Vientiane Tourist Visa Update: Many People Denied

[JackThompson]

4 hours ago, time2093 said:

Of course they were, just like many others who were and are going to be rejected thinking they can keep living in Thailand on tourist visas..When will people learn?

Maybe when something is written down providing the precise guidelines for what is permitted and not permitted.  All this vague and arbitrary policy does, is make people generally avoid coming and spending money in Thailand.

[Parker2100]

On 7/21/2019 at 8:51 PM, JAG said:

They both had back to back tourist visas, 5 (450 days) and 3 (270 days respectively).

Rather stretching the idea of tourists - the consular officials almost certainly thought that they were living in Thailand on tourist visas.

 

It is most likely as simple as that.

Hmmm..I was hassled for a Visa exemption at DMK because I had 192 days over 2 years.  I would be interested if they get past Immigration ok.

 

[dlm5star]

Had the same problem today. Handed in my passport yesterday. They checked my paperwork and everything. Said nothing, issued the collect tomorrow paper. Went today, the girl organising the lines had a small piece of paper with three column headings for each window. First was in Thai so I have no idea what it was (had 4 numbers under it), second was "statement" (had at least 20 people's numbers under it), third column said "perfect" (had only 2 numbers). Seems like they're sticking it to everyone. I got declined for failing to provide bank statement. Asked them why they didn't mention it yesterday or why it's not on the website....no reply. My passport is UK new. Only has 30 day arrival stamp from airport + extended in BKK. Then a 30 day border crossing from Laos 2 months ago (I didn't try for visa as the appointment wait was too long) + BKK extension. No tourist visas. Anyone know if I can go back via the border for just 30 days? If I get declined entry, can I go back to Laos or forced to book a flight home? Any help appreciated.

[arithai12]

On 7/23/2019 at 11:46 PM, JackThompson said:

Why should it be different?  Because there are not higher-paying jobs for us here than our home-countries, spouses of citizens don't have rights or a path to PR, and 15% of Thailand's GDP is Our Spending Foreign Currency into their economy.  Consider that most GDP is "recycled" money - far less valuable than tourist-spending.

 

Yes, they do, and no, Thailand is not better than "most."  Just in the region, no problem doing serial-visas to Vietnam or Cambodia, or staying 3 years in The Philippines as a tourist.  Then there is most of Latin America, which has similar policies. 

Higher paying jobs in their home countries... I doubt that all the language teachers who abound here would agree with that, most would be jobless back home.

 

Anybody has a path to PR, with rules like everywhere else.

 

15% of GDP ... maybe, but it is not all foreign currency from retirees and husbands and so-called tourists who try to live here semi-permanently. It is also (mostly?) money from real tourists, you know those guys who come here by the millions and stay one or few weeks.

 

Whether Thailand is or is not better than others must be a personal decision, anyway if the queues to come here are so long it cannot be so bad.

[sanemax]

6 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Higher paying jobs in their home countries... I doubt that all the language teachers who abound here would agree with that, most would be jobless back home.

 

Anybody has a path to PR, with rules like everywhere else.

 

15% of GDP ... maybe, but it is not all foreign currency from retirees and husbands and so-called tourists who try to live here semi-permanently. It is also (mostly?) money from real tourists, you know those guys who come here by the millions and stay one or few weeks.

 

Whether Thailand is or is not better than others must be a personal decision, anyway if the queues to come here are so long it cannot be so bad.

Let Thais teach English to Thais.

Thai English school teachers who cannot speak English at all

My 3 year old speaks better English then his Thai English teachers  

[Gulfsailor]

9 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Let Thais teach English to Thais.

Thai English school teachers who cannot speak English at all

My 3 year old speaks better English then his Thai English teachers  

...than...

[sanemax]

7 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

...than...

I'm not an English teacher and neither am I a pedantic 

[matt9998]

2 hours ago, dlm5star said:

Had the same problem today. Handed in my passport yesterday. They checked my paperwork and everything. Said nothing, issued the collect tomorrow paper. Went today, the girl organising the lines had a small piece of paper with three column headings for each window. First was in Thai so I have no idea what it was (had 4 numbers under it), second was "statement" (had at least 20 people's numbers under it), third column said "perfect" (had only 2 numbers). Seems like they're sticking it to everyone. I got declined for failing to provide bank statement. Asked them why they didn't mention it yesterday or why it's not on the website....no reply. My passport is UK new. Only has 30 day arrival stamp from airport + extended in BKK. Then a 30 day border crossing from Laos 2 months ago (I didn't try for visa as the appointment wait was too long) + BKK extension. No tourist visas. Anyone know if I can go back via the border for just 30 days? If I get declined entry, can I go back to Laos or forced to book a flight home? Any help appreciated.

So you've used up 1 visa exempt entry by land already? You should be fine with a 2nd visa exempt entry but since you've had one at the airport I think it's pushing it.

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, dlm5star said:

Anyone know if I can go back via the border for just 30 days? If I get declined entry, can I go back to Laos or forced to book a flight home?

