E-Visa Stickerless System Starting On September 27th (Thai Embassy USA announcement)

[ubonjoe]

It appears it will be for all embassies using the E-visa site since the site is being changed for the stickerless system on September 23rd.

 

 

Soruce: https://thaiembdc.org/visas/

[jackdd]

Is there any rule prohibiting applying for a new visa while we are already in Thailand?

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Is there any rule prohibiting applying for a new visa while we are already in Thailand?

There is no info about that yet. But I suspect one of the requirements will a copy of a person's passport that may include a departure stamp uploaded for the application.

I assume their will be more info about it later. I checked the e visa site and their is no info there.

[XtraFly]

I was just about to submit my passport few hours ago for a 60 days tourist Visa, but thanks to my procrastination I didn't and now I find myself reading this article lol.

 

music to my ears, thanks buddy.

[Caldera]

Interesting development. I'm curious what the rules will be like (physical presence where the embassy has jurisdiction at the time of application, etc.). As there are certain kinds of visas you can only apply for at the embassy in your country of residence / home country.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, Caldera said:

Interesting development. I'm curious what the rules will be like (physical presence where the embassy has jurisdiction at the time of application, etc.).

I assume some proof will be needed to prove you are in the country where you applying for the visa or a country the embassy or official consulate is responsible for.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, Caldera said:

Interesting development. I'm curious what the rules will be like (physical presence where the embassy has jurisdiction at the time of application, etc.). As there are certain kinds of visas you can only apply for at the embassy in your country of residence / home country.

They may rely on proof of flight from their jurisdiction to Thailand as sufficient proof that you are physically present in the country. We shall see. Visas like Non O-A, Non O-X and (when reintroduced) multiple entry tourist visas can only be applied for in your home country (or country of residence).

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

I assume some proof will be needed to prove you are in the country where you applying for the visa or a country the embassy or official consulate is responsible for.

That will get funny within the EU once rolled out there. Realistically, all they can do is to ask people to apply at their passport country's Thai embassy.

[Sheryl]

Cambodia has had this for years (though temporarily suspended due to COVID). Very convenient and saves passport pages.

 

For Cambodia at least, it makes no difference where you are physic ally residing. As US citizen living in Thailand, I got Cambodian e-visa innumerable times. The visa is not issued by an Embassy but by Cambodian MFA and the whole process is contracted out to a firm in I think Singapore.

 

Remains to be seen if Thailand will be similar.

[ubonjoe]

6 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Cambodia has had this for years (though temporarily suspended due to COVID). Very convenient and saves passport pages.

But that was only for a tourist entry for 30 days. It replaced the visa on arrival.

 

[Sheryl]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

But that was only for a tourist entry for 30 days. It replaced the visa on arrival.

 

 

 All Cambodian tourist visas are 30 days and no difference whether issued online, at airport or obtained at an Embassy.

 

In all cases, 30 days and can be extended once in-country for another 30 days.

 

Even after the online visa came in, could still get visa on arrival at airport, it did not replace it just became another avenue for getting it (and one that saved time at airport and passport pages - but at slightly higher cost, about $5 more IIRC).

[ubonjoe]

Update about the stickerless visa issuance.

Now this popup appears when opening the e visa website.

 

[Roger That]

I submitted my non-O (Thai spouse) application a few days ago but haven’t posted my passport to the consulate yet.

 

I’d rather use the e-visa system if possible - I wonder if I could just re-apply when the new system goes live on the 26 September?

[RubbaJohnny]

Be interesting to get real reports once up and running, I'm sure Immi will be totally paperless by 2121

[ubonjoe]

41 minutes ago, Roger That said:

I submitted my non-O (Thai spouse) application a few days ago but haven’t posted my passport to the consulate yet.

I’d rather use the e-visa system if possible - I wonder if I could just re-apply when the new system goes live on the 26 September?

I suggest you contact the embassy or consulate you applied to about it. They might do the stickerless one.

[audaciousnomad]

 

On 9/15/2021 at 7:58 AM, jackdd said:

Is there any rule prohibiting applying for a new visa while we are already in Thailand?

Even if you succeeded in getting a new stickerless visa, it could only be activated upon entry to the Kingdom at authorized ports, no? 

