Need help with Multi-entry tourist visa application

[Des1]

I need some assistance. I am in Canada and applying online for a METV (multi-entry).

I just received this email from the Thai embassy in Canada:

Dear Applicant, To complete your visa application, please send the following documents in pdf format to email : [email protected]. 1. A Travel plan/itinerary stated clearly the purpose and schedule of the multiple entries during a validity of the visa (6 months) Thank you

I'm not sure what I need to send them? Can I just say I'm visiting friends in Thailand and also plan trips out of the country? Do I need to give dates and destinations?

I really just plan to spend the winter in Thailand and do visa runs every two months.

If anyone has delt with this before your comments or advice are welcome. Thank you!

[ubonjoe]

Visit friends and tourism would be a good reason.

Just mention a few trips to neighboring countries by air or land. I don think you will need firm dates for trips to get a new entry. Just select dates within each 60 day entry or the 30 day extension of them.

[Des1]

Thanks ubonjoe. I appreciate the always great advice.

[ChristianBlessing]

That's a concerning request. I've had two METVs and have only been asked the purpose of my visit. Under neither visa did I know in advance which country/countries I might visit.

[xtrnuno41]

What I understood of this question, was a plan where you would go out and in for this visa. Every 60 days you need to do a border run. So from day 1 coming in Thailand, take 60 days and put that date for a borderrun and filled that up for the half year. Dates of going out Thailand and entering Thailand again.

They accepted it. I got the mail AFTER I did the visa application.

You signed for leaving Thailand in 60 days on that form, as understood.

 

First I was thinking, do they need to know where I go in Thailand, that would be ridiculous, as i have no specific plans.

Most logical seems to be the 60 days of leaving Thailand to leave and enter.

I did and after that visa was approved.

 

There are so many traps in the visa application, it gave me the creeps.

Like pass photo, not stated how or what. I had made a digital one by rules of Thailand. Photo of myself and passport, watching out for light and reflections.

I finally could use my selfie stick, ????

They asked 12 months traveling history, i dont have. You MUST fill it in.

I photographed ALL pages and combined them with Irvanview to one file of 3 mb. I came to this, as in the past when you did the visa , they were browsing your passport. I red somewhere you only need one blanc page to copy then.

Normal wise you should be able to skip this question, but no it is red starred.

 

Same with the question to show you have another nationality then the country you live in. Normal wise you should be able to skip this question, but no it is red starred. You MUST fill it in again by showing your passport in there.  

 

 Be aware with auto fill, as I used this one for adres to fill in, but then it changed also my name. It is not protected and costed my first application and money. I wasnt aware, it had done this. However stupid of me not to check at the end of the application checking all again. You also dont see it, as you scroll down the page and dont see the beginning anymore.

But I think, it should have brought up automatically a pop up on the change, if you really wanted this to change. It did not.

However you get a pop up, the machine cant read your middle name, as I dont have. I scratched my head on this one, but continued.

As you put in the photo of passport, it automatically reads that info.

I dont think it is customer friendly, too less info on all, figure it out yourself

 

I was aware of the travelling plan, but didnt find it in the application.

No, surprise you get an email afterwards to comply for that.

In the mail is also mentioned the address to send it to, as it is different then the one you got in.

You got that mail, so probably it looks like your application is approved, but now waiting on that plan.  

[Des1]

Thanks for the reply, I'll send an update when everything is sorted out

[ioothaivisa]

On 10/15/2022 at 1:10 AM, Des1 said:

Thanks for the reply, I'll send an update when everything is sorted out

I just received the same request from the Ottawa Embassy today (Tuesday). I applied for the METV on October 8th so it took around 10 days before they requested the travel itinerary however there were weekends and a holiday in that time.

 

I prepared an a table itinerary showing my intended 4 Entries and a date where I am leaving Thailand before the expiry of the visa in 6 months. The further out the less certain I was of the details.

 

I emailed it to [email protected] as requested but there doesn't seem a way on the visa site to update the status that I have send the document.

