Rtd - Refugee Travel Document - 6 Month Rule

[shakaZOLO]

Hoping someone might have some insight on this one...

My girlfriend has asylee / refugee status from Belarus in the USA and she holds a 'refugee travel document', which allows her to travel just like a passport. This document is valid for one year from date of issue, which was in mid-April 2011. This means it will expire in mid-April 2012. We have tickets and plans to visit Thailand from December 9-26, 2011.

Thai immigration uses the same rules for US passports and RTDs, so she has been unable to obtain a visa because the document must be valid for six months after travel is completed. I understand this makes sense for passport holders since that is a 10-year document. But for the refugee travel document holder it limits travel to half of the life of the document. Moreover, she is unable to renew her travel document until there are 120 days remaining on it, which isn't until January. We're facing a total block of the process. It's a little crazy because she is authorized to travel and even has 4 months of additional time on her RTD after we return, but since she cannot renew or extend and the 6-month rule is steadfast, we've hit a big hard wall.

The US immigration office has been unable to authorize and extension to her document nor renew early - period. The US offices of the Thai embassy say they cannot override the 6-month rule themselves. They did suggest, however, that someone in the Thailand offices might have this power. I tried to call BKK but only get a machine. I have no idea where to begin over there.

Does anyone have any information on who we might contact or petition at the highest levels to get this addressed? We clearly need a high-ranking official who is sympathetic to the catch-22 of this case. They've got to see that applying the same rule to the RTD is unfair and eliminates more than half the life of the document.

Appreciate any and all feedback.

[colinthailand20005]

Sorry incorrect post.