Questioner: Geert
Have tickets booked Nov 16 to Mar 15 (4months). Yesterday 800.000 baht deposited into a savings account with confirmation from the bank.
This time no visa for 2 months with an extension, apply for 1 month in Belgium, but leave with a tourist visa and go to immigration in November for a retirement multi-entry visa.
According to some, I will have problems when I leave Brussels or at the airport immigration. What I doubt.
Reaction RonnyLatYa
What you actually mean is that you are not going to apply for a Tourist visa now, but want to leave on Visa Exemption and then convert this in Thailand to a Non-immigrant O. You cannot apply for Multiple entry. You will then receive a Non-immigrant O without entries. You can buy re-entry(ies) later
That is possible and it is also possible that you will have problems with check-in if your return flight is later than 30 days. Depends on the airline. It is also possible that immigration requires this, but it rarely happens.
The website of the embassy states the following regarding Visa Exemption:
“You are eligible to travel to Thailand, for tourism purpose, with the exemption of visas and are permitted to stay in the Kingdom for a period of not exceeding 30 days. Therefore, you do not need a visa. However, please make sure that you are in possession of a passport valid for at least 6 months, a round-trip or onward air ticket, and adequate finances equivalent to at least 10,000 Baht per person or 20,000 Baht per family. Otherwise, you may be inconvenienced upon entry into the country.
Furthermore, foreigners who enter the Kingdom under this Tourist Visa Exemption Scheme may re-enter and stay in Thailand for a cumulative duration of stay of not exceeding 90 days within any 6-month period from the date of first entry.”
https://www.thaiembassy.be/visa/?lang=en
But suppose you want to convert that Visa Exemption into Thailand, then you can. Make sure that there are still 15 days of stay left when you submit the application, because you will not receive that right away. Costs 2000 Baht.
You can read how to apply for this here.
https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/wp-content/uploads/2022C1_09.pdf
If approved, you will first receive a 90-day residence period. You can then extend the 90-day stay for a year. Costs 1900 Bath.
That residence period you get has no entries. If you leave Thailand and you do not want your annual extension to expire, you must take a Re-entry before leaving Thailand. It now depends on how often you will leave Thailand during that time.
A Single Re-entry costs 1000 Baht. A Multiple re-entry costs 3800 Baht.
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