 

What did you end up submitting? Have you heard anything? I am hoping it will not take another 10 days to review this document as I am schedule to fly on November 1st.

 

@Des1 Are you flying from Toronto or Vancouver? I have had METV visas in previous years and was never asked for any of this documentation so this is all very new.

[ioothaivisa]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:01 AM, xtrnuno41 said:

I got the mail AFTER I did the visa application.

How many days after your visa application did you get this email and more importantly, how many days did you receive the visa after emailing the document?

 

On 10/13/2022 at 10:01 AM, xtrnuno41 said:

There are so many traps in the visa application, it gave me the creeps.

No kidding! For example, I took 3 professional visa photos for the application and everytime the system told me that the photo may not be accepted. Once it said my eyes are not aligned, another time it said the distance between my ears, top of head and chin ere were centered. ...I measured it with a ruler, it is completely centered to the mm..

 

There are lots of questions that don't make sense for a METV as well. This new system has not bee a stress-free experience.

[ioothaivisa]

On 10/13/2022 at 4:01 AM, ChristianBlessing said:

That's a concerning request. I've had two METVs and have only been asked the purpose of my visit.

Were these METVs before or after this new Thai e-visa system?

[Des1]

14 minutes ago, ioothaivisa said:

I just received the same request from the Ottawa Embassy today (Tuesday). I applied for the METV on October 8th so it took around 10 days before they requested the travel itinerary however there were weekends and a holiday in that time.

 

I prepared an a table itinerary showing my intended 4 Entries and a date where I am leaving Thailand before the expiry of the visa in 6 months. The further out the less certain I was of the details.

 

I emailed it to [email protected] as requested but there doesn't seem a way on the visa site to update the status that I have send the document.

 

What did you end up submitting? Have you heard anything? I am hoping it will not take another 10 days to review this document as I am schedule to fly on November 1st.

 

@Des1 Are you flying from Toronto or Vancouver? I have had METV visas in previous years and was never asked for any of this documentation so this is all very new.

I am still waiting for my Visa to be processed. I sent them a general outline of my travel plans. Impossible to give exact dates and flights. If I don't hear anything in a couple of days I'll resend the travel info. I had a flight booked out of Vancouver so I am now in Thailand on a 45 day visa-expempt. Last time I did the METV online it took a week. Times have changed.

[BritTim]

42 minutes ago, ioothaivisa said:

Were these METVs before or after this new Thai e-visa system?

The METV predates the Thai e-visa system. When first introduced, an application required a letter from your employer confirming that they were OK with you spending months in Thailand over the upcoming six months! Fortunately, that requirement appears to have disappeared, at least when applying in most countries.

[ioothaivisa]

3 hours ago, Des1 said:

I am still waiting for my Visa to be processed. I sent them a general outline of my travel plans. Impossible to give exact dates and flights. If I don't hear anything in a couple of days I'll resend the travel info. I had a flight booked out of Vancouver so I am now in Thailand on a 45 day visa-expempt. Last time I did the METV online it took a week. Times have changed.

So you traveled to Thailand on a visa-exempt stamp before you got the visa? I have 13 days left (including weekends) before I am set to travel so I may have to do the same thing. What is your plan then, to leave to a neighboring country and then reenter with the METV if/when it is approved?

 

What happened did you run out of time waiting for the approval of the METV?

 

When did you get the request for the itinerary? Last Thursday?

[ChristianBlessing]

7 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

Were these METVs before or after this new Thai e-visa system?

The first (2019) was prior; the second was e-visa which I applied for March 2022.

[Des1]

5 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

So you traveled to Thailand on a visa-exempt stamp before you got the visa? I have 13 days left (including weekends) before I am set to travel so I may have to do the same thing. What is your plan then, to leave to a neighboring country and then reenter with the METV if/when it is approved?

 

What happened did you run out of time waiting for the approval of the METV?

 

When did you get the request for the itinerary? Last Thursday?

