I'm staying at a monastery as a layperson on visa amnesty. I entered Thailand on Feb 28 with a visa exemption stamp. The abbot before has supported foreigners to stay longer and signed letters to the immigration office.
How would this process work in light of covid? Can I change to a volunteer or religious visa from within Thailand? How soon do I need to start this process? Are there any confirmed stories of someone on visa amnesty who successfully changed to a 3-month visa, or who were denied a 3-month visa?
Thanks in advance!
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TLDR : Answer Summary
The user is on visa amnesty while staying at a monastery and seeks guidance on transitioning to a volunteer or religious visa in Thailand. They inquire about the processes involved, timelines for initiation, and any success stories of similar cases. A comment warns that changing from visa amnesty to a new visa is not possible, even pre-COVID.
You can not change from overstay (amnesty) into a visa in Thailand,
Even in the pre Covid period this was not possible and those people you talk about went from a valid stay from a Visa Exempt Entry or a Tourist Visa into a new stay from a new Visa,
The amnesty is just a waiver of the overstay fines if you could not leave Thailand before or on your Admitted until ../../... or permitted up to ./../... date stamped in your passport, until the day you did manage to leave, Now with a new end date of 26 September
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