« Prev Page 34 of 37 32 33 34 35 36 Next » 905 replies to this topic

[Lite Beer]

skitzophren, on 2008-12-24 20:50:57, said:

hello! hoping to get a veeeery quick answer
it´s like this!

i arrived 23nov, got 30days = 22dec
gone over the border to laos via chong mek near ubon ratchatani
got 15 days only as the new law requier.

now i got visa to 5 jan, my plane leaves for sweden 26 jan
that means 21 days overstay.

im not really sure, can i go over the border and back once again to get 15 new days?
just so i come home.

been told i could do a "border run" instead of applaying for visa.
then they changed the law..

no im not sure on how to do.
hope anyone can help me!

sorry for my poor english

Regards Niklas

You can do 2 border runs or go to a Thai Consulate and get a Tourist Visa.

[ubonjoe]

Or do one border run and get a 7 day extension at immigration (1900 baht).

[CMauldin]

Mario2008, on 2008-12-04 12:22:00, said:

Can't be sure of if the 90 day rule is abolished. We don't have a complete translation yet of the whole document. I must say it seems that way, but I'm not sure if this new police order is replacing the 90 day police order. It does look that way, but can someone who can read Thai confirm it replaces police order 608/2549?

Order Number 778/2551 states that "Paragraph 3 of Order Number 608/2549 is hereby revoked".  Paragraph 3 of Order Number 608/2549 is the paragraph in which travelers from visa-exemption countries can receive a 30 day visa but no more than 90 days within any 6 month period of time.  So, Order 778/2551 abolishes the 90 day within 6 month restriction.  Since Order Number 778/2551 does not mention such a restriction, that means that the 90 day restriction is officially abolished.  This makes sense as it is difficult to conceive that too many foreigners who rely on 30 day visas will want to do a visa run every two weeks.

Edited by CMauldin, 2008-12-28 18:47:45.

[hasher69]

Just a thought.

What if some one arrives by air and gets a30 day Visa on arrival.

Then after a few days  (say 3) leaves Thailand for ,say 3days, and re-enters by land .

How many days will they bw given on arrival the second time?

[Lite Beer]

hasher69, on 2008-12-28 23:05:47, said:

Just a thought.

What if some one arrives by air and gets a30 day Visa on arrival.

Then after a few days  (say 3) leaves Thailand for ,say 3days, and re-enters by land .

How many days will they bw given on arrival the second time?

You will not get a Visa On Arrival. The first entry by air gets a 30 day Visa Exempt Stamp. (Not the same thing)
If you leave after 3 days and come back by land you will get 15 days Visa Exempt Stamp.

[Jingthing]

Good example, hasher, of how this new (inane) 15 day policy damages Thailand's status as a regional travel hub. Luckily for Thailand, they still have geography on their side, it still makes sense from a LOCATION point of view to be a hub.

[tropo]

Jingthing, on 2008-12-29 00:32:29, said:

Good example, hasher, of how this new (inane) 15 day policy damages Thailand's status as a regional travel hub. Luckily for Thailand, they still have geography on their side, it still makes sense from a LOCATION point of view to be a hub.

I reality they're still ahead of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam due to quick and free entries for most nationalities.

[Jingthing]

But not Malaysia and Singapore. Both those places lack the central location. Still, I can't see any good reason for Thailand to shoot themselves in the foot even if it turns out to only be a minor flesh wound.

Edited by Jingthing, 2008-12-29 00:40:44.

[nikster]

mjcl, on 2008-12-04 12:23:25, said:

I think that Thailand wants to get rid of what it sees as the riff raff falangs. Those who cannot be bothered or just cannot get the right visa. If you have a legitimate visa there is no problem in staying here.

Yup. It's weird that they have this loophole in the visa regulations in the first place, it's only natural that they try to curb this practice.

