Dear Ronnie,
I have a 'non-immigrant O Multiple visa' (married to Thai), enter before 3/10/19. Now I want to go back to Thailand at the end of September 2019 until the end of March 2020. Will I get a new visa at the embassy, although the old one is still valid for a week? Or are there other options?
Thank you for your wise advice.
Regards,
Eric
Dear Eric,
You can only have 1 valid Thai visa in your passport, ie they will not place a 2nd visa in your passport that overlaps the other.
To obtain a visa that starts at the end of September, you will first have to cancel the old visa. This is done by placing the stamp “Canceled” on your current visa.
The question is, of course, whether the Thai Embassy in The Hague is willing to do this. Of course I can't give you an answer to that and you have to ask the embassy yourself. Considering the difference is roughly a week and considering your length of stay, they may be willing to do that.
If not, there are other solutions.
1. You leave after 3/10/19. You can, however, apply for a new visa with a departure date after your current, still valid visa. I have done this a few times in the past (was in Antwerp). When I applied, my then still valid visa was destroyed and I received a new visa that was immediately valid.
2. Apply for a year extension of your period of stay. Of course you have to meet the conditions of an annual extension. You can then renew annually and you no longer need to apply for a visa in the Netherlands. If you stay in Thailand for 6 months every year, this might be the best solution.
3. Enter with your current visa. Given that you are married and if your wife still has a permanent address in Thailand, you may be able to obtain an extension of 90 days at immigration following 60 days. Can normally if married but whether they will allow that on a 90 day stay I can't guarantee. Well worth the question of course.
That is not enough, of course, for your entire stay, but following that 60-day extension you can also make a “Borderrun” and come back on “Visa Exemption”. Is good for 30 days again and you can possibly extend those 30 days at immigration with 30 days.
In total you then arrive at 90 (+60 extension)+30(+30 extension) = 210 days should be sufficient.
4. Same as point 3, but if those 60 days extension on the basis of marriage is not allowed, you can possibly do 2 “Borderruns” which you can also extend at immigration. (attention by land, the “Borderruns” are limited to 2 per calendar year)
In total you will then arrive at 90+30(+30 extension)+30(+30 extension) = 210 days should be sufficient.
Let us know how it ended up.
Regards,
RonnyLatYa