Re-Entry Permit At Suvarnabhumi Airport

[chessman]

I regularly get a re-entry permit at Suvarnabhumi. If you have a photo and form completed you can bypass the first desk (that caters to people who need a photo and help with the form) and go straight to the little office with the immigration officers. Here you don't need to pay the additional 200 baht. My experience is that you need the form and photo but you don't need photocopies (although I usually bring them anyway) 

 

It takes 5-10 minutes... a bit longer if there are other people waiting.

 

[RRunner]

 

Thank you for your advice!
Chessmann, where can I download the form, do you have any links?
DrJack54, why not go over Poi Pet? The Siem Reap - Bangkok bus 
runs just over this border crossing.

[ubonjoe]

5 hours ago, RRunner said:

 

Thank you for your advice!
Chessmann, where can I download the form, do you have any links?
DrJack54, why not go over Poi Pet? The Siem Reap - Bangkok bus 
runs just over this border crossing.

Fillable TM8 re-entry permit form.pdf

[DrJack54]

5 hours ago, RRunner said:

 

Thank you for your advice!
Chessmann, where can I download the form, do you have any links?
DrJack54, why not go over Poi Pet? The Siem Reap - Bangkok bus 
runs just over this border crossing.

You will/should be OK Poi Pet because you have a visa. As far as that border crossing being used as a border run from Thailand or visa exempt entry into Thailand its to be avoided. Your not doing either of those.

More experienced members will no doubt give you first hand experience. 

[RRunner]

5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Fillable TM8 re-entry permit form.pdf 169.78 kB · 288 downloads

Thnx!

[10years]

On 5/17/2019 at 2:09 AM, ubonjoe said:

The re-entry permit desk is after security for departures from the country so it is not possible unless you are leaving the country.

So this precludes use of the priority lane, I presume.

[jacko45k]

7 hours ago, 10years said:

So this precludes use of the priority lane, I presume.

I believe so. 

[DrJack54]

8 hours ago, 10years said:

So this precludes use of the priority lane, I presume.

I'm bit confused. The reentry office at swampy is before passport control. At DM just past pp control.

In either case you could use priority if you are entitled. I have had a laugh couple of times at DM people looking to use priority lane because they are obtaining reentry permit. 

[jacko45k]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I'm bit confused. The reentry office at swampy is before passport control. At DM just past pp control.

In either case you could use priority if you are entitled. I have had a laugh couple of times at DM people looking to use priority lane because they are obtaining reentry permit. 

But isn't it after security, and a completely separated channel? 

[10years]

I'm getting confused, too. It seems that according to the info above, after checking in at Swampy, you have to go to the security line for the masses, then go to the re-entry application line instead of the passport control lines for the peons.

 

I get to use the priority lane, which has both security check and passport control in one confined room, IIRC. Doesn't that mean you can't use the priority lane if you want to get a RE permit?

[ubonjoe]

49 minutes ago, 10years said:

I get to use the priority lane, which has both security check and passport control in one confined room, IIRC. Doesn't that mean you can't use the priority lane if you want to get a RE permit?

There is a way to do it when going through the priority lane. I have read their is now a way to go directly to the re-entry permit desk in zone 2. Just ask an officer about it after you clear security.

[Rastaputin]

Done that once. Had some clerk from Priority Desk escorting me to Reentry Desk bypassing all kinds of controls with me behind him. And retour. Made me feel V.I.P.

[Oye at Home]

Will Immigration at the airport grant re-entry permits during the 30 day waiting period before an annual visa extension is approved?

 

My apologies for asking if this has already been covered or is obvious. I've always applied for re-entry permits at Immigration, not the airport. But this time I have to travel during the 30 day waiting period before my visa extension is approved.  Given the current all day waits at CW Immigration to apply for annual visa extensions, I don't want to go back a second day just to get a re-entry permit if it can be avoided

Edited July 29, 2019 by Oye at Home

[ubonjoe]

28 minutes ago, Oye at Home said:

Will Immigration at the airport grant re-entry permits during the 30 day waiting period before an annual visa extension is approved?

They should do one but I am not sure. 

You could make an appointment to get the re-entry permit at CW. Reports of it only taking a few minutes that way.

See: https://extranet.immigration.go.th/qrepsonline/online/queue/REPSAction.do?cmd=term

[Oye at Home]

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

They should do one but I am not sure. 

