Staying longer in Thailand: extensions and re-entry

You apply in person at the immigration office of the area where you stay. In Phuket, that is Phuket Immigration.

• Address: 482 Phuket Rd., Talad Yai, Mueang, Phuket 83000.
• Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:30. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Source: the office’s Google listing, read on 13 November 2026. The official contact page also says it is closed on national public holidays.
• Phone: +66 76 221 905. Hotline: 1178.
• Closure: the Phuket Immigration site announces a closure from 5 to 7 December 2026.

See the page “Phuket Immigration: office, hours and what to bring” for the Patong office and the online queue.

Arriving in Thailand: visa exemption and visa on arrival

The 30-day exemption: yes, by up to 30 days, according to three Royal Thai embassies. The 2026 notices and the Ministry’s sheet do not mention an extension.

• The embassy in Washington, D.C. states that the 30-day stay can be extended by another period of up to 30 days. It says the extension is solely at the discretion of the immigration officer (page updated 17 September 2026).
• The embassies in Brussels (page updated 10 November 2026) and in London (no date on the page) also give up to 30 days.
• You apply to the Immigration Bureau once you are in Thailand, not at an embassy (embassy in Washington, D.C., FAQ updated 1 September 2026).
• Apply before your permitted stay ends. The embassy in Doha (page updated 16 September 2026) lists, as a general condition of the exemption schemes, that a stay can be extended at the officer’s discretion and that the request must be made before the permitted stay ends.

The 15-day exemption (Seychelles, Mauritius). The Doha condition covers the exemption schemes in general. No official page found gives a number of days for the 15-day exemption.

Reader note. Extension of the 15-day visa exemption, and how early to apply, to be confirmed, 13 November 2026. The Royal Thai Embassy in Doha (page updated 16 September 2026) says a stay can be extended at the discretion of the immigration officer, if the request is made before the permitted stay ends. No official page found says how many days an extension adds for the new 15-day exemption. Official pages say to apply before the permitted stay ends but give no earliest date. Until this note is removed, confirm with a Royal Thai embassy or Phuket Immigration before you travel.

Fee. The Immigration Bureau’s Division 1 fee page (no date shown) gives 1,900 baht for an extension. Its handbook on extending a stay for tourism, dated 2019 and also uploaded in the July 2026 folder of the Tak immigration site, gives the same 1,900 baht. None of the embassy pages gives a fee.

Form and documents. The 2019 handbook asks for:

• your passport, the original and one copy;
• form TM.7, one original, with a photo attached;
• “The Acknowledgement of Penalties for a Visa Overstay”, one original.

Phuket Immigration’s forms page also lists form TM.7 (no date shown).

How it goes. The 2019 handbook says to apply in person, Monday to Friday except official holidays, 08.30 to 16.30, with a lunch break. It gives a total time of 40 minutes once the officer has checked that your documents are complete.

Each time a new application. The Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (section 35, undated copy on Phuket Immigration’s site) says an application is made each time an extension is requested.

No 2026 text repeats the form, the document list or the timing. Confirm them with Phuket Immigration before your permitted stay ends.

Reader note. Number of extensions allowed, and terms of the e-Extension service, to be confirmed, 13 November 2026. No official page found says that an extension of a tourist stay can be requested only once. The Immigration Act says an application is made each time an extension is requested. The e-Extension service is run through an operator site linked from the Phuket Airport Immigration site, and no Immigration Bureau page found sets out its terms or fees. Until this note is removed, confirm with Phuket Immigration before you apply.

Tourist visa. A tourist visa (tourism and leisure) gives a stay of 60 days, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of visa types (file named 18.06.2025). An older Ministry page, updated in 2022, says a holder of a 60-day tourist visa may be allowed another 30 days, on application at any immigration office before the permit runs out. No 2026 text repeats this. Confirm with Phuket Immigration.

Other visas. The Immigration Bureau’s “Visa Extension” page lists 37 cases, among them business, investment, tourism, retirement, family of a Thai national and medical treatment. Each case has its own criteria and documents. The handbooks for marriage or family of a Thai national ask for proof of the relationship, proof of the Thai spouse’s nationality and a financial test; the retirement handbook asks for evidence of income or a bank certificate (Immigration Bureau compilation dated 2019, uploaded in the July 2026 folder of the Tak immigration site). The amounts are not given here: check them with Phuket Immigration.

Visa on arrival. The embassy in Doha (page updated 16 September 2026) says visa on arrival holders generally cannot apply for an extension, except for illness that prevents travel. The embassy in London (no date on the page) says the same. In such cases, an application may be submitted to the Immigration Bureau.

If you leave without one. The Immigration Bureau’s Division 1 re-entry page (no date shown) says that if you leave Thailand without a re-entry permit, your permission to stay is considered terminated. Section 39 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (undated copy on Phuket Immigration’s site) says the same, and that a re-entry permission granted before leaving keeps the rest of the authorised time. No 2026 text repeats this. Confirm with a Royal Thai embassy or Phuket Immigration.

Who can apply: a foreigner allowed to stay temporarily, with a visa stamp in a valid passport, who is not an inadmissible person under Section 12 of the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (re-entry handbook, 2019). The handbook says the permit is granted “in accordance with the remaining permitted period of stay”.

Where:

• in person at the immigration office of the area where you stay; in Phuket, that is Phuket Immigration;
• or at Passport Control (International Departures) at the airport, on the day you leave, says the Division 1 re-entry page (no date shown).

What to bring, Phuket list (Phuket Immigration’s re-entry manual, no date shown): your passport (original); form TM.8 with a photo of 4 x 6 cm taken within the last 6 months; the departure card TM.6, original and a copy certified by you; agency documents if a travel bar applies to you. The Division 1 page (no date shown) also asks for copies of the passport pages: bio data, expiry, last entry stamp and extension stamp.

Fee: 1,000 baht for a single entry, 3,800 baht for multiple entries (Phuket manual and Division 1). Phuket’s manual gives a total time of 50 minutes. The officer stamps the permit in your passport after you pay. The fee is not refunded, even if the application is not approved (re-entry handbook, 2019).

1. Note the last day of your permitted stay.It is in your passport.
2. Prepare form TM.7 with a photo,your passport and a copy, and the overstay acknowledgement form (2019 handbook).
3. Go to Phuket Immigration on a weekday, before your permitted stay ends.Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:30 (Google listing, read on 13 November 2026).
4. Pay the fee,1,900 baht.
5. Check the new datestamped in your passport before you leave the counter.
6. Leaving Thailand and coming back?Get a re-entry permit before you go, at Phuket Immigration or at the airport on the day you leave.

The Immigration Bureau’s Division 1 fee page (no date shown) and its handbooks dated 2019 give the first three fees; Phuket’s re-entry manual gives the same re-entry fees. The Division 1 FAQ gives the overstay fine.