That said, I think it would benefit Thailand if they made it a lot easier for people to stay in the country with proper visas. Like Malaysia your second home. But I guess Thailand is already too popular as it is   ... and whenever a country gets too popular, they tighten the visa rules. Try to live in the US if you are not a US citizen

[ubonjoe]

nikster, on 2008-12-29 08:18:11, said:

mjcl, on 2008-12-04 12:23:25, said:

I think that Thailand wants to get rid of what it sees as the riff raff falangs. Those who cannot be bothered or just cannot get the right visa. If you have a legitimate visa there is no problem in staying here.

Yup. It's weird that they have this loophole in the visa regulations in the first place, it's only natural that they try to curb this practice.

That said, I think it would benefit Thailand if they made it a lot easier for people to stay in the country with proper visas. Like Malaysia your second home. But I guess Thailand is already too popular as it is ... and whenever a country gets too popular, they tighten the visa rules. Try to live in the US if you are not a US citizen

It is already easy to get the "right visa". It is called a tourist visa. Just make a trip to a consulate and get one. A 2 entry tourist visa is easy to get in Vientiane or Kota Bharu. And now PP in Cambodia has been reported to of gotten more friendly and is giving 2 entry visas.
From their home country they can get a 3 entry tourist visa that would give almost 9 months without getting a new visa and in some a non-o mutiple entry is easy to get that gives almost 15 months.
For those that wouldn't mind spending 4 hours a week in a classroom they can study Thai and not even have to leave the country for years.

[GungaDin]

ubonjoe, on 2008-12-29 08:37:14, said:

For those that wouldn't mind spending 4 hours a week in a classroom they can study Thai and not even have to leave the country for years.

Would you expand on that please or point me to the right thread / topic?

Especially the costs.

cheers

gd

[Lite Beer]

GungaDin, on 2008-12-29 09:25:29, said:

ubonjoe, on 2008-12-29 08:37:14, said:

For those that wouldn't mind spending 4 hours a week in a classroom they can study Thai and not even have to leave the country for years.

Would you expand on that please or point me to the right thread / topic?

Especially the costs.

cheers

gd

Have a look at the Thai Language Schools Sponsers at the top of the page.

[Mario2008]

GungaDin, on 2008-12-29 09:25:29, said:

ubonjoe, on 2008-12-29 08:37:14, said:

For those that wouldn't mind spending 4 hours a week in a classroom they can study Thai and not even have to leave the country for years.

Would you expand on that please or point me to the right thread / topic?

Especially the costs.

cheers

gd

For the educational visa look the banners of the forumsponsors at the top of the page. Costs are around 29,000 a year.

[ubonjoe]

Mario2008, on 2008-12-29 09:31:20, said:

GungaDin, on 2008-12-29 09:25:29, said:

ubonjoe, on 2008-12-29 08:37:14, said:

For those that wouldn't mind spending 4 hours a week in a classroom they can study Thai and not even have to leave the country for years.

Would you expand on that please or point me to the right thread / topic?
Especially the costs.
cheers
gd

For the educational visa look the banners of the forumsponsors at the top of the page. Costs are around 29,000 a year.

More adverts and info on this forum. http://www.thaivisa....nguage-f43.html

[Jingthing]

Quote

Try to live in the US if you are not a US citizen

Bad example, there must be over 10 million persons doing exactly that.

[jimbo38]

Some of you guys are making silly, smart aleck comments.

Here's my situation,  I have a 3 entry 60 day visa.  I wanted to extend that with 3 each 30 day visas.  I'm not riff-raff.  I am 70 years old and I pay all my own bills, thank you very much.

My plane ticket cost me $1135 U.S dollars.  But someone has just added about $450 "tax" to it to take the price to over $1600.  I want to stay as long as I can to make it worth the price of the ticket.

You have to get the multiple entry tourist visa from you own country so I have to fly back and forth.  If it was legal to go to Laos I would do that in a minute and save about $1400!!!!!

I don't understand this learn Thai language thing.  I have taken a local class and am in the process of teaching myself to read and write.  Are you saying that if I take a class with certain schools, probably not available in Chiang Rai, that I can stay for a full year or years??

[ubonjoe]

jimbo38, on 2008-12-29 20:31:18, said:

Some of you guys are making silly, smart aleck comments.