As long as you have your passport, and do not already have two visa exempt entries by land in 2019, you can get a 30-day visa exempt entry easily entering via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai. If denied entry into Thailand at Nong Khai, you would be sent bang to Laos. If you try to fly from Vientiane to Bangkok, requesting a visa exempt entry while entering by air, bad things might happen.

[dlm5star]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

As long as you have your passport, and do not already have two visa exempt entries by land in 2019, you can get a 30-day visa exempt entry easily entering via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai. If denied entry into Thailand at Nong Khai, you would be sent bang to Laos. If you try to fly from Vientiane to Bangkok, requesting a visa exempt entry while entering by air, bad things might happen.

Thanks, that's what I thought. If denied, will I have to pay for another Laos visa? technically I would have exited so the visa would be used.

[BritTim]

28 minutes ago, dlm5star said:

Thanks, that's what I thought. If denied, will I have to pay for another Laos visa? technically I would have exited so the visa would be used.

I believe (assuming using the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai) they would cancel your Laos exit stamp as you did not successfully cross the border.

 

This is academic as you will not be denied entry. That said, you should have tried harder to get the visa. There are over five months left in the current year, and those safe visa exempt entries should be carefully husbanded for emergencies where you have no other alternative. You will need to be super careful if you want to stay in Thailand past September.

Edited July 24, 2019 by BritTim

[Jo3200]

People in the news section always be like: Why can't Thailand be more strict in many cases!

 

People at the Thailand visa section:

Why are they getting so strict????

 

Just get the right documents. It's no other than any other country in the world. As someone who loves to travel, I wish it was more easy too, but everywhere in the world they have such rules unfortunately.

[Jo3200]

Another thing I wonder is,

You said you used 3 tourist visas before and before that had a work permit. 3 tourist visas is about 6-9 months. That's all the way back till last year which you mentioned you've had a work permit. Because of this, I assume that this all happened in not more than 1 trip away from your own country.

 

Maybe I just don't get it but why didnt you get the work visa if you had a work permit. And if you did, why not extend it and just keep working. That'd be better than now complaining that your tourist visa is rejected based upon those (for them) quite suspicious decisions.

 

And lets be real here, after 6 months or more being on that type of visa and asking for another 2 or 3 months...who are you kidding? Where do you get the money from to have a holiday so long? That's what they will be thinking too and it'd be a whole new level of underestimating them if you think they can't connect the dots. They would like to see proof of course.

[Ling Kae]

Wow, just read 8 pages about all this.

 

My situation is I  have a SETV from my home country. If I go to Vientiane for a 3 day holiday will they issue me another SETV when I apply? All I have in my passport is 2 separate SETV's from last year and the SETV for this year. Am I safe?

 

I only come here 4 Months a year as a real tourist.

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, Ling Kae said:

Wow, just read 8 pages about all this.

 

My situation is I  have a SETV from my home country. If I go to Vientiane for a 3 day holiday will they issue me another SETV when I apply? All I have in my passport is 2 separate SETV's from last year and the SETV for this year. Am I safe?

 

I only come here 4 Months a year as a real tourist.

You will need a Thai bank account with 20 000 B in it and proof of accommodation for a few days

[Ling Kae]

17 minutes ago, sanemax said:

You will need a Thai bank account with 20 000 B in it and proof of accommodation for a few days

Will a foreign bank account be ok?

[mike787]

No shock here...many denied and many more will be denied.  Thailand has changed.

[BritTim]

20 minutes ago, Ling Kae said:

Will a foreign bank account be ok?

Yes

[ThaiRebound]

22 hours ago, BritTim said:

As long as you have your passport, and do not already have two visa exempt entries by land in 2019, you can get a 30-day visa exempt entry easily entering via the Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai. If denied entry into Thailand at Nong Khai, you would be sent bang to Laos. If you try to fly from Vientiane to Bangkok, requesting a visa exempt entry while entering by air, bad things might happen.

Does anyone get denied a visa-exempt entry at Vientiane-Nong Khai -- even if they don't have one yet by land for 2019? I nearly wasn't allowed back in at Vientiane with my METV after 60 days plus 30-day extension.

Edited July 25, 2019 by ThaiRebound

[BritTim]

3 hours ago, ThaiRebound said:

Does anyone get denied a visa-exempt entry at Vientiane-Nong Khai -- even if they don't have one yet by land for 2019? I nearly wasn't allowed back in at Vientiane with my METV after 60 days plus 30-day extension.

Since the two visa exempt by land rule was introduced, there have been zero reports that I can remember of a denied visa exempt entry without valid reason.

 

I am very interested in hearing about your experience trying to enter at Nong Khai with a valid METV. It is extremely unusual to have a problem. If a very recent incident, it could possibly suggest a change of policy. When was this? What is your nationality? What exactly happened?

[jaffas21]

basically to many visas as someone said. They should go to vietnam for 6 months and come back

[BurgerGung]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:38 AM, matt9998 said:

In Vientiane you pay the day after when you receive your visa. As I was rejected I didn't have to pay anything.

Huh?!?

