One Visa For All Asean Countries From 2013

[theblether]

According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the ASEAN confederation has announced a single visa will allow tourists to visit all ASEAN countries from 2013.

For UK nationals no more need to apply seperately to Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos or Indonesia, the new visa will also cover Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Okay, that's the limit of the information I have at hand, it will be interesting to discover the duration of the visa, to my recollection Malaysia issues 90 day tourist visas on arrival.

It will be a real boon to not have to make multiple applications, and if the new visa is giving tourists 90 days in situ, that will revolutionise the Thai visa situation.

I'll go look and see if there is any further info, or if anyone else knows that would be great.

[ripstanley]

Singapore is 90 days.

[ripstanley]

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2012-06/04/c_131630481.htm

Have a read of this link. It still may be some time.

[PattayaParent]

I can't see Viet Nam going for that.

[Soutpeel]

I can't see Viet Nam going for that.

Cant see Thailand going for it either....

[cowslip]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects those relying on visa runs to stay in Thailand long term....and on those who expect 3015 day visa exempt stays. Presumably they will still have to get their visas for other countries before travelling on

[cowslip]

It'll be interesting to see how this affects those relying on visa runs to stay in Thailand long term....and on those who expect 3015 day visa exempt stays. Presumably they will still have to get their visas for other countries before travelling on

[theblether]

I think the Sunday Times has jumped the gun, there are plenty of online reports of ASEAN plans to bring the policy in, but I can't see a policy announcement anywhere, including on the ASEAN website.

I'll email the Sunday Times and ask for an explanation.

[Nignoy]

funny that this topic came up, when renewing my vietnam visa in saigon in march this year, our mate in the visa department at the airport , mentioned that they had heard from may 2013 , a new asean 90day visa, was going to be phased in, it is going to be expensive but a good thing!!That is if it really happens

[jessicanguyenself]

funny that this topic came up, when renewing my vietnam visa in saigon in march this year, our mate in the visa department at the airport , mentioned that they had heard from may 2013 , a new asean 90day visa, was going to be phased in, it is going to be expensive but a good thing!!That is if it really happens

I wonder if someone is holding a vietnam 5 years visa waiver can use it to entry another asean country without a visa ???

[ozzieovaseas]

So, theblether...

Have i got it right? The way i am reading the information you speak of..

It will be possible to apply (to some sort of united Asean immigration/body?) for one visa which will allow a single entry into any of the Asean countries involved?..

Of course that visa would then be subject to the rules and durations of entry as applicable for each individual country? as they stand now?

I can not imagine all these countries adopting and changing a lot of existing laws and immigration policies as to come inline with some fully unified system?

So, in affect does it mean all the countries involved will be charging the same fee for a multiple country visa obtained from ones own country?

Then you would have to ask will Thailand still keep the visa on arrival policy IF one is only wanting to come to Thailand...or will they scrap that system and make everyone get this new visa?

[7by7]

All good questions, which are impossible to answer unless it ever actually happens and until the countries concerned make a formal announcement.

An example of how such inter country cooperation can work is the Schengen Area in Europe.

[talk2sam]

I can't wait to see how the unified visa thig will pawn-out..these guys haven't got a clue about how complicated Asean region is..

[renaissanc]

If I think of Thailand, the whole visa process needs to be simplified. It needs to be recreated by young women without middle-aged Immigration officials getting involved. The middle-aged men can only think of improving the system by adding required documents and complications. It seems to be their way of showing themselves being a macho Immigration official who is doing his job. The more documents required, the more chances there will be of getting paid corruption money just to avoid the headache.

Edited June 10, 2012 by renaissanc

[phuketrichard]

When pigs can fly

cant see Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, laos, Vietnam going along with this as who gets the $$$

Singapore and malay are all free for 90 days

Plus how long would it be valid for

a tourist visa in Thailand is 60 days

laos, Cambodia and Vietnam 30

[samran]

bring it on.

The visa runners in Thailand will then have to go to India, China or Australia for the border run.

[culicine]

When pigs can fly

cant see Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, laos, Vietnam going along with this as who gets the $$$

Singapore and malay are all free for 90 days

Plus how long would it be valid for

a tourist visa in Thailand is 60 days

laos, Cambodia and Vietnam 30

And exactly WHO will this visa apply to? If tourists, it will need to be expensive to recoup any losses from the regular visas needed for all these countries. Or will it be limited to businesses only?

[tig28]

I cannot understand why so many are dreaming up such a litany of imagined problems to implementation --- a somewhat similar scheme has existed for years -- the APEC travel card -- it does not suffer any of the difficulties raised here. This scheme is obviously for Business travelers.

Countries covered:

Australia - Brunei - China- Chile- Hong Kong, China - Korea - Indonesia

- Japan- Peru- the Philippines-- Malaysia - Mexico- New Zealand- Papua New Guinea - Singapore- Chinese Taipei- Thailand- Vietnam.

