Penang Visa Run Update

[Yogacharya]

It seems that the post about recent changes at the Penang Thai Consulat has turned into an endless stream of complaints and criticisms, with very little useful information being posted. I'm starting this thread for news and real information about the current Penang visa run situation.

If you want to complain about Thai visa rules, Thai Consulates, or thailand in general, or complain about people who are complaining, please go post on this thread instead:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Penang-Touri...html&st=275

If you have any real information, experiences, or advice, please post it here. Let's try to keep this post about QUESTIONS and useful INFORMATION please ....

I'll start with my own question:

According to a post on TV a few days ago, the Thai Consulat in Penang was proported to be refusing to issue new tourist visas to people who already have 3 visas in their passport. Has anyone actually been to the Thai Consulat in Penang to confirm that this is true?

and if so ...

I'm heading to Penang next week with the intent to get a new tourist visa. I only have one recent thai tourist visa in my passport (my current visa, which expires next week), and another one from the last time I was in Thailand about a year ago.

Does anyone know for a fact (and not just speculating) that I will, or will not get another visa issued to me in Penang. Is the trouble only for those who have tried to get 3 or more successive toursit visas?

Thanks!

Michael

[thailife69]

It seems that the post about recent changes at the Penang Thai Consulat has turned into an endless stream of complaints and criticisms, with very little useful information being posted. I'm starting this thread for news and real information about the current Penang visa run situation.

.............

Does anyone know for a fact (and not just speculating) that I will, or will not get another visa issued to me in Penang. Is the trouble only for those who have tried to get 3 or more successive toursit visas?

Thanks!

Michael

Michael,

Great perspective on most posts on Thaivisa.

Can I offer a great suggestion if you want to know the true facts? Contact the Consulate.

Tel. (604) 226-8029, 226-9484

Fax. (604) 226-3121,226-2533

E-mail : thaipg[at]tm.net.my (replace [at] with @)

Website : http://www.thaiembassy.org/penang

[whatchamacallit]

It seems that the post about recent changes at the Penang Thai Consulat has turned into an endless stream of complaints and criticisms, with very little useful information being posted. I'm starting this thread for news and real information about the current Penang visa run situation.

...................

Does anyone know for a fact (and not just speculating) that I will, or will not get another visa issued to me in Penang. Is the trouble only for those who have tried to get 3 or more successive toursit visas?

Thanks!

Michael

Can't really avoid people bitching, moaning and groaning in any thread but for the most part the thread you mentioned has been quite positive - and I believe the answer you're looking for is (are) in that thread - answered and confirmed several times over.

[Crossy]

OP should have no issues since he has a total of two TVs, and they're not concurrent

I've reduced the quotes in the other posts, there's no no to quote the entire OP this early in a thread

[Yogacharya]

Can't really avoid people bitching, moaning and groaning in any thread but for the most part the thread you mentioned has been quite positive - and I believe the answer you're looking for is (are) in that thread - answered and confirmed several times over.

As far as I could tell from reading the 300 posts on that other thread, only 2 people had actually been to Penang recently. The original poster had started the thread by claiming he was told by an agent in Penang that the Consul was refusing concurrent visa applications. He had, it seems however, yet to try and apply ... and I did not see where he posted any further information on what actually happened when/if he did. I may, however, have missed it if he did somewhere follow up in the sea of moans and groans that followed.

I posted here because my question hasn't been confirmed by anyone (as far as I could tell) who had actually been to Penang recently and experienced the situation first hand. Tons of "specualtion" and "in my opinions" over there, but no real hard facts. That's not really what I consider to be "answered and confirmed".

So, once again, I'm hoping that this post will get some concrete information from people who are/have been to Penang since this issue arose.

Cheers,

Oh, and thanks to the poster who left the consul contact info. I will try it, but in my past experience, I have never had luck trying to contact any Thai Consuls via email or phone. Will give it a shot and post back if I get any info from them.

[likewise]

I asked the agent I use in Penang and got the reply that if too many TR visas already they won't issue anymore TR visas.

Of course don't know what he means with "too many".