 

I've always had to pre-pay. And once, an agent claimed the embassy in Penang kept my money and rejected my B-VISA application due to "not having the Police clearance letter translated and apostilled". But I had the Thai Police clearance... (Something smells fishy - hope the OP will share whether he lost the application fee. I do suspect the agent scammed me and the embassy rejected me and never took the application fee in the first place).

 

OT: What's up with different currencies? Kota Bharu: pay in MYR, pay hundreds of THB  m o r e. Who gets the over payment? How come other embassies accept Thai Baht?

[BritTim]

54 minutes ago, BurgerGung said:

Huh?!?

 

I've always had to pre-pay. And once, an agent claimed the embassy in Penang kept my money and rejected my B-VISA application due to "not having the Police clearance letter translated and apostilled". But I had the Thai Police clearance... (Something smells fishy - hope the OP will share whether he lost the application fee. I do suspect the agent scammed me and the embassy rejected me and never took the application fee in the first place).

 

OT: What's up with different currencies? Kota Bharu: pay in MYR, pay hundreds of THB  m o r e. Who gets the over payment? How come other embassies accept Thai Baht?

That is just the way things are. The different embassies and consulates have a lot of autonomy in how they run themselves. That is a reason why there can be sudden changes of policy when the senior consular official changes at a consulate.

 

As a general rule, when agents or other third parties are involved in the application, you must prepay, and there is no reimbursement if the visa is not issued. Otherwise, the friendlier consulates try to arrange their processes such that you are not charged if a visa will not be issued.

[ThaiRebound]

4 hours ago, BritTim said:

Since the two visa exempt by land rule was introduced, there have been zero reports that I can remember of a denied visa exempt entry without valid reason.

 

I am very interested in hearing about your experience trying to enter at Nong Khai with a valid METV. It is extremely unusual to have a problem. If a very recent incident, it could possibly suggest a change of policy. When was this? What is your nationality? What exactly happened?

Honestly, I do not think this has to do with a change of policy. This was a month ago, I am a US citizen, and the border officer held me up for no less than 6 minutes flipping through my passport. I believe it might be because I have stayed pretty much continuously since April '18 on SETV's and 1 METV. Also, have passport with several other countries stamped. As an aside, can I ask if it would work for me if I replaced my passport at this time? Is that still an effective "reset"?

[BritTim]

35 minutes ago, ThaiRebound said:

Honestly, I do not think this has to do with a change of policy. This was a month ago, I am a US citizen, and the border officer held me up for no less than 6 minutes flipping through my passport. I believe it might be because I have stayed pretty much continuously since April '18 on SETV's and 1 METV. Also, have passport with several other countries stamped. As an aside, can I ask if it would work for me if I replaced my passport at this time? Is that still an effective "reset"?

It is still an effective reset when dealing with consulates and applying for a visa. When dealing with immigration, it is less effective as your old and new passports should be linked in their system. Some still believe (sometimes correctly most likely) that the nearly empty passport is helpful psychologically, as the official is not looking at a blizzard of Thai stamps. He can only see your history of entries via his computer screen.

[ThaiRebound]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

It is still an effective reset when dealing with consulates and applying for a visa. When dealing with immigration, it is less effective as your old and new passports should be linked in their system. Some still believe (sometimes correctly most likely) that the nearly empty passport is helpful psychologically, as the official is not looking at a blizzard of Thai stamps. He can only see your history of entries via his computer screen.

Is it better to replace AND to go to a place other than Vientiane? Which (hopefully near) border would be better? Would odds of getting it increase if airborne exit-and-re-enter? Could I get an METV more easily on this, or better yet, replacement passport? 

 

Perhaps relevant: I have always gone to Vientiane and probably pushed it too far, as they stamped me with a dreaded-stamp (alien stays too long smthg), and that prompted me to get the METV in start of year. Now, I don't know what best course of action is for staying here. Any kindly suggestions welcomed.

Edited July 26, 2019 by ThaiRebound

[lennois]

On 7/23/2019 at 12:01 AM, Lovethailandelite said:

If you have had a previous ED from anywhere in the previous 12 months, you cannot get another one in Vientiane. You basically need to wait 12 months from any previous ED visa before applying there.

Is this new? I received a back-to-back education Visa about two weeks ago from Vientiane with no issues at all. (First year combat school, this year Thai language school)

[ubonjoe]

24 minutes ago, lennois said:

Is this new? I received a back-to-back education Visa about two weeks ago from Vientiane with no issues at all. (First year combat school, this year Thai language school)

Not new. But maybe they are doing what the announcement stated now that says it is one per calendar year.

Announcement dated October of last year. http://vientiane.thaiembassy.org/en/news/announce/detail.php?ID=621

[ThaiRebound]

Ubon, could you comment on whether you think replacing passport makes a difference in your estimation with border officers?

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, ThaiRebound said:

Ubon, could you comment on whether you think replacing passport makes a difference in your estimation with border officers?

The only advantage would be that the officer would not see pages of visas and entry stamps. Your record of entries would still be in their database due to your passports being linked.

It does make a big difference when applying for visas at embassies and consulates since they only look at your passport for previous visas.