What information do immigration officers have?

[AAIrons]

When you go through immigration at the airport what information do they have on there screen?

 

1. Can they see previous entries to Thailand even if they are on a old passport?

 

2. Can they see the  info you put on your visa application?

 

3. I have had many visas over the years but have a new passport with only one tourist visa in it, I left to Cambodia for 4 days, will I have a problem getting a 30day exemption?

 

thanks

[richard_smith237]

8 minutes ago, AAIrons said:

1. Can they see previous entries to Thailand even if they are on a old passport?

Yes... they can see every ‘airport’ entry and exit, what passport and visa type you entered with. 

This is also the case for dual nationals as the Immigration system ties in basic data DOB / Name and the officer then compares the photo.

 

 

8 minutes ago, AAIrons said:

2. Can they see the  info you put on your visa application?

No... at Immigration (Airport entry / Exit) they can only see the information on the Immigration record (arrival / Exit data - Name, DOB, Passport #, Visa type, length of stay)

 

8 minutes ago, AAIrons said:

3. I have had many visas over the years but have a new passport with only one tourist visa in it, I left to Cambodia for 4 days, will I have a problem getting a 30day exemption?

That depends on your history and the discretion of the Immigrantion officer. 

 

Also, Immigration officers are usually more flexible when entering at a land border.

 

Its also not clear IF the Land Border records are tied into the main Immigration Database that the airports are tied into - thus they may solely go on the info in your passport and may not have access to older online records. 

 

Thus: Land border entry to the Kingdom is somewhat different to Airport entry from a ‘records’ perspective. 

That said: I’m not sure if Immigration have tightened up their game at the landborders...

Someone else can chime in on this. 

 

[BritTim]

If you are currently in Cambodia, and planning to request a visa exemption on your return to Thailand, it will generally be safer to enter by land than by air. However, avoid trying to enter at the Poipet/Aranyaprathet crossing.

[AAIrons]

How risky would it be to apply from an e visa from here pretending I am in the UK, would they check my passport to see which country I have been in? And which country I arrived from?

 

I am a bit stuck atm because I applied for a tourist visa through an agent and there was a problem with the paper work, now I don’t have time to reapply.

[BritTim]

3 minutes ago, AAIrons said:

How risky would it be to apply from an e visa from here pretending I am in the UK, would they check my passport to see which country I have been in? And which country I arrived from?

 

I am a bit stuck atm because I applied for a tourist visa through an agent and there was a problem with the paper work, now I don’t have time to reapply.

If you do not have time to apply at the Phnom Penh embassy, it will not be quicker using the e-visa system. That is apart from the fact that, as you apparently realise, applying while outside the UK is against the rules (and you might get caught).

[zzzzz]

to get an evisa dont ya need show a ticket from ur country to thailand
plus If oyu do use a throwaway ticket make sure you use a vpn and set it to ur country ip address
Go to Cina Travel street 130 near riverside in PP< will take 3-5 business' days, cost ya $60
What problem did you have?
why wouldn't you have time, ur there now so you need wait

[Caldera]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its also not clear IF the Land Border records are tied into the main Immigration Database that the airports are tied into - thus they may solely go on the info in your passport and may not have access to older online records. 

It's the same database and has been since at least 2018, when I switched to a new passport at a land border and could watch the IO's screen while he was processing that. Exactly the same system and terminal as at the airports.

 

As there's a hard limit of 2 visa exempt entries per calendar year by land, most land borders simply stick to that official rule instead of making up their own.

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, zzzzz said:

why wouldn't you have time

the school needs him back ASAP ????

[travelerjim]

17 hours ago, AAIrons said:

How risky would it be to apply from an e visa from here pretending I am in the UK, would they check my passport to see which country I have been in? And which country I arrived from?

 

I am a bit stuck atm because I applied for a tourist visa through an agent and there was a problem with the paper work, now I don’t have time to reapply.

Evisa Wil

 

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yes... they can see every ‘airport’ entry and exit, what passport and visa type you entered with. 

This is also the case for dual nationals as the Immigration system ties in basic data DOB / Name and the officer then compares the photo.

 

 

No... at Immigration (Airport entry / Exit) they can only see the information on the Immigration record (arrival / Exit data - Name, DOB, Passport #, Visa type, length of stay)

 

That depends on your history and the discretion of the Immigrantion officer. 

 

Also, Immigration officers are usually more flexible when entering at a land border.

 

Its also not clear IF the Land Border records are tied into the main Immigration Database that the airports are tied into - thus they may solely go on the info in your passport and may not have access to older online records. 

 

Thus: Land border entry to the Kingdom is somewhat different to Airport entry from a ‘records’ perspective. 

