Thailand Visa Stamping Process India: What the Sticker Contains and When You Get One

Not every Thailand visa for Indians involves a stamp in the passport. The 60-day visa-free entry has no visa sticker at all, just an immigration arrival stamp at Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang. The Tourist e-Visa is a PDF approval letter, not a sticker. Only embassy-issued visas, the Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa (METV) and the Non-Immigrant B (Business) visa, get a physical stamping where a printed sticker is affixed inside the passport at the Royal Thai Embassy in New Delhi or one of the three consulates. This guide walks through what the sticker actually contains, the five-step embassy stamping workflow, the four errors Indians spot most often on stickers, and what happens if you lose a passport that already carries a valid Thailand visa stamp. For the broader context on which visa to apply for, see our main Thailand visa guide for Indians.

Visas that involve stamping

METV (6-month) and Non-Immigrant B (Business) only

Visas with no stamping

Visa-free 60-day entry, Tourist e-Visa (electronic PDF)

Where stamping happens

Royal Thai Embassy New Delhi or consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata

Time from submission to sticker

5 to 10 working days, up to 14 days October to February

METV fee paid for the sticker

12,250 rupees by demand draft, plus 1,200 rupees VFS service fee

If the embassy makes an error

Free re-stamping, returned in 1 to 3 working days

If you only read this section

Stamping applies to embassy-issued Thailand visas only. If you applied for the e-Visa at thaievisa.go.th, do not look for a sticker, you will receive a PDF approval letter and that is your visa. If you are travelling under the visa-free 60-day scheme, there is also no sticker, just an arrival stamp from the Thai immigration officer at the airport. Stamping in the strict sense applies to METV and Business visa applicants who submit at the embassy or consulate, where the file is sent to Bangkok, the sticker is printed, and your passport is returned with the sticker affixed. The single most important thing to do when you collect the passport is to check the sticker for four errors: name spelling, passport number, number of entries, and stay duration. Embassy errors get re-stamped free in one to three working days, but only if you raise it within 30 days.

The three Thailand visa pathways and which ones get stamped

This is the source of most confusion. Indians read about a Thailand visa “stamping process” online, expect a sticker for every visa type, and end up worried that their e-Visa PDF is incomplete because there is no physical sticker.

The visa-free 60-day entry does not involve a Thailand visa at all. You buy your air ticket, register the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) on tdac.immigration.go.th within 72 hours of arrival, fly in, and the Thai immigration officer at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket or Chiang Mai stamps your passport with an arrival stamp on entry. That arrival stamp shows the date, the port of entry, and the immigration officer initials. It permits a 60-day stay. There is no visa sticker, no embassy paperwork, and no fee paid in India. For more on this, our visa-free entry guide covers the full mechanics.

The Tourist e-Visa, applied for online at thaievisa.go.th for stays of 60 days or more, is also not stamped. You receive a PDF approval letter by email after processing, typically in 5 to 10 working days. The PDF carries your name, passport number, photograph, visa validity dates, and a barcode. You print this PDF, carry it in your travel documents file, and show it at the airline check-in counter and at Thai immigration. The immigration officer scans the barcode and stamps your passport with the arrival stamp. The e-Visa fee is 4,900 rupees, paid online during application.

The Multiple-Entry Tourist Visa (METV) and the Non-Immigrant B (Business) visa are the two pathways where a physical visa sticker is placed in your passport. These applications are accepted only at the embassy and the three consulates, not online. The METV gives you 6 months validity from the date the visa is issued, with up to multiple entries during that period and 60 days of stay per entry. The Business visa gives you a 90-day stay, single entry, valid for 90 days, extendable up to 90 more days inside Thailand. Both involve the full stamping workflow described in the next section.

The five-step stamping workflow at the embassy

The stamping process for METV and Business visa applicants follows a predictable workflow whether you submit at the embassy in New Delhi, the consulate at Cumballa Hill in Mumbai, the consulate at San Thome in Chennai, or the consulate at Mandeville Gardens in Kolkata.

