Visa Amnesty ends 26 Sept

[FlyingThai]

1 hour ago, Benitostacos said:

Every Thai person I've spoken with thinks the amnesty should be extended. Guess it depends on who you speak with. ????

Which is why I stopped speaking to Thai people completely about such matters. Many are ill informed, not educated on the topic and daily affairs or just ignorant as a whole. Sometimes a combination of all this. ????

 

We're once again nearing the "magical" two week mark so I would tell people to breathe, be calm and see what happens. There is no indicator right now that there will/will not be another extension just like there was in July at this point. Not sure why people are so paranoid, we've now been through this rodeo twice!

 

The U.S. Embassy is the only one issuing some half-assed, non specific letter but all other diplomatic missions do not so the demand for such documents is clearly pointless. The government and their agencies will realize that at some point, just like when they gave up their last round of ridiculous documents requirements such as pictures of the "dirty foreigners" at their hotel or residence and hand drawn maps.

[JoseThailand]

55 minutes ago, PabloPablo said:

I don't understand why we cannot wait out the epidemic in a safe place.

Actually we can. And immigration mentions an outbreak as a reason to stay, in addition to no flights available.

[FlyingThai]

10 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Actually we can. And immigration mentions an outbreak as a reason to stay, in addition to no flights available.

But that's reliant on your embassy being cooperative (issuing letters) and being a citizen of three countries I can honestly say that has rarely been the case over the last 20 years or so whenever I needed consular support abroad.

 

Many see the issuance of formal (begging) letters as something embarrassing and aren't authorized from their MFA back home to give them out.

Edited September 7, 2020 by FlyingThai
typo

[JoseThailand]

6 minutes ago, FlyingThai said:

But that's reliant on your embassy being cooperative (issuing letters) and being a citizen of three countries I can honestly say that has rarely been the case over the last 20 years or so whenever I needed consular support abroad.

 

Many see the issuance of formal (begging) letters as something embarrassing and aren't authorized from their MFA back home to give them out.

That's their job, to assist their citizens abroad.

[impulse]

On 9/6/2020 at 4:32 AM, Daithi85 said:

A few people went to immigration for extensions this week and were told to come in 2 weeks as things might change.

 

As I recall, they suggested that people who could not meet the 400/800K baht requirement wait until the middle of September to apply for a year-long extension.  I figured maybe there was a move afoot to relax the 400/800K requirement in light of Covid, but it wasn't a sure thing just yet.

 

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

The UK Embassy  will not be issuing those letters for people on tourist visas

I thought the UK & Australian Embassies had said they would issue letters for people on tourist visas / visa exempts who could show that they weren't able to get a flight back. 

 

I think UK guys would struggle to do this (The KLM flights via AMS seem to have been running regularly & Qatar seems to be ramping up its flights) but some of the Australian guys would seem to have a solid case. 

 

[JoseThailand]

Did anyone request a letter on the grounds of an outbreak? Immigration mentions that option.

Edited September 7, 2020 by JoseThailand

[FlyingThai]

2 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

That's their job, to assist their citizens abroad.

Their job is to carry out the tasks the Foreign Ministry back home dictates them. Not more, not less.

 

Consular officers and Ambassadors don't take marching orders or in many cases even requests from citizens.

 

Need an example? In March I brought my passport to the German Embassy to get it registered in Thailand. First they invalidated my old passport cutting it apart, then they suddenly realized it wasn't possible to stamp the new one due to some internal registration error so I had no properly registered passport anymore until they contacted the issuing office back in Germany. And of course they made it out as if this was my fault. Don't get me started about embassies and their staff they all suck!

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, JoseThailand said:

Did anyone request a letter on the grounds of an outbreak? Immigration mentions that option.

Seems you will now need a valid reason as to why you cannot go back home, to get an Embassy letter .

 

[Phillip9]

13 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Seems you will now need a valid reason as to why you cannot go back home, to get an Embassy letter .

 

It depends on the embassy.  The US embassy is giving letters to any American.  No reason needed.   No questions asked.

[Ganesh108]

44 minutes ago, FlyingThai said:

Their job is to carry out the tasks the Foreign Ministry back home dictates them. Not more, not less.

 

Consular officers and Ambassadors don't take marching orders or in many cases even requests from citizens.

 

Need an example? In March I brought my passport to the German Embassy to get it registered in Thailand. First they invalidated my old passport cutting it apart, then they suddenly realized it wasn't possible to stamp the new one due to some internal registration error so I had no properly registered passport anymore until they contacted the issuing office back in Germany. And of course they made it out as if this was my fault. Don't get me started about embassies and their staff they all suck!

