Thailand Visa Extension: Adding 30 Days Without Leaving

A Thailand visa extension adds up to 30 days to a visa-exempt stay without leaving the country. You apply once at an immigration office in Thailand, pay 1,900 baht, and the officer decides. Since 15 Sep 2026, a US passport gets 30 days on entry, so 1 extension takes a stay to about 60. Here is who qualifies, how to apply, why extensions get refused, and when a run or a Tourist Visa fits better.

Who can extend a visa-exempt stay in Thailand

Thailand lets you extend a tourist stay without leaving the country, and since 15 Sep 2026 the rule for US passports is short: 30 days on entry, then 1 further period of up to 30 days if an officer agrees.

The same 30-day list covers the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, so the extension works the same way on those passports. Thailand stops at 1 further period, while a Philippines extension adds 29 days to a first 30-day visa-free stay and longer extensions can follow it (Bureau of Immigration).

Thailand visa extension fee, form and deadline

As of October 2026, an extension of temporary stay costs 1,900 baht per application, a fee set by Ministerial Regulation No. 27 of 2003 (Samut Prakan Immigration). The form is the TM.7, and you file it with a copy of your passport at an immigration office in Thailand.

Your case may need more papers than those. The Immigration Bureau website, immigration.go.th, lists current requirements (Royal Thai Embassy, London), and its 1178 call center has an English service.

You have to apply before the end of your permitted period of stay (Royal Thai Embassy, Doha), and that period ends on the date printed on your entry stamp. File a few days early rather than on the last day, so a missing document still leaves time to come back.

How to extend your stay at a Thai immigration office

Extending a visa-exempt stay, start to finish

1. Read the last permitted date on your entry stamp and pick a filing day several days before it.
2. Check the current requirements on the Immigration Bureau website, or call 1178.
3. Fill in form TM.7 and make a copy of your passport.
4. Go to the office on your filing day with your passport, the copy and 1,900 baht.
5. Read the new permitted date you are given before you leave the office.
6. Book your way out of Thailand for that date or earlier.

Go by the date on your stamp, not your own count of days. The extension sets a ceiling of 30 extra days, and the date you are given at the office is the one you leave by.

Invented for illustration, under the rules as of October 2026. Sam holds a US passport and lands in Bangkok on Tue 10 Nov 2026.

• Entry stamp. 30 days, with Wed 9 Dec printed as the last permitted day.
• Filing, Thu 3 Dec. Sam files TM.7 with a passport copy and pays 1,900 baht, 6 days before the stamp date.
• Decision. The officer grants the extension. It can add at most 30 days past 9 Dec, so Sam’s new date is no later than Fri 8 Jan 2027.
• Result. Up to 60 days in Thailand, 10 Nov to 8 Jan, for 1,900 baht and 1 office visit.
• The run Sam skipped. Crossing to Laos and back on 9 Dec would have used 1 of the 2 visa-exempt land entries for 2026, needed a new TDAC and proof of travel out by 7 Jan, and given a stay to Thu 7 Jan 2027 only if the officer admitted Sam.

Why a Thai extension gets refused

The extension is the officer’s call, not a right, and a record of border runs weighs against it. The Immigration Bureau measure against repeat visa runs at the border also covers the extension counter: in November 2025, provincial offices were told to be stricter with foreigners who have a history of in-out runs and then apply to extend. Where such a history turns up, the stay is not extended, or the visa is revoked after authorization and the person deported (Royal Thai Embassy, The Hague).

If the officer says no, the date on your entry stamp still stands, and you leave by it. Filing early gives you days, not hours, to book a way out.

Should you extend, do a visa run or get a Tourist Visa?

An extension fits when:

• You are already in Thailand and need up to 30 more days.
• Your stamp date is still days away, with time to file and go back if the office asks for more.
• You have no string of recent in-out runs in your travel history.
• You would rather not cross a border and face the entry checks again.

Pick something else when:

• You know before you fly that 30 days is too short. A Tourist Visa from thaievisa.go.th costs US citizens USD 40 for a single entry and allows up to 60 days (Royal Thai Consulate-General, Chicago). An immigration office in Thailand can extend that stay by up to 30 days if the officer agrees, for up to 90 days in all (Royal Thai Embassy, Copenhagen).
• You need more than about 60 days in all. The exemption plus 1 extension stops there, and staying on means leaving and a new decision at the border.
• Your stamp date has passed. There is nothing left to extend, and you pay the overstay fine as you leave.

A run gives a new stay of up to 30 days instead of adding to the old one, and since 15 Sep 2026 a Thailand visa run over land counts toward a cap of 2 visa-exempt land-border entries per calendar year.

Option	Extra time	Cost	Where and when	Best when
Extension of stay	Up to 30 days, once per entry	1,900 baht	Immigration office in Thailand, by your stamp date	You are in Thailand and need up to 30 more days
Land border run	A new stay of up to 30 days	Your travel	Land checkpoint, out and back, with a new TDAC	Your extension is used up and you have a land entry left this year
Tourist Visa	Up to 60 days on 1 entry	USD 40	thaievisa.go.th, before you travel	You know before the trip that 30 days is too short