Immigration

We’ve all had to deal with immigration as we try to stay in Thailand for a couple of weeks up to the rest of our lives. It works, to some degree, but you wouldn’t be alone if you were admitted to being frustrated with the system! Most of us despise all the running around we must do in order to stay legal in the country, and some of us just don’t bother – overstaying for years and even decades at a time! It’s important to visit immigration in Phuket as necessary to avoid problems. Recently there were some changes to laws covering people overstaying their visas, and anyone caught doing it can face blacklisting from entering Thailand for years at a time, depending on how long they overstayed. Immigration is getting tougher. You can tell by their recent mantra, “Good guys in, bad guys out!” on their website. It’s getting harder to stay over the long-term. Non-immigrant O visas are getting more difficult too – recently a friend was rejected for a one-year visa to visit his daughter, and he could only get the single-entry visa for 90 days stay. Why? He wasn’t married. What’d he do then? He got married, that’s what! The local office of immigration in Phuket can do a few things for you. Most helpful is they can extend your visa exempt entry or tourist visa entry so you don’t need to exit Thailand to extend your stay. You can also do it online if you want, just go to their official website (below). Pretty helpful services, but often crowded at the office. There are so many expats living in Phuket! If you’re on a long-term visa like the non-immigrant O or B, you can check in every 90 days at the immigration in Phuket. This is required for most visas because immigration officials want to keep better track of foreigners in the country. The Phuket Immigration office is located on Phuket Road just east of Phuket Town, toward the ocean. Their official website is: PhuketImmigration.go.th.

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