Some Visa Housekeeping Questions

[allstuff]

Hi All....we have our O-A Visas and will be arriving in Thailand next week. I had four questions I was hoping someone could help me with:

1- Do you do the TM47 90 day registration by mail or in person?
2- I assume you do the first TM47 registration after you've been in country for the first 90 days not immediately upon arrival?
3- What happens if you are traveling out of country at the same time your 90 day registration is due?
4- What happens if you are out of country on the day or for several weeks before and after your O-A Visas 1 year validity is up?

Thanks

AS

[hhfarang]

Lomu will no doubt be along shortly to answer your questions correctly, but this is my thoughts on them:

1- Do you do the TM47 90 day registration by mail or in person?
2- I assume you do the first TM47 registration after you've been in country for the first 90 days not immediately upon arrival?
3- What happens if you are traveling out of country at the same time your 90 day registration is due?
4- What happens if you are out of country on the day or for several weeks before and after your O-A Visas 1 year validity is up?

1. I believe it is allowed to do it by mail, but most people do it in person unless they live in a rural location far from an immigration office. Hua Hin has an office.
2. I believe you are correct that it is not due until you have been here for 90 days.
3. Your exit/re-entry permit (which is required or you will have to re apply for a new OA visa) takes care of this and upon return, I believe the 90 day clock starts again at your date of re-entry into the Kingdom.
4. You can apply for the extension up to 1 month in advance of expiration. I don't know what you should do if you will be out of the country for that entire month.

[Dannie Boy]

Lomu will no doubt be along shortly to answer your questions correctly, but this is my thoughts on them:

1- Do you do the TM47 90 day registration by mail or in person?
2- I assume you do the first TM47 registration after you've been in country for the first 90 days not immediately upon arrival?
3- What happens if you are traveling out of country at the same time your 90 day registration is due?
4- What happens if you are out of country on the day or for several weeks before and after your O-A Visas 1 year validity is up?

1. I believe it is allowed to do it by mail, but most people do it in person unless they live in a rural location far from an immigration office. Hua Hin has an office.
2. I believe you are correct that it is not due until you have been here for 90 days.
3. Your exit/re-entry permit (which is required or you will have to re apply for a new OA visa) takes care of this and upon return, I believe the 90 day clock starts again at your date of re-entry into the Kingdom.
4. You can apply for the extension up to 1 month in advance of expiration. I don't know what you should do if you will be out of the country for that entire month.

Re point 2, I believe that on your first entry to Thailand you need to report to immigration within 24 hours of arrival (or soon after) so that you can register where you are living, thereafter it is not necessary to report on your return, just at your 90 day intervals.

[lomuamart]

1. Mail reports are sent to BKK, I believe. I don't think HH accept them. It's much easier to report in person locally. There's a desk set aside for the purpose and you'll usually be in and out in 5-10 mins.
2. Yes, your 90 days start on arrival - day 1. Imm at the airport won't calculate your 90 days so you'll have to do it yourself. You can report up to 15 days early or 7 days late without getting fined.
The 24 hour report is a moot one. Most of us simply don't do it and I, for one, have never been pulled on it.
3. 90 days reports are only necessary if you stay for more than 90 consequtive days. If you leave the country within 90 days the time period starts again from day 1 when you re-enter.
Don't dispose of your previous 90 day report form which will be stapled into your passport. Just point out your latest permitted to stay stamp that you'll get on re-entry and that 90 days starts from re-entry. Imm will re-calculate. It's no problem.
4. Is your OA single or multi entry? If single then you'll need to extend it for a year before your permitted to stay stamp expires to get an extra year (and so on ad infinitum). As has been said, that can be done up to 30 days early. If you leave the country during your first year's entry (before you extend) you'll need a re-entry permit to keep your permitted to stay date alive. If you don't have one everything will will expire when you depart. Re-entries are easy to get. 1,000 THB for single and 3,800 THB for multi.
If the visa is multi-entry, then you'll automatically get a further year's entry each time you re-enter as long as your original visa is still valid. As a result you can get almost 2 years out of it. However, for instance, if your visa expires on Dec 1st and you are permitted to stay until July 1st the next year (because of a previous re-entry) you'll need to get a re-entry permit for any exit after Dec 1st to keep the July 1st date alive.

