Nakhon Phanom Immigration (ตรวจคนเข้าเมืองจังหวัดนครพนม) is the immigration office for foreigners living in Nakhon Phanom province, on the Mekong opposite Thakhek in Laos. It handles extensions, 90-day reports, re-entry permits and TM30, and it staffs the crossings into Khammouane province, including the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge. Two points trip people up. The office no longer covers Sakhon Nakhon or Kalasin, which it did until 2009; those provinces have their own offices now. And a run across the bridge to Thakhek counts toward the new cap of two land entries per calendar year on the visa exemption.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Official name | ตรวจคนเข้าเมืองจังหวัดนครพนม (Nakhon Phanom Immigration), under Immigration Division 4 |
| Address | 209 Moo 12, Nittayo Road, Tambon Nong Yat, Amphoe Mueang Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Phanom 48000 |
| Phone | 042-511-237; fax 042-511-240; Immigration Bureau call centre 1178 |
| Office hours | Monday-Friday, 08:30-16:30 (Immigration Bureau list); closed weekends and public holidays |
| Queue booking | Online booking calendar for "Nakhonphanom Immigration" on the Division 4 appointment page |
| Covers | Nakhon Phanom province |
| Lao side | Khammouane province (Thakhek) |
| Extension of a visa-exempt stay | Once, up to 30 days (7 days for some nationalities), 1,900 THB |
| Land-border limit | 2 entries per calendar year on the 30-day exemption (not for Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian or Singaporean nationals) |
Which Areas This Office Covers
The office's history page sets out how its patch has changed. From 1994 the Nakhon Phanom checkpoint covered Nakhon Phanom, Sakhon Nakhon and Kalasin. In the 2009 restructuring the Immigration Bureau created provincial offices across the country, and Nakhon Phanom's became responsible for Nakhon Phanom province only. The office grew again in 2012 because of the extra traffic from the Third Friendship Bridge, which links Nakhon Phanom with Khammouane.
The Immigration Bureau's Division 4 booking page now lists separate offices for Sakhon Nakhon, Kalasin and Mukdahan. If you live in one of those provinces, you file there.
Services and What to Bring
Extension of a visa-exempt or tourist stay
The Immigration Bureau's published documents:
- Form TM.7, filed by you in person
- Copies of your passport photo page, visa (if any) and latest entry stamp
- One photo, 4 x 6 cm, taken within the last six months
- 1,900 THB fee
The Bureau caps this extension at 7 days for nationals of Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Togo, Nigeria and Uganda; others can get up to 30. See visa exemption extension. It doesn't use one of your two land entries.
Retirement and marriage extensions
National criteria, fee 1,900 THB. Retirement: age 50 or over, with 65,000 THB a month in income, or 800,000 THB in a Thai bank held for two months before applying and three months after approval (then not below 400,000 THB), or a combination totalling 800,000 THB. Marriage to a Thai national: 40,000 THB a month in income, or 400,000 THB held in a Thai bank for the previous two months, with both spouses attending. See the retirement extension guide and the Non-O vs O-A comparison.
90-day report, re-entry permit, TM30
- 90-day report (TM.47): free. File from 15 days before to 7 days after the due date, or pay a 2,000 THB fine in person. Your first report must be made in person, through someone you authorise, or by registered post. After that, file online: the office's own news page on the online system is headed "wherever you are, you can report". See 90-day reporting.
- Re-entry permit (TM.8): 1,000 THB single, 3,800 THB multiple. Cross to Thakhek without one and your extension is cancelled. See the re-entry permit guide.
- TM30: your landlord or hotel files it, online at tm30.immigration.go.th. See the TM30 guide.
Crossing to Thakhek
Nakhon Phanom faces Thakhek, the capital of Khammouane province. The office's history records that its first checkpoint was the riverside pier on Sunthon Wichit Road in town, and that its workload rose after the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge opened. The Immigration Bureau's office-hours list gives the Third Friendship Bridge checkpoint as open every day, 06:00-22:00, and the municipal pier crossing as open every day, 06:00-18:00. Confirm with the office on 042-511-237 before you plan around either.
The rules when you come back in:
- Two land entries a year. Since 15 September 2026, entries on the 30-day exemption through any land border count toward a cap of two per calendar year. Nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore are excepted.
- Repeat runners can be refused. On 12 November 2025 the Immigration Bureau told all checkpoints to consider refusing entry to people who make visa runs "more than 2 rounds without a reason they can explain".
- Entry conditions. The officer can ask for 20,000 THB per person (40,000 THB per family) and an onward ticket within your 30 days. File your TDAC at tdac.immigration.go.th within 3 days before arrival.