[sunholidaysun1]

I dont know why but many who go to Penang for their visa's tend to use NJ Bookshop or another agent to get the visa's for them. I have never had any other visa from Penang apart from a Single Entry Tourist Visa. I was told by Ex-Pats and the Agent at NJ bookshop that a Single Entry Tourist visa was all I could get , no double entries given.

If you actually went to the Consulate yourself , you may find that they do issue double entry visa's. As for the story about 3T-V back to back and then your out , is in my opinion bogus. A consulate is a franchise of the Embassies and legislated by the Thai government . I could believe an Embassy , such as in Mainila being a pain in the butt and do exactly that , but a consulate - No. .

My suggestion is cut out the middle man , go yourself to the consulate and get what you need first hand. If they do have a policy of 3 strikes and your out , then that need to be addressed with Immigration .

[Minke]

Good call on making a separate thread. Any useful info in the other thread is lost in sanctimonious finger pointing.

Is the issue...

More than three CONSECUTIVE tourist visas in your passport from Penang?

More than three CONSECUTIVE tourist visas from any consulate/embassy?

More than three non-consecutive tourist visas from any consulate/embassy?

One of the above? Any of the above? All of the above?

EDIT: If no one has this info yet, I will be calling the embassy Monday morning and will try to get the latest information from the horse's mouth.

Edited July 25, 2009 by Minke

[lopburi3]

Post #9 on that thread was by owner of this web site:

We have just got this news confirmed by two different visa agents in Penang, plus at least 2 members confirming the facts. Bad news for TR visa runners indeed.

There is nothing posted to dispute this and a number of supporting posts in the ten plus pages. That there is a huge amount of moaning is also true - but that always happens on important issues.

[Yogacharya]

My suggestion is cut out the middle man , go yourself to the consulate and get what you need first hand. If they do have a policy of 3 strikes and your out , then that need to be addressed with Immigration .

Good idea. I'm heading to Penang next weekend (already booked my flight, so I might as well go check it out). I'll find out what the word on the street is (i.e., what the agents are telling everybody), and then I'll head to the consulate myself on Monday morning (Aug 3rd) to get the real scoop. I'll report back here with the FACTS for you all after that.

If anybody else makes it there before then, please let us know how it went.

I tried to email the consulate at the address on their website (thaipg[at]tm.net.my), but it bounced back. Was going to try and call them on Monday morning too. Let's see if either I or Minke can get through and if we get the same information from them.

Michael

Edited July 25, 2009 by Yogacharya

[Mario2008]

My suggestion is cut out the middle man , go yourself to the consulate and get what you need first hand. If they do have a policy of 3 strikes and your out , then that need to be addressed with Immigration .

The consulate has nothing to do with immigration, but with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If you Want to complain you should contact them and/or the Tourist Authority of Thailand.

[likewise]

Well, I just called Penang and according to the employee I had on the phone the situation is as follows :

I explained my situation, I have 2 back to back tourist visas with a 1 month extension from the local Imm office.

Now as weird as it may sound, I was told that I cannot get another tourist visa because I have already gotten a 1 month extension at the local Imm office.

If I hadn't done so I could still get 1 more tourist visa.

What they are willing to do is give a 1 month transit visa when I show them an airline ticket out of Thailand.

The reason they gave me was that indeed Thailand wants to get rid of the illegal workers.

IF anybody else has different info let us know but this is what they told me.

Edited July 28, 2009 by likewise

[Mario2008]

Thanks for your report. That is indeed important news as they seem to restrict the issuing of tourist visas even further than we first thought.

[likewise]

YEs indeed, I tried to plea with them that I am not an "illegal " worker and askedif I could show a bank book with substantial funds in it but to no avail.

[tropo]

The reason they gave me was that indeed Thailand wants to get rid of the illegal workers.

...which begs the questions - If Thailand wants to get rid of the illegal workers living in Thailand on tourist visas, then why don't they have the same policies at other consulates (eg Vientiane)?

Is Vientiane still business as usual?

[Yogacharya]

I also called the Penang Consulate yesterday, I must admit, it only left me feeling more confused!

