No More Visas By Mail From Honorary Consulates (in USA)

[NewlyMintedThai]

I suspect too many people were sending their passports on "visa vacations" to one of the consulates while still in Thailand.

[moe666]

At my last visit to the CM immigration office the 3 stripped officer told us that the information given by the Thai consulate in Los Angeles, didn't know what they were doing. She implied there is no continuity among the consulates world wide. I wasn't surprised. We were told by the officer in LA it would be little trouble tying my wife's “O” visa to my “OA” visa so she did not have to leave the country every 90 days. I imagine the rules will change or not be implemented because Thailand wants more tourists and it takes coordination/cooperation. Besides, how can they handle the additional work load.

They are not one and the same, immigration come under the Ministry of the Interior, Embassies under the MOFA. The Embassy probably got the dependent extension of stay confused. When you apply for your retirement extension of stay your wife can be added on as a dependent only needing money for one. But she has to be on a Non-o visa at the time, I am guessing here but if she has at present a non-o multiply entry she has to do the 90 day border runs. You would have been better off both getting a single entry non-o visa and then converting to a retirement extension of stay in Thailand.

[JimGant]

Out of curiosity, I just called the honorary consulate in Houston. Yep, the new policy for them -- and all the other honorary consulates in the US -- is no more issuing of visas by mail. She, of course, had no answer for why the new policy.

[riclag]

I 'm posting the results. I'm from the USA. I have received my Triple entry visa by mail with the Honorary Consulate She gave no mention of any news about the new policy or anything. . I sent it out the 8th of August got it back today the 13..I'm good to go. I have been living with this nightmare application since May as most of you know, .I'm leaving the 21st

Sawasdee Kharp

Edited August 13, 2013 by riclag

[Maestro]

Interesting how Denver and Houston said that all honorary consulates in the US are no longer allowed to accept mail applications, and Portland says they know nothing about it.

We haven't heard back from Farmer Joe:

I'll be in the Denver Consulate in an hour and will find out exactly whats going on.

[hawker9000]

When I originally contacted the Portland Consulate, I got what appeared to be an auto-reply stating that their office was closed until 19AUG. Perhaps whoever has responded on their behalf isn't actually working from the office and is as yet unaware of the policy. The information I got was unequivocally that this not-by-mail policy applied to all US honorary consulates. Perhaps riclag, like me, got in under the wire (although, even so, I would've though they'd have advised him of the new policy going forward). 'Would be interesting to hear of any more mail-ins succeeding (or not) in the near future.

At least some consulates seem a bit bashful about being mentioned by name here, so maybe that information just simply isn't going to be shared.

[FarmerJoe]

Sorry maestro, Been busy packing for the trip. I was told, you can now only send your passports to L.A., Chicago, New York or Washington D.C. All other Consulates must have walk-in services only. The Thai goverment claims it is for national security reasons. What the hell that means is beyond me. You can still get a 1 year multiple entry visa though for $200 Though.

F.J.

[JLCrab]

Sorry maestro, Been busy packing for the trip. I was told, you can now only send your passports to L.A., Chicago, New York or Washington D.C. All other Consulates must have walk-in services only. The Thai goverment claims it is for national security reasons. What the hell that means is beyond me. You can still get a 1 year multiple entry visa though for $200 Though.

F.J.

So if it were the USA, and they said a procedure was due to "national security reasons", and then you asked them "What the hell does that mean?" they would say: We cannot comment for national security reasons.

[NewlyMintedThai]

This really should come as no surprise.

The Honorary Consulates are not Thai government bodies and are staffed by local people who have probably never even been to Thailand.

They are purely commercial endeavors: they make money from issuing visas. They have no stake in turning anyone down, in checking documentation thoroughly, or in any other way doing anything other than stamp passports and collect money.

People have been taking advantage of this for a very long time. They have sent their passports on visa vacations from Thailand to the consulates by mail, when this is clearly illegal.

A crackdown has been coming for a long time.