[ripstanley]

I cannot understand why so many are dreaming up such a litany of imagined problems to implementation --- a somewhat similar scheme has existed for years -- the APEC travel card -- it does not suffer any of the difficulties raised here. This scheme is obviously for Business travelers.

Countries covered:

Australia - Brunei - China- Chile- Hong Kong, China - Korea - Indonesia

- Japan- Peru- the Philippines-- Malaysia - Mexico- New Zealand- Papua New Guinea - Singapore- Chinese Taipei- Thailand- Vietnam.

The APEC card is for business people. They have to apply and if successful they can travel to Austrlia for short term periods. It is valid for 3 years. It also allows for fast tracking at Airports

Edited June 10, 2012 by ripstanley

[lounger]

bring it on.

The visa runners in Thailand will then have to go to India, China or Australia for the border run.

A lot of opinion on this matter. this visa run idea is the most interesting.

I cant see why other posters are fighting the concept. A free trade area is a massive endeavour and an immigration contribution of introducing a uniform visa hardly a pimple in the administration.

I can see a ASEAN 90 day visa coming in quickly as a concession to the region. After that slowly slowly as the impact of ideas is ironed out. How long has it taken the UK which is now EU compliant on most of the hidden agendas but not the public ones ( immig and currency).

Anyway the idea of a visa run to Australia seems to be coming in.........

[tombkk]

I heard about this plan last year. They said it will initially be only for tourist visas, as the OP mentions. The duration of the stay was not clear yet at the time, though.

Negotiations within ASEAN apparently are under way, all is not fixed yet. You see some of the question marks in the Xinhau News article linked in post #3 above. It's a good development.

[tig28]

I cannot understand why so many are dreaming up such a litany of imagined problems to implementation --- a somewhat similar scheme has existed for years -- the APEC travel card -- it does not suffer any of the difficulties raised here. This scheme is obviously for Business travelers.

Countries covered:

Australia - Brunei - China- Chile- Hong Kong, China - Korea - Indonesia

- Japan- Peru- the Philippines-- Malaysia - Mexico- New Zealand- Papua New Guinea - Singapore- Chinese Taipei- Thailand- Vietnam.

The APEC card is for business people. They have to apply and if successful they can travel to Austrlia for short term periods. It is valid for 3 years. It also allows for fast tracking at Airports

Hi ripstanley

As I pointed out ..... the APEC travel card is " obviously for Business travelers" and provides Visa free entry into all the countries listed above --- (not as you say "travel to Australia for short term periods") -- incidentally the " short term period" you mention for Australia is 90 days (as it is for Thailand & most of the other countries listed.) ---- the same as standard tourist or business visas -- no?. It is also valid for 3 years and of course it is multiple entry.

So back to the point I attempted to make--- Absolutely zero difficulty in negotiating a multi-country Visa entry scheme --- without all the strange & imagined problems mentioned --- one would hope this new (somewhat similar)universal scheme shall proceed smoothly.

(Canada, the Russian Federation and the United States of America are transitional members of the APEC travel card scheme. Transitional members do not offer reciprocal arrangements for entry to their economy yet. They only provide fast track immigration processing lanes.)

Edited June 10, 2012 by tig28

[cowslip]

It now seems pretty clear that this visa doesn't really represent a huge change as other visas will remain more or less unaffected and I would guess it'll happen more or less as planned.

Edited June 11, 2012 by cowslip

[Tomtomtom69]

Somehow I doubt that ASEAN is ready for this at this time. Although visa-free entry which is essentially reciprocal for all ASEAN citizens when entering another member state is in force, I can't see how Cambodia, which currently allows one to stay indefinately on 1-year extensions for a fee, or Vietnam where it's easy to purchase a 3-month multiple entry visa prior to arrival can all integrate their immigration systems to comply with this. Also, last I heard was that Vietnam is starting to make it difficult to even apply for a 3-month multiple entry visa and Thailand doesn't want tourists to continually leave and re-enter the country on new visa exempt stays. Each country has their own priorities and ASEAN is many, many years behind Schengen in this respect. Also, the APEC business travel card is not that easy to get and there is a waiting period as each country approves your application, which could take some time.

[ripstanley]

Somehow I doubt that ASEAN is ready for this at this time. Although visa-free entry which is essentially reciprocal for all ASEAN citizens when entering another member state is in force, I can't see how Cambodia, which currently allows one to stay indefinately on 1-year extensions for a fee, or Vietnam where it's easy to purchase a 3-month multiple entry visa prior to arrival can all integrate their immigration systems to comply with this. Also, last I heard was that Vietnam is starting to make it difficult to even apply for a 3-month multiple entry visa and Thailand doesn't want tourists to continually leave and re-enter the country on new visa exempt stays. Each country has their own priorities and ASEAN is many, many years behind Schengen in this respect. Also, the APEC business travel card is not that easy to get and there is a waiting period as each country approves your application, which could take some time.

The ASEAN visa for member countries is only for 14 days.

[hotrod4098]

whats the latest info on this