60 day tourist visa valid until very last day?
Replies: 12 - Last Post: Oct 19, 2012 11:19 AM Last Post By: Cyberia
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60 day tourist visa valid until very last day?
I am planning to get a 60 day tourist visa but just not sure about the validity.Let's make an example: If my tourist visa has a stamp 'good until Jan 12th'', is this the latest date by which I must leave the country or should I leave one day before (on the 59th day to be on the safe side). Don't want to pay overstay.
And: if my flight leaves from Bangkok back to Europe after midnight and I check out on immigration before midnight : which day is counting for Thai immigration. The day I am clearing Thai immigration or the date and time of my flight when I'm actually leaving the country?
Thanks so much for all your help,.
2
Hi,It is 60 days, not 60 nights. So clearance of immigration is the factor to concentrate upon. However the Thai officials are quite good at this type of scenario.
I once, like an idiot, just totted up my days and gave myself 30 (visa exemption) , i.e did not read the exit date. That meant that in fact I was a day late (few hours) leaving. I was taken to a desk behind immigration by a very polite young lady, introduced to an equally polite guy and my passport endorsed with an overstay stamp. I had to ask "is there a problem?" No I was told you just overstayed a few hours. But I got a stamp to say that! I have heard that repeat offence(s) can/do incur a fine.
So all in all you must clear immigration by the date stamped in your passport to comply with the law.
4
There are two dates, as regards to overstay only one date is of concern. The visa (the one page sticker) will have a use before date, this is simply the date before which you must use the visa for entry into the kingdom. If you show up at the border on or after this date, the visa is invalid and cannot be used to gain entry into the kingdom.The other date is printed on your actual entry stamp, this is the admitted until date, this is the one that concerns you, and at this date you must leave the country.
In case of you entering through immigration, the departure date of your flight is the one that counts, not the actual time you pass through.
6
@3 the reason you just received the overstay stamp and not the fine, is because you were just one day to late, one and two days overstay does not incurr the 500 baht per day overstay fine. This only apllies to the airport though, if you would have left using a land border, you would have been charged 500 baht.7
@5 I just realised OP does not have the visa yet :) reading reading.In this case the until date of the visa is of immediate concern. Enter Thailand BEFORE that date, which will get you 60 days in country, which in turn leads to an entry stamp with an admitted to date that is 60 days from the date of entry, leave the country on or before that date.
8
Midnight on the last day of the entry stamp. If it's, say, 16th October, then you need to get your exit stamp at the emigration counter by midnight on that date. The fact that your flight might not depart until 01.30 on 17th October is not relevant - the passport control is the border and you've "left" Thailand once you've got that stamp.At the other end of your visit, the arrival, the day you stamp in counts as Day One - even if it's 23.55. If you were going to be at the immigration desk at that time, waiting 6 minutes before you present your passport will move Day One to the first minute of the next day. At least that's how it's supposed to happen, but This Is Thailand - they can be a bit slack rolling the date around on their little rubber stamps.
You should always check anyway - it has been known for people with a TV to be stamped in using the 30-day exemption stamp in error, which means you get the wrong exit date. Errors can be corrected on the spot if pointed out.
9
It should be remembered with visas that any part of a day counts as a whole day so you arrive five minutes past midnight and leave five minutes past midnight, that is two days lost.I overstayed by a day once and did not have to pay or get a stamp. There is an exemption for this, some rule which lets you off. But I would not count on it.
I have been fined before but while it is just a matter of handing over money at the airport, in theory you can go to jail elsewhere for it if caught by a cop or soldier who does a passport check for any reason.