It is too bad people have been inconvenienced, but once again those that take advantage of a lax situation end up making everything less convenient for the rest of us.

[Maestro]

I suspect too many people were sending their passports on "visa vacations" to one of the consulates while still in Thailand.

Portland is closed at the moment and will reopen on Monday. Looking at their website Just now I see this line highlighted in yellow:

You must be physically in the United States at the time of application

I wonder if this is a recent addition to this web page. Doses anybody know?

[jrtmedic]

There is usually a reason underlying "crackdowns! !

[NewlyMintedThai]

I suspect too many people were sending their passports on "visa vacations" to one of the consulates while still in Thailand.

Portland is closed at the moment and will reopen on Monday. Looking at their website Just now I see this line highlighted in yellow:

You must be physically in the United States at the time of application

I wonder if this is a recent addition to this web page. Doses anybody know?

Yup. As guessed!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

But that yellow highlighted language doesn't say they won't accepted mailed applications... Just that the applicant has to be in the U.S.

Those are two entirely different things.

[Mightycabage]

For the sake of clarification and peace of mind for everyone in this thread, and to hopefully get my visas sorted out, I'm gonna give it a try and send in my documents to Portland today. They reopen on Monday. If all goes well I'll have my passport back this time next week, stamped with visas and ready for take off. If not I lost $10. I'll follow up when I have an update.

[NewlyMintedThai]

For the sake of clarification and peace of mind for everyone in this thread, and to hopefully get my visas sorted out, I'm gonna give it a try and send in my documents to Portland today. They reopen on Monday. If all goes well I'll have my passport back this time next week, stamped with visas and ready for take off. If not I lost $10. I'll follow up when I have an update.

You will probably slip under the wire.

Before they TRUSTED you to be in the US.

Now, thanks to abuse, they are requiring you to show up in person to prove it.

[Maestro]

For the sake of clarification and peace of mind for everyone in this thread, and to hopefully get my visas sorted out, I'm gonna give it a try and send in my documents to Portland today. They reopen on Monday. If all goes well I'll have my passport back this time next week, stamped with visas and ready for take off. If not I lost $10. I'll follow up when I have an update.

Mighty kind, and courageous, of you to play the guinea pig. Thank you.

[Maestro]

But that yellow highlighted language doesn't say they won't accepted mailed applications... Just that the applicant has to be in the U.S.

Those are two entirely different things.

Entirely different things, they are. How I wish I could get hold of a copy of the instructions, guidelines or directive the Thai embassy in Washington DC apparently sent to the honorary consulates in the USA recently. Did this communication say that because some tourist visa applicants sent in their passports when they were not in the USA, honorary consulates were no longer allowed to issue tourist visas, and did the Portland consulate interpret this to mean they should no longer issue a tourist visa if the applicant was not in the USA at the time of application, and hence that yellow statement, if this statement is new? This is the reason why I was wondering whether it was new. Convoluted thinking on my part, I know, but it just might be possible.

[Maestro]

Question to US passport holders: When you enter the USA with your passport, do you get an arrival stamp in the passport?

[ovenman]

Question to US passport holders: When you enter the USA with your passport, do you get an arrival stamp in the passport?

No. Or maybe more accurately, generally not. I got stamped in at JFK the last time I entered the US but that was the first time in maybe ten years.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I could be wrong about this.... and am willing to be corrected...

But AFAIK, if someone WAS in Thailand or elsewhere outside the United States and wanted to mail an envelope containing their passport or whatever to anyone in the U.S. (including a Thai Honorary Consulate), I think it's pretty easy for the recipient to tell by looking at the routing info and postal stamps on the package where it originated from -- and particularly if it originated from outside the U.S.

So if the only thing they were concerned about was the issue of people mailing applications from outside the U.S., I think those would be pretty easy to spot.

And at any rate, the regular (not honorary) Thai consulates are still accepting mailed visa applications -- even if the honorary consulates may not be any longer. Though I certainly understand, there can be some advantages to dealing with the honorary consulates.

