Difficulty Of Mexico Visa For Thai?

[RY12]

Anyone out there know how hard it is for a young Thai woman to get a tourist visa to Mexico? I'm asking on behalf of my girlfriend; we're both in our twenties and I (American) have an online job and she works in a restaurant, owns a home, but has no children. I saw an old post that indicated Mexico was just as hard as the US to get a tourist visa, is that really true? Can anyone give me some percantages? It ruffles my feathers if it's true... so the US thinks it can cripple Mexico's ability to do business or have tourism with other developing countries because its scared of a few bad apples crossing the border? Aeromexico appears to have flights from Tokyo to Tijuana, so that was the holiday I was envisioning.

Thanks

[heiko]

Anyone out there know how hard it is for a young Thai woman to get a tourist visa to Mexico? I'm asking on behalf of my girlfriend; we're both in our twenties and I (American) have an online job and she works in a restaurant, owns a home, but has no children. I saw an old post that indicated Mexico was just as hard as the US to get a tourist visa, is that really true? Can anyone give me some percantages? It ruffles my feathers if it's true... so the US thinks it can cripple Mexico's ability to do business or have tourism with other developing countries because its scared of a few bad apples crossing the border? Aeromexico appears to have flights from Tokyo to Tijuana, so that was the holiday I was envisioning.

Thanks

Seriously bro if my boyfriend flew me all the way over from Thailand to holiday in Tijuana I would unleash a serious ass whippin'. You don't have ulterior motives do you?

Edited August 18, 2007 by heiko

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Anyone out there know how hard it is for a young Thai woman to get a tourist visa to Mexico? I'm asking on behalf of my girlfriend; we're both in our twenties and I (American) have an online job and she works in a restaurant, owns a home, but has no children. I saw an old post that indicated Mexico was just as hard as the US to get a tourist visa, is that really true? Can anyone give me some percantages? It ruffles my feathers if it's true... so the US thinks it can cripple Mexico's ability to do business or have tourism with other developing countries because its scared of a few bad apples crossing the border? Aeromexico appears to have flights from Tokyo to Tijuana, so that was the holiday I was envisioning.

Thanks

Here's a thread on the subject:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...9&hl=mexico

A couple years back it looked like too much bother to get my wife a Mexican visa here in Bangkok so did it at a consulate in Portland, OR.  Might work for you if you'e going to be in the U.S. for a bit, and there's a Mexican consulate nearby.

Mac

[pumpuiman]

Planning on taking her for a northerly swim in the Rio Grande?

[RY12]

I can't get the visa in Portland (I'm actually currently in Salem) because she's in Thailand, and probably wouldn't be able to get a visa for the US just yet, which I guess is what made it easy for you to get the visa.

No, I wasn't planning on actually vacationing in Tijuana, that would indeed be ill-fated. I might not be entirely morally opposed to taking a dip in the Rio Grande, but the safety issues and risk are too great to make it anything more than fantasy .

There's also the issue of the visa for the Tokyo stopover, which may also be hard to get for a Thai to get. There isn't another Asia-to-Central America flight path south of Aeromexico's Tokyo-Tijuana until you hit Rio... isn't that correct? Anywhere in Central America would be fine with me, would anyone happen to know if other airports in the region require visas for mere stopovers like the US does?

Thanks

Edited August 18, 2007 by RY12

[highonthai]

Are you planning to get her into California via TJ?

Why not do the right thing and get a US tourist visa?

[RY12]

Are you planning to get her into California via TJ?

Why not do the right thing and get a US tourist visa?

I was joking about sneaking into the US; we're only going to stay in Mexico, or transit through it to a more visitor-friendly country that doesn't require so much paperwork. Maybe I'm misinformed but the US tourist visa is, for all intents and purposes, basically impossible for a young Thai to get, unless they're really rich or something. That's part of the reason we want to go to Mexico.

[Carmine6]

Can't imagine it being just as hard, but I can see it being hard. I've heard they're very strict on visitors even though they criticize the US for policies on illegal immigrants.

Would there be a downside to trying? Would they stamp the passport with the decline for example?

One thing to consider. Tijuana may not be the best airport to fly into. It might be more believable that you're going there to see Mexico if you fly to Mexico City or some other airport farther south.

[heiko]

I can't get the visa in Portland (I'm actually currently in Salem) because she's in Thailand, and probably wouldn't be able to get a visa for the US just yet, which I guess is what made it easy for you to get the visa.

