Thailand E Visa For Indian Tourists | Complete Guide

Thailand is one of the most tourist friendly destinations in South East Asia. In order to facilitate seamless experience to the ever increasing number of visitors, Thailand e Visa was introduced which has been a runaway success. However, the popularity brought in more and more visitors and my personal experience is what I am going to recount.

Thailand Visa on Arrival Process Earlier

A few years ago, on a Christmas Eve, when I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport of Thailand in an early morning flight, I was a bit disoriented with lack of sleep. Also that was the first time I travelled to another country without a Visa. I was assured by a friend that ‘Visa On Arrival’ is a simple process and it would not take much time. Armed with an application form I downloaded from the internet and a couple of passport size photographs, I disembarked from the plane and started to look for the Visa On Arrival (VOA) counter.

Crowd at the Counter

Although I could locate the sign board, I was dumbstruck at the multitude of people milling around the same. More and more tourists, often in large groups started rushing towards the counter almost pushing me aside. That was the time I realized the gravity of the situation that was unfolding in front of me. I decided to play along and swam through the unruly crowd to find a table where I could get my documents arranged in order and fished out two THB 1000 bills. By the time I finished this I realized that the queue had grown so long that I had to walk back almost 50 steps behind to join it.

Near Stampede Situation

I could see the queue getting longer by the minute behind me and I had almost a hundred red eyed passengers waiting for their turn at one of the three counters operational. The immigration staff was visibly annoyed at the crowd that seemed slightly undisciplined at the ungodly hour. It was almost an hour when I was standing at the counter thinking that I would get my passport stamped with the well-earned Visa just when Jesus Christ was a few hours old. However, my ordeal of standing in queue was far from over when my file that was sent inside and I was asked to be seated till my name is called out.

Entry into Thailand

As the few seats found was already occupied with red eyed humans that yawned continuously, and you know yawning is contagious, I leaned against the wall watching the lady from back office calling out names of those whose files have been processed. I for a moment could not stop imagining a nurse coming out of the labour room and yelling out ‘it’s a girl’. After having waited for about half an hour, my name was called by the same shrill voiced staff in a manner unknown to me before, and I got my Visa. What I was not realizingwas the time I am going to take waiting at the immigration queue. Well that was an ordeal of about half an hour or so and finally, I was wheeling through the arrival hall half dead, hungry and pissed off.

What’s New in Thailand E Visa aka eVOA?

Cut to the year 2019. After experiencing more than expected footfall due to the ongoing promotion with waiver of fees of fees for Visa On Arrival, the Thailand Government has come up with a novel scheme in order to make obtaining Visa On Arrival a breeze, and have launched Thailand E-Visa for travellers from 21 countries. And what’s more, the Visa fees per -se stands waived off till 30 October 2019 however a processing fee of THB 600 will still be charged by their Visa Processing partner VFS Global.

Eligible Nationalities

Thailand E-Visa,  E-VOA facility is available for Nationals of the following 21 countries:

1. Andorra
2. Bulgaria
3. Kingdom of Bhutan
4. Peoples Republic of China
5. Cyprus
6. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
7. The Republic of Fiji Island
8. Republic of India
9. Kazakhstan
10. Latvia
11. Lithuania
12. Maldives
13. Malta
14. Mauritius
15. Papua New Guinea
16. Romania
17. San Marino
18. Saudi Arabia
19. Taiwan-China
20. Ukraine
21. Uzbekistan

Salient features of Thailand E Visa

• Passport with at least 30 days validity from the date of arrival will be required
• Single applicant or a family of 2-10 members can avail eVOA
• Valid for 15 days only (including days of arrival/departure)
• Regular Visa Fees THB 2000 + THB 600 (Service Fee)- Total THB 2600 and involves 24-72 hours processing time. (Interior Ministry of Thailand has exempted the VOA fee of THB 2000 till 31 October 2019. So you pay only THB 600 towards eVOA procesing)
• Express Visa incurs a Service Fee of THB 2500 so the Total is THB 4500 and a Visa decision within 24 hours is guaranteed.
• Proof of finances of minimum THB 10000 per individual/ THB 20000 per family for living expenses while in Thailand.

Where To Get The Visa From?

Thailand Government has a tie-up with the Visa facilitator giant VFS Global for processing the eVOA applications however, the right to issue/reject a Visa rests with the Thai Embassy only. Once granted eVisa On Arrival is sent to the applicant(s) by email.

How to Apply?

 

Click

https://thailandevoa.vfsevisa.com/thailand/online/home/index

The main page of the Official Thailand E-Visa, E VOA Website of VFS Global opens. Read guidelines given under ‘How to Apply’ drop down menu. Once you are clear about the procedure, click the ‘Apply Now’ button.

 

Registration

You will be taken to the registration page as shown below. Fill in the details and click ‘register’. An activation link will be sent to the email address you used to register. Click the activation link and you will be logged in.

