tourist visa ?

[johnnyk]

My last 60 day double-entry visa was issued in May in Vancouver.
It cost me CDN$80, a public hair less than 40 quid at recent exchange rates.

[canadaaye]

First thank you for all the info,

If i understand it correct, i will be coming on a 60 day tourist visa, if i wait until appro day 34 before leaving for penang, and return with less than 30 days left until i fly out, i can enter the country with a free tourist stamp for 30 days, thereby saving the 1900 baht for an extension.
althought the reason for the trip to penang is not ot save this money.

only 24 days to go

Thanks

[lomuamart]

Yes, you'll be fine like that. Do take your return flight ticket. I'm sure you won't be asked for it when you re-enter Thailand, but better to be safe than sorry.

[Dieter007]

Hi all,

When applying for a tourist visa, a fully paid air ticket has to be provided.

Does anyone know, whether the return flight date has to be prior to the "must be utilized before date" i.e. the latest possible expiry date of the visa?

Or could the ticket show a return flight date within the 30 days extension period that you plan to get from immigration once in the country?

Or even within 60 days from the expiry of the visa, because at the end of the 30 days visa extension you do a run to Penang and re-enter for another 30 days without visa?

Many thanks for your precious help,

Dieter007

[lomuamart]

Were you asked for a return ticket by the Thai Embassy/consulate in your home country? If so, it's a new one on me. Although some airlines question people at check-in, who are flying one-way on a visa, about their return plans (it's happened to me), it should be perfectly OK to do so on a proper visa - Tourist or Non Imm. It's only those going without a visa and getting the 30 day visa exempt stamp that should have onward travel tickets.
That said, it appears from your post that your Thai mission has asked for the return. Can you clarify? As far as the date of return is concerned, I think it should be before the visa itself expires. There are reports of some Imm offices here now asking for proof of an onward journey when you go to extend the visa by 30 days - has to be within that time period. If you don't have one, the office give you only 7 day's extension. It still costs 1,900 Baht though. This practice is not universal over here yet.

[Dieter007]

Thanks for your quick answer.

Below you'll find a copy of the tourist visa conditions as spelled out by the Royal Thai Consulate in Geneva.


Tourist Visas "Category "TR"
Tourist Visa Requirements

* - Passport ( must not expire within 6 months after your travel)
* -1 Application form of the consulate
* -1 Copy of airline ticket (confirmed onward ticket - showing flight into and out of Thailand)
* -2 Photos
* -Visa fee must be paid in cash

(Just for the fun, I checked out the Royal Thai Consulate General Vancouver website. Apparently no airticket required there.)

So, what you're saying about the return flight that needs to be scheduled before the visa expiry date does indeed make sense. Therefore the only way out would probably be to change the return flight date once in the country.

[lomuamart]

Dieter,
All I can do is reiterate what I said earlier. There should be no need for proof of a return/onward journey if you are holding a Tourist visa.
Naturally, being a Brit, I can't vouch for what the Geneva consulate have told you, or have written on their website.
Do you have a Thai Embassy there? If so, contact them. If they say it's OK on a "one-way", then post the application off to them - there's nothing illegal about applying for a visa by post in your own country - the passport dosn't cross a border without you!!
Good luck and let us know how it turns out. I'll try to find the relevant Thai Imm laws on this a bit later
BTW, when I mentioned the date of return in my last post, it was assuming you did need the onward ticket. Imm here may ask you for that if you're extending the 60 days by another 30 - only then. That was probably not clear before.

[Dieter007]

Thanks Lomuamart,

All three Royal Thai Consulates ins Switzerland, i.e. Basel, Geneva and Zurich, require an airticket (proving scheduled departure from Thailand) upon visa application.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Berne does not seem to have a website. And information by phone might or might not be reliable.

In actual fact I plan to travel to Thailand coming autumn only and may then want to inform of any "easy" solution, if applicable.

Best wishes,

Dieter

[splitlid]

why not buy a 1 year open ticket, it has a intended date of departure on it but can be changed at any time.

[lomuamart]

That's crazy, Dieter. Thai Imm do not require proof of an onward ticket when you arrive here on a "proper visa". An airline might give you a hard time, but it's not Imm law.
Possibly the Swiss authorities are being paranoid?
As Splitlid said, why not buy a year's open return? I'm determined to find the relevant Thai law.
I've traveled here numerous times on a one way ticket and other than the first time, 10 years ago, I've never had a problem. Mind you, the "one way ticket" has normally been the return portion to Thailand and I've always had a visa.
Insist on it. However, consulates generally make the rules up as they go along.

[lomuamart]

I've looked and looked again - but the Authorities' websites are no good. It should be covered by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So:
http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2637.php
Again good luck. They make make the rules up as they go along

[STEVE G]

From the airline side of things, before anyone buys a one year open ticket which will normally cost you full scheduled price, check the rules that your chosen airlines has on changing tickets.
Generally you should be able to do that for between 50 and 100 euros which could be a considerable saving on an open ticket.