Like Tod said, you can get as much as 9 months out of a METV, however, you need to enter Thailand as soon as you receive it. Weeks not having entered is weeks lost at the end of the expiration date, where you can do the last re-entry.
It would be good if you said if you've gotten a Single-Entry Tourist visa, obtained at an embassy, or if you got a visa-exemption stamp, and how many you've gotten so far. Your post only mentions "tourist visa," which means a SETV/TR.
You're allowed two visa-exemption stamps per calendar year by land. Extension is an extra 30 days, WITHOUT having to leave the country. Doing a border run for a new VE gives you 45 days, with the possibility for a 30-day extension. Why wouldn't you get the extension? It's 40% of the visa.
Flying out and getting a tourist visa at an embassy requires a bunch of time, money and effort. You might not even get it (good chance you will if your passport isn't filled with visas/stamps). And it'll give you 60 days, with possibility to extend another 30 days. You also have to pay 1,900฿ twice, and can't get many.
An option would be to leave the country to get the Non-Immigrant ED visa at an embassy, but I guess the documents would be different than the documents to switch in-country?
Either way, all this is mixed up. OP applied for studying at a school very late.
I think Brandon meant about leaving the country before getting the MOE letter and documents, since he says leaving the country during the process could create issues.
However, even if OP gets the documents in time, he got his extension Tuesday, so he wouldn't have the needed 15 or 21 remaining on his extension to do the switch to the ED visa. Difficult to say if getting a new VE would or wouldn't create issues (different visa, entry stamp, and TM30 than the documents).
Yeah, but I meant, even if he were to have all the ED documents ready in less than two weeks, he would still need 15 or 21 days remaining on his extension to switch to the ED visa. OP said he did his VE extension last Tuesday. So Brandon's suggestion that he still has a month left is incorrect/misleading.
Along with the three things Tod mentioned, if you vacation in Vietnam, or somewhere else for a few weeks, that might slightly increase your chances, and make you look like a tourist.
First, if you want to get 9 months out of your visa, you need to enter as soon as you get it. Do the calculations yourself:
- METV is valid for 6 months, need to enter and re-enter within those 6 months
- 60 days per entry with possibility to extend another 30 days
I'd say you probably won't be able to get 9 months out of your METV (you would be able to get two visa-exemption stamps per calendar year by land, though).
Second, if your girlfriend still hasn't gotten her visa, the time used up to get her visa is eating away at the time of your METV.
Third, if your girlfriend gets her visa a few weeks after yours, the timing of your border runs will be different. You will have to do your border runs separately, or one of you will have to lose a few weeks from the total time of their visa.
Fourth, another option is to get a SETV, which gives you 60 days, and the possibility to extend for another 30 days for 1,900฿ at immigration. You can wait before entering, because there are no re-entries. Then, you are allowed 2 visa-exemption stamps per calendar year by land, which since October 1st gives you 45 days, and the possibility to extend for another 30 days.
I've given you all the information you need, to do the math according to your travel plans.
