Strict tourist visa application process at Thai Consulate HCMC Vietnam

[Hal65]

A guard confirmed that the main immigration officer working there is quite strict. Another person sitting there mentioned it wasn't that bad six months ago Today at the Thai consulate HCMC:

 

- My landlord gave me an ID and rental receipt good for the full 60 day tourist visa I applied for. The immigration officer rejected it and said they only accept Agoda and booking.com (I didn't even know they could do this).

 

- I ran to a local printer and quickly booked a reservation on Agoda. When I brought it back to him, he said a website printout was not good enough and would not be accepted. He said he needed a print out sent with the email. He also said my TM30 needed to be handwritten. And he wanted $40 U.S., not 2,000 Thai baht.

 

- I went to a money exchanger, got the US dollars, and also handwrote all fields on a new TM30 (before I had only the signature and date manually signed/written).

 

- On my third attempt he said to write in my Agada hotel as the guarantor in two places. For the local guarantor he wanted the local hotel in Ho Chi Minh city. Both of these needed name and address. The local hotel also needed a phone number. Also I needed to write in the name of my US employer.

 

- They finally accepted and gave me a receipt saying to come back after two working days between 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.

 

My onward flight ticket was generated off of one of those generator sites. I wasn't smart enough to go with the option to have a real PNR number on it. I distinctly remember them looking at the "reservation code" on the printout (no PNR listed) and highlighting it. The two working days visa turnover makes me believe that they will be verifying the PNR number. They have a high chance to notice it comes up invalid and try to call me for a valid PNR, or issue a denial.

 

QUESTION

 

- Will they mark a rejection and reason in the Immigration system?

 

- I'm thinking of just doing a 30 day visa on arrival at Chiang Mai airport as a plan B. My problem is I'm a U.S. citizen and have been in Thailand for close to 9 years. You guys think Chiang Mai airport immigration will scrutinize that travel history hard and also possibly decline me?

 

 

[DrJack54]

28 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

He also said my TM30 needed to be handwritten. And he wanted $40 U.S., not 2,000 Thai baht.

 

From HCMC consulate website the following.....

Do the research. 

 

3. Visa Processing Fee (accept in USD only):

Single entry 40 USD 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by DrJack54

[BritTim]

10 hours ago, Hal65 said:

QUESTION

 

- Will they mark a rejection and reason in the Immigration system?

 

- I'm thinking of just doing a 30 day visa on arrival at Chiang Mai airport as a plan B. My problem is I'm a U.S. citizen and have been in Thailand for close to 9 years. You guys think Chiang Mai airport immigration will scrutinize that travel history hard and also possibly decline me?

 

Unlucky with your problems at HCMC which was a good place to apply in the past.

 

In answer to your questions:

 

The HCMC consulate will not enter any information into a system run by the Immigration Bureau.

 

You have a better chance entering visa exempt in Chiang Mai than in most other airports, but are at risk in all of them (with the possible exception of U-Tapao which will not be an option). are you willing to consider flying to Vientiane, and arriving by land over the Friendship Bridge? That will be only a temporary solution, but denied entry there is extremely improbable.

[The Old Bull]

Has anyone taken a Thai vehicle through Laos to Vietnam? From UdonThani to saltwater in Rayong is 700km Vietnam's coast looks a lot closer. 

[tfc]

Quote

he said a website printout was not good enough and would not be accepted. He said he needed a print out sent with the email.

 

Does this mean that a hard copy paper confirmation is no longer valid or needed at all anymore?  In the past HCMC had always asked for a hard copy.  So they just want a pdf image of the Agoda receipt sent with an email now?  Or do they want both?

 

 

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, The Old Bull said:

Has anyone taken a Thai vehicle through Laos to Vietnam? From UdonThani to saltwater in Rayong is 700km Vietnam's coast looks a lot closer. 

When I was in Luang Prabang a couple of weeks ago I saw buses advertised from LP to Hanoi.

[spambot]

It is difficult to know how deep any further checking might occur, but its most likely that you have gone through the most intense checking and this is evidenced by the amount of front line rejections you received for the other issues, The job of the front line is mostly to ensure that the applications paperwork gets thoroughly checked before passing this into the next steps of the process. That is not to say that there will not be further inspections of the ticket, but it's likely that rejection would have already occurred on your already done front line inspection. The next step of your application processing will mostly be focused on the administration of the passports and the visa issuance.

 

On the question of the ticket without PNR. A flight ticket is supposed to entitle a passenger to a seat on a flight and the PNR is a unique identity for every passenger and itinerary. It is actually possible to issue a flight ticket without a PNR but most tickets will normally show this. Without a PNR this does not make the ticket invalid, but would be considered bad practice and this is likely the dilemma the front-line officer had at the time of inspection, but hopefully this moment has now passed.

 

On a broader issue for those reading your post and thinking about HCMC, it has obviously been an uncomfortable experience, but you have provided some good information for others when considering a Consulate.

 

HCMC does not seem like it is the easy Consulate it once was. I will be making an application for a tourist Visa at Vientiane this week, but I am doing so after rescheduling my visa run when seeing reviews on Google Maps for the HCMC consulate - Posted below

 

 

[DJ54]

OP .. Thanks for the update… what a RPITA…

[Hal65]

5 hours ago, tfc said:

 

Does this mean that a hard copy paper confirmation is no longer valid or needed at all anymore?  In the past HCMC had always asked for a hard copy.  So they just want a pdf image of the Agoda receipt sent with an email now?  Or do they want both?

 

 

Everything was a paper printout to be handed over, no digital documents

[Hal65]

Questions about the "rejection case"

 

1. Is a rejection stamped into the passport? Is it logged into a computer?

 

2. If the answer to #1 is no for both, should I try for visa exempt at CNX (Chiang Mai, my flight is scheduled for March 9)? I hear it's 45 days at the moment. I'll gladly take that. I'm not sure if an HCMC consulate rejection would tar me for visa exempt though.

[DrJack54]

25 minutes ago, Hal65 said:

If the answer to #1 is no for both, should I try for visa exempt at CNX (Chiang Mai, my flight is scheduled for March 9)? I hear it's 45 days at the moment. I'll gladly take that. I'm not sure if an HCMC consulate rejection would tar me for visa exempt though

You should be ok flying into CNX.

It's been done previously with tourist visa rejection stamps from Vietnam.