Londinium

This happened to me last year and was only noticed when I arrived at Suvarnabhumi. The officer took me to an office and some colleagues fiddled around on a computer and assured me that they had corrected the mistake and that all would be well. However, when i went to extend the visa they told me that it was impossible to do because my passport number was incorrect (one digit). What they didn’t tell me is that there is an office in Bangkok which deals with issues like this. (Someone here will have the address). I went back to the UK a bit early and, at the next application, was careful to check before travelling. The London Embassy, by the way, weren’t interested when I messaged them (from Thailand) and asked for a correction to the passport number on the visa.

Hello, last year I entered on an e-visa from London and found, when I arrived at Suvarnabhumi, that the passport number on the visa was incorrect by one numeral. I was taken to one side and the mistake was corrected and entered into a computer. I was assured that all would be well. Having checked my visa application I saw that the error had been made by the embassy but, as with you, they declined to give any assistance or correction when I contacted them. Predictably, when I went to CW to extend the visa, it was refused. Later, I returned to London but then found out that there is an office in Bangkok dedicated to correcting errors on visas. I think it’s near CW and someone on here will have the address. One might think that those in this situation would be directed to this office by officers at CW, but that would be wishful thinking! When I applied, this year for a non-O multi entry, I went through the visa with a fine tooth comb. A lesson learned! Hope you can get it sorted.

I applied for and received a one year non-O multi-entry (retirement) visa from the London embassy in February and was required to show evidence of my insurance.

Strangely, the original visa pasted into my old passport in 2016, and from which I have been receiving extensions at CW until last year, was also a one year non-O, but I had applied for a 6 month tourist visa.

That’s correct. My previous visa extension ran out last year; then I had to get a new passport and I entered Thailand in December on a tourist visa. Unfortunately, the visa came with one wrong digit in the passport number and although I was stamped in for 60 days at the airport, I was refused an extension at CW and found out too late that there is an office in Bangkok that will correct a fault in a visa. So, I returned to London, wrote to the embassy to point out the mistake and applied for the Non-O 12 month multi-entry visa, and received it.

Yes, I’ve just received one (retirement/over 50). The form needs careful filling in but they will contact you to ask for further information if they need it.

Following BritTim’s comment about a department, in Bangkok, that deals with mistakes on visas issued by embassies, I found this in the FAQs on the London Embassy site. It might help others in the future and does show that embassies know that errors are sometimes made. 5. I have obtained a tourist visa from the Royal Thai Embassy in London. They forgot to include a date of expiry in the visa. I had trouble at the airport but fortunately the Immigration officer allowed me to enter. Now I want to extend my stay but the Immigration Office insisted that they cannot permit the extension unless the visa is fixed. What should I do? In this case, please bring your passport to the Visa Division, Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Chaengwattana Road in Bangkok. If the visa is genuine, you can obtain any corrections or amendments of visa there.

Thanks, BritTim, I emailed the London embassy. It’s clearly their fault, but I’m not expecting a magic resolution to this. I was tempted to bung the young IO but it might have made things worse.

He just said that he could see my entire history, I didn’t cross-question. him on exactly how many years he was referring to.

Well, it’s quite a journey to make for no result.

Entered 6 Dec at Suvarnabhumi on 60 day TR visa. At airport the officer noticed that the e-Visa showed my passport number as incorrect by 1 digit (a 13 instead of a 14). However a senior officer entered the correct details into the computer, stamped me in and said that all was fine. Today I tried to extend the visa for 30 days (at a rather quiet CW) but the officer said he couldn’t do it unless the London embassy issued a new document with the correct passport number. No amount of gentle reasoning could make him see that the e-visa document was now irrelevant and that he had 35 years of entries to Thailand recorded on his computer, with many previous years of retirement extensions. As it happens, I’m not too bothered this trip and my dates are flexible. I will start a new retirement extension process later in the year but have a few things to do in the UK first. Nevertheless, it’s worth everyone (including me) checking e-visa documents issued by embassies, and I wish I had just entered visa exempt.

It’s interesting to note, although slightly off the topic, that for a single use tourist visa, there now seems to be an option, on the London Thai Embassy site, of filling in the old form (and, presumably, posting it off with one’s passport) as well as applying for the online, stickerless, visa.

Thanks everyone.

Since being back in the UK, my visa extension has expired and I have received a new passport. I will return to Thailand soon and begin the process for a visa extension (Non-O) retirement (money in bank method). Will I be allowed to travel with a one-way ticket. I’ve seen conflicting advice on this. I usually stay in Thailand for 6 months each year. Thank you.

Can the STV be converted to an Non-O and then extended for retirement?

Thanks UJ.

I can’t see any mention of the STV still being available, either on the London Thai Embassy, nor Thai govt. sites. Am I missing something?

I may have missed something but if you are entering Thailand can’t you just use travel insurance bought in your own country as long as it covers the stated amount? That’s what I have done before. Surely it’s wise to have good all year round travel insurance wherever you travel to?

I left and re-entered twice last November (came back via Phuket sandbox, then to Bangkok but had to return to the UK suddenly for a funeral). Despite this, I had no problem at all with the new 90 day reporting site and registered successfully this week (after the initial forgot password and Captcha faff).

My situation is a bit different in that I only stay a maximum of 180 days (i.e, half the year) each year and if there was a way of staying for that length of time without renewing the extension each year (with its necessity of keeping 800,000 baht on ice) then, of course, I would go for it.

Thanks for all the replies, with the very mixed views on using an agent, I’ll probably just start again and do it myself.

Thanks to all who replied/gave advice on my recent post. To recap: my extension will run out in April and, this year, I have had to use some of my 800,000 baht. From later this year my finances will be restored again. I understand how to begin again by entering on a new non-O visa, tourist visa or visa exempt and beginning again and am very familiar with CW and applying for extensions. However, I am tempted, just this once, to bypass all the faff and to approach an agent, given that I can’t meet the financial requirement for my next extension. I’d like to know if: a. this is legitimate; b. whether adopting this procedure will make going though the normal channels at CW problematic at the following renewal; c. how to find reputable agents. The money in the bank issue is only a temporary problem and I will be able to restore the account to the full 800,000 by September. I spend half of each year Nov-April in Thailand and the rest of the time in the UK. if the old ME 6 month tourist visa still existed I’d just apply for that each year.

Thank you, but I don’t think that is the case. I’ve only ever applied for (and received) the Non-O rather than the O/A, unless the rules have changed recently, but I will pursue the STV/tourist option.

Thanks, Dr Jack. The STV page of the Thai Embassy, London, website is rather confusing. On one side it says that the visa can be extended (subject to the discretion of the IO) for periods, ‘not exceeding 90 days’; but on the other side of the page says that, after September 2021, extensions are no longer possible. Certainly a 6 month visa would answer my dilemma and free up some cash.