Getting a Thai visa in Laos from here. Khammouane is one of the six southern provinces covered by the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Savannakhet, not the embassy in Vientiane. It takes applications online at thaievisa.go.th from people staying in its provinces. The DTV is not available to visitors there: since 31 August 2026 you apply where you are a national or permanent resident. See our Laos visa run guide.
Do You Need a Visa?
Since 15 September 2026, nationals of 60 countries and territories, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, most of Europe and India, get a 30-day visa exemption for tourism, replacing the 60-day scheme. Anyone who entered before 15 September keeps the stay they were given. Seychelles and Mauritius get 15 days; Azerbaijan, Belarus and Serbia are the only nationalities left on Visa on Arrival. Details: visa exemption and our 30-day exemption explainer.
For more than about 60 days in one stay you need a visa: a Non-Immigrant O for retirement or a Thai family, the DTV for remote work, or whatever the visa finder suggests.
Practical Notes
- Book online. The Immigration Bureau's Division 4 appointment page has a calendar for "Nakhonphanom Immigration".
- Check hours before a holiday. The office publishes its address and phone on its location page but no hours of its own; the Immigration Bureau list gives Monday-Friday, 08:30-16:30.
- The office enforces as well as serves. Its news pages record overstayers arrested in the province, including one case of three people with 3,380 days of overstay between them. If you are over your date, read overstay penalties and deal with it before you try to leave.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Nakhon Phanom immigration office?
At 209 Moo 12, Nittayo Road, Tambon Nong Yat, Mueang Nakhon Phanom 48000. Phone 042-511-237.
What are Nakhon Phanom immigration's opening hours?
The Immigration Bureau lists the office as open Monday to Friday, 08:30-16:30, and closed on weekends and public holidays.
I live in Sakhon Nakhon. Do I go to Nakhon Phanom?
No. Nakhon Phanom's office stopped covering Sakhon Nakhon and Kalasin in 2009. Both provinces have their own immigration offices, each with its own booking calendar on the Division 4 page.
Can I do a border run from Nakhon Phanom to Thakhek?
On the 30-day exemption you get two land-border entries per calendar year in total, across all Thai land crossings. Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian and Singaporean nationals are excepted. Repeat runners can be refused entry.
Where do I apply for a Thai visa in Thakhek?
Khammouane falls under the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Savannakhet. It accepts online applications at thaievisa.go.th from people staying in its provinces.
Can I extend my visa exemption in Nakhon Phanom?
Yes, once, by up to 30 days, for 1,900 THB with form TM.7. Nationals on the Bureau's 7-day list, including India, should confirm the length first.
Sources
- Nakhon Phanom Immigration, official website (address and phone in the footer, checked 27 Sep 2026): https://nakhonphanom.immigration.go.th/
- Nakhon Phanom Immigration, location and history pages (209 Moo 12, Nittayo Road; tel. 0 4251 1237, fax 0 4251 1240; coverage changes in 1994 and 2009; Friendship Bridge 3): https://nakhonphanom.immigration.go.th/index.php/th-th/contact/contact-us/12-5
- Nakhon Phanom Immigration, "90 days online notification": https://nakhonphanom.immigration.go.th/index.php/en/news/advertise/1285-90-days-online-notification
- Nakhon Phanom Immigration, overstay arrest report (3 people, 3,380 days): https://nakhonphanom.immigration.go.th/index.php/en/news/26-crime-prevention/936-3-3-380
- Immigration Bureau, office hours of each immigration unit (Nakhon Phanom office Mon-Fri 08:30-16:30; Friendship Bridge 3 06:00-22:00; municipal pier 06:00-18:00): https://www.immigration.go.th/?avada_faq=office-hours-of-each-immigration-division-immigration-check-points-and-immigrationcheck-point-of-border-malaysia-myanmar-laos-and-cambodia
- Immigration Bureau, online appointment (Division 4): https://www.immigration.go.th/?page_id=19956
- Immigration Bureau, four measures against visa-exempt visa runs (12 Nov 2025), as posted by Nong Khai Immigration: https://nongkhai.immigration.go.th/imm-sr1/
- Immigration Bureau, extension criteria (tourism, retirement, marriage): https://www.immigration.go.th/?p=14695
- Immigration Bureau, fees: https://www.immigration.go.th/?page_id=1401
- Immigration Bureau, 90-day notification: https://www.immigration.go.th/?page_id=1648
- Royal Thai Embassy London, visa exemption entry conditions: https://london.thaiembassy.org/en/page/exemp-visa
- TAT Newsroom, new 30-day and 15-day exemption rules from 15 September 2026: https://www.tatnews.org/2026/09/thailand-introduces-new-30-day-and-15-day-visa-exemption-rules-from-15-september/