No, I wasn't planning on actually vacationing in Tijuana, that would indeed be ill-fated. I might not be entirely morally opposed to taking a dip in the Rio Grande, but the safety issues and risk are too great to make it anything more than fantasy .

There's also the issue of the visa for the Tokyo stopover, which may also be hard to get for a Thai to get. There isn't another Asia-to-Central America flight path south of Aeromexico's Tokyo-Tijuana until you hit Rio... isn't that correct? Anywhere in Central America would be fine with me, would anyone happen to know if other airports in the region require visas for mere stopovers like the US does?

Thanks

The Tokyo stopover is a non issue. If you remainn in the tokyo airport and just catch your connecting flight you never even get your passport stamped. It is however as far as I have read very difficult for a thai to get a visa for Japan.

I also found this link on getting a mexican visa http://mexico.visahq.com/requirements/Thailand

[Carmine6]

I can't get the visa in Portland (I'm actually currently in Salem) because she's in Thailand, and probably wouldn't be able to get a visa for the US just yet, which I guess is what made it easy for you to get the visa.

No, I wasn't planning on actually vacationing in Tijuana, that would indeed be ill-fated. I might not be entirely morally opposed to taking a dip in the Rio Grande, but the safety issues and risk are too great to make it anything more than fantasy .

There's also the issue of the visa for the Tokyo stopover, which may also be hard to get for a Thai to get. There isn't another Asia-to-Central America flight path south of Aeromexico's Tokyo-Tijuana until you hit Rio... isn't that correct? Anywhere in Central America would be fine with me, would anyone happen to know if other airports in the region require visas for mere stopovers like the US does?

Thanks

The Tokyo stopover is a non issue. If you remainn in the tokyo airport and just catch your connecting flight you never even get your passport stamped. It is however as far as I have read very difficult for a thai to get a visa for Japan.

I also found this link on getting a mexican visa http://mexico.visahq.com/requirements/Thailand

Hey, good link. That site has the Bankgok Embasy website. http://www.sre.gob.mx/tailandia/serv_foreing.htm

From that site:

Documents to be submitted with visa application are:

1. Valid Passport

2. One photograph ( 1.5 x 1.5 inches / color )

3. Letter from employer

(If self-employed, business registration certificate is needed)

4. Proof of Fund

* Passbook, shows personal account of the past 6 months (original & copy)

* International Credit Card

5. Completed Application form

[RY12]

Those requirements look simple enough, though I'm not exactly sure what a "passbook" is and if the stars mean "either/or" an international credit card to substitute for the passbook. I've never been clear on the 'proof of fund', but my girlfriend has plenty of baht in the bank. Also, on the Application Form it asks to indicate which cities you'll be visiting if you're going to the North border or the South border, which indicates that maybe indeed it is safer to connect to Mexico City rather than stop at Tijuana so they don't suspect illegality.

There's also the question one of you brought up of the embassy putting a "denied" stamp on her passport if this doesn't go through, which would hurt her travelling abilities for years to come.

I guess it won't hurt to call the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok and ask them all these questions, so long as I remain anynomous. The good news is there doesn't appear to be a necissity to prove "inextricable ties to the home country" as the US tourist visa does.

Again anyone with personal experience with this document would be a savior to all of us in this post

[Carmine6]

Those requirements look simple enough, though I'm not exactly sure what a "passbook" is and if the stars mean "either/or" an international credit card to substitute for the passbook. I've never been clear on the 'proof of fund', but my girlfriend has plenty of baht in the bank. Also, on the Application Form it asks to indicate which cities you'll be visiting if you're going to the North border or the South border, which indicates that maybe indeed it is safer to connect to Mexico City rather than stop at Tijuana so they don't suspect illegality.

There's also the question one of you brought up of the embassy putting a "denied" stamp on her passport if this doesn't go through, which would hurt her travelling abilities for years to come.

I guess it won't hurt to call the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok and ask them all these questions, so long as I remain anynomous. The good news is there doesn't appear to be a necissity to prove "inextricable ties to the home country" as the US tourist visa does.

Again anyone with personal experience with this document would be a savior to all of us in this post

Passbooks were the old way savings accounts were tracked. They looked like a passport and you'd go to the bank and the transaction would be recorded in the passbook. Once ATMs and online banking came into use, they were pointless. But it's probably common to have these in other countries.

