Canadians who just show up in Thailand are usually given a 30 day tourist visa without any hassles, or so I’m told. But given how I’m heading there for two months, I require a visa that is valid for a longer than normal duration.
Generally people in my scenario can simply do a visa run, where basically you exit the country and return a short while later. In Buenos Aires most people would simply head over to Uruguay for the day and obtain a new 90 day visa upon return.
But truthfully, I didn’t really want to have to worry about that while in Thailand, so I decided to get it all done beforehand. In most major cities visas can be acquired at each country’s respective consolate. So I went down to the Thai Consulate in Vancouver the other day and started the process.
To apply for a visa to Thailand, you need the following:
- Two passport sized photos
- Proof of travel to and from Thailand
- A passport that extends at least six months past your departure from Thailand
- Proof that you’ll be able to fund yourself while in the country (usually a bank statement showing your name and funds available
- A completed visa application
- The application fee ($35 CAD in my case)
The lady at the counter at the Thai consolate in Vancouver was really nice, and the process was completely painless. I actually didn’t print physical proof of funds available, but I had a PDF available on my phone of a recent bank statement and figured I could simply head down to Staples and print it out if in a bind. Thankfully they never asked for it though.
They were unable to process debit or credit cards at the consolate, so make sure you bring cash to pay the application fee. I had to run across the street to a 7-11 to use a bank machine so that I could pay for mine.
They’ll do a quick spot check on the information, and then give you a receipt and ask that you come back the next day (or up to three days later I believe). I just got back from the Thai consulate in Vancouver, and am now the proud owner of a Thai visa which I assume is valid for 60 days (which is what was supposed to happen).
Thai Visa
So I should be covered in the event that I spend my entire time in Thailand without leaving the country at any point. I could have also applied for a visa extension while in Thailand, but given how I have a bit of time and live close to the consolate, I just figured it was worth sorting out beforehand.
Congratulations on obtaining your Thailand visa!
Nice… just one thing to note about the Thai visa. You’ve got a single entry visa (the ‘S’ under “No. of Entry”) which I believe means that you won’t be able to leave and come back on the same visa. So if you left within the first 30 days and then came back you’d only be given an additional 30 days stay (or 15 if you enter by land), not the full 60 days of your visa. Make sense? So basically, just don’t leave the country within the first 30 days and it should be all good.
Obviously if you were planning on doing that, you wouldn’t have needed to get a visa at all though :).
Hmm, that’s good to know about the No of Entry. That’s odd though, they never asked me about that and there was nothing on the application to deal with it either.