tourist visa question for the gurus

[happylizard]

Is there a limit to how many tourist visa you can use.Let me try to explain insted of getting a retirement visa could i get a tourist visa for 60 and extend it for 30 more fly to the usa get another tourist visa come back to thailand for 60 extend it for 30 more and keep doing that or will that be leagal?I can get cheap tickets.I could not find the answer even on thai embassy site.

[Frosty]

Yes .. But it would be easier to fly to Cambodia or one of the other neighboring areas. Also, I believe the tourist visas are good for 90-days.

[IBF]

What you are asking about is not illegal. Technically you can get an unlimitied number of tourist visas. However, there is also nothing that requires the Thai embassy or consulate to agree to grant your visa application. So they can, and some have been known to decline an application if they feel someone is abusing the system. Almost every instance I heard of someone being declined a new tourist visa has been from a Thai embassy/consulate near-by - a neighboring country. If you end up traveling all the way back to the US to get each new tourist visa you will likely not have any problems.

 

The issue really boils down to the individual Thai consulate/embassy and their willingness to issue back to back to back to back to....tourist visas. This tends to vary from consulate to consulate in the general area - ie the consulate in Laos having different policies from the consulate in Vietnam, and the policies even change at the same consulate(s) over time.

 

Secondly you can get a double entry tourisst visa. The double entry will give you two 60 day stays. That can then be extended for another 30 days. So out of one double entry tourist visa you can get 60+60+30 = 150 days.

[plahgat]

You actually can get 60+30+60+30=180 days on a Double Entry,

 

every single Tourist visa can be extended another 30 days at the Immigration Office in Thailand for 1900 baht.

 

The Thai Embassy in my country Sweden even issues Triple-entry Tourist visas!

 

 

Plahgat

Edited November 10, 2011 by plahgat

[thecaptain]

if you are over 50 you can get what is called an O TYPE visa

WHICH GIVES YOU 90 STRIGHT DAYS in thailand

then u have to leave say for 1 day ie border run

you can do this for 1yr year

but leave 1 week before it runs out and re-enter the country again on another 90day visit

which in reality gives you a 15 months stay

[happylizard]

Thanks for the advice looks like tourist visas are best till i decide if i want to stay loooong term then i will get a o retirement visa

[Frosty]

Wait, if you're from the USA you don't need the embassy to clear you. Just enter the country and you get a 90-day tourist stamp. You don't need to be pre-cleared.

[IBF]

Wait, if you're from the USA you don't need the embassy to clear you. Just enter the country and you get a 90-day tourist stamp. You don't need to be pre-cleared.

With a US passport, if you do not get a visa, then upon entry to the country immigration will put a visa waiver stamp in your passport. This will allow you to enter and remain in the coutry for 30 days if you arrive on a flight, and only 15 days if you arrive from a land crossing.

 

So you are correct in that with a US passport you do not need a visa. But the number of days is 30 or 15 depending upon how/where you arrive, and not 90 days.

[Frosty]

You're correct, it's 30-days for an on-arrival tourist visa.

 

Here's a link (click here) to the Thai visa page for any nationality to see how long they can get a visa for.

[IBF]

You're correct, it's 30-days for an on-arrival tourist visa.

 

Here's a link (click here) to the Thai Visa page for any nationality to see how long they can get a visa for.

The stamp put in US passports is not a visa.

 

It is part of the visa waiver program. It is simply permission granted by the Thai government to people of various nations to stay in the Kingdom for a set number of days without a visa - most western nations are allowed to enter Thailand thru this visa waiver system.

 

Some countries are not part of the Thai visa waiver program, and thus do require a visa on arrival (or a visa of some other sort that has been optained prior to arrival) - the visa on arrival requires paperwork, and for them to be processed at a specific counter. Folks with a US passport go straight thru to the standard immigration counters, they are then granted access either for 30 days (via the visa waiver system) if they do not have a visa, or for 90 days if they do have a visa of some kind.

[Frosty]

Exactly ... That's why I wanted to put the link in there. In my mind, a tourist visa is the same as a visa waiver. Either way, you'll still get a stamp in your passport.

 

Looking at my passport now for the tourist stamp it says "Immigration, Suvarnabhumi Airport Thailand, Visaclass, Admit from (some date), Until (another date 1-month later), Signed". Next to that is my departure stamp from when I left the country.

[Asstastic]

I will going to Thailand on the 13th of Dec and leaving on the 14th jan which is over the 30 days visa waiver you get on a uk passport. Can I extend the visa waiver when I'm there? Or do I have to leave and come back? Or am I best to apply for a 60 day tourist visa? I think I can do that on uk passport but it will cost about $160