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Thai Visa Extension: Review Period?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visa Extensions. For those who are unaware folks that come into Thailand on what is called a Non-Immigrant Visa which is going to be the vast majority of folks that live in Thailand, so Non-Immigrant Business Visa, Non-Immigrant O Visa, Non-Immigrant ED (Education Visa), Non-Immigrant O Retirement Visa or even the O-A although the O-A is a little different, I will get into that in a minute but sort of standard Non-immigrant visas you are going to have to extend status. Generally speaking, these types of Non-immigrant Visas are issued with 90 day validity and then you are going to have to extend your status.

Now in most cases, and let's go ahead and talk Retirement Visa real quick first: 1) The O-A Retirement Visa, that is not really pertinent to this video, that is its own stand-alone status that is granted at an Embassy or Consulate abroad and then when it is time to go ahead and renew here in Thailand, YES, there is a renewal process but like the O Retirement Visa, generally speaking the review period of one month does not occur. It mostly is just folks come in and usually on the same day are able or within a couple of days depending on if they have their ducks in a row, are able to get sorted out in sort of one sit down.

With regard to for example in all cases we ever deal with, Thai B Visas, you have got to go through a one month review period. Thai O Marriage Visas are also a category we see this a lot in where there's a one month review period. And, in the case of Thai O Marriage Visas we have many clients who have actually seen Thai Immigration show up at their house; actually want to see their abode; want to see that they are living together with their spouse. As we discussed in prior videos, there was an issue involving sham marriages some years back which had implications in the Thai O Visa unit associated with marriage and it has resulted in some pretty heavy scrutiny associated with adjudication during the review period. Meanwhile, the Thai B Visa is oftentimes the subject of further scrutiny during the review period. We oftentimes see our clients inspected - sometimes the clients don't even know it has happened because the Immigration Officer just wants to see the office and oftentimes we can assist them but oftentimes they also want to see the person in their office or whatever. There are a number of different scenarios we deal with in a B Visa context where an inspection either is warranted or occurs not to mention the fact that in a Business Visa context associated with a Work Permit, there is also inspection issues associated with the Department of Employment under the Labour Ministry here in Thailand. 

So the thing to take away from this video and the thing to understand is that look at the end of the day, there is a review period for most Non-Immigrant Visa Extensions and that review period may result in scrutiny during that time period. So again you are going to want to have your ducks in a row and the thing to take away from this video is be prepared to deal with that review period and in certain circumstances, especially with some of the more complex Non-Immigrant Visas, notably O Marriage or Business Visa, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.