You could make an appointment to get the re-entry permit at CW. Reports of it only taking a few minutes that way.

See: https://extranet.immigration.go.th/qrepsonline/online/queue/REPSAction.do?cmd=term

Thanks for this.  My first plan is to try to get it done at CW Immigration, if there's time to do both the extension application and the re-entry permit in one day. 

 

But if the Immigration Officer doesn't finish until too late to get the re-entry permit (as happened last year), I'll ask what they think about getting it done at the airport.

[Rastaputin]

57 minutes ago, Oye at Home said:

Will Immigration at the airport grant re-entry permits during the 30 day waiting period before an annual visa extension is approved?

 

My apologies for asking if this has already been covered or is obvious. I've always applied for re-entry permits at Immigration, not the airport. But this time I have to travel during the 30 day waiting period before my visa extension is approved.  Given the current all day waits at CW Immigration to apply for annual visa extensions, I don't want to go back a second day just to get a re-entry permit if it can be avoided

 

I received a Reentry permit during my 1 Month waiting period for One Year extension at Suvarnabumhi Reentry Desk last month without questions or problems.

[JimMorris]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:01 PM, chessman said:

I regularly get a re-entry permit at Suvarnabhumi. If you have a photo and form completed you can bypass the first desk (that caters to people who need a photo and help with the form) and go straight to the little office with the immigration officers. Here you don't need to pay the additional 200 baht. My experience is that you need the form and photo but you don't need photocopies (although I usually bring them anyway) 

 

It takes 5-10 minutes... a bit longer if there are other people waiting.

 

That is interesting. I did not realize it was still an option to bring your own form and photo.

 

I once brought a completed form and photo shortly after they set up the first desk and they told me that a form and photo was no longer acceptable. So ever since then I stopped bring a form and photo.

 

Are you sure it is possible to still bring a completed form and photo and go right to the second desk? Also, is the price still 1,000 Baht for a single reentry?

 

[DrJack54]

19 minutes ago, JimMorris said:

That is interesting. I did not realize it was still an option to bring your own form and photo.

 

I once brought a completed form and photo shortly after they set up the first desk and they told me that a form and photo was no longer acceptable. So ever since then I stopped bring a form and photo.

 

Are you sure it is possible to still bring a completed form and photo and go right to the second desk? Also, is the price still 1,000 Baht for a single reentry?

 

Yes and yes

[prakhonchai nick]

I have PR. Can I get a re-entry if necessary at Suvarnabhumi?  Need 2 stamps -1 in the passport and 1 in the PR book.

[ubonjoe]

36 minutes ago, prakhonchai nick said:

I have PR. Can I get a re-entry if necessary at Suvarnabhumi?  Need 2 stamps -1 in the passport and 1 in the PR book.

No you cannot do it at the airport. It can only be done at a immigration office.

[prakhonchai nick]

10 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No you cannot do it at the airport. It can only be done at a immigration office.

Thanks Ubon Joe.

[scott60]

Hello. I have a 2am flight on Qatar. Is the Re Entry office open 24 hours a day? Thank you.

 

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, scott60 said:

Hello. I have a 2am flight on Qatar. Is the Re Entry office open 24 hours a day?

It is open 24 hours a day.

[scott60]

15 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

It is open 24 hours a day.

Thanks. I did not have recent info. I have used this service before successfully but never past ll pm

[10years]

I confirmed with a IO at the priority lane that you can get stamped out first then get your RE.

 

At the RE stand, I reconfirmed that was possible. Technically, you are supposed to get the RE before exiting the country, but they understand that some people don't know about that.

 

There are 3 imm zones. Be sure to use the middle one.

 

When you enter the passport control area, turn immediately to your left and go all the way to the end, where the RE prep stand is. After they complete the paperwork, they will walk it to the office where the IOs are. I didn't know that you can avoid the stand.

 

You may have to hand over your boarding pass too.

 

After you get your passport back, you have to get in one of the passport control lines to get stamped out.

 

If you're short of time, you can get in line while waiting for your RE to be processed.

 

When I asked the prep guy about avoiding the B200 fee, he just asked for my photo.

[brianj1964]

Why are people on here and some boasting about using priority lanes griping about 200 baht?

