Q&A: Triple entry visa for Thailand

Dear forum members.

I have a question about a triple entry visa for Thailand.

I have had a visa with 6 entries since 04-2014-3, this visa is valid for 6 months, namely until 30-09-2014. Now I thought I know how this visa works, but the immigration officer told me that I can no longer stay here until the end of this visa 30/09/2014.
I assumed that when your first 60 days are over, you can extend for a month (visa extension) at an office. Then leave the country and then activate your second entry for another 60 days and then extend it for another month at an immigration office.

But then I thought you could activate your last entry just before the expiry of the visa 30-09 by leaving the country with a visa run, but it seems that officer told that if you get 60 again and you are against your end date to you who can't use it for 60 days until the end of November in this case, what do you know about that, I thought it was about time you could fully use that last entrance even if your visa has already expired.

Greetings,

Robert

Dear Robert,

First of all, the validity period of the visa surprised me. This is until September 30th where it should be October 5th. Until September 30, it can be 180 days (an estimate, because I have not calculated it), but the validity period of a visa is expressed in months / years and not in days, so 3 and 6 months or 1 and 3 years (for a certain type of visa).
The length of stay/extensions, on the other hand, which you receive upon entry or in the case of an extension at an immigration office, are expressed in days, so 7, 15, 30, 60, 90 days. Have a look here: http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/services/123/15398-Issuance-of-Visa.html

What you thought is correct. You can use the third entry until the end of the validity period of the visa (NOT until , because it says Enter before…(date) on your visa). In your case, you must therefore perform the third entry at the latest on September 29, because the visa expires on September 30 (however, waiting until the last day is not a good idea, because something can always happen or you may not feel well that day ).

The length of stay obtained does not affect the validity of the visa. So if the visa expires before the end of the stay, this has no influence.

So the immigration officer did not provide you with the correct information, expressed himself incorrectly, did not understand your question or you misunderstood it or your question was not clear. This is more common and is usually not conscious but is due to the language problem. Agreed, this should not happen to staff working for immigration. However, it may also be that the questioner is not asking the right question, or his knowledge of English is also limited so that the question is not clear. These are all common problems that lead to misunderstandings.

I don't know where you got that info, but some of the smaller immigration offices often have their own opinions about the rules, or the immigration officer is inexperienced
with these regulations. In any case, if you want to be sure, go to a larger immigration office or even a border post. There you will receive the correct information from immigration.

A word about renewals in general (so for everyone…). Renewals, for any type of visa, are at the discretion of an immigration officer. So it is not right. At most you can ask why you are not getting an extension. It certainly doesn't make sense to argue about that. It won't help anyone. Everyone should take this possible decision into account when applying for an extension. Ultimately, it is the immigration officer who has the final say.

To take your situation as an example. Normally you can always extend your visa by 30 days and that will be allowed in almost every application. However, if the Immigration Officer decides that you must use up your entries before obtaining an extension, there is nothing you can do about it.

Hopefully this is of some use to you.

Good luck and if you have any further questions let me know.

Regards

RonnyLatPhrao

Copy Ronny: Regarding the validity period of the visa.

Martin informed me that the Consulate in Amsterdam calculates in days instead of months with regard to the validity period of the visa, so 90 or 180 days instead of 3 or 6 months
I hadn't noticed it before, but it's true. The Embassy in The Hague and Brussels then use the link of the MFA, and the validity period in months is stated on this link. The Consulate in Antwerp also calculates in months.