Step 1: Submission at embassy or consulate

Arrive at your scheduled appointment slot with the printed application form, all supporting documents (passport, photograph, bank statement, cover letter, ITR, hotel bookings, return ticket, METV multi-trip itinerary), the demand draft for the visa fee, and your original passport. Submission hours at the New Delhi embassy and the three consulates are 09:00 to 12:00 Monday to Friday. Pay the 12,250 rupees METV fee or 4,900 rupees Business visa fee plus 1,200 rupees VFS service charge if processed through VFS. If anything is missing the counter officer hands the file back the same day; you correct and return another day.

Step 2: Biometric capture

If you are submitting at VFS, biometric capture (10-fingerprint scan plus a digital photograph for the embassy file) happens during the same visit, in the same room. The biometric step takes 10 to 15 minutes per applicant. The embassy itself does not run biometrics for every applicant; whether you do biometrics depends on which channel handled your METV or Business visa submission. If your file goes directly to the embassy in Chanakyapuri without VFS, the biometric is taken at the embassy counter itself.

Step 3: File sent to Bangkok for sticker printing

This is the step that sets the timeline. Embassy files for METV and Business visas are forwarded to the Royal Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok, where the actual visa sticker is printed and security-features added. The standard timeline is 5 to 10 working days from submission to sticker affixation. During peak season, October to February, this stretches to 12 to 14 working days. If the consulate or embassy is shut for a Thai national holiday or an Indian holiday, the day does not count. You can check holiday closures on the embassy website at newdelhi.thaiembassy.org.

Step 4: Passport returned with the sticker affixed

You collect the passport from the same office where you submitted, between 14:00 and 16:00 in New Delhi, or in the morning collection slot at the consulates. Take the receipt slip you received at submission. Without that slip, no passport. If you opted for courier-back, VFS sends the passport via Blue Dart or DTDC to your registered Indian address, typically arriving 2 to 3 working days after the visa is decided. The courier costs an extra 500 to 700 rupees depending on the city. We have seen courier-back work reliably for Mumbai and Bangalore applicants; Chennai courier-backs from the Mandeville Gardens consulate occasionally take 4 days.

Step 5: Verify the sticker before you leave the counter

The non-negotiable last step. Open your passport at the visa page, find the sticker, and run through six checks before you walk out of the embassy or before you accept the courier delivery. We will go through these six checks below. The reason this is critical is that the embassy can correct its own errors free of charge if you raise them within 30 days; after 30 days, you may be quoted a re-application fee.

What the Thailand visa sticker actually contains

The Thailand visa sticker is roughly the size of a large postage stamp, occupying most of one passport page. It is printed on security paper with anti-forgery features and adhered to the page; it cannot be cleanly removed without tearing. Knowing exactly what it contains is the only way to verify it correctly when you collect.

Field on the sticker	What to verify
Visa category code (TR for tourist, TR-M for METV multi, B for business)	Must match the visa you applied for
Issue date and “ENTER BEFORE” date	METV: 6 months from issue; validity counts from issue date
Number of entries (“S” single, “M” multiple)	METV must say “M”
Stay duration per entry	METV is 60 days, Business is 90 days
Holder name and passport number	Spelling, order and all 8 characters must match passport exactly
Issuing post (“NEW DELHI” or consulate city)	Should match where you submitted

Indian applicants frequently confuse the visa sticker with the immigration arrival stamp, which is a separate, smaller rubber-stamp marking placed on a different passport page when you actually arrive in Thailand. The visa sticker is what permits you to fly to Thailand. The arrival stamp is what records your physical entry and starts the 60-day or 90-day clock for that specific visit. We cover the difference in detail in the section below on entry stamps.

Validity dates versus stay duration

The METV sticker carries two date fields: the issue date and the “enter before” date, six months after issue. This is the deadline to make your last entry, not the deadline for your last day of stay. If your METV is issued on 1 June 2026, the “enter before” date is 1 December 2026. You can enter on 30 November 2026 and stay 60 days, fully two months past the sticker expiry. That is legal. Entering on 2 December 2026 is refused because the visa expired the day before. The Business visa is simpler: single entry, valid 90 days from issue, 90-day stay from arrival.

Common errors Indians spot on the stamped visa

Errors on embassy-issued stickers cluster into four categories. Indians have a 30-day window from the issue date to raise corrections and have the sticker re-printed free of charge.