The person I spoke to (no idea who it was) told me essentially the same thing as "likewise" was told, that if you already extended your last tourist visa for 30 days, that they would not give you another one. I asked why, and he replied that "I think 90 days is long enough to see everything in Thailand." He asked me if I was working. I said No (which is true), then he asked me why I wanted to spend more time in Thailand. I said because I like it here and I want to spend more time here. I asked if I could provide a bank statement showing sufficient financial support. At first he said no, then later in the conversation he said that if I could demonstrate my financial resources, then maybe it would be ok. I asked if a statement from my home bank would suffice. He said he didn't think so. He said they would probably want to see money in a Thai Bank. I asked why a tourist would have a Thai bank account? This seemed to be something he hadn't thought of.

At any rate, we went on like this for a few minutes, and it really seemed to me that there were no real fixed rules that he was conveying to me. He seemed to be just making up his answers as the conversation went forward. I don't feel I got a sense of what would really happen if I went to the Penang consulate and actually applied for a visa. The one thing that he did say was that Penang is becoming very difficult for getting a visa. He said that it would be better to go to Kuala Lumpur. ... advice I think I might actually take!

Anyhow, I just got diagnosed with Dengue Fever yesterday, so I don't think I'll be able to make my visa run this weekend after all. If you've never had Dengue, I definitely DON'T recommend it!

Peace.

[Mario2008]

I also called the Penang Consulate yesterday, I must admit, it only left me feeling more confused!

The person I spoke to (no idea who it was) told me essentially the same thing as "likewise" was told, that if you already extended your last tourist visa for 30 days, that they would not give you another one. I asked why, and he replied that "I think 90 days is long enough to see everything in Thailand." He asked me if I was working. I said No (which is true), then he asked me why I wanted to spend more time in Thailand. I said because I like it here and I want to spend more time here. I asked if I could provide a bank statement showing sufficient financial support. At first he said no, then later in the conversation he said that if I could demonstrate my financial resources, then maybe it would be ok. I asked if a statement from my home bank would suffice. He said he didn't think so. He said they would probably want to see money in a Thai Bank. I asked why a tourist would have a Thai bank account? This seemed to be something he hadn't thought of.

At any rate, we went on like this for a few minutes, and it really seemed to me that there were no real fixed rules that he was conveying to me. He seemed to be just making up his answers as the conversation went forward. I don't feel I got a sense of what would really happen if I went to the Penang consulate and actually applied for a visa. The one thing that he did say was that Penang is becoming very difficult for getting a visa. He said that it would be better to go to Kuala Lumpur. ... advice I think I might actually take!

Anyhow, I just got diagnosed with Dengue Fever yesterday, so I don't think I'll be able to make my visa run this weekend after all. If you've never had Dengue, I definitely DON'T recommend it!

Peace.

Thanks for your report and confirmation.

Sorry to hear you are sick. No that if you are unable to travel you can get an extension of stay from immigation for that reason. They want to see a declarition from your doctor that you are not able to travel. (Big private hospitals often have liasosn with immigration and can assist you in this matter).

Hope you get wel soon.

[likewise]

Thanks Yogcharya, When I called yesterday it was the same, very confusing conversation to say the least.

I think they are just not happy doing so much work for free tourist visas.

I think I'll be going to KL as well.

Get well soon, and keep us informed as will I when if I find out more details.

[tomashopkins]

I am in Penang right now and had my tourist visa rejected today. New rule, three Penang office visa revewals (they do not have to be sequential), thee in total and you are out. They started processing the visa, gave it a que number, stamped the date on the form, and then started counting saw the three Penangs, and simply stopped processing the visa. This was GOING to be my last Visa run, I have to stop the tourist life and get back to work. Well the Thai govt gave me the push today.

[David006]

...So lets assume one gets rejected in Penang for whatever reason..does one get a stamp to that effect or anything that would stop you getting a visa in KL?

...That said has anyone actually got a "three strikes" visa approved in KL? I would really appreciate any info/PM from anyone who has been successful this week or by Monday next as I have to be out on the 4th.

...I have two(2) Canadian and two(2) Penang extended 60 day Tvs. Will try Penang first....who knows???

[likewise]

Thanks for the update Tomas, seems like they are sticking to their "selfmade" rules .

[Rajah]

I am in Penang right now and had my tourist visa rejected today. New rule, three Penang office visa revewals (they do not have to be sequential), thee in total and you are out.

