IMPORTANT ADVICE – File Your TM.30 (or you won’t get your full ED visa extension)
Are you studying Thai at a language school with the ED visa?
Do you have to extend your visa at Immigration?
If your answer is yes to any of the questions above, you must file the TM.30.
What is the TM.30?
The TM.30 is the “Notification Form For House-Master, Owner Or The Possessor Of The Residence Where Alien Has Stayed”.
No, we didn’t make that up.
Here’s the actual form:
The owner or lease holder of any premises in Thailand must report the presence of any foreigner who stays overnight at their premises within 24 hours of the foreigner’s arrival.
Failure to report may result in a 800 baht fine and refusal by the Immigration department to grant the ED visa applicant the full extension.
It has been a rule in the Thai Immigration Act since 1979, but it was never enforced until recently.
Who needs to file the TM.30?
Every foreigner living in Thailand needs to file the TM.30.
Check if your landlord has filed the TM.30.
If it has been filed, ask for a receipt and bring it with you when applying for your extension.
If not, continue reading.
There are 4 ways to file a TM.30 form:
- Your landlord does it for you (either in person or online).
- You do it on behalf of your landlord. This requires a copy of the landlord’s Thai ID, copy of the house book listing for where you stay, and power of attorney form from your landlord stating you are allowed to file the TM.30 for them (and two 5 baht tax stamps) along with the copies of your lease and your passport.
- You can do it for yourself. This requires nothing from your landlord. It only requires copies of your lease (the lease has to be in your name) and passport pages along with a filled out TM.30 form.
- It can be done by mail. This can take up to 4 weeks to get the receipt back.
What happens to ED visa applicants who don’t file the TM.30?
If you go to apply for an ED visa extension and do not have a TM.30 on file you will only get a 30 day under consideration stamp.
You are supposed to use this time to get the TM.30 filed, then you can go back to Immigration and get the rest of your extension inked into your passport for free.
Are schools responsible for the TM.30?
No, the TM.30 has nothing to do with schools.
It is the responsibility of the property owner.
If however, your property owner has not filed the TM.30, it becomes your responsibility as the “Possessor Of The Residence”.
Can I do it online?
There is an online TM.30 program and an application, but it is designed for Thai landlords and property owners to use.
It is almost all in Thai and requires documentation from the owner to apply.
Can the TM.30 be filed by someone else?
The TM.30 form can be filed for you on your behalf.
It requires copies of your lease in your name, the data page of your passport, your ED visa, your extension, your most recent entry stamp and your TM.6 departure card along with a completed TM.30 form and a filled out power of attorney form stating you allow someone else to file the form on your behalf.
Contact us at info@dukelanguage.com if you need help filing the TM.30.