Name misspelled on the sticker. The single most common sticker error. Variants we have seen: “PRIYA” printed as “PRIYA RAJ” when the passport says “PRIYA RAJALAKSHMI”, surnames truncated where the printer field ran out of characters, and unintended spaces inside surnames. The fix: take the passport to the issuing post, point out the discrepancy against the passport name, and request a re-stamp. Turnaround is 1 to 3 working days. The faulty sticker is cancelled with a “VOID” overprint.

Wrong passport number on the sticker. The most dangerous error because Thai immigration scans the passport at arrival and the system flags a mismatch. We have seen “0” misread as “8” and confused MRZ readings on Indian passports issued before 2016. Bring it back the same week. Travelling on a sticker with the wrong passport number carries arrival-refusal risk.

Wrong entry count: single instead of multiple. Specific to METV applicants. You paid 12,250 rupees for multiple entry and the sticker comes back marked “S” instead of “M”. Same workflow: bring the passport back, show the application form copy, request a re-stamp.

Wrong stay duration. Less common but it happens, especially on Business visa stickers where the embassy occasionally prints the 60-day tourist code on a Non-Immigrant B file. Indians sometimes do not catch this until Bangkok immigration limits them to 60 days. By then the only fix is to extend at the Immigration Bureau on Chaeng Wattana Road, which costs 1,900 baht for 30 extra days.

Our visa status check guide explains how to track your file before collection so that you spot delays earlier, and the eligibility criteria guide goes through which Indians can apply for METV in the first place.

Re-stamping after an embassy error

The 30-day window starts from the visa issue date, not from collection. After 30 days, the embassy may treat the request as a fresh application requiring the full 12,250 rupees fee again.

The procedure: visit the same submission window where you originally applied with the passport, the original submission receipt, and a one-paragraph written request stating the error. The counter officer marks the existing sticker for cancellation and sends the file back to Bangkok. Turnaround is 1 to 3 working days. If you submitted via VFS, route the re-stamp through VFS again; the consulate usually refuses direct because VFS holds the original file. Errors that are not the embassy’s fault, where the spelling on your application form was wrong and the sticker correctly reflects what you wrote, are treated as re-applications and standard fees apply.

Also Read: Documents Required for Thailand Visa from India: Complete…

How the e-Visa replaces the sticker

For applicants on the Tourist e-Visa, the entire concept of a stamping process is replaced by a downloadable PDF. There is no physical sticker, no return-of-passport, no embassy collection.

The e-Visa workflow ends with an email containing the PDF approval letter. The PDF carries your name, passport number, visa validity dates, number of entries, stay duration (60 days), and a unique reference number plus barcode. Print two copies, save the PDF to your phone, and carry both. We have seen Indians at Indira Gandhi International pull up the PDF on phone for IndiGo and Vistara check-in agents before boarding passes are issued for Bangkok.

At Thai immigration on arrival, the officer scans the barcode and stamps your passport with the arrival stamp. The e-Visa PDF itself is never stamped. The visa is single entry; a second trip needs a fresh e-Visa. Our step-by-step Thailand visa application guide walks through the e-Visa portal in detail.

The arrival stamp at Thai immigration

Separate from any visa sticker or e-Visa PDF, every traveller entering Thailand receives a physical immigration arrival stamp at the airport on arrival. This is true regardless of whether you came on a visa-free entry, an e-Visa, an METV, or a Business visa. The arrival stamp is what legally records your entry into Thailand.

The arrival stamp is a small rectangular impression in blue or black ink, typically placed on a fresh page of your passport. It records four pieces of information: the entry date, the port of entry (BKK for Suvarnabhumi, DMK for Don Mueang, HKT for Phuket, CNX for Chiang Mai), the immigration officer’s identification number, and the date by which you must depart Thailand. The departure date is calculated based on your visa or visa-free entitlement: visa-free travellers and e-Visa holders get 60 days, METV holders get 60 days from each entry, Business visa holders get 90 days.

If the immigration officer writes the wrong departure date, raise it on the spot at the same counter, before you walk away. Once you clear immigration, correcting the departure date requires a visit to a Thai Immigration Bureau office in Bangkok, which costs time and money you do not want to spend.

