Refused Exit From Thailand To Uk

[phomthai]

Anybody heard of Thai passport control refusing to allow a Thai to fly back to England cos she only had 4 months left on her UK settlement visa?

Apparently happened to my mate's sister in law. He's still trying to find out all the details but is concerned cos him & his wife were planning on going back to Thai in May for a few weeks & the wife would only have 3.5 months left on her settlement visa when they return to UK

Any help greatly appreciated

Many thanks

[mark515]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

[mpetersen]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

[true blue]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

be interesting to find out full details,as i was thinking of doing same with maybe 6months left on visa.

[yeesipha]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

Can not see how this would apply to someone exiting thailand on a spouse visa though,

[phomthai]

Spoke with my mate today & he's trying to find out what reason they gave for not letting her leave

Watch this space....

[7by7]

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

My wife has been living in the UK for the last 9 years; first with a spouse visa, then with ILR and she now has dual nationality. All of these allow her to work in the UK and she has been working for most of that 9 years. She has never been asked for any such letter. I do not know of any other Thai resident in the UK who has been.

Can you provide more information and your source?

I can see no reason why Thai passport control would not allow her to leave Thailand if she has a valid passport. The airline may refuse to carry someone who does not have a valid visa for the other end; but that would not really be a concern of the Thai authorities.

Irrelevant any way, as she does have a valid visa for the UK.

There must be some other reason for the Thai authorities stopping her from leaving Thailand.

[harrry]

Are you sure it was not the airline misapplying through ignorance the requirement to have 6 months validity on the passport.

[Richard W]

Are you sure it was not the airline misapplying through ignorance the requirement to have 6 months validity on the passport.

That's my suspicion too - my wife once came close to being initially refused permission to board from the airline because her Thai passport was about to expire. Fortunately, another of the check-in staff nipped that error in the bud.

[ThaiVisaExpress]

Letter to exit Thailand ?

She has a valid UK Visa which allows her entry.

[p_brownstone]

You say "Passport Control" turned her back.

I am asssuming you mean that the Airline Staff at Check-in refused to let her Board?

If it was Immigration then there are probably other issues, because Immigratin Offficers do not care where the passenger is going or if they have the right to enter the destination Country - all they do is check that you have been legally in the Country from which you are exiting - and have no legal entanglements from which you may be fleeing.

Patrick

Edit : addition

Edited February 15, 2010 by p_brownstone

[ThaiVisaExpress]

The check in desk ensure you have a visa valid to enter the country you are flying to or you cannot go through immigration.

Maybe her passport had less than 6 months left on it not the visa ?

[samran]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

you are thinking of migrant labourers who get jobs overseas through a range of Thai based employment finding services assosicated with the labour department and those letters I understand are a way of regulating the industry to make sure conditions are being met for these migrant labourers.

This doesn't apply to those simply who have gotten jobs themselves (or have been hired!) and those with work rights on foreign countries. Lord knows I've never needed to get one.

[swisstoni]

my girlfriend has a indefinite settlement visa for UK and when we fly back she will only have 3 months left. she called immigration and they said no problem. only thing is her thai passport expires in july. does anyone know if there is a limit on validity times (for example for me to get a tourist visa for thailand i need 6 months at least left to run on my passport)

good luck

[jbaldwin]

My best guess is that she decided not to make to trip for reasons she does not want to tell you and just made up the story about being turned away at immigration

[Bukseeda]

my girlfriend has a indefinite settlement visa for UK and when we fly back she will only have 3 months left. she called immigration and they said no problem. only thing is her thai passport expires in july. does anyone know if there is a limit on validity times (for example for me to get a tourist visa for thailand i need 6 months at least left to run on my passport)

good luck

I'm not sure with that kind of visa but i think some require 6 months' validity (does anyone else know?). It might be worth her getting a new passport in Thailand anyway as it's a pain in the UK - she has to apply in person and pick it up (they won't send it). As long as she has the settlement visa and original passport with her she won't have a problem entering the UK on a new passport.

[7by7]

ILR is indefinite and wont lapse simply because the passport the stamp is in has expired, or is close to expiring. As long as the passport is still valid then she can use it to re-enter the UK.

However, as said, it will probably be easier if she renews her passport whilst still in LOS as doing so in the UK will mean a trip to the RTE in Kensington.

She then simply carries both old and new passports and shows both to UK immigration when she arrives (and to the airline when checking in).

Or she could pay the exorbitant fee introduced by Labour to transfer the ILR stamp to her new passport!

[swisstoni]

cheers guys, got the same response from other people ive asked. apparently its only 1000 baht and takes a day here, got to be better than a trip to london

[eggomaniac]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

WHAT? We visited Thailand in 2007 on HER old Thai Passport and Canadian PR Card; SHE has employment in Canada.

SHE got a new Thai Passport in Vancouver last year and we visited this Dec and Jan.

At no point during these processes did we need this MYSTERY letter you are talking about!>?

------------

How is entering Britain, in any way, a Thai Immigration Issue???

Edited February 21, 2010 by eggomaniac

[ssimpson]

Can only imagine that there was less than 6 months validity remaining on her passport, or as was previously mentioned, Thai officials erred and confused this rule with remaining validity on the Visa. Just to clarify however, it is the duty of authorities in the country of departure to ensure a passenger is allowed to travel to the destination country, so in fact visiting the UK is a Thai Immigration issue for passengers travelling to the UK from Thailand. Also, ILR is not indefinite. If you have ILR but leave the UK for more than two years (read the rules), you will lose your ILR (just happened to a friend of mine who discovered this on return to Heathrow, where they promptly refused her entry).