Here's my situation, I have a 3 entry 60 day visa. I wanted to extend that with 3 each 30 day visas. I'm not riff-raff. I am 70 years old and I pay all my own bills, thank you very much.

My plane ticket cost me $1135 U.S dollars. But someone has just added about $450 "tax" to it to take the price to over $1600. I want to stay as long as I can to make it worth the price of the ticket.

You have to get the multiple entry tourist visa from you own country so I have to fly back and forth. If it was legal to go to Laos I would do that in a minute and save about $1400!!!!!

I don't understand this learn Thai language thing. I have taken a local class and am in the process of teaching myself to read and write. Are you saying that if I take a class with certain schools, probably not available in Chiang Rai, that I can stay for a full year or years??

If you can show income of 65,000 baht per month or put 800,000 baht in the bank here for 3 months or show income and money in bank totaling 800,000 you can get a one year extensio for retirement.
Yes you can go to school also and stay without leaving. See the bannerr ads at the top of this page one of them says Chiang Mai.
Who told you it was not legal to go to Laos and get another tourist visa after you just finished using one.
You can do that without a problem.

[jimbo38]

I don't know if they have recently changed the retirement visa or not.  The 800,000 baht has to stay in the bank for the full year.  The last time I checked they were checking the bank accounts at various times during the year to make sure that the full amount was still there.  The interest rate is next to nothing here and in some cases it is exactly nothing.  The Gov't keeps raising the monthly income requirement so that it exceeds what most people get on Social Security in the U.S.  You would think that they would be happy to have people spending that pension money here.

It is impossible to get the same information from different consuls.  I was told that multiple entry visas are legal only if issued in the home country.  

Are you saying that I can do a 60 day run to laos for a 60 day visa back to back to back etc.??  Instead of doing a 30 day run to Mae Sai just do a 60 day run to Vientiane??

[Jingthing]

Quote

The 800,000 baht has to stay in the bank for the full year. The last time I checked they were checking the bank accounts at various times during the year to make sure that the full amount was still there.

Where did you get such false information and why are you posting it here?
The correct info: if using the 800K to qualify for a retirement extension, the money must be there for TWO MONTHS for the first extension and THREE MONTHS for subsequent extensions. However, some immigration offices may be much more liberal for the subsequent extensions. The definition of "must be there" is that the balance must never fall below 800K during those time periods. Hardly, the entire year.

Edited by Jingthing, 2008-12-29 22:27:38.

[Lite Beer]

Yes. You can use as little or as much of the deposit as you want. Top up next year.

[ubonjoe]

jimbo38, on 2008-12-29 22:14:32, said:

I don't know if they have recently changed the retirement visa or not. The 800,000 baht has to stay in the bank for the full year. The last time I checked they were checking the bank accounts at various times during the year to make sure that the full amount was still there. The interest rate is next to nothing here and in some cases it is exactly nothing. The Gov't keeps raising the monthly income requirement so that it exceeds what most people get on Social Security in the U.S. You would think that they would be happy to have people spending that pension money here.
It is impossible to get the same information from different consuls. I was told that multiple entry visas are legal only if issued in the home country.
Are you saying that I can do a 60 day run to laos for a 60 day visa back to back to back etc.?? Instead of doing a 30 day run to Mae Sai just do a 60 day run to Vientiane??

The money only has to be there for 2 months on the first application (my error) 3 after that and they do not check to see if you keep the balance. They expect that you are going to use it over the course of the year and will see that when you do the application. If your social security comes us short of the 65,000 you can show a bank deposit to make up the difference. IE: An income of 55,000 would require a bank deposit of 140,000 baht to get a total of 800,000 baht.
Yes you can go to Vientiane Laos and get a 2 entry tourist visa. You get 60 days per entry that can be extended for 30 days giving you a totoal of 90 per entry. The visas are on issured with use before dates of 90 so you have watch that before you do your 2nd entry.
A lot of information you get from consulates is wrong.

