Tourist Visa Troubles In Phnom Penh

[welo]

I'm currently in Poipet/Cambodia on a Tourist Visa Run. Used an agent here before and didn't have any troubles before (like red stamps).

Got the news today that the embassy (in Phnom Penh) wants to give me troubles and requires me to show up in person for an interview. Reason: too many TV. I have to say my passport is full of TV and it's been a while since I was back in Europe. Furthermore I'm running out of pages and have just enough pages left for the visa plus 4-6 stamps. Plan was to get a new passport after this Visa Run (and hopefully sort out my Non-O soon).

Agent wants me to go to PP tomorrow morning, but while his service was usually fast and reliable he always had problems giving definite statements ('maybe', 'maybe not') and the same now: he says 'maybe' I can get a visa.

I'm not sure what to expect. Is that expected procedure to have an interview at the embassy (probably to make sure I am not working)? Or will I just waste my time to pick up a denied visa?

Is there anything I can do from here (telephone)? Is there any paperwork I can bring, like recommendation letter? Not that I brought anything with me, but maybe I could have arranged having something faxed. I'm married here but paperwork not done yet. I have lots of photos of the wedding

If the visa really gets denied, I assume that I can still enter Thailand on a 15-days Stamp?

I know nobody can really tell me what is going on, but I am curious about opinions from more experienced members.

Thanks,

welo

[mussen]

Hi, how many TV's do you have?

[monty]

hard to say what will happen at the embassy, but yes, you can always enter by land without any visa and get your 15 day visa free stamp.

[moe666]

Passpor full of tourist visas, maybe a red herring.

[Maestro]

...If the visa really gets denied, I assume that I can still enter Thailand on a 15-days Stamp?...

Yes, you can still enter Tahiland without a visa -- I assume you are from a qualifying country for visa-exempt entry -- and get permission to stay for 15 days.

...I'm married here but paperwork not done yet...

Married, but no marriage certificate? Religious ceremony only, no registration at the district (amphoe) office?

--

Maestro

[shaunoro]

I thought tourist visas were for tourists.

Not long stay.

[lopburi3]

Depends on how you define tourist. For many of us that could be life itself.

[lopburi3]

Have received a report that the Consul is not in PP this week so no visas are being issued so that might be the real issue.

[welo]

Thanks guys for your feedback! Sorry to not reply sooner, but I have just returned from Phnom Penh on my brand new Tourist Visa.

What's going on at the Thai Embassy Phnom Penh

It seems that the consul was/is indeed out of town. Another story I heard is that a new officer has just returned from Hongkong and is very picky on Visa requirements. The interview I did was not with the consul but with a young officer with very good English - but more about this later.

I also noticed that on Thursday afternoon the embassy staff was pretty hard working and processing passports (scheduled for pickup - not visa applications) until after 16:30, the official closing time.

I met two Westerners who had applied on Monday, both were told to come back on Thursday, one for an interview, one for supposedly normal pickup! My visa was actually also stamped on Monday. I assume that my interview was also scheduled for Thursday, even though my agent had told me that I have an appointment on Wednesday which we didn't make in time (or was never supposed to take place anyway).

The pre-stamped 'tickets' from Thursday (15th) showed Tuesday (20th) afternoon for pickup - that is x + 3 days excluding the weekend.

My Passport

I had 4 Tourist Visas from Phnom Penh in my Passport. Plus 1 each from Penang, Vientiane and my home country. I first came to Thailand in 2007, and last returned to my home country in mid 2008. I also had only 2 pages left before starting the visa run.

The Interview

The interview was done at the counter by a rather young Thai (male) officer, who did not do any other counter work than my interview, maybe he was said replacement for the consul. He was very polite and friendly, maybe even a bit nervous. He asked me about my stay in Thailand, and I told him that I'm married but haven't done the paperwork yet. He further requested paperwork to proof my relationship - since I came straight from Poipet I couldn't show him anything other than a photo of my wife's ID on my digital camera which I had taken quickly before leaving. He then asked for pictures showing the two of us together, which I didn't have on the camera. He instructed me to have my wife fax a letter with copy of the id to the embassy (stating our relationship etc).

Seeing more troubles and delays coming up, I took my chances and asked if the embassy had an internet connection - since I had tons of pictures on facebook. He actually produced a fancy smartphone and asking me for details. Unfortunately facebook is rather confusing on a small smartphone screen, and it took us some time to access the required information. I have tight privacy settings on facebook so the information without logging in is rather scarce. He checked my wifes profile pic with the one from the id, and checked her friend list which included me as well as my sister. He then accepted this as proof.

Maybe that was the first time in history that facebook was used as a proof of relationship in a Thai embassy He explained that he would make a written note of my relationship ('fiance') on the visa - otherwise I might be rejected by Thai immigration at the border because of my long stay (3yrs). First time I heard something like this, but my granted Visa actually has a hand-written note stating exactly this.

Pickup was suggested on the next day in the afternoon. I voiced my concerns for this delay since my visa run already lasted since Sunday, and he told me to come back that afternoon, 'maybe' I could pick it up. I also asked for a 'ticket' since my passport was handed in by an agent and I didn't have any receipt. This turned out to be a wise move, since the new ticket I received stated the date and a number. Later that day in the afternoon my passport was one of the last processed and handed out, the counter officer actually making a call explicitly requesting the passport to be processed.

The only troubles I had at Thai immigration at the border was a confusion about whether the last page of my passport is allowed to be stamped or not - the officer checked back with another officer who said no problem - no questions asked.

Foot Notes

No idea if my troubles were due to my many Tourist Visas or long-term stay in Thailand, or related to the Consul being out of town. However, I saw a couple of application forms with a hand-written note 'no visa issued without an interview' (or similar) when I spied at the documents behind the counter.

Interestingly, during the interview I had a chance to glance at my passport and saw that the visa sticker was already glued into my passport - what would they have done if I had requested my passport back without providing further paperwork and canceling the visa process?

One of the Westerners I talked to had actually applied for a Non-O Single Entry (retirement) on Monday, and was told to come back for an interview and provide more documents. When he turned up Thursday afternoon he was told that the embassy had already stamped a Tourist Visa into the passport. After waiting an hour they finally agreed that he accepted the Tourist Visa and would apply for the Non-O with the required paperwork next time - he did have only two pages left in his passport.

The officer handing out the passports in the afternoon definitely has a stressful job - and his very basic English skills ('you wait!' after returning the ticket without any comment 2 times before) don't make the job for him a lot easier.

Edited July 16, 2010 by welo

[ruby1]

Hi,good news for you.

[ruby1]

I have 8 tourist visa's in my passport and all from Malaysia.

My last visit was to Kaula Lumpur in May 2010 where they gave me a tourist visa but said this is the last time.

Wondering if that means last time from Malaysia or last time tourist visa.

My visa finishes on the 11th August 2010.

[welo]

Check the topic about the read stamps in Vientiane. It seems that getting a fresh passport solves the problem.

However, I've obtained information that this might have changed recently and embassies are encouraged to check a person's immigration record on the computer, not only the passport. The source is said to be 'an immigration officer working in Bangkok', and was passed to me by a Thai friend (not involved in visa business), still, the information was way to undetailed to be considered reliable.

Didn't here anything yet from the admins and more knowledgeable people in this forum.