Is there a tourist visa for a 6-month stay in Thailand without leaving the country every 90 days?

Yes you can get almost 9 months out of a METV if done right 2 border bounces and 3 extensions

Official Website of Thailand Electronic Visa

METV is best you can get just plan a weekend away somewhere some great places in countries nearby and plan ahead can get great deals on flights

DTV may suit.

No there isnt

METV is the right Visa

But you have to leave Thailand every 90 days

Be aware that if applying for the METV through the E-visa online system, you will need to show proof of why you need a METV over a SETV (single entry 60-days Tourist visa)

This proof could be like a flight ticket out of Thailand to a neighbor country within the first 60 days, and a flight back home within 6 months, at least. If the processing embassy or consulate are not convinced, they may issue a SETV and won’t refund the difference in the application fee.

Many embassies have started to ask for a proof of funds for the application to the METV. It is like three months of account statements that prove you have at least savings of a minimum of 20,000 THB equivalent in your currency.

TOURIST visa multi entry what can go wrong

*** a report from someone whose trip held a surprise.

“I just arrived at DMK airport after a few days in Penang. I am on an METV visa and have been staying in BKK since my arrival to Thailand. Just before my first 60 days were up, I received a 30-days extension at BKK immigration.

I subsequently made a short trip to Siem Reap and received another 60-days extension at DMK airport.

I went last week to Penang and returned today, two days before the official expiration date on the actual METV visa.

The Immigration officer did not want to stamp me for additional time and I was sent off to a holding area to speak with a higher up official.

After a 30-minute wait, a different officer told me that with only two days left on my original METV visa, I needed to leave the country and apply for a retirement visa and not try to get a long period of time to live in Thailand on what is meant to be a short term 6 month visa.

Yes, I had another stamp good until 13th of March in my French passport from my Siem Reap return to DMK airport.

But you cannot argue with these officers or try to explain their jobs to them.

I am considered a senior, was dressed quite conservatively and am always humble in my dealings with immigration.

When I became very concerned that I would not be let back in at all, my eyes welled up with tears and the officer conferred again with another IO.

She returned and said she would stamp me in for 60 days and at that point, I would need to leave.

I then received a lecture about not trying to live in Bangkok longer than the time frame of what is essentially a short-term tourist visa

The reason I am reporting this situation to you is that we assume, for instance, that we can turn an METV 6-months tourist visa into an almost 9-months stay without difficulty.

But at the end of the day, it is that officer who you are standing in front of who can choose to stamp you in. Or not. I am not complaining, but thought it might be helpful to know that sometimes it is not so easy to re-enter the country, unless you are on a real long stay visa.”

6-months Tourist Visa multi entry how does it work

The ”multi-entry permit” means, you can do as many exits and re-entries as you wish, during the period of the visa validity, which is 6 months from the date of issue.

A multi entry tourist visa works like this:

On each entry into Thailand, you will get stamped in for a 60-days stay permit. You can extend these 60 days stay permit with another 30 days on Immigration for 1900.- THB. Before the accumulated 90 days stay permit expire, you need to exit Thailand.

That’s why you never need to do a 90-days report on Immigration inside Thailand.

Alternatively, you can leave Thailand before the first 60 days stay permit expires, do a “border run” and upon return to Thailand, you will get stamped in for 60 days, again

The METV is valid for use for 6 months, starting on the day of issue. The EXPIRY DATE of the visa can be checked on the pdf. e-visa document which you received by Email and which you have to print out, to show it to the officials at the borders, under “visa must be used by” and the date

During the 6-month visa validity, EACH entry into Thailand will grant you a 60-days stay permit.

If you do a “border run” on the last day of the visa validity, you will get stamped in for 60 days for the last time. Thus will theoretically give you 8 months in Thailand

Now with a last 30 days extension, you theoretically can stay in Thailand for almost 9 months.

You can apply for a multi entry tourist visa only in your country of residence. You cannot apply it elsewhere, except if you are a permanent resident in a respective country.

Normally, the Thai embassy that processes your e-visa application will not issue the visa too early. They will wait until you are very close to your planned flight date, so you don’t lose too many days of the visa validity. So, after you have applied for this visa-category, you should not be impatient while you wait for the approval.