An international credit card is a good way to backup a savings balance. Adds one more bit of info to the file. I think Hong Kong for example specifically requires it for Thai nationals. But yeah check with the Mexican Consulate.

I've always wondered how it works if you're denied in one country but then report it lost and get a replacement passport. Of course that country's computer would have the info, but would any other country have that info? I can see that if you're denied as being a terrorist, but I don't know if they'd share other denials or if they would share anything at all.

[Khun ?]

Try Panama or Costa Rica

Might be much easier.

[nick2k]

maybe they are muslim terrorist who want to see how easy it is to get into the usa via mexico like the illegal immigrants are doing.

[Carmine6]

maybe they are muslim terrorist who want to see how easy it is to get into the usa via mexico like the illegal immigrants are doing.

This is why I could imagine them being strict. If the next attack was from guys coming through Mexico, instant wall the whole length of the border. And then instead of being able to rely on workers sending money from the US, Mexico would have to work on corruption and creating jobs at home.

Costa Rica is a nice choice although maybe a really long trip. I think it's much safer than Mexico and probably Panama as well. Also many Costa Ricans speak English.

[fxm88]

You might try Brazil (but getting the visa for yourself might be a problem if you're not in the USA).

[PeaceBlondie]

Mexico is such a huge country, and Tijuana is its upper left hand extreme corner. Mexico City is nice for immediate flights out of there to a sane part of the country. Monterrey (Nuevo Leon) is good, without being too close to USA. Lots of resorts have direct flights from other countries in North America. If you like beaches, Mexico has many thousands of miles of them.

The ironic thing about Mexico's relations with its neighbors is that Central Americans swim across the Suchiate river from Guatemala to Chiapas, en route to the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo del Norte). I've crossed both borders by water, in both directions, illegally, swimming, and my back got wet!

[Scalawag]

I am also planning to take my Thai wife to Mazatlan(where I lived on my boat) this coming January. She has a 10 year Visa to the U.S. and I never anticipated getting a Mexican Visa for 30 as being a problem until I saw this thread. If anyone has done this already or will apply to the Mexican

Visa I, and possibility others, would appreciate your getting back to us.

[Carmine6]

I am also planning to take my Thai wife to Mazatlan(where I lived on my boat) this coming January. She has a 10 year Visa to the U.S. and I never anticipated getting a Mexican Visa for 30 as being a problem until I saw this thread. If anyone has done this already or will apply to the Mexican

Visa I, and possibility others, would appreciate your getting back to us.

Since you're married and she has a 10 year visa to the US I would think she'd have no problem getting a visa to Mexico. Check the thread mentioned in post 3.

[khunmarc]

[

Seriously bro if my boyfriend flew me all the way over from Thailand to holiday in Tijuana I would unleash a serious ass whippin'. You don't have ulterior motives do you?

tijuanna its the mexican version of pattaya they should feel right at home LOL

[mogoso]

maybe they are muslim terrorist who want to see how easy it is to get into the usa via mexico like the illegal immigrants are doing.

Naw if they were terrorists they'd go to Venezulea, as El Presidente has a special training center to teach spanish to them and give them the proper papers needed to travel to Mexico, then enter the US illegally.

[Scalawag]

I am also planning to take my Thai wife to Mazatlan(where I lived on my boat) this coming January. She has a 10 year Visa to the U.S. and I never anticipated getting a Mexican Visa for 30 as being a problem until I saw this thread. If anyone has done this already or will apply to the Mexican

Visa I, and possibility others, would appreciate your getting back to us.

Since you're married and she has a 10 year visa to the US I would think she'd have no problem getting a visa to Mexico. Check the thread mentioned in post 3.

Thanks Carmine6.........The thread you mentioned was helpful. I see you are from Southern California. I lived in Ventura. on my boat, for 3 years....

[Carmine6]

I am also planning to take my Thai wife to Mazatlan(where I lived on my boat) this coming January. She has a 10 year Visa to the U.S. and I never anticipated getting a Mexican Visa for 30 as being a problem until I saw this thread. If anyone has done this already or will apply to the Mexican

Visa I, and possibility others, would appreciate your getting back to us.

Since you're married and she has a 10 year visa to the US I would think she'd have no problem getting a visa to Mexico. Check the thread mentioned in post 3.

