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COE brick wall


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17 minutes ago, at15 said:

I'm at 15 days now since i sent my passport. Fly in 8 days no passport in hand. Advise against the DC embassy if possible.

Ouch!

Did you have a tracking number on the passport, and you show they received it? I like using USPS Priority because I have the tracking for both ways, so I could see where it was when they shipped it back to me. It adds a cost but I felt it was worth it, to me.

Edited by Suphawk
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41 minutes ago, Suphawk said:

Ouch!

Did you have a tracking number on the passport, and you show they received it? I like using USPS Priority because I have the tracking for both ways, so I could see where it was when they shipped it back to me. It adds a cost but I felt it was worth it, to me.

Mine shows they received it December 30th signed by C. COVID, which i guess means they are not getting signatures to keep safe distance. Instructions said i had to send it express mail $26.35 and self address express return envelope with a $26.35 stamp on it which i did. I still have heard nothing

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22 minutes ago, Winegeeker said:

I still have heard nothing

It seems people using the LA consulate have had good luck. I hadn't heard about DC yet, I guess they are backed up, or the staff has had to stay home and quarantine.

I had been nervous about Chicago because I wasn't getting a reply for a long time, but things seem to be moving now.

 

All I can do is hope my COE application is completed in time for my flight.

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yes, mine was shown on the tracking as received december 29th. I emailed them about changing my flight due to the taiwan transit ban and they replied on january 7th asking me to upload my new flight. Zero communication since then.

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Gut-wrenchingly stressful stuff lads.

 

I got my visa and COE stuff through the LA Consulate (flying out 20 Jan) and things went relatively smoothly, because I think at the time, LA was managing it's own COE process (I believe LA is now on the universal system with the 6 digit numbers etc.) The difference seems to be that that process ran concurrently for the COE and visa stuff... Rather than consecutively as it seems now?

 

I read through the lists, and got my bookings in order, and submitted an application for COE online through the weblink on the LA Consulate page, indicating on the COE  questionnaire that I would be applying for a TR visa... All other fields were complete, Within 2-3 days I got an email (2/3) informing me my COE application had been reviewed, and to mail in the paper copies and confirmations for the visa.

 

Your application is reviewed. In order to issue an appropriate visa and in compliance with relevant rules and regulations, please mail the original documents to the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Los Angeles 

Visa section
Royal Thai Consulate-General, Los Angeles

 

Mailed in the visa package and had my passport and hard copies of the documents, and had my passport with visa back in 5-6 days, very tidy. I had to change flights because my original flights got cancelled because of Covid scares in Taipei, so I sent an email to LA. they got back to me quite quickly and gave me a link to change my COE flight details. I did that online and 5 days later (including the New Years holiday ) had the COE emailed to me.

 

FWIW, the LA Consulate is on the ball, but as far as I can tell from other posters on this thread, NY is also on the ball, and quite together, but DC and Chicago just plain suck. I must say that even though I am lucky to live in the part of the country served by the LA Consulate, it was just luck of the draw... I also noticed early on that the various  consulates and the DC embassy all did things a little differently from each other, but it appears now that seem to be trying to standardize the process, but instead of running the visa and CoE process  simultaneously (because both rely on pretty much the same data set) they run serially one AFTER the other, apparently in two separate offices, therefore unnecessarily lengthening the process. 

 

I don't think things have improved at all. My sympathies to all of you out there who are still hanging.

 

Godspeed

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14 hours ago, Winegeeker said:

I wonder how long the COE will take once we get visa, i wanted to reschedule for January 29th but who knows

I was looking at that date too , but i think mid February is safer. something must be seriously wrong at that DC embassy to be 3 weeks without our passport.

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1 hour ago, at15 said:

I was looking at that date too , but i think mid February is safer. something must be seriously wrong at that DC embassy to be 3 weeks without our passport.

Thats fine for some, i have to be out of my house January 31st and have no where to go lol

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40 minutes ago, Winegeeker said:

i have to be out of my house January 31st and have no where to go

I'm in the same boat, I'm thinking a cheap hotel in Vegas if my trip plans fall through.

 

Still waiting on my COE and then hoping I can pass a RT-PCR test 72 hours before flying. 

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2 hours ago, Suphawk said:

I'm in the same boat, I'm thinking a cheap hotel in Vegas if my trip plans fall through.

 

Still waiting on my COE and then hoping I can pass a RT-PCR test 72 hours before flying. 

And get a fit to fly certificate 

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4 hours ago, Suphawk said:

I plan to use the Dr. mentioned in other posts. She is in Bangkok and conducts a video call, you show your negative RT-PCR test and normal temperature and she provides a fit to fly certificate, 400 Baht https://www.medconsultasia.com/

Wow i never heard of that, and it’s valid for flying from USA?