Right, I ran out of time waiting for the visa. I just didn't expect it to take so long, considering my previous experience. My mistake. I contacted a well known company called The Thai Visa Centre and they said when I finally get it I just need to leave the country and re-enter using the visa. I received the request from the Thai Embassy on the 13th .. while I was sitting in Vancouver airport waiting for my flight. I send the info right away.

[ioothaivisa]

9 hours ago, Des1 said:

received the request from the Thai Embassy on the 13th

So it has been 7 days since they requested the document and you still haven't heard back? When you click on the check status link on the e-Visa website, what is the status? Is it Request Document or Checking additional documents?

 

9 hours ago, Des1 said:

Right, I ran out of time waiting for the visa. I just didn't expect it to take so long,

How much time did you give it in total? According to this link, they say it can take up to 20 business days:

https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/page/general-visa-information?menu=5f2236882afaec07112716cb

 

Did you consider calling the Embassy and asking if they can expedite it?

[Des1]

5 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

So it has been 7 days since they requested the document and you still haven't heard back? When you click on the check status link on the e-Visa website, what is the status? Is it Request Document or Checking additional documents?

 

How much time did you give it in total? According to this link, they say it can take up to 20 business days:

https://ottawa.thaiembassy.org/en/page/general-visa-information?menu=5f2236882afaec07112716cb

 

Did you consider calling the Embassy and asking if they can expedite it?

I think it's been only 4 working days since i sent the info so I'm not in a panic yet. The status on the website still shows requesting documents. I did call the embassy and sent an email as well, to no avail. I can get a 30 day extension to my visa exempt so I still have lots of time to get it sorted out.

[ultramarine]

On 10/19/2022 at 4:05 AM, ioothaivisa said:

I just received the same request from the Ottawa Embassy today (Tuesday). I applied for the METV on October 8th so it took around 10 days before they requested the travel itinerary however there were weekends and a holiday in that time.

 

I prepared an a table itinerary showing my intended 4 Entries and a date where I am leaving Thailand before the expiry of the visa in 6 months. The further out the less certain I was of the details.

 

I emailed it to [email protected] as requested but there doesn't seem a way on the visa site to update the status that I have send the document.

 

What did you end up submitting? Have you heard anything? I am hoping it will not take another 10 days to review this document as I am schedule to fly on November 1st.

 

@Des1 Are you flying from Toronto or Vancouver? I have had METV visas in previous years and was never asked for any of this documentation so this is all very new.

I hope it works out for you.   Yes, I miss the old days of the METV.  Application was simple and speedy in Toronto.  Much better than online because the person there could tell you exactly what you needed when you dropped it off. 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by ultramarine

[xtrnuno41]

On 10/18/2022 at 11:10 PM, ioothaivisa said:

How many days after your visa application did you get this email and more importantly, how many days did you receive the visa after emailing the document?

 

No kidding! For example, I took 3 professional visa photos for the application and everytime the system told me that the photo may not be accepted. Once it said my eyes are not aligned, another time it said the distance between my ears, top of head and chin ere were centered. ...I measured it with a ruler, it is completely centered to the mm..

 

There are lots of questions that don't make sense for a METV as well. This new system has not bee a stress-free experience.

I got the mail just day after application sending. It was not allowed to reply to the mail.

In the mail was an email address where to send it too. About 2 days later my application was approved. Did you send it to the address mentioned in the mail? 

That is my experience with it. 

I even copied the mail I had received in the new mail (with the mentioned address), so they would know I was contacted by ethaivisa and with it I attached the planfile.

You know, you have to leave Thailand within 60 days, you sign for that.

They want your plans to know where and when you do so. I took calendar and counted 60 days from entrance in Thailand and then a border, to do borderrun. And then did it again from that date. All outs and ins then.

It is a plan, but must have some credibility.  You have to choose the right border to do borderrun. 

 

Im wondering how it will go, its my first time ever to do so and also the visa.

