Is it going to be a problem?

[omarza35]

Egyptian passport holder here (not the greatest passport by any stretch). I was recently denied entry twice (once at the Padang Besar land border and subsequently at Suvarnabhumi upon deciding to fly back in from KL). I had a valid tourist visa, 20K+ in cash and a confirmed flight out to KL. Since I'd been on tourist visas for 2.5 years (a couple of overstays during that period, paid the fines upon leaving the country) the IO denied me entry on suspicions that I'm working in Thailand. They told me I had to fly back to Egypt (I wasn't given neighboring countries as an option), made me sign some documents (my passport wasn't stamped), and I was on the next Egypt Air flight bound for Cairo. 

 

I've been away for almost a month now, got a new passport, have applied for and received an ED Visa from the embassy here, and am planning on flying back within the coming days. My questions are as follows:

 

1.) What are the chances that I will get denied entry again, with a Valid ED Visa, a confirmed ticket back to Cairo, and more than 20K in cash?

2.) Have I been banned from entry (there's no stamp in my passport and the IO told me I'm not banned or blacklisted, just a standard deportation procedure)?

3.) Will the system flag me upon attempting to reenter Thailand?

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Travelanimal]

you can expect lot of questioning . but since you have ED visa that might help you if you didnt hold ED visa before .

yes the system will flag about all your history 

[ubonjoe]

1. Very low. A non-ed visa is a different category of visa from a tourist visa since you had to have valid reason and supporting documents to obtain it.

2. You were denied entry not deported. It is odd you did not get a denial of entry stamp.

3. No it should not.

[omarza35]

Thank you for the responses. I hope I won't encounter any problems, as it would truly suck to be denied entry twice in the space of 5-6 weeks. 

[BritTim]

The good news is that you are not on a blacklist, and @ubonjoe (whose opinion carries great weight) believes your risk is low.

 

My own view (for what it is worth: generally less than Joe's) is that the Non Ed visa will not dispel immigration's suspicion of illegal employment. I think you could well be in trouble again if you hit the wrong immigration official on entry.

[kingstonkid]

I was thinking the same as brittim. 

 

The one thing I would add is it will also depend on the school you got the visa for.  

[007 RED]

OP…. It was possibly your history of 2.5 years on tourist visas and a couple of overstays that lead the IOs to assume that you had been working and hence the refused entry.

 

You have indicated that you now have a new passport.  Please do not assume that a new passport is going to ‘wipe’ your previous Thai Immigration history clean.  The Immigration computer system is fairly sophisticated and very capable of linking your old passport to your new one in a couple of second.

 

You have also indicated that you have an Education Visa.  I trust that you are aware that although you have obtained a visa it is not a guarantee that you will be admitted into the Kingdom.  To quote from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs website:

 

“Royal Thai Embassies and Royal Thai Consulates-General have the authority to issue visas to foreigners for travel to Thailand.  The authority to permit entry and stay in Thailand, however, is with the immigration officers.  In some cases, the immigration officer may not permit foreigner holding a valid visa entry into Thailand should the immigration officer find reason to believe that he or she falls into the category of aliens prohibited from entering Thailand under the Immigration Act B.E. 2522 (1979)”.

 

When the IO scans your new passport at the port of entry he/she is going to see that you were refused entry last time you tried to enter and the reasons given by the IO.  Entering with an education visa may well start ‘alarm bells ring’ with the IO and given your previous history I suspect that you will be taken to one side questioned by a supervisor.  They may well ask for copies of letters that you have from the educational establishment indicating your admission, which course(s) you will be following and fees paid etc.  I hope that the establishment is a reputable one and not on the Immigration suspect list otherwise you may well find yourself being refused entry again.

 

Good luck.

[Nice Boyd]

Avoid Women immigration officers

[Phuket Man]

9 minutes ago, Nice Boyd said:

Avoid Women immigration officers

Why?

[falangjim]

Well, you know what they say: third time's a charm.

[The Theory]

There is history of you in the system anyway. Changing passport will not remove the history from immigration system. They don’t care what type of visa you got. Unless the IO does not pay attention to the history, but they usually look very carefully to the records on arrival. 

Good luck

Edited September 21, 2018 by The Theory

[natway09]

Being on a Tourist Visa for over 2 years could ring the alarm bells after only 6 weeks & I must say I would not blame them, would you?

Why the attraction of Thailand for so long ?

 

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, The Theory said:

There is history of you in the system anyway. Changing passport will not remove the history from immigration system. They don’t care what type of visa you got. Unless the IO does not pay attention to the history, but they usually look very carefully to the records on arrival. 

Good luck

Well, if he had a Non-O, that would help a lot.  But an "ED" Visa is hated as much or more by Airport-IOs than TR-Visas.  I would definitely not fly in to Bangkok (either airport) with that, given what has transpired so-far. 

 

@omarza35- To clarify, you had the 20K plus a valid Tourist Visa and Pedang Besar denied you?  The border-crossings from Malaysia are not the most friendly, but generally just require seeing the 20K Baht, as compared to others that do not ask to see this.  I would guess your overstays were the primary problem.

 

Normally, I would suggest Pedang Besar - but given the reported problem there - likely due to Overstays - maybe entry via a Friendship Bridge from Laos is the safest-bet.  A 2nd choice would be a flight to Chang Mai - but be sure you would go through Immigration/Customs there - not in Bangkok en-route to Chang Mai.

 

The primary benefit of a land-border entry, aside from a lower-chance of rejected-entry, is that even if you are not allowed in, you can at least go where ever you choose - not be locked in a room and "ordered home" - like a disobedient child (as you unfortunately found out).

[omarza81]

Thank you for all the responses. I am safely back in my condo in Bangkok. The immigration officer was incredibly cordial; no issues or hassles encountered. I suppose using the priority lane really does make a difference.