This is NOT an official government website. We are an independent resource providing information and assistance to travelers.
What does it mean to extend the DTV visa once a year in Thailand, and how does it work with re-entries?
DTV VisaVisa ExtensionThailand ImmigrationStay DurationVisa RulesMultiple EntriesEntry and Exit Requirements
Nov 3, 2024
a year ago
Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTERI have the DTV visa.
I got a stamp till 5th of April and if I wanna extend for another 180 days, I can stay till October.
In the internet it says you can only extend once a year, but with once a year is then meant the year 2025 or does the year start at the date my visa got issued?
I got a stamp till 5th of April and if I wanna extend for another 180 days, I can stay till October.
In the internet it says you can only extend once a year, but with once a year is then meant the year 2025 or does the year start at the date my visa got issued?
TLDR : Answer Summary
The DTV visa allows a total stay of 360 days in Thailand per entry, consisting of an initial 180-day stay, which can be extended for another 180 days. Extensions can only occur once per entry, meaning after using the extension, the holder must leave Thailand and re-enter to reset the clock for another 180 days. The confusion regarding yearly limits pertains to the individual entry period, not the calendar year. It's essential to check government websites for the most accurate visa information.
DTV VISA RESOURCES / SERVICES
- Take the basic DTV Qualification Test to see if you're eligible for the Destination Thailand Visa (DTV).
- For immediate assistance, contact Thai Visa Centre directly via LINE at @ThaiVisaCentre or Email them.
- Explore recent discussions by using the DTV Visa tag in the search box at the top of the page.
- Join the Thai Visa Advice Facebook Group to ask your questions, and get advice from others.
Pelle Eriksson★★★★★
Absolutely Bangkok's best service I highly...recently on Facebook
Luca G.★★★★★
I used this agency for my DTV Visa...recently on Google
Trusted DTV Visa Agent
OVER 100,000 EXPATS SERVED
#1 VISA AGENT IN THAILAND
Ian **********
Extension costs 10,000 baht so can't you just leave and come back?
Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Ian *********
I think no one knows how much extension costs, if its 10k or the basic 1.9kPete *******
@Ian *********
that is a business website that is guessing what the extension will cost. Nobody knows what the requirements will be for an in country extension nor the cost as the Immigration Department has yet to officially publish the requirements.Ian **********
@Pete ******
All the websites say 10,000 because that was the official announcementPete *******
@Ian *********
nope, the official announcement mentioned nothing about the cost or requirements for an in country extension. The official announcement came from the MFA who is responsible for the Embassies that issue the visa. There has been no official announcement from the Immigration Department that are responsible for in country extensions. It’s very simple - nobody knows the cost. Anyone who tells you different including the quoted websites are misleading you.Reply to
Pete *******
Reply
Kirsten *********
initial multi-entry visa is granted for 180 days stay then can be extended for a further 180 days stay which is 360 days stay . This applies to the length of time you can be in Thailand without having to leave the country. After the 360 days you have to leave the country and then re-enter gaining a further 180 days stay. This is clear on Thai embassy websites which is where we should be looking for information 'VISA validity : 5 years Multiple entries'
'Period of Stay : 180 days per entry of Stay : for another 180 days is possible at the Thai Immigration Bureau. After the maximum stay of 180+ 180 days, DTV holders are required to depart from Thailand and re-enter Thailand again' You have a maximum of 360 days once you enter the country. There is zero confusion on this, it has nothing to do with calendar years. Your date of arrival is only pertinent to setting the clock ticking on your initial 180 days. You need to get the extension before the 180 days expires. Then you have another 180 days after need to leave the country and come back, which re-sets the clock again. (No more extensions even if you changed calendar year). 'Internet' content can be wrong. Always look on the government websites for information. Embassies will have the correct information on visas. In your case, as others have indicated, you will have to leave in October 2025 when your extension expires and then re-enter
'Period of Stay : 180 days per entry of Stay : for another 180 days is possible at the Thai Immigration Bureau. After the maximum stay of 180+ 180 days, DTV holders are required to depart from Thailand and re-enter Thailand again' You have a maximum of 360 days once you enter the country. There is zero confusion on this, it has nothing to do with calendar years. Your date of arrival is only pertinent to setting the clock ticking on your initial 180 days. You need to get the extension before the 180 days expires. Then you have another 180 days after need to leave the country and come back, which re-sets the clock again. (No more extensions even if you changed calendar year). 'Internet' content can be wrong. Always look on the government websites for information. Embassies will have the correct information on visas. In your case, as others have indicated, you will have to leave in October 2025 when your extension expires and then re-enter
Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Kirsten ********
thanksReply to
Samuel ********
Reply
Will ************
Never heard of anyone applying for extension so far. Requirement for extension might be same as initial application.