[allstuff]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Addict, I see our feelings about politicians are very similar. Iomuamart, I just checked my Visa and it is Multi-Entry.....so for instance, if it expires on September 10, 2014 and I'm traveling out of country from August 10 to Oct 10 its not a problem?

Though I'm hoping Thailand is going to turn out to be the right choice of the few choices available to me, I was wondering if any of you have been down to Malaysia, specifically the northern part of Malaysia around Penang/Georgetown. It looks beautiful down there and they have a very user friendly retirement Visa program for foreigners.

[Pleng]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Addict, I see our feelings about politicians are very similar. Iomuamart, I just checked my Visa and it is Multi-Entry.....so for instance, if it expires on September 10, 2014 and I'm traveling out of country from August 10 to Oct 10 its not a problem?

If your Visa expires on September 10, you won't be able to re-enter on Oct 10

[Dannie Boy]

One thing to remember is that during the first year, if you leave the Kingdom on an O-A visa, you get a stamp when you return saying you can stay for a further 12 months from date of re-entry, so if you arrive in September 13 and were to leave in say May 14 and return 1 June 14, you would get permission to stay until 31 May 2015. Of course if you don't leave within the first year, the visa will expire 12 months after arrival.

[allstuff]

It sounds like Kafka novel....I'm sure I'll get it eventually. So if I understand this correctly....The extension of stay date is the dominant date and supersedes the actual Visa expiration date.

So if I leave on a trip March 1, 2014 and return on April 15, 2014 I should get permission to stay (or my extension of stay stamp) will be April 15, 2015. If I then take a second trip lets say June 2014 and return in August 2014 nothing changes and I'm still operating under the April 15, 2015 extension of stay.

Do you apply for a re-entry permit each time you leave or is there a multiple entry - re-entry permit?

[Dannie Boy]

It sounds like Kafka novel....I'm sure I'll get it eventually. So if I understand this correctly....The extension of stay date is the dominant date and supersedes the actual Visa expiration date.

So if I leave on a trip March 1, 2014 and return on April 15, 2014 I should get permission to stay (or my extension of stay stamp) will be April 15, 2015. If I then take a second trip lets say June 2014 and return in August 2014 nothing changes and I'm still operating under the April 15, 2015 extension of stay.

Do you apply for a re-entry permit each time you leave or is there a multiple entry - re-entry permit?

Lomuamart is the expert, but I'm certain that whenever you leave and return whilst your visa is valid, you get another 12 months stamp on your last return, so in your example you would get a stamp until August 2015. If you have a multiple entry visa that's valid until expiry (i.e. 12 months), but then you need to get a re-entry stamp before leaving on your outward journey.

[hhfarang]

Do you apply for a re-entry permit each time you leave or is there a multiple entry - re-entry permit?

You can do it either way. If you expect to travel outside Thailand more than once in a year then there is a multiple entry re-entry permit. If you think you will only leave once there is a single re-entry option available that is cheaper.

I don't understand the part about getting a stamp before leaving (mentioned in the above post) with a multiple re-entry permit. I admit things may have changed, and I've only left Thailand once (2005) in the last 9+ years, but at the time I had obtained a multiple one year re-entry permit at the same time I applied for my annual O-A extension and I did nothing else before leaving. I left and came back with no problems.

[Dannie Boy]

It sounds like Kafka novel....I'm sure I'll get it eventually. So if I understand this correctly....The extension of stay date is the dominant date and supersedes the actual Visa expiration date.

So if I leave on a trip March 1, 2014 and return on April 15, 2014 I should get permission to stay (or my extension of stay stamp) will be April 15, 2015. If I then take a second trip lets say June 2014 and return in August 2014 nothing changes and I'm still operating under the April 15, 2015 extension of stay.