I'm not sure I understand the problem. I'm German, got a new passport in March as well. The edges of the old passport are cut off, that's normal procedure. While applying for the new passport, I also applied (and paid 25 €) for a letter, which states "New passport nr. XXX is a continuation of old passport nr. xxx". So on leaving the country, the immigration would just give you the exit stamp in the new passport. It works just fine, I've done it many times. As a frequent flyer, I'm on my 14th passport now.

 

But maybe there's something I don't quite understand in your post.

Edited September 7, 2020 by Ganesh108
addition

[Ganesh108]

1 hour ago, FlyingThai said:

Their job is to carry out the tasks the Foreign Ministry back home dictates them. Not more, not less.

 

Consular officers and Ambassadors don't take marching orders or in many cases even requests from citizens.

 

Need an example? In March I brought my passport to the German Embassy to get it registered in Thailand. First they invalidated my old passport cutting it apart, then they suddenly realized it wasn't possible to stamp the new one due to some internal registration error so I had no properly registered passport anymore until they contacted the issuing office back in Germany. And of course they made it out as if this was my fault. Don't get me started about embassies and their staff they all suck!

OK, sorry, for my former post. I guess you didn't get the new passport in Thailand, as you "brought" it in to the embassy.

[andux]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:06 PM, Phillip9 said:

Interesting that the actual announcement says nothing about amnesty ending or the need to prepare to leave or anything remotely like that.

This reminds me of the children's game called telephone (read the rules here if you don't know about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_whispers).

 

Official announcement: Extensions will start counting from September 27.

 

Interpretation: Amnesty will be over. Letters from embassy and doctors needed. Prepare to leave.

 

Go figure...

[Tunaboi]

Ok so I got my US embassy letter last week but still unsure if it’s sufficient to get an extension past September 26. Originally I arrived end of February on visa exemption then got a month extension permitting my stay to end of April. Afterwards received my first US embassy letter due to covid running rampant and during this time everything in Thailand was pretty much on lockdown with curfews and all. what I hear from my friends and family back home specifically Los Angeles the situation is terrible and several of my friends and relatives were not spared of the disease. I’m curious as to know if anyone else from the states with was automatically approved for an extension using the most recent embassy letter. 

[FlyingThai]

6 hours ago, Ganesh108 said:

OK, sorry, for my former post. I guess you didn't get the new passport in Thailand, as you "brought" it in to the embassy.

Yes it was issued in Germany but they fouled up and instead of issuing it with residence "Bangkok, TH" and charging me the non-resident fee they issued it as if I was living there locally. Of course that way I can't claim VAT back. I did have a proper confirmation latter that I don't live in Germany anymore since 2005 but the embassy said according to their system I'm still registered in Germany. My municipality said that's nonsense and issued me another letter saying exactly that, then they finally relented to stamp the passport. Cost me two mornings to go to Sathorn.

 

Bottom line of this somewhat off topic post if that the diplomatic missions are for the most part lazy, useless paper pushers who draw a big salary but do very little to resolve the concerns of their citizens abroad. I do realize that some people have unrealistic expectations as far as embassy services are required but from what I experienced even with my most basic requests is that they (Germany, Switzerland, Canada) usually excel in incompetence and ignorance. The U.S. embassies so far seems to be the most engaging when I see what services my American friends are able to receive.

[andy246]

On 9/6/2020 at 3:54 PM, JackThompson said:

There was never an "amnesty" - we got automatic-extensions of our existing permitted-stays through (eventually) Sept 26. 

They have already announced one can get 30-day extensions of these with a letter from your embassy.  Just the letter and some landlord-docs (depending on the office).  That seems to be the "what's next" option. 

 

If one cannot get an embassy-letter (USA is automatic, others want "reasons"), and do not want to return to your passport-country, then next step is to check here (and similar sites) for options:

https://travelbans.org/
https://www.traveloffpath.com/countries-reopening-their-borders-for-tourism-the-complete-list/
https://www.kayak.com/travel-restrictions

When you say "automatic", no reason is needed beyond my city is a bit of a mess?  Why are they doing this, considering there are flights going back to the US?

[Phillip9]

45 minutes ago, andy246 said:

When you say "automatic", no reason is needed

correct, no reason is needed.  The process is all automatic and done online.  you just enter your name, passport number, etc, and you will receive the letter via email in about ten minutes.

[FlyingThai]

2 hours ago, andy246 said:

When you say "automatic", no reason is needed beyond my city is a bit of a mess?  Why are they doing this, considering there are flights going back to the US?

Probably because they got sick of people asking and complaining. Their letter is pretty wishy washy and only asks for assistance. It doesn't say the applicant can't go home and that the situation in the U.S. is so horrible that it's a danger. It also seems to be automatically generated without input of a consular officer or staff member.

