Stayi
ng as an expat i
n Thai
l
and has many benefi
ts, warm weather, cheap l
i
vi
ng costs and of course the ‘
i
nfamous’ Thai smi
l
e. I
t’
s easy to
become accustomed to the good l
i
fe i
n Thai
l
and but i
t i
s al
so very i
mportant to ensure you stay on top of your vi
sa si
tuati
on.
One of the most common ways that expats fi
nd themsel
ves wi
th an unnecessary probl
em i
s forgetti
ng to do thei
r 90 day report. The 90 day
report can be done onl
i
ne usual
l
y but the system has been down for a whi
l
e meani
ng that expats now need to make the j
ourney to thei
r l
ocal
i
mmi
grati
on offi
ce and do thi
s report personal
l
y. You have 7 days ei
ther si
de of your speci
fi
c date i
n whi
ch to do your 90 day report but i
f you
forget to report and l
et i
t l
apse beyond 7 days, you face a fi
ne of up to 5,
000 THB whi
ch i
s a hefty sum for most expats.
One of the easi
est ways to remember i
s to set an al
arm on your phone or add a note to Googl
e Cal
endar. Anyone who has stayed i
n Thai
l
and
for more than 90 days must report thei
r address to i
mmi
grati
on, even i
f thei
r address i
s sti
l
l the same. Offi
ci
al
l
y when you l
eave the country
and re-enter you shoul
d al
so report your address to i
mmi
grati
on al
though thi
s i
s not enforced at al
l i
mmi
grati
on offi
ces.
Other ways i
n whi
ch expats fal
l fowl of i
mmi
grati
on l
aws i
s by forgetti
ng to get a re-entry permi
t before l
eavi
ng the country. Thi
s i
s qui
te a
strange rul
e to get used to, parti
cul
arl
y i
f you were previ
ousl
y stayi
ng i
n Thai
l
and usi
ng a mul
ti
pl
e entry vi
sa, whi
ch requi
red you to
l
eave the country every 90 days. Once you extend your stay at an i
mmi
grati
on offi
ce wi
thi
n Thai
l
and, i
f you wi
sh to l
eave the country then you
must obtai
n a re-entry permi
t to keep your extensi
on of stay al
i
ve. I
f you fai
l to obtai
n a re-entry permi
t thi
s can have qui
te seri
ous
consequences as you wi
l
l l
ose your Thai vi
sa and j
ust be granted a vi
sa on arri
val when you re-enter the country (i
f your nati
onal
i
ty i
s
el
i
gi
bl
e for a vi
sa on arri
val
).
Some peopl
e have reported that the i
mmi
grati
on offi
cer at departures was ki
nd enough to poi
nt out thei
r error before they made that fatal
mi
stake but i
t can’
t and shoul
dn’
t be rel
i
ed upon. There i
s al
so an opti
on to obtai
n a re-entry permi
t at Suvarnabhumi Ai
rport, whi
ch i
s
l
ocated near to arri
val
s i
n Zone 2. Thi
s servi
ce i
s usual
l
y avai
l
abl
e between 5am and mi
dni
ght. However, i
t i
s not advi
sabl
e to rel
y on thi
s
servi
ce i
n case i
t i
s unavai
l
abl
e or hi
ghl
y occupi
ed at the ti
me you need i
t.
The safest way i
s to al
ways keep at l
east a si
ngl
e re-entry permi
t i
n your passport i
n case you need to l
eave the country i
n an emergency. A
si
ngl
e use permi
t costs j
ust 1000 THB and many peopl
e choose to appl
y for i
t after recei
vi
ng thei
r yearl
y extensi
on of stay. You need a
passport si
ze photo, form ™ 8, a photocopy of the photo page i
n your passport and your l
atest vi
sa extensi
on stamp. The process of getti
ng a
re-entry permi
t typi
cal
l
y takes l
ess than an hour at most i
mmi
grati
on offi
ces.
I
f you are pl
anni
ng to l
eave and re enter Thai
l
and many ti
mes duri
ng the course of your stay then you may wi
sh to obtai
n a mul
ti
-entry re
entry permi
t whi
ch can be used as many ti
mes as you requi
re unti
l your vi
sa extensi
on expi
res. Re-entry permi
ts have the same l
i
fespan as
your vi
sa extensi
on, so when you vi
si
t i
mmi
grati
on for your yearl
y vi
sa then you need to get a new re-entry permi
t al
so as any ol
d
re-entry permi
ts wi
l
l expi
re al
ong wi
th your ol
d vi
sa stamp. Vi
sa types whi
ch are requi
red to obtai
n a re-entry permi
t i
ncl
ude:
Reti
rement Vi
sas
Marri
age Vi
sas
Busi
ness Vi
sas
Educati
on Vi
sas
I
f you have any questi
ons regardi
ng vi
sas to stay i
n Thai
l
and, you can contact Darren
McGarry on 038 422 131 or emai
l i
nfo@keyvi
sathai
l
and.
com