THAILAND VISA FOR FOREIGNERS WHO WORKING - LIVING IN VIETNAM

As a next-door neighbor to Vietnam, famous for golden pagodas and delicious street foods, Thailand is an ideal place of many foreign tourists, especially those who attempt to discover the whole Indochina area. Moreover, Thai government has many favourable policies for foreign investors, workers and entrepreneurs into the country to boost the economy’s growth. Therefore, many foreigners travelling, working or investing in Vietnam are interested in visiting the Kingdom of Thailand too. In addition, it is sometimes easier for foreigners to obtain visa from Vietnam rather than from their home countries. In the following part, visa5s will guide you through how to get a visa to Thailand right here in Vietnam without going back to your countries.

HOW MANY TYPES OF THAILAND VISA?

1. Tourist visa: issued to foreigners entering for tourism purposes. Single-entry visa is valid for 3 months while the multiple-entry one is 6 months. Both grant a 60-day stay upon each entry.

2. SMART visa: issued to foreign experts, investors, startups, entrepreneurs and senior executives working in target industries designated by Thai government. With a SMART visa, you are allowed to stay up to 4 years and entitled to many additional privileges.

3. Transit visa: issued to foreigners travelling in transit through Thailand in order to enter another country or go back to their country; sportsmen or sportswomen; and crew of conveyance to port, station or any other area in Thailand. This visa is valid for 3 months with a stay of up to 30 days per entry.

4. Visa on arrival: issued for tourism purpose to visitors from 19 countries and territories. Holders of this visa are allowed a 15-day stay per entry without extension.

5. Non-immigration visa: for foreigners coming to Thailand for studying, participating internships, attending business meetings, working, and teaching. The validity is 3 months with a permission to stay up to 90 days. People who are over 50 years old planning to stay long term in Thailand (but less than a year) can apply for this visa as well as long as they report their residence to the authority every 3 months.

NOTICES BEFORE APPLYING THAILAND VISA

1. Thai government has policies of visa exemption for citizens of many countries with certain circumstances. Therefore, you should check out whether your country is granted an exemption before preparing for a visa application to save time and money.

2. Not all countries apply for the same application. Citizens of several countries are required to provide additional documents and they must meet certain conditions regulated by the government of Thailand in order to obtain the visa. For that reason, you should check out if your country is in the list of nations required additional papers and whether your purpose of entry fulfils the set-forth conditions.

3. You do not have to make an appointment to apply for Thai visa.

4. Officers at the Consulate may request an interview, demand for additional documents or reject your application if needed. In case you cannot supplement the dossiers or attend the interview, the processing time for approval of the application can be postponed or called off.

5. All documents must be in or translated into English/Thai. Those are issued by Vietnamese authorities must be translated into English and legalized at Department of Foreign Affairs in Ha Noi/Ho Chi Minh City with at least 6-month validity.

CONDITIONS FOR THAILANDS VISA FOR FOREIGNERS WHO ARE WORKING AND LIVING IN VIETNAM

Citizens from the following countries can apply for visa at the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City if they have residence in Vietnam or meet certain conditions.

If not, applicants must apply for visa in their home countries.

Requirements	Countries	Where to submit application
Having residence in Vietnam	- People’s Republic of China - Bangladesh - India - Nepal - Pakistan - Sri Lanka - Algeria - Egypt - Iran - Lebanon - Libya - Palestine - Syria - Yemen - Central African Republic - Cameroon - Republic of Congo - Democratic Republic of Congo - Equatorial Guinea - Guinea - Ghana - Liberia - Nigeria - Sao Tome and Principe - Sierra Leone - Somalia - Sudan	At the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City
Approval from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand	- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - Iraq	At the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City
- Having residence in Vietnam - Approval from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand	- Afghanistan	At the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City

HOW FOREIGNERS PREPARE DOCUMENTS FOR A VISA TO THAILAND?

Except for SMART Visa which requires a different procedure for application and visa on arrival applying online, applicant of other visas must send all their dossiers to the Royal Thai Consulate. In the following, we will instruct you to prepare tourist and business visa – the two most common visas to Thailand for foreigners in Vietnam.

General requirements:

Passport or travel document with validity not less than 6 months
Visa application form completely filled out
Recent (4 x 6 cm.) photograph
Copy of round-trip air ticket

Specific requirements for tourist visa:

Evidence of accommodation (e.g.: hotel booking)
Bank statement within 3 months and financial evidence
For those applying 6-month tourist visas, Vietnam Temporary Resident Card and Vietnam Work Permit are also required.