Visa & Immigration Information
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know and understand about Thai immigration is that the rules are changed frequently. There are a number of reasons why this happens but ultimately you are held responsible for keeping up to date with the current regulations and requirements. The government are tightening up on some immigration issues such as tourist and education visa's and even as you read this it is possible they may have changed since the last update on this website but I do try to keep it up to date. Tourists are rarely, if ever, granted more than three consecutive visa's from the Thai Consulate in Vientiane but it may be different on other surrounding countries.
90 day Non Immigrant O visa's are easily obtained if you are married or undertaking voluntary work and not too much paperwork is involved. 1 year non Immigrant O visa's for marriage reasons, should be available at your local immigration office but there are additional requirements such as a minimum bank balance of 400,000 baht and a map to show where you live. The best advice is to go to the immigration office and ask then exactly what they want so you can prepare.
However, the current Thai Immigration boss at the Thai Embassy in Laos, seems to be on a mission to remove anyone who does not deposit anyone who place lots of money in to a Thai bank account, and a long succession of non immigrant O visa's for 90 days at a time, may possibly come to an end to. This is something I am currently investigating, and hoping is not true.
When you go to renew your visa the requirements, in terms of documentation may have changed since the last time. This typically happens when a new boss is appointed in the immigration office, he then makes a few small and subtle changes, quite possibly to either make his mark or he has just interpreted the immigration laws differently to the previous boss. Either way, it's his office and he is unlikely to back down and lose face, so in the short term it is far easier and less stressful to try and fully comply with what he wants.
When looking to get any kind of visa it is worth remembering that different immigration offices may have different rules and requirements. This website will focus on the immigration process in Udon Thani, Nong Khai and the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, PDR Laos.
The range of Visa's available are for Business, Education, Marriage, Retirement & Tourist purposes.
I have provided a link to the Thai Consulate in Vientiane website as I may not always be up to date with the changes, hopefully they will be.
90 day Non Immigrant O visa's are easily obtained if you are married or undertaking voluntary work and not too much paperwork is involved. 1 year non Immigrant O visa's for marriage reasons, should be available at your local immigration office but there are additional requirements such as a minimum bank balance of 400,000 baht and a map to show where you live. The best advice is to go to the immigration office and ask then exactly what they want so you can prepare.
However, the current Thai Immigration boss at the Thai Embassy in Laos, seems to be on a mission to remove anyone who does not deposit anyone who place lots of money in to a Thai bank account, and a long succession of non immigrant O visa's for 90 days at a time, may possibly come to an end to. This is something I am currently investigating, and hoping is not true.
When you go to renew your visa the requirements, in terms of documentation may have changed since the last time. This typically happens when a new boss is appointed in the immigration office, he then makes a few small and subtle changes, quite possibly to either make his mark or he has just interpreted the immigration laws differently to the previous boss. Either way, it's his office and he is unlikely to back down and lose face, so in the short term it is far easier and less stressful to try and fully comply with what he wants.
When looking to get any kind of visa it is worth remembering that different immigration offices may have different rules and requirements. This website will focus on the immigration process in Udon Thani, Nong Khai and the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, PDR Laos.
The range of Visa's available are for Business, Education, Marriage, Retirement & Tourist purposes.
I have provided a link to the Thai Consulate in Vientiane website as I may not always be up to date with the changes, hopefully they will be.