On exit from Thailand, the immigration officer stamps a departure stamp, also dated, on the same page or an adjacent page. Both stamps together form the historical record of your trip and are useful evidence for future visa applications to other countries that ask about travel history. Our travel history guide explains how Thailand entry stamps help future applications elsewhere.

The TDAC: arrival card, not a stamp

Indians often conflate the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) with the immigration stamping process. They are different things. TDAC is an arrival registration form, not a stamp.

The TDAC was introduced in May 2025, replacing the paper TM.6 arrival card. Every traveller, including Indians on visa-free entry, e-Visa, METV or Business visa, must register at tdac.immigration.go.th within 72 hours before arrival. It asks for passport details, flight number, accommodation, and date of arrival. After submission you receive a QR code on phone or print.

The TDAC is checked at airline check-in in India and at the immigration counter on arrival. No stamp is involved. Failure to register before arrival does not deny entry but adds 20 to 30 minutes as the officer registers you on the spot. The TDAC is free; beware third-party websites charging 1,000 to 2,500 rupees for the same service. Always use tdac.immigration.go.th, the only authorised portal.

If your situation is different

The standard stamping workflow assumes a salaried Indian adult applying for METV or Business visa from a metro city. Real cases vary, and the stamping experience varies with them.

Housewife applicants on METV must submit in person for biometric capture; spouses cannot submit on behalf of the wife unless explicitly authorised in writing, and even then biometric must be done by the applicant. The sticker is printed in the wife’s passport and her name. Approval rates with the full sponsorship documentation bundle are above 90 percent.

NRI applicants apply at the Royal Thai post in their country of residence, not in India. The workflow is similar but the issuing post field shows “DUBAI” or “SINGAPORE” rather than “NEW DELHI”. Our NRI applicant guide has the full process.

Senior citizen applicants over 60 on METV occasionally request courier-back rather than in-person collection because of mobility considerations. This is permitted at all four issuing posts in India. The 500 to 700 rupees courier fee is paid at submission. Indians applying for parents’ Thailand visas should plan for the senior citizen to be present at submission for biometric, but collection can be by courier.

Government employees on Business visas need a department-issued NOC in addition to the standard application documents. The sticker workflow is identical, but turnaround occasionally stretches to 14 working days because the embassy back-office cross-references the NOC with Thai government channels.

Lost passport with a valid Thailand visa stamp

A specific recovery procedure applies when you lose a passport that already carries a valid Thailand visa sticker. The process differs whether the loss happens in India before travel or in Thailand during the trip.

If the loss happens in India before you have travelled, file an FIR at the local police station, apply for a replacement passport through Passport Seva, then approach the embassy or consulate that issued the visa with the new passport, the FIR copy, and a written request. The embassy will cancel the old sticker on its records and issue a fresh sticker on the new passport, often free of charge if the loss is reported within reasonable time. Plan for 5 to 10 working days for the new sticker.

If the loss happens in Thailand during travel, the situation is harder. Visit the local Thai police, file a report and obtain a Police Report (a stamped, dated copy is essential for the next steps). Visit the Indian Embassy in Bangkok at 46 Soi Prasanmit, Sukhumvit 23, with the police report, two passport photos, your Aadhaar or PAN copy, and a flight ticket showing your return to India. The Indian Embassy issues an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) within 1 to 5 working days; this single-trip document allows you to fly back to India only. You cannot use the ETD to extend your stay in Thailand or to enter another country. Expect to pay the equivalent of 4,000 to 6,000 rupees for the ETD in Thai baht.

Once back in India, apply for a fresh Indian passport, then the fresh Thailand visa application starts from scratch if you want to return to Thailand. The Thailand visa is tied to the passport number on the sticker; that linkage is destroyed when the passport is destroyed. There is no transfer mechanism.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to do anything in India to get my e-Visa stamped?

No. The Thailand e-Visa is electronic. There is no Indian-side stamping process for the e-Visa. You receive the PDF approval by email after the 5 to 10 working days of online processing, print it, and carry it for travel. The actual passport stamping happens at Thai immigration on arrival, not in India. Many Indians worry that they have missed a step because there is no sticker; you have not.

Can I track my visa sticker while it is being printed in Bangkok?

