Last year, Thailand increased holiday stays visa exempt from 30 to 60 days, and you can extend your stay for another 30 days, allowing those with the luxury of time to enjoy a vacation here for up to 90 days at a time. Now, it might seem tempting to stay in Thailand for several months each year by making a few border runs to get stamped in for additional 60 day stays without going through the process of applying for a.
Proper long-term visa. Before you consider this strategy, let me update you on the risks of Visa free long-term stays, and at the end of this video, I’ll give you a cost effective five year Visa solution to let you enjoy Thailand without hassles or worry. Increasingly, we are hearing from friends of Baan Thai and prospective clients that after reentering Thailand following two long holidays here they are getting pulled aside by immigration.
And closely questioned about why they are spending so much time in the kingdom. We’ve also heard from a few disappointed travelers that they were denying entry and required to buy an outbound flight and leave the country. Even those who were permitted to enter were told that they were expected to have some type of long-term stay visa when they next arrived.
I think the suspicion that immigration has. Is that folks staying for four or more months without a visa are likely here for some reason other than a holiday. They may, for instance, be working remotely or maybe spending some well learned retirement time in the kingdom without making the commitment to Thailand as their new home.
These concerns about visitors violating the terms of a stay are not unique to Thailand, and indeed the same presumption is applied to most Thai nationals applying for a USB two visitor visa. Now this heightened concern by time immigration didn’t just coincide with the rollout of the generous 60 day visa exempt stay, but also with the ease of obtaining long-term visas and notably the introduction of the five year destination Thailand or DTV Visa in June of 2024.
So the bad strategy. Is pushing the limits on visa exempt stays. The better strategy if you wanna stay in Thailand for several months during the year is to apply for A DTV Visa. Now, I’ve covered the basics of how to qualify for this visa in a prior video, and there’s a link in the description below.
Essentially, if you’re over the age of 20 with a DTVs in hand, you can stay for up to 180 days at a time. Perhaps more importantly, you can. Also exit and reenter the country as often as you’d like. And each time you reenter, you get stamped in for another 180 day stay at just $400 for this five year visa.
It’s not only a sensible way of avoiding issues with immigration when trying to enter Thailand, it’s also an incredibly cost effective solution. Hey, thanks for watching and if you found this helpful, please subscribe for future updates about traveling to or living long term in Thailand.