 

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1 minute ago, Winegeeker said:

Wow i never heard of that, and it’s valid for flying from USA?

Yes, I asked if they have worked with people from the USA and they said yes. Also it's Thailand that wants the fit to fly paperwork, so I think it's better to be from a Thailand Dr.

 

Same with the insurance, they really want a Thai insurance company. You can get other insurance but you have to have another extra form signed by the director of the insurance company for them to accept a non-Thai insurance provider.

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4 hours ago, Suphawk said:

I plan to use the Dr. mentioned in other posts. She is in Bangkok and conducts a video call, you show your negative RT-PCR test and normal temperature and she provides a fit to fly certificate, 400 Baht https://www.medconsultasia.com/

I'm in the ASQ already, arrived 2 days ago, and used the Fit to Fly certificate you mentioned above. No problem at all.  It was checked at every airport I went through,  IMO it is important for any incarnation of this certificate paper to have "Fit to Fly" written explicitly, the airport staff were looking for this and circling/underlining it.

 

BTW it would help if you have LINE or Whatsapp installed and configured, much easier to organise the certificate. I chatted with them on LINE as I had issues with the PCR test timing.

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18 hours ago, Suphawk said:

Yes, I asked if they have worked with people from the USA and they said yes. Also it's Thailand that wants the fit to fly paperwork, so I think it's better to be from a Thailand Dr.

 

Same with the insurance, they really want a Thai insurance company. You can get other insurance but you have to have another extra form signed by the director of the insurance company for them to accept a non-Thai insurance provider.



Incorrect on the Thai insurance. 100% incorrect. I used Safetywing aka Nomad insurance and not a problem. They accepted it, visa letter printout super easy to get too.

Provides higher coverage than those crappy Thai ones.

The only harder part with insurance is if you go for a STV. You need to have the consulate fill out a paper and send back if they dont accept. But I didnt go for STV.

Rather just go on visa exempt and snag a volunteer visa straight out of quarantine for a year.

Edited by Crazedmonk
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36 minutes ago, Crazedmonk said:

Incorrect on the Thai insurance. 100% incorrect.

Your experience does not match mine, 100% false ????

 

I never said they wouldn't accept non thai insurance , I said it requires another form signed by the company director.

 

Congrats on your "snag" good luck to you

Edited by Suphawk
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11 minutes ago, Winegeeker said:

Still no news today

That is really bad. I can't believe they just sit on your passport like that. I'm crazy enough that I'd drive up there( no matter how far) and stand in the office until someone located my passport.

 

I'm still waiting on a reply back about my COE now. Each of these steps is very stressful with paid bookings on the line.

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1 minute ago, Suphawk said:

That is really bad. I can't believe they just sit on your passport like that. I'm crazy enough that I'd drive up there( no matter how far) and stand in the office until someone located my passport.

 

I'm still waiting on a reply back about my COE now. Each of these steps is very stressful with paid bookings on the line.

i still have nothing too, and unresponsive to emails and calls. I dont live too far, i could drive up there but i dont think anyone is actually working in the office right now. Or eventually we will have to file a police report.

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Based on the URL (https://coethailand.mfa.go.th) I'm guessing the COEs are being processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inside of Thailand for all applicants worldwide. There is no way I know of to contact them for help, other than to "Check the result" online. 

 

Has anyone gotten a COE by applying to that URL after January 1st?

If so...

What embassy or consulate did you select when applying?

How long did it take?

Was the COE emailed or did you have to "Check the result" to retrieve the it?

Was that "Declaration form" document included with your COE?

 

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9 minutes ago, SEAsia Traveler said:

Has anyone gotten a COE by applying to that URL after January 1st?

I applied for my COE via that new URL a few days ago now. When I go to check the status it shows this

Waiting for approval

Your application is under consideration
 
I hope they will get back to me before I have to change my upcoming flight and ASQ reservation.
 
SEAsia Traveler, how long ago did you submit yours?
Edited by Suphawk
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6 minutes ago, SEAsia Traveler said:

Based on the URL (https://coethailand.mfa.go.th) I'm guessing the COEs are being processed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs inside of Thailand for all applicants worldwide.

They are still approved by embassy or consulate you select on the dropdown menu. The MFA website is just a portal for submitting them. 

All other embassies and website were using it before January 1st. The embassy in the US was the only one that had their own online application for them.

 

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17 minutes ago, Suphawk said:

 

SEAsia Traveler, how long ago did you submit yours?

January 6 submitted application and received email "Your registration/application for COE has been confirmed."

 

January 7 received another email "Your registration/application for COE has been approved."

 

Checked result and prompted to uploaded air ticket and ASQ (which I had uploaded already TiT).

 

January 11 re-uploaded documents and received email "Your travel confirmation has been received".

 

Nothing further. Departing on January 29.

 

 

Edited by SEAsia Traveler
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