[jackdd]

29 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

 

Even if you succeeded in getting a new stickerless visa, it could only be activated upon entry to the Kingdom at authorized ports, no? 

Yes sure, and thus it currently doesn't make much sense with quarantine in place. But once it's again possible to do border hops without quarantine this might become interesting.

[ubonjoe]

29 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

 

Even if you succeeded in getting a new stickerless visa, it could only be activated upon entry to the Kingdom at authorized ports, no? 

I am sure they will be valid any international airport here. Immigration will use it to stamp you into the country since it is already a valid visa. The may also have a specials stamp to put info about the visa on.

There is no other info I have been able to find about the stickerless visa.

[SteveMdmt]

Just completing my e-visa application after a number of days gathering the necessary documents.  The last item on the application is "Residence permit in a country in which visa application is submitted (In case that applicant is not a national of the country in which visa application is submitted.)".   I'm English, in the UK and applying through the London Embassy so does anyone have any idea what would constitute a residence permit in the UK ?  There must be a number of you who have already completed this on-line ... Cheers

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, SteveMdmt said:

Just completing my e-visa application after a number of days gathering the necessary documents.  The last item on the application is "Residence permit in a country in which visa application is submitted (In case that applicant is not a national of the country in which visa application is submitted.)".   I'm English, in the UK and applying through the London Embassy so does anyone have any idea what would constitute a residence permit in the UK ?  There must be a number of you who have already completed this on-line ... Cheers

Upload a copy of your UK passport photo page.

[lsemprini]

 

Curious to see how this e-visa program is used and/or abused for these 3 cases:

1. citizen of country X applying while physically located in country X
2. citizen of country X applying while physically located in third country Y
3. citizen of country X applying while physically located in Thailand

It's pretty clear they don't want you doing #3.  Doing #3 plus a visa run would be a dodge to avoid the restrictions on visa extensions, and they could probably detect it pretty easily by checking their entry/exit database at the time when you apply.

 

But how about #2?  If you visit their site:

 

https://thaievisa.go.th/

 

and click on "Am I eligible to apply online?" you will see two boxes to fill out:

 

- your passport country

- "Permanent Residency/Current Location: Your resident status in a country of which you are granted a residence visa to stay for more than six months."

 

So this means that if you are physically located in a third country but not on a 6+ month visa, then you should put your home country in the second box and (for most countries) this means you can use the e-visa system legally even though you are not currently physically in that country.

 

It will be interesting to see if they stick to their policy as stated above.  It's hard for them to actually check where you are physically located, if you are not located in Thailand.

 

If they require you to show a flight ticket from your home country to Thailand (as opposed to from somewhere to Thailand) as part of the visa application process, that would go against the policy above. 

 

When I looked on all the screens in the e-visa site manual:

 

https://thaievisa.go.th/static/English-Manual.pdf

 

and also checked the list of required documents for the visa types I was considering (non-O, TR):

 

https://thaievisa.go.th/ (scroll down to "Visa Category" and click each)

 

I didn't see any request to send a scan of flight ticket to Thailand (TR requires a scan of a ticket FROM Thailand, not to).  I DID see the form ask for date and port of entry, but not flight and no ticket upload.

 

Step 3 of the CoE application process:

 

https://coethailand.mfa.go.th/regis/step?language=en

 

requires uploading an image of the air ticket, but that is a separate process from the visa application, and on the CoE site they do not specify if the ticket must originate in the same country as the consulate/embassy that is processing it.  Actually, if the air ticket that ends in Thailand happens to be from another country, that is not actually anything unusual---it could be a transiting flight.

 

So at the moment I don't see any practical or legal obstacles to using e-visa for purpose #2 above.   Certainly there could be a catch, but I don't see it yet.

 

 

[lsemprini]

2 hours ago, lsemprini said:

 

Curious to see how this e-visa program is used and/or abused for these 3 cases:

1. citizen of country X applying while physically located in country X
2. citizen of country X applying while physically located in third country Y
3. citizen of country X applying while physically located in Thailand

It's pretty clear they don't want you doing #3.  Doing #3 plus a visa run would be a dodge to avoid the restrictions on visa extensions, and they could probably detect it pretty easily by checking their entry/exit database at the time when you apply.

 

But how about #2? 

A clarification, before the sticklers stick...