Thanks Carmine6.........The thread you mentioned was helpful. I see you are from Southern California. I lived in Ventura. on my boat, for 3 years....

Ah Ventura. You'd likely not recognize that place now. Worked there briefly in the early 90's and even a couple years later it had gone from farms to tract homes.

[brahmburgers]

I've been to Mexico several times. If you're going there to space out, I suggest the Oaxaca cost: Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido. The closer you are the the U.S. border, the less friendly it is to hang out.

If you want to show your gal a good time, how about Belize (former Brit. Guiana) There are little islands (Cays) in the world's 2nd largest coral reef, and mayan pyramids you can explore all to yourselves.

Cancun, Mexico is also a take off point for flights to Cuba, if you're so inclined. Still can't get to Cuba directly from the U.S.

I assume you know, everywhere you go in Latin America, the locals will start off thinking your Thai gal is Latina also. It may become a drag for her after awhile - the culture shock and all.

[PeaceBlondie]

The coastal towns of Puerto Angel and Escondido are fine (even a nudist beach!). The newer, more plush resorts of Bahia Huatulco are nearby, also. Belize was formerly British Honduras and still has ties to the UK, but I always heard that crime was rampant. Maybe not on the cays, though. Of course, it's illegal for Americans to spend money in Cuba, but your passport won't get stamped and you can lie to the US Immigration if you have the nerve.

[RY12]

I've been to Mexico several times. If you're going there to space out, I suggest the Oaxaca cost: Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido. The closer you are the the U.S. border, the less friendly it is to hang out.

If you want to show your gal a good time, how about Belize (former Brit. Guiana) There are little islands (Cays) in the world's 2nd largest coral reef, and mayan pyramids you can explore all to yourselves.

Cancun, Mexico is also a take off point for flights to Cuba, if you're so inclined. Still can't get to Cuba directly from the U.S.

I assume you know, everywhere you go in Latin America, the locals will start off thinking your Thai gal is Latina also. It may become a drag for her after awhile - the culture shock and all.

I wasn't aware of that last point you made. Were you implying their might be some trouble from the locals thinking she's latina or just confusion? I'm 22yr old American and she's 24, we're both kinda tall, I guess I'll make sure she dresses modestly. Would you happen to have any experience with the Belizian visa? It's kind of isolated geographically and I assume somewhat poor, so maybe their visa won't be too difficult. The thing is the flight costs start racking up if I avoid Mexico: Bangkok-Tokyo, Tokyo-Tijuana, Tijuana-MexicoCity, MexicoCity-Belize. That might top over 2000$.

I'm going to call the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok now and ask about the difficutly of the visa. I'm 90% sure they'll give some vague beauracratic answer like "it depends on the applicant" and they won't give me any percentages or anything. The US Tourist visa is like 1% success rate I think, and I don't want to wait several weeks just to get a "denied" from the Mexicans.

[RY12]

just called the embassy in bangkok. i only got machines, they reiterated the 5 requirements, 1. passport 2. photo 3. letter from employer 4. bankaccount of last 6 months 5. ticket

number 4 and 5 are problematic. Is the bank account record just a list of ATM withdrawals and deposists? cause that's all she has I think. Number 5- do they expect me to buy a 2000$ plane ticket before I am informed she got the ticket or not? that can't be true...

After these 5 things are turned in along with the Application Form that asks where you're going and what your income is and the purpose of the trip etc., the webpage indicates there will be an interview.

With regards to the interview, my girlfriend has trouble with English as you might imagine, and she doesn't come from the wealthiest background (as you can also imagine)... I'm beginning to get pessimistic about all this.

Oh well, its the Mexican authorities' loss if they want to throw away hundreds of thousands of tourist dollars from couples like us just because one partner isn't some McDonalds poster girl of middle class bourgeoisie. Please everyone, second my righteous anger

[RY12]

Actually I bet this is more the fault of Homeland Security (McHomeland Affectivity) rather than the Mexican authorities. I grow weary of this continent...

Is there anyother way to meet my girl somewhere else besides SE Asia that is relatively close to the US? Is there some midway pacific island?