That said: I’m not sure if Immigration have tightened up their game at the landborders...

Someone else can chime in on this. 

 

Evisa application Will be DENIED. Flights must leave the UK.

[travelerjim]

Just now, travelerjim said:

Evisa Wil

 

Evisa application Will be DENIED. Flights must leave the UK.

Don't forget the Thai Immigration software now ???? you by facial recognition, fingerprints and links all prior entry and Immigration activity to any new passport presented

[mokwit]

Do we know how far back the Immigration entry/exit database goes?

[mockingbird]

21 hours ago, AAIrons said:

How risky would it be to apply from an e visa from here pretending I am in the UK, would they check my passport to see which country I have been in? And which country I arrived from?

 

I am a bit stuck atm because I applied for a tourist visa through an agent and there was a problem with the paper work, now I don’t have time to reapply.

Risky I would think. You would be hoping that the IO doesn't work out from your passport that you weren't in your home country when you applied.

[stratocaster]

Interesting press release from January 2022.

 

The Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), provided by DERMALOG, has been in operation since May 2019.

“Our new system has increased the rate of catching criminals at our borders tremendously," says Immigration Bureau chief Sompong Chingduang.

The core of the ABIS solution for the Thailand Immigration Bureau is composed of fingerprint and facial recognition scanners that validates a traveller’s identification by their bio-metric data. The new system in Thailand takes only 0.1 seconds to identify a person through the entire database by fingerprint and face. It claims to be the world's fastest multi-bio-metric systems for so-called one-to-many matching.

To date, the ABIS has already checked about 49 million travellers,  and the Thai Immigration Bureau identified more than 4,300 blacklisted persons and about 127,000 people who had violated visa regulations. In addition, 3,166 persons had been arrested for fraud attempts, detected by the bio-metric system.

[StayinThailand2much]

On 5/16/2023 at 8:51 PM, richard_smith237 said:

On 5/16/2023 at 8:35 PM, AAIrons said:

1. Can they see previous entries to Thailand even if they are on a old passport?

Yes... they can see every ‘airport’ entry and exit, what passport and visa type you entered with. 

This is also the case for dual nationals as the Immigration system ties in basic data DOB / Name and the officer then compares the photo.

I'm pretty sure, that they can see every entry and exit, not just at airports.

[VBF]

8 hours ago, travelerjim said:

Evisa Wil

 

Evisa application Will be DENIED. Flights must leave the UK.

I've often wondered about that.

When you apply for a Tourist Visa in UK, there's a requirement to give "travel booking confirmation" but that can obviously be falsified.

So, unless someone is checking things like IP addresses how does the Embassy know you're actually IN the UK just because you say you are?

Also, when I fly to Thailand from UK, I go via another country eg Dubai or Abu Dhabi so i don't actually arrive on a UK flight.

 

I'm NOT suggesting anyone breaks the rules, just wondering how this particular rule can be enforced.

[JoseThailand]

On 5/17/2023 at 11:27 AM, BritTim said:

If you do not have time to apply at the Phnom Penh embassy, it will not be quicker using the e-visa system. That is apart from the fact that, as you apparently realise, applying while outside the UK is against the rules (and you might get caught).

This is sooo Thailand. To apply for an e-visa, you must be physically located in your passport country. Nonsense.

[AAIrons]

Last time Iapplied for an E visa it took 2 days, in Cambodia it takes 4-5days.

 

I was thinking that if I went for the E visa I would just use a VPN and book a ticket from my home country to Thailand which I would later cancel. Blu problem is if they check my passport and see that I was in Cambodia, I doubt they would work that out tbh.

 

I have decided just to try to get the visa exemption,  hopefully it shouldn’t be a problem.

[Dan O]

On 5/17/2023 at 11:27 AM, BritTim said:

If you do not have time to apply at the Phnom Penh embassy, it will not be quicker using the e-visa system. That is apart from the fact that, as you apparently realise, applying while outside the UK is against the rules (and you might get caught).

Yes with the eVisa you can fake some info but you must provide pics of your passport pages showing all travel stamps for the last 12 months so you would probably get caught up at just that one issue. 

[VBF]

On 5/18/2023 at 8:12 AM, JoseThailand said:

This is sooo Thailand. To apply for an e-visa, you must be physically located in your passport country. Nonsense.

Not strictly the case as I understand it. You have to apply in the country in which you are presently located.

So, if a UK passport holder, who normally lives in UK, happens to be in America and wishes to travel to Thailand  (s)he has to apply to a consulate in the USA.

I THINK I've got that right but stand to be corrected if not.