[scottiddled]

Just an update based on my recent experience, given that I thought I understood the Suvarnabhumi re-entry procedure but had a "complicated" departure a few weeks ago. I'll say straight away that some of this information has been covered earlier in the thread and I had just missed it, as I've previously gotten re-entry permits at BKK without a hitch. I'll also admit I have a bad habit of cutting things close when I fly; unless I know a particular airport is a mess I'm not someone who is panicking and trying to get waste half my day showing up early. 

 

Anyway, here goes...

 

In late December I flew out of BKK on an international flight. I arrived 2+ hours before the flight. There wasn't any "OMG what a line" moment, but every step in the process was a bit slower than what I'm used to (I've flown out of BKK 4 or 5 times). Checking in, checking the bags, going through security...they ate up time. Even the trip to the airport from On Nut was about 20 minutes slower than planned due to a disabled truck on the highway. 

 

When I got down to passport control, I noticed a pretty big logjam. I also didn't notice the re-entry permit desk where I remembered it. I previously would turn to the right for the photo/form desk (and sometimes bypass them if I had already completed the form ahead of time). It wasn't there. I asked the uniformed airport assistance woman where to get the re-entry permit, she pointed toward the regular line(s), which were all at least 15 people deep, and said "Zone 2." I followed up with her: "I get my re-entry permit after being stamped out?" She said yes.

 

Well, I had plenty of time in that line to do a Google search and scour the TV forums (and other sources). From what I found before reaching the front of the line, it looked like I was OK. This didn't seem to be the right place, but they could still give me the re-entry permit. I made sure the immigration officer stamping me out knew I needed one, and he confirmed it was OK. 

 

By the time I was through passport control, it was less than an hour before my flight. As I wrote above, I'm not one to panic about all this. Boarding time, schmording time. But I still needed to find "Zone 2," get my photo taken and form filled out, etc. So I knew I couldn't dawdle. I asked a friendly IO supervisor whose broken-English suggestion was to go "next room" to the left. I looped around and at a nearly empty desk (it looks like they were setting up for a later rush period) I saw another supervisor walking with a crudely printed sign (A4 paper laser printed) reading "RE-ENTRY PERMIT." Oh, great, he's setting up the desk. Good timing. But not really.

 

It turned out they're still sorting out the process of issuing re-entry permits from that passport control area. "Zone 2" really means you need to go through the second of 3 (?) security/passport intake points. Coincidentally, I had always used Zone 2 in the past by dumb luck, based on where my airline checkin desk was. As I was using an airline with a desk way down on the right-hand side of the departure hall, I had gone through an entirely different zone. My original thought that they had moved the desk from it's previous location was wrong--I was actually in a different zone.

 

The supervisor seemed torn between his original task of setting up whatever he was setting up, and getting my situated. He asked for my departure time and got flummoxed. "Why you so late!?" he exclaimed. I remained calm and deferential, thanking him and trying not to be too defensive in telling him I arrived nearly 2.5 hours before my flight. In truth, that's (probably) plenty of time if you go through the right zone, as I would've bypassed the long lines in the zone I took and gone straight to the re-entry desk, where only about a half-dozen people were being processed. I probably would've already been at my gate, really.

 

The mad dash down to Zone 2, accompanied by one IO supervisor who handed me off to another IO supervisor who walked my re-entry permit process straight through was comedically Thai. It blended a little bit Thai chastisement of your mistakes, some good will all around, typical Thai lack of up-front clarity, bureaucratic delays, and a little desire to grease the process to help and make sure you get on your way. Everyone was a little bit wrong (I'll own the majority of fault), but with some hustle and bending of the rules, it all worked out fine. Technically I was stamped out without a re-entry permit, but they get that that happens and will still issue one. 

 

I wasn't even the last one on the plane (although I probably wound up with less than 10 minutes to spare, and I walk fast).

 

So, the TLDR of all this: 

• Show up early (3 hours should be more than enough, barring exceptional circumstances or multiple gaffes). YMMV based on factors within your control (e.g., your speed at checking in, ability to navigate the security process quickly, walking speed) and beyond your control.
• Be sure to use Zone 2 (thank you ubonjoe and others who pointed this out previously).
• The more prepared you are for the re-entry permit process, the better.
  • If you have the form already completed and have your photos, that saves a few minutes.
  • If you don't have the form completed, make sure you have all your information easily accessible so they can fill it out (e.g., your address, all the usual TM-whatevers in your passport).
• If you make a mistake, it's probably not the end of the world. Keep your cool and a solution can probably be found (see post #55 for another take on that).

Edited January 7, 2020 by scottiddled
style