Nong Khai Immigration (ตรวจคนเข้าเมืองจังหวัดหนองคาย) does two different jobs in two different places. Its provincial office in Mi Chai handles extensions, 90-day reports, re-entry permits and TM30 for foreigners who live in Nong Khai province. Its officers at the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge stamp people out to Laos and back in, which is why "Nong Khai border run" is a search people make. What people get wrong is treating the bridge as an unlimited reset. Since 15 September 2026, entries on the 30-day visa exemption through land borders are capped at twice per calendar year, and the Immigration Bureau has told its checkpoints to consider refusing entry to repeat visa-runners who cannot explain their trips.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Official name | ตรวจคนเข้าเมืองจังหวัดหนองคาย (Nong Khai Immigration), under Immigration Division 4 |
| Provincial office | 106 Moo 7, Tambon Mi Chai, Amphoe Mueang Nong Khai, Nong Khai 43000 |
| Phone | 042-990-935 (office website); the Immigration Bureau's unit list also gives 042-420-242 to 244 |
| [email protected] | |
| Office hours | Monday-Friday, 08:30-16:30 (office contact page); closed weekends and public holidays |
| LINE | @073ngikt (listed on the office contact page) |
| Queue booking | Online booking calendar on the Immigration Bureau's Division 4 page |
| Covers | The 9 districts of Nong Khai province |
| Border checkpoint | First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge to Tha Deua, Laos, about 20 km from Vientiane; published as 06:00-22:00 daily by local government and the provincial commerce office, not by the Immigration Bureau, so confirm before you travel |
| Land-border limit | 2 entries per calendar year on the 30-day exemption (not for Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian or Singaporean nationals) |
| Extension of a visa-exempt stay | Once, up to 30 days, 1,900 THB |
Which Areas This Office Covers
The office's area-of-responsibility page covers Nong Khai province: 9 districts along 195 km of the Mekong, facing Vientiane Capital, Vientiane Province and Bolikhamxay in Laos. The districts are Mueang Nong Khai, Tha Bo, Phon Phisai, Si Chiang Mai, Sangkhom, Sakhrai, Fao Rai, Rattanawapi and Pho Tak.
Two neighbours catch people out:
- Udon Thani is a separate province with its own office, which moved to a new building in July 2025. See Udon Thani Immigration.
- Bueng Kan, east along the river, has been its own province since 2011 and has its own immigration office, listed separately on the Division 4 booking page.
The Provincial Office
The office is at 106 Moo 7, Mi Chai subdistrict. It is not the bridge checkpoint: the map pin on the office website sits on a separate site in Mi Chai, roughly 2 km from the Thai end of the bridge, so do not turn up at the bridge for a 90-day report. Use the office's own map pin when you set off.
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's undated criteria page caps the extension at 7 days for nationals of Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal, Togo, Nigeria and Uganda; others can get up to 30. If you hold one of those passports, confirm the length at the counter. See visa exemption extension. If you only need a few more weeks, this is often simpler than a border run, and it does not use up one of your two land entries.
Retirement and marriage extensions
National criteria, fee 1,900 THB. Retirement: age 50+, and 65,000 THB a month in income, or 800,000 THB in a Thai bank for two months before applying and three months after approval (then not below 400,000 THB), or a combination totalling 800,000 THB. Marriage: a foreign husband of a Thai wife needs 40,000 THB a month or 400,000 THB held in a Thai bank for two months (the Bureau lists no income figure for a foreign wife of a Thai husband), and both spouses attend in person. See the retirement extension guide.
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. First report in person, then online at tm47.immigration.go.th. See 90-day reporting.
- Re-entry permit: 1,000 THB single, 3,800 THB multiple. Cross to Laos without one and your extension is cancelled. See the re-entry permit guide.
- TM30: filed by your landlord or hotel. See the TM30 guide.
The Friendship Bridge Border Run
The checkpoint sits at the Thai end of the First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, which links Nong Khai with Tha Deua on the Lao side, about 20 km from Vientiane. The Ban Pho local administration's page on the bridge gives the checkpoint's hours as 06:00-22:00 every day, and the Nong Khai Provincial Commerce Office's border-trade report for November 2025 gives the same hours for the bridge crossing. Neither is an Immigration Bureau source, so confirm the crossing is open before you travel. The step-by-step crossing, the Lao visa and the bridge shuttle bus are covered in our Laos visa run guide.
The rules that now apply when you come back in:
- Two land entries a year. Since 15 September 2026, entries on the 30-day exemption via any land border count toward a cap of two per calendar year. Nationals of Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore are excepted. A same-day hop to Tha Na Leng uses one of the two.
- Repeat runners can be refused. On 12 November 2025 the Immigration Bureau ordered all checkpoints, airports and land borders, to screen people making frequent visa-exempt in-out trips. In translation: anyone who repeats visa runs "more than 2 rounds without a reason they can explain" will be considered for refusal of entry and told to apply for the visa that matches their real purpose. Nong Khai Immigration posted the order on its own website.
- 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.
