Is it legal?

[Maigo6]

Hi, I was wondering, if i am in Malaysia and the thai embassy wont give me a 1 year mutiple entry non immigrant 'o' visa, can i post my application to another Consulate in America to get the visa. The passport will have been posted to the States and posted back with the Visa, i personally would not have been to the issuing office, but that is the case if i apply by post anyway whilst living there.

If the answer is yes, then can i not be living in Thailand, post my passport to the states with my application, get the visa, and have it back in time for a visa run, it would have been issued by the Thai consulate so is not a fake, any regulations on this?  

Cheers.   Maigo6

[george]

It is illegal to send your passport by post or courier. Also, please read this thread.

The immigration are scrutinising longstayer's passports now, and a visa issued in another county while you are in Thailand would be enough to get you into trouble.

[valentinoxxx]

George

You can in some cases.

Not only can you be sent your passport through the post from the Passport Office, but you can apply for a Thai Visa by post via the regional Thai consulates in the UK(Honorary Consulates in: Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Hull and Liverpool.)

Therefore, excluding the RTE in London.

Of course, you are not talking about within the UK....  ::

Time for beddy byes.....

[PK2]

It is illegal to send your passport by post or courier.

A few months ago the British Embassy told me it was OK to DHL my pp out of Thailand. DHL also accepted the contents and cleared it though the embassy prior shipping. I had it returned DHL similarly.

Cheers,

[ChiangMaiThai]

A few months ago the British Embassy told me it was OK to DHL my pp out of Thailand. DHL also accepted the contents and cleared it though the embassy prior shipping. I had it returned DHL similarly.

Cheers,

Were you sending your passport to get a visa? I can't see how this could be legal. I wish it was. I would send my passport to the US in a second, but then you have no exit and entry stamps. When you actually leave the country, isn't your visa going to look suspicious? Did the British Embassy really tell you that it was fine? Were there any special circumstances?

[johninbkk2000]

I once did it a few years ago. Send my passport out, got a Non Immigrant year visa (B-multiple entry) and had it shipped back to me. A small problem occurred later when I had to apply for a workpermit. I had to visit Immigration and the immigration officer checked the visa. He asked me how I got this visa and I told him honestly that I applied for it by mail (DHL). He than took my passport upstairs to talk to his superiors and came back in about a half an hour. He told me that I could not get a workpermit on this visa and that I had to leave the country for a new visa. However he did NOT put any remarks in my passport and also did NOT cross out this visa which was still valid for 6 months. So if I decided not to proced with a workpermit I still could use this visa.

Another story of a friend of mine who also send out his passport for a visa was halted at an immigration checkpoint because the immigration officer saw that he also did not have departure/entry stamps regarding this visa. After some converstaion and the officer calling to Bangkok Immigration he let my friend enter the country on this visa.

It is strange, but maybe this is also a grey area.

John

[Maigo6]

New scenario. If i was in Malaysia for instance, and i know that they will not issue me with a Non Immigrant, can i not apply to any Thai consulate of my choice?

I would not be in Thailand when making the application.

It would not Affect the Malaysian Authorities.

Its a visa issued whilst i am not in Thailand, by a Thai Consulate overseas that accepts postal applications.

I would not be entering Thailand again till i had the passport back,(how can i, its with DHL)  

I have a mate that lives in Miami, he  get's a Multiple entry Non Immigrant, said he can get one for me also. As i would not be in Thailand at any stage of the process, and its a visa issued by a Thai Consulate, can it be illegal?

Cheers

[PK2]

Were you sending your passport to get a visa? I can't see how this could be legal.

Hi,

I was just commenting on Georges statement on the illegality of mailing passports and my experience with the British Embassy in Bangkok. I was actually applying for a visa in London but for a third country as they don?t have an embassy here.

I have never tried applying for a Thai visa this way. I don?t know if that is possible as the passport would not have an exit stamp from Thailand yet.

Cheers,

[the scouser]

I used to be an immigration officer in the UK and also worked at some embassies as a visa officer. In the course of my duties if I encountered an individual who had a UK visa but had evidently not been in the country of issue at the time it was issued then he/she was on a one-way ride back home. That is not to say that the Thai authorities would behave similarly but they may do. It is not really a question of the legality of sending your passport by post but, rather, the legality of obtaining a visa from a given consulate/embassy when you are not even in that country at the time of application. I, for one, would not do it.

Regards,

Scouse.

[Maigo6]

OK scouser, just shows how relaxed things where here for a long time.

I think that is the problem here in Thailand, it was too relaxed, now we find that they are tightening up, we cry that its not fair, but as you said, no way is it acceptable in the u.k., anyway most Thais cant even get a visa, any villain can walk into Thailand. Thanks for the input Scouser.

Cheers

[george]

I used to be an immigration officer in the UK and also worked at some embassies as a visa officer. In the course of my duties if I encountered an individual who had a UK visa but had evidently not been in the country of issue at the time it was issued then he/she was on a one-way ride back home. That is not to say that the Thai authorities would behave similarly but they may do. It is not really a question of the legality of sending your passport by post but, rather, the legality of obtaining a visa from a given consulate/embassy when you are not even in that country at the time of application. I, for one, would not do it.

Regards,

Scouse.

the scouser, Great post!

Summary: Do NOT send your passport for visas/entries without you present in person. Never!

[PK2]

It is not really a question of the legality of sending your passport by post but, rather, the legality of obtaining a visa from a given consulate/embassy when you are not even in that country at the time of application.

Thanks for the input. I wonder then if it is legal to obtain a visa from an embassy when you are not in the same country as the embassy?

The company I worked for, big multinational and listed on the NYSE, obtained work visas all the time for us for various countries using their own travel agent to delivery our passports to the embassy whilst we remained in another country.

[Roger13]

Well I always thought it was illegal to send your passport out of Thailand because you are supposed to ALWAYS have it in your Pocket !!!

( I know some people advocate a Colour PhotoCopy)

I remember reading in Lonely Planet Guide for India

(which county does require you to have your pasport on your Person at all times). Two foreigners were robbed of everything on them - the Police asked if the Theives took their passports. The foreigners would have best been advised to say "yes" - but they truthfully answered that their passports were in the Hotel safe ...

Whereupon they found the Police to be much more interested in this violation than the theft !!!!

Roger