[BEVEGE]

Anyone out there know how hard it is for a young Thai woman to get a tourist visa to Mexico? I'm asking on behalf of my girlfriend; we're both in our twenties and I (American) have an online job and she works in a restaurant, owns a home, but has no children. I saw an old post that indicated Mexico was just as hard as the US to get a tourist visa, is that really true? Can anyone give me some percantages? It ruffles my feathers if it's true... so the US thinks it can cripple Mexico's ability to do business or have tourism with other developing countries because its scared of a few bad apples crossing the border? Aeromexico appears to have flights from Tokyo to Tijuana, so that was the holiday I was envisioning.

Thanks

I just got on this site and registered. I was doing a google search for "thai citizen travelling to Mexico" to see what I could come up with, and found this site. This is my situation: I have been married to a wonderfull thai woman who holds down a very decent job in Thailand with one of the biggest,(if not, THE biggest company in Thailand.) We've been married over a year. We've been to US emb in Bkk 2 times trying to apply for the non-immi visa, and both times the workers there were very rude, condescending, judgemental of us, and denied our aps. The 2nd time the interviewer said we need to apply for the immi visa because we were married. This brings up a financial prob on my part(I'll talk bout this later on...), so we went away after that and losing our 155$ fee for the ap! It only took about 5 minutes before we were denied. Our plan was for my wife to come over for a visit max a month, to meet my relatives and possibly go to a few places, and then she would go back to her job, which she does not want to quit, because it pays well(by thai standards.) We brought our marriage certificate, proof of her employment, land ownership docs(her family owns land), and all the other miscellany paperwork you need to bring to visa interviews. They didn't look at but 1 or 2 before denying us. Didn't even look at her employment docs, just made the decision right away after hearing that we were married. This is why I was looking at Mexico, to see if she could go there easier. I just want her to be able to come here, and if Mexico is as close as she can get, then I'll be happy to vacation with her for up to a month in Mexico! I have a friend who owns land in Baja, where we could stay for a month. Now, regarding the financial prob on my part and applying for an immi visa to US, the prob is: I don't have the required funds and am currently unemployed and know I will not qualify for her visa if we apply for the immi. Why cant they just give her a non-immi visa? We had all the proof that she would come back to Thailand. They just blew us off! if anyone can suggest something, i'd be happy to hear some ideas, cause i'm about to give up on trying to get her her visa. Oh, by the way, we have a baby. I did all the paperwork/fees to get my baby's US passport and citizenship. Thank God they didn't deny my babys passport and birth certificate!

But I still think my wife deserves a visa to US. We have an Indian friend(Indian meaning from India, but he's not from India, he was born in Thailand, but he's native Indian), and he said he applied for a 10 year visa, and they gave it to him instantly! I'd like more info about this 10 year visa for thais, cause I've heard from a few people who've said they've got one easy.....

ten four --------

Will----- email me direct if you have any usefull info for me: [email protected]

[swain]

Mexico City is the ONLY option you will find. You will be able to get a visa but a LIMITED MOVEMENT VISA. Once you get to Mexico City, you can hop to TJ, but only if your lucky. They are looking for potential border jumpers even there. The Visa you get is a limited visa and has restrictions about going to Baja. A friend described in great detail what happened and it was to say the least a very negative experience. He was able to get to the border town. When denied a plane ticket from one airline he went to the next one and so on until he was able to get the plane tickets from Mexico City to TJ. If you have any problem in TJ the person with the limited movement Mexican Visa can be detained or worse. He was trying to bring his future bride across the border illegally. He didn't make it. Further more he tried to cross illegally with his future wife and was caught by the border patrol. If you are caught in the no mans land between borders you really have no rights. Because technically its not the USA OR Mexico. You can be detained for a very very long time. He was, for over 4 months where as she was just deported back to Mexico the same day. She had to make her way back to Mexico city and then back to Thailand alone. With lawyers fees and plane tickets etc.. it was a VERY expensive mistake.

I lived in Tecate when I was a child.. on the American side.. the border was a small barbed wire fence at one end of our property and we went over every day. No big deal and even if the border patrol was watching.. which was never.. unless it was a huge amount crossing .. they turned a blind eye. I went for a visit about 4 years back, its a big metal wall with bright lights beaming down on it at night. All trees and vegetation have been hacked away and border patrol cars on tops of small hills with telescopes pointed down on anyone in the vicinity. I couldn't even make it to my old house before two cars stopped us asking what business we had there. It was like something out of a scifi movie. The world is changing... this was four years back and the USA has been getting more and more crazy about reinforcing their borders.