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THAILAND VISA
There are four basic types of visas
available for visitors and residents to Thailand.
Transit visa - Valid for 14 days will be issued to
those people arriving in Thailand without a visa. Technically
you must have an onward flight ticket, but in practice this
visa will be issued almost without question. Note: There are a
few countries that do not require visas and will get a 30 day
entry stamp on arrival - in general these countries are the
ones that grant the same rights to Thai nationals visiting
their countries and are listed below.
Tourist visa - Issued by Thai embassy
abroad - These visa's will be valid for 60 or 90 days (varies
from country to country). You may apply for more than one
Tourist visa at a time and these multiple visa's may be used
up consecutively. Many quasi resident visitors to Phuket (who
do not work - or want to avoid the red tape of a Non Immigrant
visa) live for years on a tourist visa by doing "visa
runs", which are short trips either by bus or plane
across the border to a neighboring country like Lao, Cambodia,
Malaysia, Singapore. So long as you are solvent and not
engaging in any local business activity, there is nothing
wrong with this approach.
Non Immigrant visa - Issued at an
embassy outside Thailand and valid for a 90 day stay, this
visa may be extended within Thailand for periods up to one
year at a time. There are three basic grounds to obtain and
renew a Non Immigrant visa. 1) that you are employed (and have
a work permit) in Thailand. 2) That you have Thai family. 3)
That you are retired and can prove adequate pension or other
financial means to support yourself. Ownership (or long lease)
of property has no bearing on the extension of a Non Immigrant
visa. Lengthy form filling and copying of personal documents
(in duplicate) are required both when you first apply and for
every subsequent renewal of this visa. If you hold a non
Immigrant visa, you should obtain a Re-Entry or Multiple Entry
permit if leaving the country and you do not wish your visa to
lapse.
Resident visa - Rarely issued and
hard to obtain. These visas are issued on a very selective
quota basis. Qualification requirements include reading and
writing Thai, a fairly strong local financial status and some
good (influential) Thai references.
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TOURIST
VISA'S GIVEN PER COUNTRY
Citizens of the following
countries can obtain a 15-day tourist visa upon arrival into
Thailand at the airport: Bhutan, Cyprus, Kazakstan, Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Hungary, India, Maldives, Qatar, Mauritius, China
(including Taiwan), Poland, Ukraine and Czech Republic.
Citizens
of the following countries are automatically given a 30 day
tourist visa when they arrive in Thailand: Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Macau,
Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines,
Portugal, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey, United Arab Emirates, UK, US and Vietnam.
Citizens of all other countries,
or those wishing to stay in Thailand for longer than the
designated time period listed above, need to go to the Thai
Embassy and obtain a visa before flying into Thailand.
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REQUIREMENTS
TO OBTAIN A VISA
Transit
Visa - If you have an ongoing airplane ticket out of
Thailand within 14 days, then most likely, regardless of
what country you are from, you will be given a 14 day visa
to enter Thailand upon your arrival.
Tourist
Visa - Listed above are the countries that automatically
will obtain either a 14 day or 30 day tourist visa upon
arrival into Thailand. So if you are from one of these
countries, simply get on the plane and fly to Thailand, and
when you arrive, you will be given the visa automatically.
If however, you are from a country not listed above, or you
want to stay in Thailand for longer than 30 days, then you
must first go to the Thai Embassy and apply for a 60 or 90
day visa. 90 days is the maximum time allowable. It's very
easy to get, just bring your passport, 2 passport size
photographs of yourself and a pen to fill out a simple form.
It takes 1-2 working days to complete.
Non-Immigrant
B Visa - To obtain a Non-immigrant
B visa, you must go to the Thai Embassy in a country outside
of Thailand. Bring your passport, 2 passport size
photographs of yourself and a pen to fill out the form. The
form is basically the same exact form used for a 90 day
Tourist Visa, but you simply check the box for Non-Immigrant
B Visa. You will also need one more item, a letter from a
company or business in Thailand that states that they want
you to work there.
If you started your own business in Thailand, and you are
the Director of that business, you can write the letter
yourself, requesting that you are needed for work in
Thailand. It takes 1-2 working days to
complete and costs about $45 USD, it is very simple.
Keep in mind, this will only get you a 3 month visa, which
allows you to stay in Thailand for 3 months. It does NOT a
work permit or authorizes you to work in Thailand. In order
to obtain that, you must do that in Thailand AFTER you
already have a 3 month Non-immigrant B visa.
Also, you can not obtain a 1 year visa. You must first
obtain the 3 month visa from outside of Thailand, and then
once back in Thailand, you can obtain a Work Permit, and
then with this permit, you can can request an extention of
your visa for up to 1 year. Cost's about $45 USD for every 3
months.
PENSION VISA'S - The
visa regulations for NEW pension visas has changed to 50
years old. You must apply outside of Thailand but once you
have it then you can reapply within Thailand. You need
800,000 Baht in the bank OR an equivalent amount of income
of not less than 65,000 baht every month with proof of
pension income before applying for a one year visa.
RETIREMENT VISA'S -
You need to show 800,000 baht in the Bank or pension fund
with Thai Bank letter stating you have 65,000 baht coming in
each month. You must have an existing non immigrant visa to
apply and if coming to Thailand from overseas, you must
apply for a non immigrant O visa at your Thai Embassy
with proof of the funds before you arrive in Thailand. You
must be 50 years or over to be eligible.
RETIREMENT MARRIAGE VISA'S
- If married to a Thai and you have 200,000 baht
in the bank OR 40,000 baht per month coming in.
RESIDENCY VISA'S - Can
be done if a) you have 3 years consecutive multiple non
immigrant visas to be eligible with no broken record like
extensions or overstays. b) If a pensioner then you have
proof of your funds coming in each month. c) If you have
done something to assist/improve Thai society while you have
been in Thailand. d) Your educational qualifications
are strong. e) You have a document from your home country
from the Police saying you have no previous criminal records
and it is certified by your Embassy here. f) You have a
photo of your house or property if you have such here in
Thailand. g) All the above needs to be translated into
Thai.
Please Note:
You are responsible for conducting your own investigation regarding any and
all claims made in this website. You assume all liability for use of
any information you find in this website. The author of this
website is not responsible for the accuracy of the information
contained on this website or within any of the web pages.
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