Not long ago I red (in AN) the experience from an American arriving in BK and customs didnt recognized the paper visa and had some commotion about it. And at first wanted to give him just 30 days. He had to explain how Thailand is working with E visa. I felt from my chair reading this. I agree with you it is a leap in the dark to get it.

I tried to find answers on it how to fill it in, but nowhere clearly to be found.

Just one tiny error, or even by a judgement, by them then and you are out and you will not get a refund. You think you do ok, but is it in the way they want?

For me it took lots of deep thinking about all of what they mean. and want.

Sorry for late reply, didnt sign in for some days

 

[ioothaivisa]

7 hours ago, xtrnuno41 said:

I got the mail just day after application sending. It was not allowed to reply to the mail.

In the mail was an email address where to send it too. About 2 days later my application was approved. Did you send it to the address mentioned in the mail? 

That is my experience with it. 

Thank you for sharing your detailed experience. Did you also apply at the Ottawa Embassy? When did you apply?

 

For me, it took 11 days to get the request for the Itinerary. If this is a common request shouldn't it be part of the e-Visa system? I prepared a document and send it same day. It has been 4 days since then and I have not heard anything. I have not received any confirmation email that they successfully received the document and the e-Visa system status has not updated. Is this typical? If they take 11 days after every request I will likely be unsuccessful.

 

When I applied the recommended application time was "up to 15 days". That page was updated in the meantime to state "visa approval takes up to 20 business days once complete application with all supporting documents have been submitted."

 

So really this effectively means you need to apply 2 months in advance to be safe:

- 20 business days = 1 month with weekends

- If they take 11 days to review each document then that is another week for the initial review and 1 week to review each additional document.

 

20 hours ago, Des1 said:

I did call the embassy and sent an email as well, to no avail.

Were you ever able to reach a person or leave a message when you called? I wrote to them asking for clarification regarding one of the the e-Visa system requests when I started the application on September 11th and they never answered.

 

18 hours ago, ultramarine said:

I hope it works out for you.

Thanks, have you had a successful result using this new system? I started the process 6 weeks ago but I fear even this may not be enough time. I have held several METV's in the past also issued from Toronto and I have never had to provide the employee documentation that @BritTim mentioned let alone bank statements, residency permits etc. It was a simple one page application, it took 3-5 days max.

 

Also, they used to be prompt at answering email questions within a day or two. This new system is much more burdensome as I have had to research the meaning of the different requests and error messages the system generates, restart twice as the system deleted my application and work on gathering the documents with no official guidance available.

[ultramarine]

1 hour ago, ioothaivisa said:

Thank you for sharing your detailed experience. Did you also apply at the Ottawa Embassy? When did you apply?

 

For me, it took 11 days to get the request for the Itinerary. If this is a common request shouldn't it be part of the e-Visa system? I prepared a document and send it same day. It has been 4 days since then and I have not heard anything. I have not received any confirmation email that they successfully received the document and the e-Visa system status has not updated. Is this typical? If they take 11 days after every request I will likely be unsuccessful.

 

When I applied the recommended application time was "up to 15 days". That page was updated in the meantime to state "visa approval takes up to 20 business days once complete application with all supporting documents have been submitted."

 

So really this effectively means you need to apply 2 months in advance to be safe:

- 20 business days = 1 month with weekends

- If they take 11 days to review each document then that is another week for the initial review and 1 week to review each additional document.

 

Were you ever able to reach a person or leave a message when you called? I wrote to them asking for clarification regarding one of the the e-Visa system requests when I started the application on September 11th and they never answered.

 

Thanks, have you had a successful result using this new system? I started the process 6 weeks ago but I fear even this may not be enough time. I have held several METV's in the past also issued from Toronto and I have never had to provide the employee documentation that @BritTim mentioned let alone bank statements, residency permits etc. It was a simple one page application, it took 3-5 days max.

 

Also, they used to be prompt at answering email questions within a day or two. This new system is much more burdensome as I have had to research the meaning of the different requests and error messages the system generates, restart twice as the system deleted my application and work on gathering the documents with no official guidance available.

