Udon Thani Immigration Office and visa extension

by **stekmer** » February 22, 2011, 9:10 am

I've booked a short trip from Australia to Thailand and a quick run across to Vientiane for a couple of days before heading back into Thailand.

I will be crossing by land from Vientiane to Nong Khai on Monday March 14th and understand that I will get a 15 day Visa at the crossing.

I was heading home on March 25th so no problems.

Now - I can extend my stay until April 1st but this would leave me 4 days short with my visa. I'm assuming that my 15 day visa will run from March 14th to 29th

I will be in Nong Khai for 2 nights (from 14th to 15th March) and then Undon Thani for 2 nights (from 16th to 17th March) before heading off to Jomtien and then back to Bangkok on the 22nd March. I was hoping to book a flight to Chang Rai and be on a plane back to Australia on April 1st (confirmed ticket).

Does the Immigration Office in Udon Thani provide a service for a visa extension and how long would it take and how much would it cost.?

It looks like it might need to rejuggle my plans ..... :-(

by **BobHelm** » February 22, 2011, 9:37 am

I do not believe it is possible to extend the 15 visa - although I am sure that someone will correct me if I am wrong.
Two thoughts occur...
1. Get a double entry tourist visa in Australia from your nearest Thai Embassy/Consulate before you come to Thailand. That way when you enter Thailand from Laos you will get 60 days permission to stay & you will have plenty of time to book the flight home.
2. get a tourist visa from the Thai Embassy in Vientiane while you are there & then you will be given 60 days on return to Thailand.
The only disadvantage with 2 is that it does involve queuing two days in a row at the Thai Embassy. That can be quite time consuming & will certainly 'eat into' your time that you can spend looking around the city..It also means that your two day stay will have to be two weekdays as the Embassy is closed Saturday & Sunday - you must hand in your application morning of day 1 & then get your stamped passport back afternoon day 2.

All in all a multiple entry tourist visa obtained in Aus before you come would make life a great deal easier for you once you are here...That is assuming that they are available in Australia, which I am sure one of the Australian members can advise..

by **UdonExpat** » February 22, 2011, 3:40 pm

Of course you can also do an overstay and pay the fine when you depart.

by **trubrit** » February 22, 2011, 3:49 pm

UdonExpat wrote:Of course you can also do an overstay and pay the fine when you depart.

Funny you should say that . In doing a 90 day yesterday and a farang , I think Dutch, was throwing a wobbly because they wanted 20k off him . He had apparently arrived just before Xmas on a tourist visa which he hadn't extended in any way , nor had he gone to immigration office , said he didn't know he had to . Apparently his girl was also clueless about it and it was only by talking to another guy he was made aware of the requirement. Don't know how it ended as I left before it concluded , but he was adamant he wasn't going to pay . :lol:

by **B52** » February 22, 2011, 9:09 pm

I have extended a 15 day visa on entering Thailand from Nong Khai. I was down south and my plans changed at last minute so went to immigration office and they gave me a 7 day extension. It cost me a couple thousand baht (From memory) but it was done in 15 minutes.

Mind you that was 3 years ago and the immigration rules change all the time. My alternative was to travel to Cambodia on a visa run if I could not get my extension which is costly and time consuming. I would highly recommend that you get a double entry tourist visa in Aus as that will give you the freedom to do what you like when you like.

Have a great holiday

B52

by **DermotC** » March 3, 2011, 11:02 am

Just thought Id share this experience from the Udon Immigration office yesterday. I have a triple entry 6 month tourist visa that Im trying to get the longest I can out of.

I went to the office yesterday (Thanks for the directions by the way lads) I entered Thailand on Jan 3rd and according to my visa I had to be outta here on March 3rd(Today). I spoke to the lady at immigration and she told me 'Yes' I can extend for 30 days. There was a fee involves however which was 1900 baht and I needed photos, which they took there for another 100 baht, so 2000 total. I know you guys are going to tell me Im an eejit for paying however I really needed the extension as my mother is coming in 10 days and I told her Id bring her to Laos for a couple days. If I didnt get the extension I wouldnt have been able to bring her as it would have used another entry on my visa. The lady told me that she could do it twice for me on a triple entry.

I just thought Id post to let anyone know who may be in the same position.

Dermot

by **jackspratt** » March 3, 2011, 11:16 am

Dermott sounds to me like you have a triple entry visa, with a maximum of 60 days per entry.

My understanding is that you will need to have used the 3rd entry by the expiry date of the visa - which I assume is 6 months after it was granted, not from when you first arrived in LOS.

I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong.

by **21again** » March 3, 2011, 11:17 am

Thanks for that Dermot, but i thought you could only have a 30 day extension once annually.But i suppose its up to who you see on the day. :-k

by **DermotC** » March 3, 2011, 11:34 am

JS, you are right I do have a triple entry and you are right again, i have to do my last entry before the triple entry expires which is on June 15th. It was issued on December 15th. As Bob said on another thread, its just a bit of Maths on my part.

21again, it sure does seem to be a lottery, I had heard many things before I went, such as, they will only extend once on your last entry etc. Its all very confusing and to be honest Ive had a bad stomach thinking about it for the last couple weeks. Ah well its all done now and Im off to Laos on the 2nd of april with my Mrs and mother in tow (that should be an interesting experience, lol)

by **BobHelm** » March 3, 2011, 12:05 pm

DermotC wrote:Ah well its all done now and Im off to Laos on the 2nd of april with my Mrs and mother in tow (that should be an interesting experience, lol)

As long as you don't mind 'Hurry up & wait' you will be fine Dermot.

It is time consuming but easy.
The only thing that I will say is that it gets darn HOT at that time of year. I would suggest that you take some water & a snack with you as the wait can be a long one if you hit at a bad time...
If you are lucky then it can be a quick experience as well.
As far as a taxi into Vientiane, 300 baht is a fair price - for that you should get a decent 'mini bus'. If anyone offers cheaper then it is most certainly a tuk tuk & (personally) not worth the saving!!
There are some good hotel recommendations made on here previously & probably well worth the effort of selecting one & booking on line beforehand...

by **DermotC** » March 3, 2011, 12:11 pm

Cheers Bob, I know the guy that owns the Blue Banana Bar up there and he assures me its suitable for taking my mum to. That however is only an eatery and bar. Ill do a trawl through the old posts and get a hotel thats suitable for us all aswell.

Again cheers to everyone for their help!

Udon Thani Immigration Office and visa extension

Udon Thani Immigration Office and visa extension

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