OmegaWolf33 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Hi guys, I might have a bit of a unique situation here: During the chaos back in November I changed my tourist visa to a 6 month Smart Visa-type S. The conditions for extending that visa turned out to be depositing 600,000 baht in a bank pretty soon-after receiving the visa, which I was unable to do. So I have about 3 months left on this Smart-Visa. What are my options to extend my stay? Will immigration be able to transfer my smart visa to a different type? Edit: Age: 28, Nationality: USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMhee Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Smart Visa’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Guidelines for the request of a qualification After receiving a 6-month type Smart “S” visa, can it be extended for another 6 months ? According to specifications, applicants who receive a 6-month type Smart “S” visa will receive permission to extend their visa to become a 2-year type Smart “S” visa only. With the condition that they must have already established a company in Thailand, and having no less than 600,000 Baht deposit their bank account (the bank account has to be held for at least 3 months where transactions occur consecutively). But in the event where a company has not yet been established, applicants may be able to request to extend for a 6-month type Smart “S” visa one more time. This is only if they are able to provide proof on the progress of the establishment of their company. Important pieces of evidence needed as proof are; proof of reserving juristic person’s name and memorandum of association, where all these will be based on careful considerations. https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/pages/faq-en.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMhee Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 15 minutes ago, UncleMhee said: Note: There is an option to extend the 6 month visa. The scrappy post is from my inability to remove pop-ups which covered half of the requirements to extend. Go to: https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/pages/faq-en.html Scroll down to: After receiving a 6-month type Smart “S” visa, can it be extended for another 6 months ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 4 hours ago, OmegaWolf33 said: Will immigration be able to transfer my smart visa to a different type? You might be able to apply for a extension of stay if you can qualify for one. You would need to check with immigration about it. You cannot change your visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmegaWolf33 Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 1 hour ago, UncleMhee said: Note: There is an option to extend the 6 month visa. The scrappy post is from my inability to remove pop-ups which covered half of the requirements to extend. Go to: https://smart-visa.boi.go.th/smart/pages/faq-en.html Scroll down to: After receiving a 6-month type Smart “S” visa, can it be extended for another 6 months ? 1 hour ago, ubonjoe said: You might be able to apply for a extension of stay if you can qualify for one. You would need to check with immigration about it. You cannot change your visa. Hi guys. The FAQ that @UncleMhee posted seems to indicate that having the 600,000 baht in the bank for a 3 months period is a requirement to extend this visa. As that is currently not an option for me, what else can I do to legally stay in Thailand? @ubonjoeIs the "extension of stay" you mentioned something different than the above smart vision extension? Would I talk to the Smart Visa Unit or Immigration about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleMhee Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 @OmegaWolf33 I was thinking perhaps the requirements may be in two parts whereby the 600,000 baht requirement may be waived because of the "but" in the second half of the answer. TIT however to me it looks like the deposit is to extend it to the 2 year visa. Just a thought I had. "But" in the event where a company has not yet been established, applicants may be able to request to extend for a 6-month type Smart “S” visa one more time. This is only if they are able to provide proof on the progress of the establishment of their company. Important pieces of evidence needed as proof are; proof of reserving juristic person’s name and memorandum of association, where all these will be based on careful considerations. Either way I wish you all the best in your endeavour to stay longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdd Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Until 29th January immigration offers 60 day Covid extensions, if they should extend the availability of those extensions (no announcement yet, but there is a chance that they will do it) you should be able to apply for one when it's time for you. In case they don't do this you are probably left with the extension options for smart visas as pointed out by the poster above. Afaik it's not possible to convert it to a non-immigrant visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmegaWolf33 Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 Hi guys, is there now any more clarity in the situation about what my options are? My Smart visa expires around mid May. Edit: I fear I may be in a position where the Immigration tells me this is a job for the Smart Visa Unit and then the Smart Visa Unit tells me only immigration can give me a covid extension. I was wondering if anybody knows for sure what to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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