VFS submissions are trackable on visa.vfsglobal.com using the receipt reference number; status updates from “Submitted” through to “Ready for Collection”. Direct embassy submissions in New Delhi do not have an online tracker; call the embassy at +91-11-4977-4100 from Day 6 onwards if you have not been contacted. Most stickers are decided within the 5 to 10 working day window without manual follow-up.

The sticker has my photo on it. Can I tell if it is mine?

Compare the embedded thumbnail against the photograph you submitted. Embassy printers occasionally produce a low-resolution version that looks slightly different. As long as the resemblance is clearly you, this is acceptable. If the photograph looks like a different person, the sticker has been mis-applied to the wrong passport and you must raise it immediately at the embassy.

What happens if I do not collect the passport from the consulate within 30 days?

The consulate retains uncollected passports for up to 90 days, after which they are considered abandoned and may be returned to the embassy in New Delhi for further handling. Practically, collect within 30 days. If you cannot collect personally, send a representative with a written authorisation letter and a copy of your ID. Our embassy contact guide has the office hours and contact details for each post.

Can the visa sticker be transferred to a new passport if my old one expires?

No. Thailand visa stickers are tied to the passport number on the sticker and cannot be peeled off and moved. If your passport is renewed during the visa validity period, you must carry both passports, the old one with the sticker and the new one. The Thai immigration officer accepts this combination. If you discard the old passport, the visa cannot be used. Indians renewing close to a planned trip should consider postponing the renewal until after the trip if the sticker is recent.

Is the visa sticker different at the four Indian consulates?

The design is identical because the printing happens in Bangkok, not at the Indian post. What differs is the “issuing post” field, which shows the city of submission. This has no functional effect on the visa or your travel rights. The choice of consulate does not change the sticker.

What if the immigration officer’s arrival stamp is unclear or missing?

If the arrival stamp is faded, smudged, or not stamped at all, request the officer to re-stamp before you leave the counter. Departure becomes complicated otherwise; the Thai system might query the absence of an entry record. The officer accommodates such requests routinely. Once you leave the counter, fixing a missing stamp requires a visit to the Thai Immigration Bureau on Chaeng Wattana Road, which costs time and a small fee.

Does the visa sticker need to be signed by me?

No. The sticker is signed by the issuing officer in Bangkok during printing. You sign the collection register at the embassy, but not the sticker itself. The embassy seal printed on the sticker is the legal authentication; no counter-signature is required.

Can I apply for an METV without ever visiting the embassy?

No. The METV is an in-person application channel only. You must submit at the embassy in New Delhi or one of the three consulates, with biometric capture. The Tourist e-Visa is fully online but offers single entry only, not multiple entries. Indians who need multiple-entry rights to Thailand for repeated trips have no choice but to make at least one in-person visit to the consulate for the METV. Our appointment booking guide covers how to book the embassy or VFS slot.

Is the stamping fee separate from the visa fee?

No. The 12,250 rupees METV fee and 4,900 rupees Business visa fee cover the entire processing including the sticker printing in Bangkok and return to India. The 1,200 rupees VFS service fee is for VFS handling, not the sticker. Avoid agents quoting a “stamping charge” beyond these published fees.

Can I check whether my Thailand visa sticker is genuine?

Indians applying through agents occasionally worry the sticker might be forged. The Royal Thai Embassy uses security paper, holographic features, and a unique 5-digit visa number. If you have doubts before travel, write to rtenewdelhi@thaiembassy.org with the visa number and request confirmation. Apply through the embassy or VFS directly to eliminate this concern; our agent versus self-apply guide has the comparison.

What is the difference between a visa stamp and a visa sticker?

The terms are used interchangeably but differ technically. A “stamp” is a rubber impression on the passport page; a “sticker” is a printed adhesive label, the modern method used for Thailand visas. When Indians ask about the “Thailand visa stamping process”, they almost always mean the sticker. The arrival stamp at Thai immigration, however, is a rubber-stamp marking.

Where this guide gets its data

This guide was last verified against the Royal Thai Embassy, New Delhi website and the Thailand e-Visa Official Portal on 30 April 2026 by the VisaGuide India editorial desk. We update every guide quarterly and within 7 working days of any rule change. If you spot a fee that has changed or a rule we have missed, email editorial@visaguideindia.com.