 

If immigration accepts this then so be it but if they need specifics as they did before... no dice!

[Benitostacos]

47 minutes ago, FlyingThai said:

Probably because they got sick of people asking and complaining. Their letter is pretty wishy washy and only asks for assistance. It doesn't say the applicant can't go home and that the situation in the U.S. is so horrible that it's a danger. It also seems to be automatically generated without input of a consular officer or staff member.

 

If immigration accepts this then so be it but if they need specifics as they did before... no dice!

From the things I'm hearing thus far I think it'll be fairly easy to obtain the extension with any country's embassy letter. Some immigration offices however may require a few additional documents (e.g. proof of hotel or residence)...along with a little groveling. LOL

Edited September 8, 2020 by Benitostacos

[CorpusChristie]

2 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

correct, no reason is needed.  The process is all automatic and done online.  you just enter your name, passport number, etc, and you will receive the letter via email in about ten minutes.

Although the USA letter doe not ask immigration to extend your visa , they just say, "We have no objection if you give an extension "

[FlyingThai]

15 minutes ago, Benitostacos said:

From the things I'm hearing thus far I think it'll be fairly easy to obtain the extension with any country's embassy letter. Some immigration offices however may require a few additional documents (e.g. proof of hotel or residence)...along with a little groveling. LOL

Hearing from whom?

[trappedinasia]

15 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Although the USA letter doe not ask immigration to extend your visa , they just say, "We have no objection if you give an extension "

 

That is false. This is what the actual letter says:

 

"We wish to refer to the unique global transportation restrictions caused by the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, and its effects on international travel. The Embassy of the United States of America requests these special circumstances be considered for U.S. citizens who remain in Thailand on temporary visas and wish to apply for temporary extensions of stay from the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police."

Edited September 8, 2020 by trappedinasia
formatting

[FarFlungFalang]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:08 PM, edwardandtubs said:

It's just because that's already been stated so there's no need for them to keep repeating it.

They made the same statements before the last time they extended.They have form in this area.

[Benitostacos]

9 minutes ago, FlyingThai said:

Hearing from whom?

Just hearsay and chatter on social media of what some IO's supposedly said, information from immigration hotline, and random news articles. Of course it could mean nothing. 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Benitostacos

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, trappedinasia said:

 

That is false. This is what the actual letter says:

 

"We wish to refer to the unique global transportation restrictions caused by the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, and its effects on international travel. The Embassy of the United States of America requests these special circumstances be considered for U.S. citizens who remain in Thailand on temporary visas and wish to apply for temporary extensions of stay from the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police."

That may have been for the letters prior to September 26 th , the newer letters state what I wrote (according to reports on here)

[alw22]

As I wrote in another thread, the US letter got me an under consideration stamp for 20 extra days + 10 more if I return on Oct 16.  No extra docs, just normal tm7 and 1900 baht.

[JackThompson]

Those wanting to follow the USA letter success-rate should probably follow this thread - jump to the last page and then stay updated as reports come in:

 

[racket]

Keep an eye on this

Senior Phuket immigration official says some news is in the pipeline for long-stay visa foreigners after September 15th from Bangkok

Earlier last week, a top immigration officer in Phuket, Lieutenant Colonel Udom Thongchin, who is the deputy commander on the island, indicated that some news for long-stay foreigners within Thailand is in the offing.

 

The normally prescient official told the Phuket News newspaper in Phuket that he expects some news from Bangkok prior to September 15th next.

 

One key concern for many foreigners with Thai wives or who live and work from the kingdom is that because of the Covid 19 crisis, they have been unable to leave the country and both their incomes and savings have been depleted. This means that many may not be able to satisfy the strict income and deposit requirements which in recent years have been tightened 

 

Lieutenant Colonel Udom advised such people to hold off on submitting their visa applications to authorities until after September 15th as he expects that there will be some guidance on this from headquarters in Bangkok.

 

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2020/09/06/visa-amnesty-ends-september-26th-30-day-extensions-focus-long-stay-holders/

 

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by racket

[Phillip9]

17 minutes ago, racket said:

Keep an eye on this

Senior Phuket immigration official says some news is in the pipeline for long-stay visa foreigners after September 15th from Bangkok

Seems very likely their will be a further amnesty.  They will of course wait until after the sept 11 application deadline to announce it, so they can collect all the agent fees they can.

[vermin on arrival]

14 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

Seems very likely their will be a further amnesty.  They will of course wait until after the sept 11 application deadline to announce it, so they can collect all the agent fees they can.

It has that feel. Turn the screws and make people sweat.

Edited September 8, 2020 by vermin on arrival