I left a message with them. No answer. Maybe they don't do anything in Ottawa and everything is now done in Thailand. I don't know. It's a huge hassle now though.  Yes the old days of the consulate on Isabella St. are now part of history. 

[xtrnuno41]

15 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

Thank you for sharing your detailed experience. Did you also apply at the Ottawa Embassy? When did you apply?

No. you did in Thailand, the application. As I received the mail about plan from Thailand. as the address was [email protected], so that is a Thai based site and the Thai site to do visa application. But in that message, I had to send the plan to a Dutch based address, belonging to Dutch Thai embassy. The approval I had again from Thai based site

I did visa application on 27-09, 28-09 message, 29-09 send and also on 29-09 approval visa.

So that is fast. In daytime I did plan, sending it to Dutch Thai embassy and in the evening I had approval from Thai based site.

The Dutch Thai embassy address was like this: [email protected]

I dont know if they have the same term in Canada, but then Canadian based site.

No clue what edu is saying.

When i send the plan I got an acknowledging mail:

 

Dear E-Visa applicant,

Thank you for sending the requested document(s).  We have received them in good order and we will proceed with your application.  An application could take 3-7 working days.  In some cases, an application may take longer than 7 working days.

Kind regards,

In the case where applicants fail to submit required documents or additional documents requested by the Embassy within 45 days from the date of submission, the applications will be cancelled without prior notice.  An application processing fee (visa fee) will NOT refunded.

 

You stated, you didnt get an acknowledging mail, so that is weird.
Mind the timespan of loosing your application. As you didnt get the mail, did you send it to the right mail address?

It would be logical to receive an acknowledging mail. Mostly auto generated.

 

In the visa application site you can see the status on your visa. Did you go there to see what is the status, maybe they put up some remarks in it?

[ioothaivisa]

@Des1 When you sent your document, did you get an email reply receipt like @xtrnuno41 which states that they received the document and are processing the application?

 

I have emailed them 5 or 6 times now and I do not get replies or receipts. I guess each embassy is different in this regard. I am using the email address they send me requesting the document which matches the address on the website: [email protected].

 

I was able to get a hold of the embassy on the phone today! I spoke to the receptionist who took my name and phone number and said that the officer in charge will contact me to let me know if they received my document. She was unable to answer any questions at all other than saying it is a process and you have to wait.

 

My status has not been updated on the e-Visa system so other than waiting for them to call I have no idea if they got the document and are able to open it successfully or not.

 

[Des1]

3 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

@Des1 When you sent your document, did you get an email reply receipt like @xtrnuno41 which states that they received the document and are processing the application?

 

I have emailed them 5 or 6 times now and I do not get replies or receipts. I guess each embassy is different in this regard. I am using the email address they send me requesting the document which matches the address on the website: [email protected].

 

I was able to get a hold of the embassy on the phone today! I spoke to the receptionist who took my name and phone number and said that the officer in charge will contact me to let me know if they received my document. She was unable to answer any questions at all other than saying it is a process and you have to wait.

 

My status has not been updated on the e-Visa system so other than waiting for them to call I have no idea if they got the document and are able to open it successfully or not.

 

If it makes you feel any better I am strill waiting as well. I did resend the travel info. Maybe next week?

[Des1]

4 hours ago, ioothaivisa said:

@Des1 When you sent your document, did you get an email reply receipt like @xtrnuno41 which states that they received the document and are processing the application?

 

I have emailed them 5 or 6 times now and I do not get replies or receipts. I guess each embassy is different in this regard. I am using the email address they send me requesting the document which matches the address on the website: [email protected].

 

I was able to get a hold of the embassy on the phone today! I spoke to the receptionist who took my name and phone number and said that the officer in charge will contact me to let me know if they received my document. She was unable to answer any questions at all other than saying it is a process and you have to wait.

 

My status has not been updated on the e-Visa system so other than waiting for them to call I have no idea if they got the document and are able to open it successfully or not.

