Permission To Stay Visa

[George Pill]

I got my 60-day tourist visa in Honolulu consulate last October for $40. I had to show a photocopy of my bank statement. Forget if it was the savings or checking one. they said I could have a 90-day tourist visa for $60. No hassle there. Now can I visit Thailand without a tourist visa ahead of time and automatically get a 30-day tourist visa stamped on my passport upon arrival, leave at the end of this period and visit Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for 10 days each, and then return to Thailand for another 30-days without any problems? Why the hell do they make this so complicated for us nice tourists who want to help spend our money?

[rxpharm]

Every country determines their own immigration rules - it is their decision on how they make the rules. Whether it makes sense or not, we have to follow them. Trying to apply a western viewpoint on how other countries do things can lead to endless frustration.

[Easyguy]

The funny thing is that you can arrive at Suvarnabhumi airport, go through Immigration, and only need to present your passport. I don't even believe they check for a return or on going ticket. So you can stay for 30 days up to three arrivals, but need to go through the third degree and pay money to stay for 60 days. Does this make any sense?

[George Pill]

A month ago i visited the local Honolulu Thai consulate and paid $40 for a two-month tourist visa. Had to provide 2 face photos and a copy of my bank checking statement. I didn't like that kind of nosiness. I brought hotel reservation printouts and my flight itinerary. Never had to prove anything about employment. Could have gotten a 3-month tourist visa for $60. Returned within a week and picked my visa and passport up. The guy photocopied my checking statement and didn't even bother looking at the balance. No problems. the METV sounds about right at $200, but I didn't need it.

[joeaf]

The only problem with obtaining a 60 day Tourist Visa in advance is that if you want to travel outside the country, within that 60 day window, you lose the visa and your processing fees. I believe that you are only able to obtain a multiple entry/re-entry visa via Non Immigrant status. Don't think there are any multiple entry/re-entry Tourist Visas. And the Non Immigrant multiple entry/re-enty Visa costs $200 plus processing fees through the Thai Consulate in the US.

There is a multiple entry 60 day Tourist Visa (METV) and the Royal Thai Embassy DC website says *** officially launched to tourists of all nationalities and from Friday 13 November 2015***.

The 60 day METV requirements are more stringent than the single entry. The METV cost $200 US, you must provide recent bank statement for the last 6 months with a minimum balance of $7,000 (every months), hotel reservation confirmation, a letter proof of employment, etc (see link below for complete requirements)

http://thaiembdc.org/tourist-visa-ca...multiple-metv/

[Easyguy]

For myself I would just get a Permission to Stay visa upon landing and just go out to Laos or Malaysia for a couple of days and then fly back in. I still think that an American can get 30 days Permission to stay on the Laos/Thai border at the bridge. However, the airfares are so inexpensive that it really doesn't make sense to go over land.

[Rockheart]

If you leave the country you can still get a 30 day for free when you come back in, but you do lose your money.
This is why the visa on arrival will usually work. If you stay the full 60 days without leaving, you can extend your visa pretty easy.

Still if you feel you may have some issues getting a Thai Visa you should probably apply in advance.

[Easyguy]

The only problem with obtaining a 60 day Tourist Visa in advance is that if you want to travel outside the country, within that 60 day window, you lose the visa and your processing fees. I believe that you are only able to obtain a multiple entry/re-entry visa via Non Immigrant status. Don't think there are any multiple entry/re-entry Tourist Visas. And the Non Immigrant multiple entry/re-enty Visa costs $200 plus processing fees through the Thai Consulate in the US.

[rxpharm]

The cost for the same Visa from the Thai Consulate in Edmonton Alberta was $40 Canadian in Aug, 2016

[joeaf]

Doesn't that now cost $200? Or is it the Non Immigrant Visa that costs that much?

The cost for a US citizen 60-day Single Entry Tourist Visa is $40 US payable in money order and you provide $22.95 US Express Mail postage stamp/envelope for passport return from the Royal Thai Embassy in DC. Since 2013, the cost has remained relatively the same.

I am not familiar with the Non Immigrant visa.

[Easyguy]

Doesn't that now cost $200? Or is it the Non Immigrant Visa that costs that much?

[joeaf]

Here is the lastest information I pulled from the Thai Embassy websites that I posted on another thread:


It appears that unless you are from Korea, Brazil, Peru, Argentina or Chile you get a 30 day tourist visa on arrival or in advance from Canada, USA etc.
You can get an extension up to 7 days and after that you must leave. You can re-enter the country again as much as you want but doing visa runs over land appear to limit you to 15 day visas now. However it appears Canada and USA et al, get 30 visas at land borders too. Little confused on that one.
Does not appear there is anymore 60 day visas, just the 90 day tourist visas for some countries.
If you want to stay more than 30 days on one visa, you must apply for a non-immigrant visa....

US citizens can still get 60-day single entry tourist visa in the US from a Thai Embassy or Consulate. I am a US citizen I just received my 60-day single entry tourist visa today, from the Royal Thai Embassy in DC. I previously got a 60-day single entry tourist visa every year since 2013.

http://thaiembdc.org/consular-services/tourist-visas/category-tr/

Tourist Visa Category €œTR€ Single
€¦
Period of stay: not exceeding 60 days€¦

[Rockheart]

After reading everything people from US and Canada still get 30 days at a land border.
Anything could still be up to the border agents discretion as RX says.

I think they usually know your itinerary now so they never have asked me for proof of return ticket.
If you land before midnight and get to the desk after 12 they will often still stamp you for the day before because it is supposed to be when you arrived that counts. So they probably can see your flight information on the screen. Airlines have to send them all their passenger data in advance.
Thailand seems to seems to be pretty easy on anyone vacationing from a G7 nations both at immigrations and customs.

Tourist Visa in Thailand | ThaiEmbassy.com

UK, USA, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Macau, Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam will receive 30 days in both airport or land border.
Korea, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile will get 90 days in both airport and land border.

[rxpharm]

They were strict about showing an ongoing ticket around 6 months ago, but things have relaxed more. There were reports that a few people had been refused entry due to exceeding 90 days of visits in a 6 month period - but as Crag reports that is dropped for now.

If you are planning on flying out every 30 days of a 90 day stay, you should be okay - but keep in mind there is a chance you could run into a strict immigration officer having a bad day, who could refuse you on a return. I also believe if you tried a land visa run, you might only get 15 days coming back in.

[Easyguy]

It is a tourist visa because the only people that can get them are tourists. You cannot use them to go to work or go to school or anything else but tourism.
It is also known as permission of stay but on this page they seem to use tourist visa and permission of stay interchangeably.
Permission of stay is probably the official government name but they are tourist visas in reality.

It says that right here:


The visa you would get at home is a "Non Immigrant" Visa also referred to as a tourist visa also good for 3-6 months I believe.

Wherever you were looking must be outdated, it specifically says the 90 days in 6 months has been dropped due to the new rules.

It's too bad that they did not keep the 30 day visa when returning by land. But, it's good to know that there is no restriction on 30 day visas upon arrival at the airport. Does one have to present a return or ongoing ticket when arriving? I have never had an immigration official ask for any ticket.