How we stay in Thailand Long Term with a ‘B’ Type Multiple Entry Visa
The B Type Multiple entry visa for Thailand stamped in our passport
Staying in Thailand for over 30 days when you are under the retirement age isn’t the easiest process. Ask any younger traveler or Expat that lives here and you’ll here the same stories. ‘We spent hours at immigration’, ‘Visa runs are a nightmare…’ etc
However, our process has been a little easier.
We came here on a one year B type multiple entry visa (business visa) which sounds difficult to obtain but in reality it was quite simple.
To get a B Type Multiple Entry Visa for Thailand you’ll need the following things (For UK Residents):
A letter from a UK business saying they want to send you to Thailand to work. We used to do wedding photography in England but we never had a registered business, so what we did is used some letter headed paper from our ‘photography business’ and said ‘we’ wanted to send ‘us’ to Thailand to look into doing destination wedding photography as a business venture. That worked for us.
Or… This could be a totally fake document that you’ve made yourself on letter headed paper, honestly I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. That’s document 1.
The second thing you need:
Is an invitation letter from a real business in Thailand that’s related to your line of ‘work’. This one was a little harder to obtain because we weren’t living out in Thailand at the time. But we managed to convince a wedding tailor, with help from some friends that live out in Thailand, to write a letter on letter headed paper saying, “We would really love to work with … We intend to collaborate with … over the following year …. etc” and put a signature on it and send it it the post to us in the UK. They don’t have to pay anything.
That’s document 2.
The Third Thing you need:
The Thai Business needs to send or fax a copy of their company Affidavit. Most real companies will know what this document is, it is essentially a ‘sworn statement of fact’ from the director of the company that they are responsible and have all knowledge of the proceedings that occur within their business. Here is an example of a
* Since writing this post there are now some more additional papers required from the Thai company.
Copy of corporate registration documents from Thai company including:-
1) List of shareholders
2) Business registration and licence.
3) Company profile
4) Details of business operation
5) List of all foreign workers stating names, nationalities and positions
6) Map indicating location of company
7) Company Balance Sheet and Statements of Income Tax and Business Tax
(Por Ngor Dor 50 and Por Ngor Dor 30) for latest year
8) Alien Income Tax Return (Por Ngor Dor 91)
9) Value Added Tax Registration (Por Ngor Dor 20)
If the company is legitimate, then obtaining these papers shouldn’t be a problem.
The next step:
Once you’ve got your (fake or real) business letter from the UK and the Thai Business invitation from someone you can convince to write one for you, plus the company Affidavit letter and documents listed above, you’re sorted.
Download the Business
from the
. Fill it out, send the fee which was around 125 pounds at the time. Send your passport by recorded delivery in the post, with the 2 letters and you’ll have a stamped ‘B’ type visa in your passport that allows you to stay in Thailand for a whole 12 months. Under the pretense that you may or may not be doing some form of ‘business’ or research or conferencing for business out here during that time.
* Note – Since writing this post, B Type Visas can only be processed by the Royal Thai Embassy in London. So unless you live in Hull or some of the surrounding counties you are required to send your forms and documents to the London Embassy instead. Also there is talk that you may only be able to get a single entry version of this Visa soon, which means only 3 months to maximum 6 months in Thailand instead of 12-15 months. 🙁 (T.I.T = This is Thailand)
Royal Thai Embassy, London
Address:
Royal Thai Embassy, 29-30 Queen’s Gate,
London, SW7 5JB
Tel: 0207 589 2944 Ext. 5500 between 14.00-17.00hrs.
Fax: 0207 823 7492
Email: visa@thaiembassyuk.org.uk (for visa matters)
Reactivating the B Visa Every 90 Days (VISA RUNs)
We reactivate the B Type Visa every 90 days on a visa run to Mae Sai – Burma which costs 500 Baht per person.
Also you can extend its use up to 15 months if you do one final visa run just as the 12 month visa is about to expire. (I can confirm that this actually works as of March 2013) We have never had any issues with this process at the border and the officers don’t question the B type multiple entry at all.
The only catch with this visa type is that initially you have to actually be in England to apply for it and i’m not sure if there are similar processes in the U.S and other countries but I don’t see why not. But once you’ve accumulated the docs its processed within a few days. Getting your B Visa extended is a different story, at present we are not exactly sure how it works. But from the information we have gathered so far, if you haven’t somehow managed to get a work permit in the 15 months you have been living in Thailand, you’ll have to return to the UK and do this process again.
*Other Useful information
The Real Cost of Living in Chiang Mai – We break down how much we spent in one month back in 2012
Pet Friendly Hotels in Thailand? – Looking for Pet Friendly Hotels in other parts of Thailand?
Bringing a dog to Thailand – The ins and outs of Exporting a dog from the UK to Thailand.
Info we have categorized under Pets – Other Posts Related to Edens Dog Life in Thailand. Including cute dog videos and some Pet Friendly Hotel reviews too.
_________________________________________________________________
Did you find this post helpful? Thank us with Coffee and Cake
We both love coffee! Why not ^treat us^ to a cafe lunch if you found this info useful.
Jmayel, Sacha & Eden El-Haj
