A re-entry permit is about preserving an existing permission to stay when you travel. It does not add immigration time and it is not a substitute for an extension.
The current supported procedure uses TM.8 and the document packet shown below. The most important rule is that the permit preserves remaining existing permission across qualifying travel.
It does not extend the permitted-until date. If you need more time in Thailand, that is a separate extension-of-stay question.
Start from the immigration permission you are trying to preserve and its remaining validity. A re-entry permit solves a travel problem: leaving Thailand and returning without losing the relevant existing stay under the supported framework.
The re-entry permission follows the remaining period of the existing permission to stay.
This is why extension and re-entry should be planned separately: one asks for more time, while the other protects time you already have.
Reviewed official guidance
Preserve the remaining permission to stay when leaving Thailand and returning before that permission expires.
The re-entry permission follows the remaining period of the existing permission to stay. This is preservation of the existing stay, not an extension of stay.
Single permit
1,000 THB
Multiple permit
3,800 THB
Application form
TM.8
Passport is listed as an application document.
Completed TM.8 application for re-entry permit.
One 4 x 6 cm photograph attached to the TM.8 application.
A useful order is: identify the stay you currently hold, check its remaining validity, decide whether you need one return or repeated travel, and complete the relevant re-entry step before relying on that permission for your return.
Travel can also change the separate 90-Day Reporting clock. That reporting rule does not replace the re-entry analysis.
Re-entry permit
≠Extension of stay
A re-entry permit preserves existing permission across travel; an extension asks for additional permitted time.
Re-entry permit
≠90-Day Reporting
One concerns travel and stay preservation; the other is periodic residence reporting.
Permit fee
≠Extra stay time
Paying for a re-entry permit does not add days to your existing permission.
Re-entry application
≠Extension application
These are separate immigration procedures; use the form and checklist authorized for the procedure you are actually completing.
Leaving Thailand before checking what happens to the permission you intend to keep.
Treating a re-entry permit as a way to extend the permitted-until date.
Choosing single versus multiple only by price rather than the actual travel pattern.
Mixing re-entry documents with a separate extension-of-stay checklist.
Assuming TM30 or 90-Day Reporting preserves an existing stay across travel.
Using an old fee or form list instead of the current represented procedure.
Common questions
First confirm that you need to preserve an existing permission to stay across travel. Then use the current authorized application form and document checklist shown on this page and complete the applicable re-entry step before relying on that stay for your return.
The current reviewed official guidance lists the single re-entry permit fee as 1,000 THB.
The current reviewed official guidance lists the multiple re-entry permit fee as 3,800 THB.
The current reviewed official guidance identifies TM.8 as the re-entry permit application form.
Official source
Use Chat after you know the general preserve-not-extend rule and need to map it to your current permission, departure and return.
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