Using Vientiane for a proper visa. If you are going to Laos to apply for a visa rather than a new stamp, the Thai Embassy in Vientiane handles e-Visa files; check who it accepts first.
By train. There is also a cross-border train from Nong Khai station to Khamsavath station in Vientiane. Rail travellers report that Thai exit and entry formalities are done at Nong Khai station. A rail crossing is still a land-border entry for the cap.
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 a single stay longer than about 60 days (30 days plus one 30-day extension), get a visa, applied for at thaievisa.go.th: the DTV, a Non-Immigrant O, or whatever the visa finder suggests. See also visa runs.
Practical Notes
- Hours. The office's contact page (O4) gives Monday-Friday 08:30-16:30; the contact graphic and footer do not list hours. Call 042-990-935 before a holiday week.
- Book online. The Immigration Bureau's Division 4 appointment page has a booking calendar for "Nongkhai Immigration".
- Notices go out on the office's Facebook page (immnongkhai) and LINE official account, both linked from its website.
- Extensions after border runs get scrutiny. The same November 2025 order told provincial offices to refuse, or later revoke, extensions for people with a visa-run pattern. See overstay penalties if it has already gone wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many border runs can I do at Nong Khai?
On the 30-day visa exemption, two land-border entries per calendar year, counting every Thai land crossing, not just Nong Khai. Malaysian, Bruneian, Indonesian and Singaporean nationals are excepted. Repeat runners can also be refused entry.
What time does the Nong Khai Friendship Bridge border open?
Local government and the provincial commerce office publish 06:00-22:00 daily; the Immigration Bureau does not publish hours for it. Confirm before you go, and leave margin for the shuttle bus and the Lao side.
Is Nong Khai immigration at the Friendship Bridge?
No. Extensions and 90-day reports are handled at the provincial office, 106 Moo 7, Mi Chai, Mueang Nong Khai. The bridge is the border checkpoint only.
Can I extend my visa in Nong Khai instead of doing a border run?
Yes. A 30-day exempt stay can be extended once, by up to 30 days, for 1,900 THB with form TM.7. It does not use one of your two land-border entries. Nationals on the Bureau's 7-day list, including India, should confirm the length at the counter.
Do I need to show money at the Nong Khai border?
The officer can ask for 20,000 THB per person or 40,000 THB per family, plus an onward ticket within your permitted stay. Carry it in case.
Does the land-border limit apply to the train to Vientiane?
The cap covers exemption entries through land borders, and the Nong Khai-Khamsavath train is a land crossing, so assume it counts.
Sources
- Nong Khai Immigration, official website: address and phone (checked 16 Sep 2026): https://nongkhai.immigration.go.th/
- Nong Khai Immigration, contact page and contact graphic (email, map): https://nongkhai.immigration.go.th/%e0%b8%95%e0%b8%b4%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%95%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%ad/
- Nong Khai Immigration, O4 contact information (hours Mon-Fri 08:30-16:30, LINE ID; checked 16 Sep 2026): https://nongkhai.immigration.go.th/o4-%e0%b8%82%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%a1%e0%b8%b9%e0%b8%a5%e0%b8%81%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%a3%e0%b8%95%e0%b8%b4%e0%b8%94%e0%b8%95%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%ad%e0%b9%81%e0%b8%a5%e0%b8%b0%e0%b8%8a%e0%b9%88%e0%b8%ad/
- Nong Khai Immigration, area of responsibility (O2): https://nongkhai.immigration.go.th/o2-%e0%b8%ad%e0%b8%b3%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%88%e0%b8%ab%e0%b8%99%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%b2%e0%b8%97%e0%b8%b5%e0%b9%88%e0%b9%81%e0%b8%a5%e0%b8%b0%e0%b8%9e%e0%b8%b7%e0%b9%89%e0%b8%99%e0%b8%97%e0%b8%b5/
- 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, contact list of immigration units: https://tm47.immigration.go.th/manual/ContactIMM.xlsx
- Immigration Bureau, online appointment (Division 4): https://www.immigration.go.th/?page_id=19956
- 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
- Ban Pho Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Nong Khai, page on the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge (checkpoint hours 06:00-22:00; local government, not the Immigration Bureau): http://banpho-nk.go.th/index.php?op=dynamiccontent_detail&dynamiccontent_id=17266&id=8883
- Nong Khai Provincial Commerce Office (Ministry of Commerce), border and international trade report for November 2025 (Friendship Bridge 1 crossing 06:00-22:00 daily; Nong Khai-Khamsavath passenger train since 19 July 2024): https://nongkhai.moc.go.th/th/file/get/file/2026032710600fedd6bb744b72a5ecdd6632eeae143233.pdf
- Thai Train Guide, Nong Khai-Khamsavath train review (Thai immigration at Nong Khai station; non-official): https://x.com/ThaiTrainGuide/status/1844639817692479924
- Hobomaps, Lao-Thai Railways passenger info (immigration at Nong Khai and Khamsavath stations; non-official): https://hobomaps.com/Lao-ThaiRailwaysPassengerInfo.html
- 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/
