Thailand visa: I can't make a third border run, how is that possible?

 
Dear editors,

I have a question about a visa. I went to Savanaket on May 29, 2015 for a tourist visa with 3 entries for Thailand. May 31 back to Thailand was the first entry. June 29 Chong Chom border the second entrance. I went to immigration office Sept 25th for 30 days. I thought I would go to the border on October 25 for the third entrance for 60 days.

But now it comes. The lady at the immigration office told me that my visa is no longer valid. You only get 26 days on October 15. I told her this is not right. I have a tourist visa with 3 entries good for 270 days. If I count now I only come to 165 days. She told me it says 'enter before August 28, 2015' on the visa.

My question is: Is this normal or has the Thai embassy in Savanaket put a wrong date on it?

Thanks in advance,

Geert

Dear Geert,

A mistake made by many. “Entries” are only valid as long as your visa is valid. You must use up the “Entries” on your Tourist visa before the validity period of your visa expires. See date “Enter before….” on your visa. If you have not used them before that date, they will expire.

The immigration officer was right. You should have made that 3rd “Entry” before August 28th. We also mention this several times in the Dossier Visa on the blog: www.thailandblog.nl/wp-content/uploads/TB-2014-12-27-Dossier-Visa-Thailand-full version.pdf
See page 3 – question 7, and also page 6 and page 22. “Important: If you have a Tourist Visa, you should be careful as it has a limited validity period of 3 or 6 months. Do not apply for the visa too early! Your 2nd or 3rd entry will expire if you do not use it within the validity period of the visa”

What surprised me is that you apparently only obtained a validity period of 3 months. In your case from May 29 to August 28. Normally for 3 “Entries” this should be 6 months – until November 28th. Either they made a mistake when issuing , or they only give 3 months standard in Savannakhet, regardless of the number of “Entries”. Whether the latter is the case I cannot answer directly. It is important to check your visa carefully upon receipt.

That you can bridge a period of 3 days (in theory) with those 270 “Entries” is true, but you must meet certain conditions:

• The visa has 1, 2 or 3 entries as a basis. Each entry is good for 60 days.
• With 3 entries you could bridge 180 days. 60/border run/60/border run/60. Total 180 days.
• You can extend each “Entry” at immigration and this for a period of 30 days each time. Only in this way can you bridge a period of 270 days with that visa. This is how you arrive at 60(+30)/borderrun/60(+30)/borderrun/60(+30). Those 180 or 270 are theoretically natural, because you lose some days with the issuing of the visa and the border runs (visa run, In/Out).
• And of course very important. You must perform the 2nd and 3rd entry before the end of the validity period of the visa or your “Entries” will expire.

Since the validity period ended on August 28, you can no longer perform an “Entry” with it. Your 3rd “Entry” has expired, even if you have not used it. If you now arrive at the border without a visa, you will receive 15 days of “Visa Exemption”, as that immigration officer told you, because you are entering Thailand overland. This “Visa Exemption” is limited to 15 days at border crossings by land, with the exception of travelers from the G7 countries (30 days), but the Netherlands and Belgium are not included.

You can of course also choose to enter Thailand via an international airport. You will then receive the 30-day “Visa Exemption”. You can then also extend those 15 or 30 days “Visa Exemption” in Thailand at immigration for a maximum of 30 days. I don't know how long you want to stay but maybe it's a solution to consider.

Of course you can also just get a new visa. This time, pay close attention to the validity period of your visa and, above all, make sure you use all your “Entries” before the end of the validity period on your visa. If they only give 3 months validity in Savannakhet, it probably doesn't make much sense to ask for 3 "Entries" there (or you would leave Thailand in those three months)

Regards,

RonnyLatPhrao

Disclaimer: The advice is based on existing regulations. The editors accept no responsibility if this is deviated from in practice.