passport holder and left to visit Australia on holiday in theory you would have to return to the UK to get your new Thai Visa. There are however some Thai consulates in other countries like Malaysia(Penang) that will issue the relevant paperwork but its by no means guaranteed and the rules seem to change frequently.

I hope that clarifies the regulations and make it a little easier to understand Thai visa rules.


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