There is a huge variety of visas available to foreigners wishing to enter Thailand - it's really all a matter of making the correct decision as to which best suits your purposes. Some will allow you to stay only 30 days at a time, while others lead to annual extensions and permit you to remain indefinitely (as long as you continually meet the financial and other requirements). For a full list of visas see:
http://www.mfa.go.th/web/12.php
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/2notice/rtp606EN.pdf
In reality, most ex-pats here will get by on Non-Immigrant Visas (issued on the basis of retirement, marriage to a Thai national, support of a Thai child or work). There are other ways to stay in The Kingdom long-term, but they involve a lot of travelling and are increasingly becoming the object of scrutiny by immigration. Short details of the main visa types are given below. Always read these in conjunction with the above links.
30 Day Visa Exemptions
Nationals of 40 countries and one special administrative region (Hong Kong) are allowed to enter Thailand for a period of not more than 30 days, without a visa. The countries are listed below in this link :
http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2490
Many foreigners made use of this visa exemption to stay "permanently" in The Kingdom by making a visa run to a neighbouring country every 30 days. Immigration law on this changed on October 1st 2006 and there is now a limit to the number of days you can stay in Thailand on these stamps during any 6 month period. That limit is currently 90 days. So, in the simplest situation, you can only make three consecutive "runs" in any 6 month period. That period begins with your first arrival. When you exit the country after the third 30 day visit, you will not be permitted to re-enter Thailand on a 30 day visa exemption stamp for 90 days. NOTE: you can do so with a proper visa (Tourist or otherwise).
Quite evidently, this method of staying here for any great length of time, or permanently, is hardly ideal. For those who still want to chance this method (when combined with Tourist Visas), just make sure you don't get "stranded" in Cambodia, Laos or heaven forbid, Burma (Myanmar).
Tourist Visas
These must be obtained at a Thai Embassy/consulate outside of Thailand. They permit the holder to remain in The Kingdom for 60 days and the visa can be extended at any Immigration Office for a period of 30 days. NOTE: some Immigration offices are reportedly asking for proof on onward journey out of Thailand within the 30 day extension period. If you don't have any, you may only get a 7 day extension. The cost of an extension is 1,900 Baht.
A Tourist Visa can have one to four entries, although NOTE that the entries must be utilised before the visa itself expires. In cases where the traveller uses and extends each entry to its fullest extent, the visa will normally have expired before the fourth entry can be utilised. Where the visa has more than one entry, the holder must leave the county after the extension date and re-enter to get a further 60 day stamp that can again be extended by 30 days. This process continues until either the visa expires or the maximum number of entries is reached.
Currently, there is no offical limit to the number of Tourist Visas you can obtain "back-to-back", but since October 1st 2006, some Thai Embassies/consulates in neighbouring countries are only issuing single-entries and it's always possible that you might be told to use a different country the next time. It is therefore important to check all the time as to what the current mood is in any particular country. As a result, it is not possible for us to provide a definitive guide to user-friendly missions and it is probably best that you only rely on getting a single entry for the time being (other than your home country). Again, whilst theoretically possible to remain indefinitely on Tourist Visas, your situation will always be somewhat uncertain.
Non-Immigrant Visas
These again must be obtained at a Thai Embassy/consulate outside of The Kingdom. They can be either single entry which allows the holder to remain here for 90 days on arrival, or multiple entry when the visa is valid for a year and the holder can exit and re-enter as many times as desired during that year and receive a 90 day entry stamp each time. At the end of the year/90 days, the visa is "used". NOTE: for those on multiple-entry visas, you can exit just before the year's visa validity is about to expire and benefit from a "bonus" 90 day stay, thus making the original visa work for almost 15 months.
With the exception of some consulates in the UK, Australia and the US, an applicant must have a solid reason for obtaining a Non-Immigrant visa (visiting a Thai spouse and seeking retirement are the usual reasons). The main benefit of holding a visa of this type is that it can be extended for a year at any immigration office (it should be the one that deals with the locality in which you reside and the application made between 7-21 days before any entry expires) as long as you meet certain financial and other criteria. The annual extension can be obtained indefinitely, so this is quite simply the best visa option to choose if you are going to live here. You must have some basis under which to apply and be granted this visa and the main three, as mentioned before, are marriage to a Thai national, retirement and working. (Working is dealt with in a separate section).
Marriage/family extension
If you are married to a Thai national, you can extend your Non-Immigrant Visa for a year at an immigration Office within Thailand. The financial requirements to qualify for this changed on October 1st 2006. If you are applying for the extension for the first time after the above date, your wife/husband and you must be able to demonstrate an average combined monthly income of no less than 40,000 Baht per month. Naturally, your income will have to be derived from abroad (otherwise you would be working in Thailand and need the relevant visa and work permit). Any income that is contributed towards the 40,000 baht by your Thai spouse must be backed up with tax receipts that equate to the claimed amount.
For those of you who already have an extension granted prior to October 1st 2006, you're likely to know the situation already. People in this category can still apply for further extensions based on 400,000 Baht in a Thai bank account (BUT it must have been there for at least 3 months prior to application and not fallen below that amount) or on the basis of combined monthly income of 40,000 Baht (as above), or on a combination of the two, as long as the total exceeds 400,000 Baht. Proof of income from abroad exceeding 40,000 Baht is quite easily demonstrated by transferring that amount to a Thai bank account each month. The bank pass book will verify it. For those who choose to leave their money in their home country, a certified letter from your Embassy will be required to confirm your income. The supporting documents will then be determined by The Embassy, so you need to contact them first.
Once an application is submitted, your passport will be stamped "under consideration" and it can take up to 3 months for final approval to come through. The year's extension will start from the time of the original application. During the consideration period, you can expect a visit from immigration to your residence checking that the marriage is bona fide.
Retirement
The requirements for this type of extension are straightforward. You must be over 50 years of age and able to demonstrate 800,000 Baht in a Thai bank account (this must have been there for at least 3 months and not dropped below that amount at any time), or an average monthly income from abroad of 65,000 Baht per month, or a combination of the two as long as the total is 800,000 Baht minimum. As with the above, if you are applying on the basis of monthly income, a certified letter from your Embassy will be required.
As long as you meet these requirements, the extension will normally be issued with less fuss and delay than the "marriage/support" visa which is an obvious advantage. There are, however, some medical certificates that you will need - please refer to the above links.
NB - when applying for an extension on the basis of either of the above, it is worth thinking ahead about any travel you may want to do over the year outside of Thailand. If you intend to do so, it's worth applying for a multiple entry extension. It costs more, but if you happen to leave the country without a re-entry permit (these can be obtained individually prior to departure), your visa will be invalidated and you'll have to start the whole process again.
It must be stressed that legistlation changes in Thailand, so you must keep yourself abreast of current situations. There are many other ways that you can extend your Non-Immigrant visa here, but the two described above are the most common. Please refer to :
http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2482.php?id=2493
http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/2notice/rtp606EN.pdf
We purposely have not indicated the fees applicable for any type of visa or extension. These are subject to change.
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