This information is correct. I just got an email from a friend. He has 3 tourist visas in his passport - some even from last year - he did not get a new tourist visa. He was also told that if you extended your tourist visa at Thai immigration in Thailand (30 days) and then go to Penang for a new tourist visa you won't get one.

[likewise]

I sent an email to the Thai embassy in KL a couple of days ago, got a reply today here's the copy :

Yes, you can lodge the application in the Royal Thai Embassy Kuala Lumpur. But, upon application time you should not have any valid thai visa on your passport.

* (1) passport sized photo

* Copy of your bank statement (only for the applicant who spend more than 3 months in Thailand)

* Copy and original passport.

[welo]

Update on KL Tourist Visa from a German Expat Board:

The poster has just returned from a visa run to KL and was issued a Single Entry Tourist Visa there even though he already had 7 Tourist Visas in his passport! He didn't see any other person who was refused a Tourist Visa (however, he doesn't mention how many persons he has talked to).

source: thailandtip

Sorry for the news recycling but maybe it helps someone. Considering the information provided by likewise it might still be very risky to go to KL.

welo

[welo]

I sent an email to the Thai embassy in KL a couple of days ago, got a reply today here's the copy :

Yes, you can lodge the application in the Royal Thai Embassy Kuala Lumpur. But, upon application time you should not have any valid thai visa on your passport.

* (1) passport sized photo

* Copy of your bank statement (only for the applicant who spend more than 3 months in Thailand)

* Copy and original passport.

'Valid' visa means 'unused' in this context, right?!? If so, it should actually be safe to go to KL for a Tourist Visa.

welo

[Smile4u]

3 tourist visa already (back to back, or not)= Penang not give you more (unless you're very lucky).

This has been well know last 2 years now after they got a new boss there in Penang.

(use the search function here and read thousands of posts about just that).

To the member who called this "bogus" = read earlier tread about this topic and you can see scanned copy

of the "famous red stamp" in peoples passport: do not appy for a new visa again etc etc.....

Have one myself, so if you in my area, happy to show you.

Why go Penang or KL (you get single entry only, OR get denied)

when Vientiane Laos, have been the best choise for a long time now?

(and - they give double entry).

I have 5 full passport now with back to back TR visas for Thailand.

Its not difficult or impossible. Just keep reading on Thai visas here.

[LivinLOS]

As for the story about 3T-V back to back and then your out , is in my opinion bogus. A consulate is a franchise of the Embassies and legislated by the Thai government . I could believe an Embassy , such as in Mainila being a pain in the butt and do exactly that , but a consulate - No. .

My suggestion is cut out the middle man , go yourself to the consulate and get what you need first hand. If they do have a policy of 3 strikes and your out , then that need to be addressed with Immigration .

ha ha ha.. Yes of course.. Because all consulates apply the same rules dont they

While your at it see if they do a 3 day mail turnaround on non imm O's for no special reason will you ?? Same as well known UK ones.

[likewise]

I sent an email to the Thai embassy in KL a couple of days ago, got a reply today here's the copy :

Yes, you can lodge the application in the Royal Thai Embassy Kuala Lumpur. But, upon application time you should not have any valid thai visa on your passport.

* (1) passport sized photo

* Copy of your bank statement (only for the applicant who spend more than 3 months in Thailand)

* Copy and original passport.

'Valid' visa means 'unused' in this context, right?!? If so, it should actually be safe to go to KL for a Tourist Visa.

welo

Indeed, with valid visa they probably mean a unused visa for Thailand.

[Mario2008]

A double entry visa which has only been used once and hasn't expired yet is also a valid visa.

[tim73]

I have 5 full passport now with back to back TR visas for Thailand.

Its not difficult or impossible. Just keep reading on Thai visas here.

If everything else fails, you can always go to a language school and get the paperwork. Then go to Laos or Cambodia to get 15 month ED Visa (five times extensions every 90 days in local immigration with papers from the language school, no border runs needed). Of course this costs more, one year thai course is about 35000-45000 Baht. You can do this for many years.

Just remember to apply for final fifth extension before the "Enter before" day.

Edited August 1, 2009 by tim73