Phuket Immigration Volunteers

General Visa Information

This general visa information is from the OLD manual and not 100% updated yet.

 

  • 7 Days (Emergency) extension downstairs with evidence. (at officer discretion)
  • Non-O and B visa ( EXCEPT RETIREMENT O-A ) holders issued outside Thailand are required to leave the country every 90 days.
  • Long term visa extension holders issued inside Thailand are required to  report every 90 days.
  • O-A (Retirement) issued outside Thailand can be used for 2 years by re-entering the day before 1st year is finished, but thereafter a re-entry permit is required. (Thai Embassy in India can issue 3 year O-A visa under special circumstances, info to be collected from Embassy)
  • Non-O-A one year visa is only issued at embassy (not consul) in country of residence.
  • Proof of income may be required by the Immigration officer in case income is used on the application form, Some (German) EU Consuls can do all EU proving when not available except for Switzerland and the UK.      (Check with consul first)
  • Any Non Imm visa cannot be renewed as another type of visa but may be extended.
    Any Non Imm B visa can be changed to another category of Non O visa (Except ED) and can be renewed each year thereafter at the Phuket Immigration Office. All other long term Non O Imm visas e.g. Ed, Custodian, Marriage, Dependant et al cannot be converted to a Non ‘O’ B visa.
  • Bank account preferred in applicant sole name to avoid 50% usage. ( marriage extension bank account only in application solde name) 
  • One-year visa extensions can be done in the last 45 days (at officer discretion, otherwise 30 days) of the current visa.
  • NON-O Marriage applicants married outside of Thailand and do not hold a Thai marriage certificate, a letter has to be obtained from the applicants Embassy proving that they are still married. This letter then needs to be officially translated in to Thai and taken along with the marriage certificate to local Amphur. They will then issue a Kor Ror 22, this then needs to be submitted with the Visa application. (Max 30 days old)
  • When a one-year extension is requested when holding a multiple entry Non-O visa this has to be done normally during the last 90 day period. (when people arrive to apply for the extension at an earlier stage it can be granted at the officers discretion)

 

VESSEL CAPTAIN INFORMATION

  • When a vessel captain arrives by private yacht he does not get a VOA stamp in his passport but they will insert an A4 size paper in his passport with all relevant information. ( kind of passenger declaration list )
  • If the captain requires to leave the country via other means then his yacht he has either to deposit 20.000 Baht cash deposit OR apply for a re-entry permit for 2000 Baht ( downstairs at the marine department ) and then he can leave the country.
  • Passengers from the same yacht are issued the normal excemption stamp in their passport same as everybody else.

 

FAMILY VISA EXTENSION

  • 60 Day Family extension (Thai Child/Wife etc) is allowed on any visa type which correct papers and address registration.  Provided the applicants original entry visa has not expired.

 

BUSINESS VISA INFORMATION

  • People holding Business visa with Work Permit can changes job title on Work Permit at labour office on the same day.  ( hand in old WP walk out with new WP )
  • One year B visa is only issued in principle in country of residence. Only 3 months visa issued in Laos etc.  (check if they issue Non-O as not all will issues them like KL)
  • B Visa extension issued in Thailand has to be cancelled on the day a work permit is surrendered, 7 Day extension can be obtained or change of extension to retirement can be done at same day.
  • Conversion from VOA to B extension can be done in Bangkok but only if WP is also issued in Bangkok

 

INVESTMENT VISA INFORMATION

  • Investment visa information and application to be done at upstairs office.  Basically 10 Million Baht has to be invested in Thailand.

 

THAI ELITE VISA INFORMATION

  • Thai Elite Card Visa good for 5 x 1 year visa extension without 90 Day visa run. ( every 90 Day have to do an TM7/TM47 to receive another 90 Day without payment.)
  • New simplified Thai Elite Card good for 5 x 1 year visa without visa runs and get stamped for 1 year at each entry same as retirement visa. (have to do 90 day reporting)

 

EXTENSION WHILE HOLDING <12 MONTH PASSPORT

  • If a person request a visa extension while his passport has less than 12 months validity, then the next extension will only be issued till the passport expire date. (for example the passport is 10 months valid the extension will be also for 10 months)
  • When the new passport is issued the extension will NOT be transferred and a complete new extension has to be obtained for the new passport.
  • The visa/extension history has to be transferred before the new extension will be issued.
  • Re-Entry permits can be transferred to the new passport on the officer discretion.

 

LOST OR STOLEN PASSPORT

  • If a person has lost or had their passport stolen, there is nothing Immigration can do until they are presented with a copy of the Police report along with a replacement or emergency passport.  If a person has gone in to overstay while waiting for a replacement passport, it is that persons responsibility to pay the overstay, there is no exemption for overstay due to lost or stolen passports.
  • A letter from the embassy has to be provided which shows that the holder is issued a new passport as a replacement for the old lost or stolen passport with the old passport number mentioned.
    (If the issuing country of the passport prints a statement in the new passport that it is a direct replacement for the old one and quoting the number of the old passport the letter is not required)

 

TM6 CARDS

  • If a person has lost their TM6 Departure card they can either get a replacement at the airport, or for long stay extensions a police report is required so they can get a new one upstairs.
  • Lost TM6 cards is normally not a problem for short stay extension.

 

COURT CASE EXTENSIONS

  • If a person needs a court case extension 2 sets of papers are required and normally a maximum 90 day extension will be granted at upstairs office.

PROOF OF RESIDENCE

  • To be able to get a Proof of Residence the person has to be registered in the immigration computer at the requested address. You can do this at the immigration office if you own your property, but if you rent it or it is in the wife’s name, it is the responsibility of the owner of the property to register those living there.
  • Long term visa extension = until expire date of extension.

TR60 = 30 days.

VOA = until expire date.

 

OVERSTAY

  • Any person in overstay can only extend a Visa up to a maximum of 40 days of overstay. If over 40 days, they must leave the country and pay the overstay on (airport) departure only.
  • Any (Visa Excemption and TR60) extension with overstay will have the overstay days deducted from the extension. (TR60, 5 day overstay results in a 25 day extension for normal price and overstay fine)
  • Overstay is regarded as a serious offence which can result in a hefty fine, prison sentence and banned from returning back to Thailand.
  • Children under 15 years are normally not fined but will be registered as over stayer, There are reports that some border crossings (Phuket airport) are fining the parents on occasion for the child overstay.
  • Persons overstaying more then 3 months can be blacklisted according their overstay duration.

 

AIRPORT RE-ENTRY PERMIT

  • Phuket airport will issue a re-entry permit on days that the immigration office is not open, for emergency purposes only.
  • Bangkok airports will issue a re-entry permits but opening times can be different and not 24 hours.

 

AESAN COUNRIES

  • Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam

 

Updated : April 2017