[747man]

Are you sure it is a visa issue?

She not wanted by the police for something? Just an idea why?

If she has permission to work in UK she requires a letter of permission to exit Thailand for purposes of employment overseas from the Thai Labor Department. Thai nationals need this EVERY time they fly out.

Funny, NEVER had to supply THIS for My TW,In all the 17 Years she has had the UK Settlement Visa & N.I Card for work in the UK ????Don't know where you got this info from,BUT You are incorrect.....

[7by7]

Just to clarify however, it is the duty of authorities in the country of departure to ensure a passenger is allowed to travel to the destination country, so in fact visiting the UK is a Thai Immigration issue for passengers travelling to the UK from Thailand.

If so, then they are failing miserably as far as my wife and step-daughter are concerned!

They have only ever shown Thai immigration their Thai passports on entering and leaving Thailand; neither of which contain any UK visa as the passports which contain their ILR stamps have long expired. They now both have dual Thai/British nationality, and Thai immigration have never been interested in seeing their British passports on either entering or leaving the Kingdom.

All Thai immigration have ever been concerned about in their case is that their Thai passports are valid.

However, when checking in with an airline passengers do have to show that they will be allowed in at the other end. This is because the airline may be subject to a large fine if they carry a passenger who does not have the required entry clearance for their destination.

Also, ILR is not indefinite. If you have ILR but leave the UK for more than two years (read the rules), you will lose your ILR (just happened to a friend of mine who discovered this on return to Heathrow, where they promptly refused her entry).

Correct, which is one reason why it is called Indefinite, not Permanent: i.e. it is indefinite, no fixed term and can lapse.

[p_brownstone]

Just to clarify however, it is the duty of authorities in the country of departure to ensure a passenger is allowed to travel to the destination country, so in fact visiting the UK is a Thai Immigration issue for passengers travelling to the UK from Thailand.

This is totally incorrect.

Immigration is only concerned with the legality of your entry into and / or exit from their own Country - on entry into Thailand they only check that you have a valid Visa or are otherwise entitled to entry. On exit they are only interested to check that you have been in the Country legally and for the allowed period of time - they may also check that you have no outstanding legal problems with their Countrys' authorities.

They do not care where you have been or where you are going.

Patrick

[ssimpson]

Let me re-phrase my previous comment regarding the onus of Thai authorities to ensure a travelling passenger has the right to travel to an onward destination. I'm aware the Thai Immigration desk at the airport are only concerned that you've entered and are leaving Thailand legally, but the airlines (at check-in) are the parties who are obliged to ensure a passenger has the right to travel to their final destination. This is what I meant by the Thai authorities. I'm sure they don't do this of their own accord, but act under the auspices of some Thai Government Department (Customs/Immigration/Foreign Office?) to avoid liability for any ensuing financial penalty that might result if the passenger was not entitled to travel.

7by7 - I assume that your wife and step-daughter show their British passports when checking in with the airline? My wife is consistently asked for her original ILR stamp when checking in (she travels with her old passport with the original ILR stamp as showing the "Given Indefinite Leave to Remain, as endorsed in previous ppt" entry in her current passport never seems to be sufficient).

[Eff1n2ret]

Let me re-phrase my previous comment regarding the onus of Thai authorities to ensure a travelling passenger has the right to travel to an onward destination. I'm aware the Thai Immigration desk at the airport are only concerned that you've entered and are leaving Thailand legally, but the airlines (at check-in) are the parties who are obliged to ensure a passenger has the right to travel to their final destination. This is what I meant by the Thai authorities. I'm sure they don't do this of their own accord, but act under the auspices of some Thai Government Department (Customs/Immigration/Foreign Office?) to avoid liability for any ensuing financial penalty that might result if the passenger was not entitled to travel.

7by7 - I assume that your wife and step-daughter show their British passports when checking in with the airline? My wife is consistently asked for her original ILR stamp when checking in (she travels with her old passport with the original ILR stamp as showing the "Given Indefinite Leave to Remain, as endorsed in previous ppt" entry in her current passport never seems to be sufficient).

It's nothing to do with the Thai authorities. The airlines' strictures arise from their potential liabilities in the destination country - in the case of the UK, this is set out in the Carriers Liabilty Act of 1988, as amended by subsequent legislation, and results in a fine of £2000 per inadequately-documented passenger. It's entirely the airlines' decision whether or not to allow their passengers to board, and any attempt by the Thai authorities to prevent their nationals from leaving the country must be for reasons other than their potential immigration status in the country for which they are embarking.

As far as what passport to show to whom is concerned, it's a procedure well understood and frequently aired on this forum. The airline wants to see a passport bearing the same name as the ticket/booking. Thus my wife, whose ticket and UK passport are in her married name, shows her UK passport when embarking from the UK or checkin to return, her Thai passport in her Thai name to BKK Immigration on arrival and departure, and we both walk through the IRIS gate when we get back to Heathrow without showing a passport to anybody. Your wife obviously has to show her old passport because that has the original stamp in it. Anybody could scribble "as endorsed in previous passport" on a new document with a forged date stamp and pretend they had ILR.

[ssimpson]

Yes, and anybody could forge the entire passport and pretend they were whoever they wanted to be. No need to be facetious.