Dear editors,
I have a question about my current retirement visa. A few years ago I didn't have a visa and wanted to travel to Thailand for a little longer than a month. Of course I had planned a visa run in my planning to be in order with the thirty days.
At Brussels airport, British Airways made a problem and wanted to refuse me the flight. They then called several responsible persons for twenty minutes, because my return date was therefore slightly beyond my permitted 30 days.
Airlines apparently risk heavy fines if they deliver someone who does not have the correct documents. In the end they let me leave anyway because I had a return ticket…
Now I have a retirement visa for a year that ends in January 2017 (and I will then continue with the correct papers). I now want to go to Belgium in May for 3-4 months (I already have Re_entry) and then back to Thailand until May – June 2017.
So now I do have a retirement visa, but I fear that there may be problems when checking in to Thailand because the return date is later than the current visa date.
Does anyone have experience, advice or suggestions as I can do the best?
Thanks in advance
Marc
Dear Marc,
What happened to you a few years ago still applies today. When you leave without a visa (entry on “Visa Exemption”), you must indeed provide proof that you are going to leave Thailand within 30 days. Some airlines do indeed check this.
This warning is also included in the Visa Dossier: www.thailandblog.nl/wp-content/uploads/TB-Dossier-Visum-2016-Definatief-18-februari-2016.pdf page 14.
You currently have a one-year extension, also known as a “Retirement visa”. It's good that you've already thought about the "re-entry". I understand your concern that the return date of your new ticket will be later than January 2017, but normally that shouldn't be a problem. Most companies are familiar with those annual extensions.
You can actually do little yourself. You can only obtain a maximum extension of one year and you can, in your case, only obtain that annual extension in January 2017.
Regards,
RonnyLatPhrao
Disclaimer: The advice is based on existing regulations. The editors accept no responsibility if this is deviated from in practice.