Do I need to take my entire family to Chiang Mai immigration for the SETV extension, and what are the implications of overstays for children?

Question

Just to confirm --

(1) even though I got our SETVs for the entire family by myself, in order to do 30 day extension at Chiang Mai immigration, the entire family needs to go, correct?

(1a) My understanding is that the 30 day SETV extension is  a short wait at immigration - so short that I could take the kids in at 3:30 on a Friday and potentially still be seen that afternoon?

(2) regarding overstays for children, after the expiry of our SETV, we have a few trips planned where we'll return on exemption stamps and, if we decide to stay longer, will look at an ED visa. Am I reading correctly here that many people let their children overstay, and I would neither need to ensure that we all left for runs to get new exemption stamps nor would I need to worry about finding an ED visa that would also process O visas for the kids? I'd obviously rather do it proper, but if I could justify a few kid-free vacations to get fresh stamps, I'd rather do that :p

Thanks!

Ask Thailand · Answer

To obtain a 30-day extension for a Single Entry Tourist Visa (SETV) in Chiang Mai, the entire family must attend immigration together. The process is typically quick, often completed in under 90 minutes, but wait times can vary. Regarding overstays, while children under 15 are not fined and those under 18 are not banned, they still require valid visas or stamps. It's important to ensure compliance to avoid any complications, although some families do choose to manage their stays with exemptions or by leaving the country periodically.

Robert ******* · Answer

If you do not want to worry, it is time to get the correct visa and work permit in Thailand.

Tod ********* · Answer

While children under 15 cannot be fined for overstay and children under 18 cannot be banned for overstay that does NOT mean they don't need visas or valid stamps to be here <- it means IF they overstay there are no penalties which is different from saying they don't need to worry about it.

Tod ********* · Answer

okay the kids HAVE to go with you to get their 30 day extensions of stay.

It takes as long as it takes and no one can predict how long that actually is. It depends on the time you go, the number of people ahead of you, if there were any holidays that week etc. Usually people are out of there in under 90 minutes.

Do I need to take my entire family to Chiang Mai immigration for the SETV extension, and what are the implications of overstays for children?

Activity

Related

Resources