 

For #2, if third country Y has an embassy/consulate that is participating in the e-visa program, AND that embassy/consulate is open and reachable despite COVID lockdowns, AND they serve foreigners for the particular visa type you want (many embassies/consulates only give certain visa types to citizens of their own country), then you can put country Y in the second box and get the visa that way.

 

My post was about the (probably more common) case when one is temporarily in third country Y and the 3 of the conditions above are not all true.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

9 hours ago, lsemprini said:

your passport country

- "Permanent Residency/Current Location: Your resident status in a country of which you are granted a residence visa to stay for more than six months."

You are misunderstanding that. 

You need to prove you are a citizen of the the country where you or applying or you have to prove residency in that country.

9 hours ago, lsemprini said:

I didn't see any request to send a scan of flight ticket to Thailand (TR requires a scan of a ticket FROM Thailand, not to).  I DID see the form ask for date and port of entry, but not flight and no ticket upload.

When you get to the point of applying for the visa after registering you will need a ticket from the country you are in to Thailand.

 

I think you are reading a lot into what is written to suit your needs. You will not be able to apply for the visa unless you are traveling from the country you in.

The COE application is different than the visa application. It certainly has a requirement for a ticket to Thailand from where you are located to do the application.

It is possible that when do the registration for the e visa site it has the ability to check that your iP matches the country where you are applying and it blocks VPN's.

[lsemprini]

4 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

You are misunderstanding that. 

You need to prove you are a citizen of the the country where you or applying or you have to prove residency in that country.

Perhaps so, but I see both interpretations as equally likely based only on the text as written (and yes I prefer one interpretation, but I believe both are valid interpretations).   If you can quote some other text somewhere that sways it one way or the other, I'm interested in seeing it.

 

Quote

The COE application is different than the visa application. It certainly has a requirement for a ticket to Thailand from where you are located to do the application.  It is possible that when do the registration for the e visa site it has the ability to check that your iP matches the country where you are applying and it blocks VPN's.

They could try that, but if you think about it, IP-based blocking has a fundamental flaw: an applicant could be in a third country at the time that they are filling out the application online, but still legitimately have a ticket from their home country and legitimately plan to fly from the home country. They might not have time to wait until they return to their home country to begin the process online and still make their flight.  This alone may make them drop any attempt at IP-based blocking even if they try it at first.

 

But the bigger question is why should they care?  As long as the applicant is outside of Thailand at the time of application, why is there any need to tie the application to the embassy/consulate closest to the applicant?  That doesn't make any sense for an e-visa system (yes, sorry, trying to use logic with Thai visa process).  If they really need local knowledge to vet the visa supporting documents, then OK fine, but in the vast majority of cases if the candidate is in a third country, their home country embassy/consulate will be in a better position to vet supporting documents like bank statements, etc. than the local embassy/consulate.  It also doesn't make sense to tie the plane ticket starting city to the embassy/consulate doing the vetting.  I think this requirement is yet another vestige of the old system of paper/sticker-based non-e-visas.  Oh well.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by lsemprini

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, lsemprini said:

But the bigger question is why should they care?  As long as the applicant is outside of Thailand at the time of application, why is there any need to tie the application to the embassy/consulate closest to the applicant? 

There is a long standing rule that you have to be in the country you apply at or a country that the embassy is responsible for to apply for a visa. Embassies would not accept a mailed a application from another country unless they were responsible for it.

[lsemprini]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There is a long standing rule that you have to be in the country you apply at or a country that the embassy is responsible for to apply for a visa. Embassies would not accept a mailed a application from another country unless they were responsible for it.

Right, understood, but this is EXACTLY the kind of traditional constraint that e-visas should make unnecessary.  That's the whole POINT of an e-visa---to uncouple the following three things that are unnecessarily coupled together by the obsolete sticker-based visa system:

• the country where the applicant is physically located at time of application
• the location of the embassy/consulate best suited to process their supporting documents
• the country where the applicant will fly from to get to Thailand

Because the e-visa does not require the embassy/consulate to physically hold the passport or documents in their hands, that allows Thailand to choose the best embassy/consulate for vetting each applicant and thus get BETTER security against fraud, and also offer the applicant more flexibility about when/where to apply.  But it seems Thailand is totally missing out on this advantage in their current e-visa implementation because they are stuck in the past with "long standing rules."  Sigh.