Luit *****************
@Will ***********
the visa is too new for people having extensions yet, nobody is already staying for 180 days now.Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Will ***********
just left the country and came back?Will ************
@Samuel *******
no you can extend once per entry and therefore stay 360 days total before leavingReply to
Will ************
Reply
Pete *******
Probably better to understand that every entry gives you 180 days in Thailand. Each entry can be extended once for 180 days. Maximum time in country per entry is 360 days after which you must leave. Re-entry gives another 180 days again extendable.
Bastien ********
Each entry can be extended once, so in October if you extended you have to run at the border and come back and boom 180 days and possibly an extension again
Then you repeat the process
Then you repeat the process
Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Bastien *******
ohhh ok, understand! Thank youReply to
Samuel ********
Reply
Brandon ************
You can extend only one time each entry. The reason they say once per year is because there are only 365 days in a year. How would you apply twice after 180+180 days?
Luit *****************
@Brandon ***********
there are theoretically possibilities to have 2 extensions in one year when you only use the first extension partly.Brandon ************
@Luit ****************
what are the odds that someone gets an extension and then leaves and returns after only 5 days?Luit *****************
@Brandon ***********
not very much chance for 5 days, but it also depends how you define.It is quite easy to get 2 extensions in the same calendar year or 2 extensions in a period less than a year.
When you only use say 2 months of an extension, go away for 1 month, you might need the next extension only 9 months after the first extension, which is quite a normal situation.
Brandon ************
@Luit ****************
So you spend 180 days in Thailand. Get an extension and spend 2 months of that extension. You're now at 8 months in Thailand. the EARLIEST you can get the next extension would be 6 months from that if you have to leave for some reason and return. Which means it's impossible to get another extension in the same year. There are only 12 months in a year and the earliest your scenario would want another extension is month 14.Luit *****************
@Brandon ***********
you are not right, when I get extension in february 2025, I use 2 months of that extension, leave april 2025, come back may 2025, then I need extension again in november 2025.So 2 extensions, both in 2025 and only 9 months between them.
Maxim ***********
@Luit ****************
Leaving the country is NOT an extension, and it reset the 6 months.Luit *****************
@Maxim **********
????? Where did I tell something about leaving the country is an extension? What do you want to tell?
Your comment has nothing at all to do with my post.
I only explain in which situations you will have 2 extensions in 1 year.
The period between the start of an extension and the start of the next extension is made up of the part you use of the first extension before you go out of the country, added to the period you are out of the country, and the 180 days you then get again when you enter the country.
That 180 days is a fixed amount.
But if the part of the first extension that you use, along with the period that you are out of the country is less than 185 days, then you may have 2 extensions in a year.
Maxim ***********
@Luit ****************
There is no such thing as 2 extensions in 1 year. You are confusing border run with extension. You said, and I quote "leave april 2025". the second that you leave, you come back on a NEW entry, therefore you are at 0 extension for that year (for that entry).Luit *****************
@Maxim **********
I do not confuse anything, you do not read correctly.Sure the second that I leave in april 2025 and come back in may 2025 that is a new entry, did I say it is not?
That new entry is valid for 180 days till november 2025, and at that moment I will need my SECOND extension of the year 2025, only 9 MONTHS after the first extension started in february 2025.
Maxim ***********
@Luit ****************
You are failing to understand that your November 2025 would be your FIRST eXtension of the year, not your 2nd. The second that you leave (April 2025), the year END in relation to your entry and past extension. it reset April 2025 upon coming back. Or, to make it simpler, ONE extension PER entry.Luit *****************
@Maxim **********
You obviously don't know the months in the year, or do not have the ability to count till 2.I talked about the first extension in february 2025, that is where the counting starts. November is still in the same year and only 9 months after february.
When I leave I will start with a new entry, and therefore get the right for a new extension, but me leaving Thailand does not restart a year.
Your quote "the year END in relation to your entry" is ridicoulous, a calender year does not end before December 31, and a year long period does not end before 12 months are passed.
So in 2025 I can have an extension in the month February and again in November. That is in the same calendar year and also within 12 months.
How hard can it be to understand?
Besides this is one of the reasons why visa regulations normally do not speak about years and months, but only mention days.
There is no rule you can have one extension a year, you can have one extension for each stay which is 180 days.
Maxim ***********
@Luit ****************
The counting start the Day you enter the country. You don't seem to have any knowledge about how the DTV work, or how extensions are calculated. Day 1 is your entry, which may or may not go to 365 days (extension at 180 days). It depend on you if you want to stay the full amount or do a quick border run and re-enter. What you can't do is extend in February and let's say August, without leaving the country.Luit *****************
"No, both extensions are NOT in the same calendar year"
Since when is February 2025 in a different calendar year than November 2025
I don't know what you did at your school time, but you were not there when the calendar was explained. The number 2025 on both dates is telling it is the same calendar year.
