Visa application denied due to "incorrect" addressee in Educational Area Office letter

[Camping in the sun]

Going bonkers here...

 

Our school sent two Filipino teachers for a Non-Imm B visa to Vientiane. All of the school's documents were in order but the letter from the Educational Area Office stated something to the tune of "To immigration official concerned" as its addressee. The Vientiane Consulate meanwhile wants the letter to be addressed specifically to them. In short, there is nothing wrong with the document, apart from an "incomplete" addressee.

 

Our deputy director has called the Educational Area Office and they told him that they cannot make that change. I then gave the phone number of the head of the Office to the Filipinos and asked them to try and make a consulate official call the Office. Still waiting for the outcome.

 

My question, before I explode, is has anybody else experienced that? Is there a way to solve this?

 

Also, getting a tourist visa and changing it to Non-Imm B at Promenada didn't work, We tried, but the woman in charge was completely unhelpful, asking things like "why is the stamp sideways" and "why didn't you bring two sets of documents". That was at the Filipino teachers' second appointment with that particular individual after she gave them the requirements at their first meeting. Basically, she didn't want to do it, so we sent them to Laos.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Camping in the sun]

<UPDATE>

 

They have applied for a tourist visa, because the Education Area Office doesn't want to change that one single line in the original document and fax it and Vientiane consulate said that it's not their problem. Also, they were in Savannakhet last week and were denied the visa for the same reason. We then told them to go to Vientiane, since the school never had such an issue before. Feels like being in a Kafka novel...

 

I'm interested to know when has this become a thing. I know that school documents have to be addressed to the specific consulate where the teachers are applying for the visa, but did not know it's also required for the Education Area Office documents.

[Rhys]

Sounds like a bit of prejudice..only just because they can...

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by Rhys

[watcharacters]

3 minutes ago, Rhys said:

Sounds like a bit of prejudice..only just because they can...

 

 

Immigration tends to be a stickler for details.