 

forgot to reply to this .. no, I didn't get a notification that my information had been received.

[ioothaivisa]

4 hours ago, Des1 said:

If it makes you feel any better I am strill waiting as well.

This makes me feel worse. It would be nice to know that someone successfully got an METV from the Ottawa embassy. It seems that mine will likely not be ready by the time I an schedule to travel either if you are going on your second week to verify the additional document.

 

4 hours ago, Des1 said:

forgot to reply to this .. no, I didn't get a notification that my information had been received.

I guess each Thai embassy is different.  @xtrnuno41 got a nice receipt when he sent his documents. For us it is like sending information into the void and hoping for the best.

[Des1]

2 minutes ago, ioothaivisa said:

This makes me feel worse. It would be nice to know that someone successfully got an METV from the Ottawa embassy. It seems that mine will likely not be ready by the time I an schedule to travel either if you are going on your second week to verify the additional document.

 

I guess each Thai embassy is different.  @xtrnuno41 got a nice receipt when he sent his documents. For us it is like sending information into the void and hoping for the best.

The more i think about it the better I feel about getting the visa. This is the beginning of tourist season in Thailand and I imagine they are getting a lot of visa requests now that travel has opened up. Remember what happened at the airports with the rush of people, they couldn't cope. I figure the embassy is very busy without extra staff to help. So, yes, you may have to leave without the visa like i did. I would be careful about pushing them, eg: resending your information a bunch of times, it might <deleted> them off. I think I am qualified to offer some advice on this, in so much as I left without a visa - stay calm.

[Des1]

update... yesterday my application status showed pending document check. Today it was back to requesting documents. I did not receive an email asking for more information. So, not sure if it was just a glitch. They are closed for the weekend now so we'll see what next week brings.

[Chalky0w]

Can’t help with Canadian embassy and hope it works out for you.

 

I’ve just applied for my first METV from London and happy to report it went very smoothly and approved very quickly!

 

I attached scans of:

- bank statement for savings account (rather than current account) with more than £5k / 200k baht for 6 months

- letter from employer was from myself as I own a private, limited company

- one way flight from U.K. to Bangkok

- lease document for house I rent in Thailand 

- scans of passport pages for travel history

- scan of passport photo page for proof of residency

- headshot photo

- photo holding passport

 

No extra requests received and approved within 3 days. Very efficient!!

[Des1]

2 hours ago, Chalky0w said:

Can’t help with Canadian embassy and hope it works out for you.

 

I’ve just applied for my first METV from London and happy to report it went very smoothly and approved very quickly!

 

I attached scans of:

- bank statement for savings account (rather than current account) with more than £5k / 200k baht for 6 months

- letter from employer was from myself as I own a private, limited company

- one way flight from U.K. to Bangkok

- lease document for house I rent in Thailand 

- scans of passport pages for travel history

- scan of passport photo page for proof of residency

- headshot photo

- photo holding passport

 

No extra requests received and approved within 3 days. Very efficient!!

Thanks for your comments. One thing different with my application, they asked for an itinerary (it's a required part of the process in Canada) to justify the multi-entry. I sent them a basic outline of my travel plans, it may not be enough.

[matador007]

Its a real shame this has gone downhill so much.

 

For a Decade been getting STV + METV's (when it started to be available) from Toronto Consulate.  Handed in Documents + Fee in person, Visa was ready sometimes the next day, if not 2 days at most.

 

Picture, 1-Way Ticket, maybe a Copy of Passport, and was good.

 

Now the requirements have really added up, to what end ?  Its pretty insane.
And now we go from 2 days to 15-20 Day processing ?  I highly doubt Applications have gone up 10x to justify this.  And if so, then put another body in.

 

Also the Application on ThaiEVisa site seems to be flawed, where can only upload 1 attachment per requirement.  So for Bank Statements that they want 6 Months, only able to upload 1 PDF, despite trying to drag in a 2nd.

 

All I can say, is atleast we have 45 day Exempt we can rely on.

 

Best of luck to all.