Do you apply for a re-entry permit each time you leave or is there a multiple entry - re-entry permit?

Lomuamart is the expert, but I'm certain that whenever you leave and return whilst your visa is valid, you get another 12 months stamp on your last return, so in your example you would get a stamp until August 2015. If you have a multiple entry visa that's valid until expiry (i.e. 12 months), but then you need to get a re-entry stamp before leaving on your outward journey.

Ok I will try to be clearer with my explanations.

You have already confirmed that you have a multi-entry OA visa so that will be good for 12 months, and from arriving in Sept 2013 you can leave and return as many times as you like. Every time you return during the 12 months validity you get a stamp giving you permission to stay for another 12 months so e.g. You arrive Sept 2013, depart June 2014 and return August 2014, you would get a stamp saying you can remain until August 2015. Your original OA visa still expires in Sept 2014 so if you wanted to leave again in say January 2015, you need to go to immigration and get a re-entry stamp (either single or multiple). When you return to Thailand you get a stamp allowing you to stay until the same date in August 2015 that you got on your previous return. Just before your August deadline date comes up, you need to go to immigration and apply for a visa extension, going through all of the hoops that have been mentioned many times before on separate threads. Hopefully all is now clear.

[allstuff]

Its curious that they sort of incentivize you to travel outside the country in a way.

So Ace....as long as I stay aware of and manage to my re-entry stamp date and renew my OA before the re-entry stamp date expiration I'm good.

Thanks everyone.....if I read the rules 10 times on my own I'm sure I'd still not understand it.

[Dannie Boy]

Its curious that they sort of incentivize you to travel outside the country in a way.

So Ace....as long as I stay aware of and manage to my re-entry stamp date and renew my OA before the re-entry stamp date expiration I'm good.

Thanks everyone.....if I read the rules 10 times on my own I'm sure I'd still not understand it.

To the best of my knowledge yes - in fact I'm certain, because that is what I had to do.

[hhfarang]

You have already confirmed that you have a multi-entry OA visa so that will be good for 12 months, and from arriving in Sept 2013 you can leave and return as many times as you like. Every time you return during the 12 months validity you get a stamp giving you permission to stay for another 12 months

Is this a new(ish) rule? Again, this was a while ago but when I traveled outside Thailand and returned, it did not affect my OA extension date. I still had to extend on the anniversary of the date I first entered Thailand with my original visa , and still do. The date of my 90 day reporting was reset from the day I re-entered, but my visa extension date has always remained the same for nine years, even when I came back from spending a month in the U.S. My original visa came with a multiple re-entry permit stamp and that too had to be renewed (if desired) on the same annual anniversary as my OA visa.

[Dannie Boy]

You have already confirmed that you have a multi-entry OA visa so that will be good for 12 months, and from arriving in Sept 2013 you can leave and return as many times as you like. Every time you return during the 12 months validity you get a stamp giving you permission to stay for another 12 months

Is this a new(ish) rule? Again, this was a while ago but when I traveled outside Thailand and returned, it did not affect my OA extension date. I still had to extend on the anniversary of the date I first entered Thailand with my original visa , and still do. The date of my 90 day reporting was reset from the day I re-entered, but my visa extension date has always remained the same for nine years, even when I came back from spending a month in the U.S. My original visa came with a multiple re-entry permit stamp and that too had to be renewed (if desired) on the same annual anniversary as my OA visa.

HHF, I came here in August 2011 so my visa was valid until August 2012. I travelled back to the UK in June 2012 and on re entry on 4th July had my passport stamped that I could stay until July 3rd 2013. I had to travel again in October 2013 and when I returned in October, got the same approval stamp until July 2013. Then in July this year I did my first OA renewal, valid until 3rd July 2014 and now like you, I will have to renew every July, so it's just during the first 12 months that this rule applies.