Step 1 Eligibility Criteria

Now the actual process of application begins with step 1 – Eligibility Criteria in which you have to select nationality, details of single/family applicants and option for regular/ Express Visa Service as per time in hand before the journey. After correctly entering all details, click ‘save and continue’. You can also ‘save and continue later’ if required by clicking the button on the top right hand corner.

 

Express eVisa Service

For an additional fee of THB 2500 you can get guaranteed eVisa on Arrival decision withing 24 hours. This is particularly useful if you are travelling in short notice. Check the box if you want to opt for this service. If your travel is falling within 24 hours of submitting this application, Express eVisa option will be automatically selected.

 

 

Click Save and Continue.

 

Step 2: Applicant Details

 

Personal Information

In this page you need to fill in basic details including name(s), date of birthe, passport number, address etc

 

Once you fill in the basic details, click Save and Continue. The travel information page will open.

Travel Information

 

In the ‘Travel Information’ page you need to enter your onward and return journey details of all passengers including purpose of visit. Ensure that your return journey is within 15 days of your arrival.

 

Once you click save and continue after filling in the details, the document upload page will appear. I hope you are liking my way of explaining things to you. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to message me in the comment box. I shall revert as soon as possible with the info sought by you. Moving ahead, let us see the most tiresome part of this process, document upload. Click Save and Continue.

 

Document Upload

 

It is advisable that the following documents are kept in a separate folder on your desktop for ease of uploading. Please keep in mind that the format and size of document files have to be as specified below. If you try to upload any other file the uploading will fail. For conversion and resizing of your documents yu can use one of the numerous online tools available. These are the documents that are needed to kept ready,

 

Documents Required To Be Kept Ready

 

♥ Scanned Cover Page of Passport  Jpeg file up to 1024k

♥ Scanned Bio Page of Passport Jpeg file up to 1024kb

♥ Air Ticket showing Onward and Return journey within 15 days Pdf file up to 100Kb

♥ Booking Voucher of confirmed Hotel Stay Pdf file up to 100Kb

♥ Photographs Size 4cm X 6cm Jpeg file up to 1024kb

 

The Documents upload page will look like this,

Once you click the ⇑Choose file button, the following page will appear. You can use the Browse & Upload the button to upload the documents. Once you press the verify and upload button the document gets saved in the server. Upload all documents by repeating the above steps. I would recommend you to read all the instructions that appear thoroughly . In any case you can come back and review your entries before paying the Visa fees. Click Save and Continue.

 

Accommodation Details

After successfully uploading all documents save and then the ‘Accommodation Details’ section opens as below.

Fill in the Hotel booking details and address of the property and click Save and Continue.

Then check the box in the ‘Disclaimer’ page after reading it and Save and Continue to proceed to payments page. The following page will appear.

Check the amount and click Confirm and Continue to Pay

If you chose normal process the following page will appear

If you chose Express Mode the following page will appear

 You can choose either the Credit or Debit Card option in Visa/MasterCard/UnionPay variants and complete the payment as below

 

Fill in credit/debit card details and complete the transaction.

Things To Note Regarding Payment

♥Make sure your Credit/Debit card is enabled to carry out international transactions. If you are not sure call your card provider customer care for help.

♥ Payment will be in Thai Baht only. Your bank may levy additional currency conversion charges

♥ In case of any suspended/unsuccessful transactions do not fill fresh application or attempt  payment again. Instead call Help Desk at the following,

VFS  e-mail account info.evoath@vfsglobal.com

Customers in China to contact thaivisa.CHINA@vfsglobal.com

India toll free number – 1800-266-3930

China call centre helpline: +86 (0) – 20-28292272

 

Step 3 Downloading eVOA

Once your application is processed you will receive your eVOA in Pdf form. You can print it and also save it in mobile phone for ready reference. And, Voila! Your Thailand E Visa is complete. Go, enjoy Thailand 🙂

 

Entering Thailand with eVOA | Thailand E-Visa

On arrival at the Thailand airport walk up to the ‘Visa On Arrival’ area and present your Passport and eVOA copy along with the Arrival/Departure Card issued by your airline before landing, at the dedicated counter for eVOA. You will be cleared within minutes and you can proceed to the immigration area. As per some of the latest inputs the process at the eVOA counter is completed within 10 minutes. Please do write to me your experience so that it can help more readers of Travelling Sands. 

If you are tight on budget, there are two cheaper options of Visa On Arrival to Thailand

And if you  have adequate time and are located in any of the cities where VFS Global/ Thailand Embassy are located here is the advance Visa Option https://travellingsands.com/do-you-want-to-enter-thailand-like-a-vip-get-this-visa/

And yes, I am waiting for your feedback about this post. Cheers !!

 

About The Guest Blogger – Maheswari aka M

Having travelled within India and abroad with her husband and children, Maheswari has fallen in love with travelling. Her spouse’s career has taken her to scores of remote and beautiful places that are yet to be explored by travellers. She has also developed a niche for herself as a budget traveller, especially to international destinations. Thailand is M’s current area of focus.

         M intends to share her travel experiences & started with travelling sands, for she believes – Experience, before the lapse of time!

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