Reminder on re-entry permits

PHUKET TOWN: The Phuket Provincial Immigration Office (PPIO) has issued a reminder to foreigners with one-year permits to stay that they must get a re-entry stamp in their passports before taking a trip out of the country – or go right back to square one. Pol Capt Krissarat Nuesen of the PPIO told the Gazette “When they have a one-year permit or while they are waiting for approval of an application for one, they must get a re-entry stamp in order to keep the permit if they have to go out for any reason. “There have been many cases of people failing to do this before taking a trip abroad. They then lose all rights to the [long-stay] permit they have,” he added. This is even though the one-year stamp in a foreigner’s passport is accompanied by another that states, “Please contact the Immigration office for a re-entry permit before leaving Thailand.” Apparently, some people fail to notice this. Capt Krissarat said that permit holders could get a re-entry stamp either from the PPIO or from Immigration at the airport. “Normally, foreigners who are granted a one-year permit apply for a re-entry stamp at the same time.” There are two types of re-entry permit, he said. One is for a single trip and costs 1,000 baht and the other, for multiple trips, costs 3,800 baht. “The problem often stems from people, perhaps in their [workplace] personnel department, who help them in their dealings with government officials. These people are sometimes unaware of the need for a re-entry permit. “Once a foreigner loses the rights to a permit, he may have trouble getting back into Thailand at all, especially if he is from a country that is not on the visa-on-arrival list. “Even if he is allowed back in [on a tourist visa] he will have to go out again in order to get a new [non-immigrant] visa,” Capt Krissarat said. “This is all very complicated and causes the foreigner a big problem, which is why we are issuing this reminder.” Capt Krissarat also repeated a reminder of the necessity for foreigners on long-stay permits to report to Immigration every 90 days. “If they have been permitted to stay in Thailand more than 90 days, and they [plan to] stay longer than that, they must report to the PPIO 90 days from the date of the most recent entry into Thailand, and every 90 days thereafter,” he said.