Crackdown on "back-to-back" tourist visas
Thai Immigration get brand new computer system
Question:
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I've been doing habitual visa runs to Poi Pet for several months and it has come to my attention that this may be illegal, is there any truth to this?For the record, I never overstay, dress smart and i'm polite. However I recently learnt that when doing this it is a requirement to have with you proof of a return ticket and sufficent funds totalling 20,000 to 30,000 baht and is this fact?In addition could you please tell me what are the consequences for repeated visa runs and what is the meaning of deportation and being blacklisted and what would be the consequences for a foreigner wanting to re-enter should deportation occur?
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Answer from Thai Immigration:
No, “visa-runs” are not directly illegal, but they are a violation of the intentions in Thai Law on Immigration.
The Law doesn’t say anything specific about it, but there is a regulation from 1997, which has never been enforced due to lack of resources, saying following (in plain English):
“You are only allowed 3 entries in a row on a Tourist Visa. After the third time you must leave the Kingdom and will not be allowed to return for 6 months”.
Since most foreign passports now are electronically readable, and the Royal Thai Police, under which the Royal Thai Immigration belongs, now got a nice, huge server set up in BK, things are going to change. All Immigration checkpoints are today online with HQ in BK, and within short time they will all get the equipment to electronically read passports. It has been tested at BK Airport for about one year, and we are now ready to implement it countrywide.
What will happen is following:
When you approach the Immigration checkpoint the third time in a row, you will be taken a side, your picture taken, you will be interrogated about what you are doing in Thailand, and how you are financing your stay here. And it won’t help you to show THB 20-30.000 in cash, it’s far from enough. You will have to prove that you have been transferring not less than THB 30-40.000,00 a month from abroad to cover the costings of your stay, going back up to 3 months depending on your visa (3 months or 30 days permit-to-stay). If you fail to do that, you will only be granted a 5-10 days permit-to-stay to give you time to pack your things and leave Thailand (again notice how fair we are). Further you will be prohibited from entering the Kingdom again within a period of not less than 6 months.
If you after those 6 months want to re-enter the Kingdom, you must on arrival prove that you got sufficient funds to finance your stay.
Now you might ask, “What's the meaning of this”? Well, Thailand got an extremely liberal Law on Immigration, and we for sure don't mind foreigners staying here. We do consider them a valuable contribution to our society. But we do mind having foreigners working illegal and/or running illegal businesses. They are not welcome at all. And them we want to catch, and believe us we will. Foreigners staying under such conditions in the Kingdom better start counting their days here.
Finally you are asking about deportation. To get deported from Thailand your offence must be very serious. It’s mostly for people doing serious crimes like overstaying long term, shooting their neighbours, a.s.o. In the case about visa-runs we’ll give you 5-10 days after which you’ll have to leave. But if you don’t do that, if you misuse our fairness in that regard, then you’ll be blacklisted and prohibited from ever returning. Other consequences: If you have been asked to leave the Kingdom, and prohibited from re-entering for a period, you’ll probably find it extremely difficult to obtain a visa at a Thai Embassy again, even after the mentioned period is passed.
Source: Thaiimmigration.com