[jimbo38]

The information came from the Los Angeles embassy.   Like I said I can't get information to agree from any two consuls.  And I'm posting it here to try to find out what is right!!!!!!    Just what is your problem anyway???   I understood that I could put things here to try and find out what is what.  By the way where are you getting your information from??

The information I got was that they didn't want people to live on the money deposited in the bank.  I guess they wanted the bank to be able to use that money for loans etc.  The info that I got from two different consuls were so far out of whack that it didn't even come close to one another.  This was all coming out shortly after the military coup to get rid of Shiniwatra.

Let's say that I have an annual income of 400,000 baht, just to make things easy, then you say I only have to put 400,000 baht in a thai bank??   And it has to stay there for 2 or 3 months then I can use it to live on and bring the deposit back up to 400,000 baht the next time I apply for the retired visa??

So how do you get the 30 day extension to a 60 day visa?.  I'm assuming that can be done inside Thailand by going to a Thai Immigration Office.  And is it advisable, or would it be easier just to go back to Laos for another 60 day visa???

[ubonjoe]

jimbo38, on 2008-12-29 23:17:24, said:

The information came from the Los Angeles embassy. Like I said I can't get information to agree from any two consuls. And I'm posting it here to try to find out what is right!!!!!! Just what is your problem anyway??? I understood that I could put things here to try and find out what is what. By the way where are you getting your information from??
The information I got was that they didn't want people to live on the money deposited in the bank. I guess they wanted the bank to be able to use that money for loans etc. The info that I got from two different consuls were so far out of whack that it didn't even come close to one another. This was all coming out shortly after the military coup to get rid of Shiniwatra.
Let's say that I have an annual income of 400,000 baht, just to make things easy, then you say I only have to put 400,000 baht in a thai bank?? And it has to stay there for 2 or 3 months then I can use it to live on and bring the deposit back up to 400,000 baht the next time I apply for the retired visa??
So how do you get the 30 day extension to a 60 day visa?. I'm assuming that can be done inside Thailand by going to a Thai Immigration Office. And is it advisable, or would it be easier just to go back to Laos for another 60 day visa???

You just have to trust what we say because we have been for a while and also seen many posts on this forum that support every thing we are writing.
You have been given false information by consuates and some individual apparently.
You can put the deposit the bank to show the 400,000 as in your example and use it to live on with no problem. Just long as you keep the full amount for 3 months for your extensions after the first one which is now 2 months. People extend every day showing bank books that show the amount going below the mark through out the year.
You can get a 30 day extension with no problem at immigration for 1900. baht. People do it all time. There is an office in Chiang Mai. All you need is passport and copies of its photo page, visa and entry/permit to stay stamps pages, plus copy of TM6 (departure card).
If you decide to do the retirement visa you can go to immigration once you have the money in the bank and change your tourist visa to a non immigrant O for 2000 baht if you are doing the combined income and they might even issure the extension the same day and you would then have to pay an additional 1900 baht for the extension. Yoou will need to have 21 days remaing on current permit to stay to do the change is only restriction.

[Jingthing]

People using the COMBO method to qualify for retirement extensions are NOT required to season the money in the bank account, AT ALL. In other words, if you have a pension letter for 400K and you are using another 400K in bank account to qualify, the money in the bank account could be transfered in the DAY BEFORE if you wish.

Do not listen to consulates about what happens AFTER you are are settled in Thailand, Useless!

[Lite Beer]

Agree. For a combination of Income and Cash , the money has to be in the bank on the day you apply.
Consultes issue Visas. They have no idea on Immigration matters.
This is from the Official Immigration Laws.
2.22 In the case of a retiree: Permission will be granted for a period of not more
than 1 year at a time.
(1) The alien has obtained a temporary visa (NON-IM);
(2) The applicant is 50 years of age or over;
(3) Proof of income of not less than Baht 65,000 per month; or
(4) Account deposit with a bank in Thailand of not less than
800,000 Baht as shown in the bank account for the past 3 months at the filing date of the application. For the first year, the applicant should have that amount in his bank account for not less than 60 days or
(5) Annual income plus bank account deposit totaling not less
than Baht 800,000 as of the filing date of application