[quote="lomuamart"]
BG, that's interesting. My visa expired on the 21st - yesterday. It quite clearly states that it must be utilised before that date. An entry stamp can be used up until the date it's stamped. The visa not, I think.
[quote]
Lomu, if it used those specific words, you're absolutely right. You're obviously more than familiar with immigration procedures in Thailand, and the last thing I want to do is teach my gran to suck eggs (
). But some clarification might be helpful generally. One of the problems (as I'm sure you know) is that many people confuse the 'visa' with the 'entry stamp.'
The visa is what you get
when necessary from an embassy or consulate of the country you're travelling to
before you travel. As often as not you don't need one if you have a UK passport and you're just going somewhere for a short visit. The UK requires Thai nationals to get a visa before arriving in the UK, because of what they see as a 'pressure to emigrate' from Thailand to the UK (because apparently life is better in the UK...
). So the Thais (as do many other countries) demand the same of Brits. However, tourism is obviously crucial to Thailand, and the UK is a pretty good customer, and most tourists stay less than a month, so UK passport holders can get in without a visa for up to 30 days. You can bet your last 5 baht that if the British government withdrew the requirement for Thai nationals to obtain a visa before going to the UK, life for Brits would rapidly get much simpler here (from an immigration point of view only...)
If you're issued with a visa for entry for a specific purpose (tourist, employment, student, marriage, etc.) from any country to any other country it will invariably have a date of issue and an expiry date. You can use it up to, and including, the expiry date, which means you must enter the country on or before the expiry date. The visa doesn't give you permission to enter the country. When you arrive, the immigration officer will stamp your passport with a length of time you can stay (tourists usually get 6 months in the UK! - Brits going down to Malaysia get 3 months without a visa), or a date by which you must leave.
Sometimes (especially in LoS) a visa (usually for re-entry or a change of purpose) can be issued once you're already in the country. Either way, if a visa says 'valid until', or 'date of expiry' 31st Dec, you can use it on or before that date. My first Thai (tourist) visa issued some years ago in Birmingham, didn't have a specific expiry date, but said it must be used
before 18th Sept. So I'd be pretty daft if I arrived
on 18th Sept, as it would obviously no longer be valid. Read and check the conditions, restrictions, dates and time limits of anything stamped in your passport, just as you check a bill or a contract.
Sheesh, I've bored the arse off myself, so god only knows what I've done to the rest of you. But there are so many people who, understandably, don't know much about general immigration procedures, and I'm hoping that if I post it on here a few times I won't have to explain it in a bar, over a beer, when I've got much better things to think about...
