Can I extend my visa on arrival in Thailand for 6 months if I have a Philippine passport?

Jul 17, 2017
7 years ago
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
Dear ladies and gents, I'm entering Thailand on a visa on arrival (Philippine passport) next week but i want to actually stay for about 6 months and I have no time to apply for visa in embassy here in Ph since I also just came back from VN. Can I extend the TV for 3 months in Chiang Mai? Thank u so much in advance.
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TLDR : Answer Summary
A Philippine passport holder can enter Thailand on a visa-exempt basis for 30 days, which can be extended once for an additional 30 days at local immigration. However, to stay for 6 months, they need to leave the country after the initial extension and apply for a tourist visa at a Thai consulate in a neighboring country, such as Laos.
Jim *******
But do you have an onward ticket as your airline may refuse to board you without one.just as airlines to the Philippines do?
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
Yes, onward ticket is not a problem :)
Ian ***************
See
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To stay 6 months you will need another plan. For example come in visa-exempt for 30 days, extend at immigration another 30, then go to Laos or other neighbour country and apply for tourist visa at Thai consulate, then come back for 60 days and extend another 30, etc. Staying more than a few months as a "tourist" is becoming increasingly difficult. Good luck.
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Ivan ***********
dear thank you so much for your time and help! You just made me confident to fly my flight next Monday :)
Ivan ************
Jonai yes if you get a job your employer would then get all the documentation together and you would go to apply for a non-immigrant visa (probably in a neighbouring country like Laos) and then when you came back they would get you a work permit. With that visa you can keep extending as long as you have the job. When the job ends, you have to leave immediately. I believe there are a lot of Filipino English teachers working in Thailand- this would be one option for you.

The Ed visa is another option people who don't want to work use to remain longer-term. This is same deal, the school gets together the paperwork and then sends you out to get the non-immigrant visa somewhere like Laos, and then you extend it every 90 days as long as you are studying.

If you only want six months though you should be able to manage that without too much difficulty on a combination of tourist visas, extensions and visa exempt entries. These other options are really for people who want to stay longer.
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Ivan ***********
that's so enlightening! Thanks! If you dont mind me following up, if i get a job, what visa can i have? Is it working visa?

The Education VISA is really appealing though. Thanks
Ivan ************
@Jo***
you can't no, unless you get a job or enroll in a course for education, or are over 50, or marry a Thai person, and in most of these cases you would need to leave anyway to get the non-immigrant visa. There are education options in Chiang Mai (learning Thai, self-defence) that can qualify you for a non-immigrant for up to a year at a time (renew every 90 days in Chiang Mai without leaving).
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
Thanks for the tip, what's a better/easier way? Can i apply for non immigrant when im already in CM? So much thanks
Robert *******
No and No. If you have Phillipines passport you can enter on a 30 day Visa Exempt Entry, you can extend this once with 30 day at local immigration.
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Iv**
thanks for explaining further and for your time! Guess I'm flying on Monday then! :D
Ivan ************
@Jo***
yes if you have spent a lot of time previously in Thailand, but with regard to Vientiane they are usually looking for prior visas from Laos specifically, my understanding is they would not count the visa you got in Vietnam as part of your "history", it's history with consulates in Laos they are concerned with. If you get a certain number of visas in Laos at some point they will stamp your passport with a "no more tourist visas" stamp, which means you can't get any more there. But it's at least 3 or 4 I think before they stamp you.
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
@Iv**
you're such a great help! When u said if "you don't have history", does it mean multiple visa runs? I've had to cross cambodia and vietnam more than a couple of times last year before i got a business visa in VN. Should i be worried?
Ivan ************
Jonai that is correct. That gets you 60 days.

Then you can fly to Udon Thani (on Nok- cheap internal flight) and go to Vientiane, Laos to get a SETV. That gives you 60 days which you can extend again by 30. So you are up to 5 months then.

Then you can do a border run by getting a bus to Mae Sai and going over to Myanmar and back. This gets you 30 days, which you can extend by a further 30- so you are at 7 months then. Note you can only do 2 visa-exempt land entries per calendar year but I checked and the Philippines is on the list of countries this was extended to 30 days by land at the start of this year.

Or some combination of the above. Note that Thai immigration may be more picky with people from the Philippines but I believe if nothing has changed recently Vientiane will give you a SETV and you can do a land border run and you should be able to swing 6 months this way if you do not have history.

The only way you can get a 6 months tourist visa (METV) is by going to the embassy in Manila- you need to get that in your home country.
Jo***
ORIGINAL POSTER
Soooo I can just fly to Chiang Mai and if it's about to expire already, i just go to local immig at CM to extend for another 30 days? Pls verify if my understanding is correct ๐Ÿ˜Š
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