When you don't understand even this simple thing, I don't know how to explain.
When I have an extension starting in February and leave after a month it means the extension, which will be stamped in my passport will be gone when I levae the country? The extension ends, but it is not gone, and also clearly visible in my passport. When I come back the new entry will give me a new period of stay with a new possibility to extend, but it does not remove the February extension misteriously. The extension expired the moment I left the country, but expiring does not mean it does not exist.
A calendar year is always from January 1st till December 31, so the period you mention from April 2025 till December 2025 is not a calender year, nor a one year period, just a 9 month period, and the discussion is about YEAR.
Since when is February 2025 in a different calendar year than November 2025
I don't know what you did at your school time, but you were not there when the calendar was explained. The number 2025 on both dates is telling it is the same calendar year.
When you don't understand even this simple thing, I don't know how to explain.
When I have an extension starting in February and leave after a month it means the extension, which will be stamped in my passport will be gone when I levae the country? The extension ends, but it is not gone, and also clearly visible in my passport. When I come back the new entry will give me a new period of stay with a new possibility to extend, but it does not remove the February extension misteriously. The extension expired the moment I left the country, but expiring does not mean it does not exist.
A calendar year is always from January 1st till December 31, so the period you mention from April 2025 till December 2025 is not a calender year, nor a one year period, just a 9 month period, and the discussion is about YEAR.
Luit *****************
@Maxim **********
I exactly know how DTV work and in what case you can extend, that is simple, each stay of 180 days, you can extend with one extension of mnaximum 180 days.But now we talk about how many extensions you can have in ONE YEAR, and obviously you don't have knowledge about years and how you count months in a year.
A calender year starts at January first and ends at December 31, and a simple period of a year starts when you want it to start, and ends 12 months later.
In my example both extensions are in the same calender year.
Also both extensions are within the period of 1 year which starts counting the moment the first extension starts.
Of course you can argue you want that period start far before the first extension starts, but that is irrelevant for counting extensions in a one year period. I know before that first extension there was also a 180 day stay, but that has nothing to do with counting extensions in a year.
Maxim ***********
@Luit ****************
No, both extensions are NOT in the same calendar year. No, both extensions are NOT counting consecutively and does NOT start counting per your February extension. Each entry is UNIQUE and treated individually. There is no such thing as a February extension if you leave in April. Your new entry in 2025 will exclude February, so your entry calendar year will be from April 2025 to December 2025. 1 extension PER entry. Because the calendar year exclude previous entry and start counting the day you enter until December 31.Reply to
Maxim ***********
Reply
Samuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Brandon ***********
that was not my question, sorry if I didn’t clear the point. My visa got issued 4th October 2024
Will run out on 5th April 2025
If I extend on 5th April 2025 I can stay till October 2025.
Do I need to leave Thailand for the rest of 2025 since I extended my visa already in 2025?
Angeil ********
@Samuel *******
really good question. Your asking is it calendar year or 365 from entry stamp. I THINK you would then need to leave and come back on a new 180 day. Which could be amino vacation or a turn around trip somewhere closeSamuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTER@Angeil *******
yep, that’s what I was thinking aswell, but since all the guys here gave the same information I just think it works out as they say 😂Reply to
Samuel ********
Reply
Pete *******
@Samuel *******
your visa is valid for 5 years from date of issue. Every entry is for 180 days.Graham ******
@Samuel *******
no you leave and re-enter for a new 180 day stampSamuel ********
ORIGINAL POSTERReply to
Samuel ********
Reply
65 comments
2 years ago
7 comments
2 years ago
16 comments
2 years ago
4 comments
2 years ago
55 comments
2 years ago
5 comments
2 years ago
11 comments
2 years ago
34 comments
2 years ago
17 comments
2 years ago
6 comments
2 years ago
5 comments
2 years ago
22 comments
2 years ago
26 comments
2 years ago
20 comments
2 years ago
6 comments
2 years ago
8 comments
2 years ago
123 comments
2 years ago
1 comments
2 years ago
5 comments
2 years ago
45 comments
2 years ago
16 comments
2 years ago
95 comments
2 years ago
17 comments
2 years ago
16 comments
2 years ago
7 comments
a month ago
9 comments
a month ago
21 comments
a month ago
16 comments
a month ago
8 comments
a month ago
The ask:thailand community, consisting of multiple Q/A groups with over 100,000 members, powers this platform. It is not an official government resource. Our members actively contribute to this resource, and while we strive for accuracy, we cannot guarantee its complete reliability. Assistance to travelers is provided as a community service.