[JLCrab]

Even if there is no entry stamp upon entry to the USA, it is easy enough to see that you have exited Thailand -- and if not that would clearly be against Thai regulations -- and have entered but not exited some country country ie Laos, Malaysia, or Singapore where you would be cooling your heels until your passport makes the return trip from the USA.

Edited August 15, 2013 by JLCrab

[ovenman]

I could be wrong about this.... and am willing to be corrected...

But AFAIK, if someone WAS in Thailand or elsewhere outside the United States and wanted to mail an envelope containing their passport or whatever to anyone in the U.S. (including a Thai Honorary Consulate), I think it's pretty easy for the recipient to tell by looking at the routing info and postal stamps on the package where it originated from -- and particularly if it originated from outside the U.S.

You're correct, it's no issue whatsoever to determine where something was posted.

[JLCrab]

I could be wrong about this.... and am willing to be corrected...

But AFAIK, if someone WAS in Thailand or elsewhere outside the United States and wanted to mail an envelope containing their passport or whatever to anyone in the U.S. (including a Thai Honorary Consulate), I think it's pretty easy for the recipient to tell by looking at the routing info and postal stamps on the package where it originated from -- and particularly if it originated from outside the U.S.

You're correct, it's no issue whatsoever to determine where something was posted.

You could always mail it to a friend in the USA who would repackage it in an envelope sent from and with return address in the USA who will then forward it to you while you wait in Singapore etc. -- but then again you would have the entry stamp but not exit stamp issued by Singapore or wherever.

Edited August 15, 2013 by JLCrab

[watgate]

maestro- When I arrived back in the US last year I received a stamp at JFK with the date of arrival surrounded by an oval circle with the faint wording of homeland security so I guess that is an arrival stamp. P.S I am not sure if I will be sending my application for a triple entry tourist visa with a validity of 6 months to LA or Washington DC. I don't have a good feeling about either one. I hope I am wrong but all this uncertainty really makes proper planning more difficult and creates more stress. It is very frustrating.

[ovenman]

Even if there is no entry stamp upon entry to the USA, it is easy enough to see that you have exited Thailand -- and if not that would clearly be against Thai regulations -- and have entered but not exited some country country ie Laos, Malaysia, or Singapore where you would be cooling your heels until your passport makes the return trip from the USA.

Just for argument sake, it's not necessarily true that it would be easy for somebody to see that I have yet to legally exit Thailand. My passport is chock-full of stamps and somebody would have to go to a certain amount of bother to match entries and exits.

On the other hand, I think an alert Thai immigrations official is likely to spot on their computer that a person was still in Thailand on the date that person's new visa was issued abroad.

[ovenman]

I could be wrong about this.... and am willing to be corrected...

But AFAIK, if someone WAS in Thailand or elsewhere outside the United States and wanted to mail an envelope containing their passport or whatever to anyone in the U.S. (including a Thai Honorary Consulate), I think it's pretty easy for the recipient to tell by looking at the routing info and postal stamps on the package where it originated from -- and particularly if it originated from outside the U.S.

You're correct, it's no issue whatsoever to determine where something was posted.

You could always mail it to a friend in the USA who would repackage it in an envelope sent from and with return address in the USA who will then forward it to you while you wait in Singapore etc. -- but then again you would have the entry stamp but not exit stamp issued by Singapore or wherever.

Being realistic, unless a passport were relatively new and/or empty, nobody at a Thai consulate in the USA would ever notice the absence of an applicant's last exit stamp from Singapore or wherever.

Edited August 15, 2013 by ovenman

[JLCrab]

As each entry / exit stamp has a date it is not that difficult and one would only be looking for recent dates.

If an honorary consulate is being told -- as seems part of the policy -- that they were in danger of being denied the right to issue visas if it becomes obvious that they were oblivious to where the applicant last entered but not exited a country it becomes very realistic.

Edited August 15, 2013 by JLCrab

[ovenman]

As each entry / exit stamp has a date it is not that difficult and one would only be looking for recent dates.

I'll grant you that that a Thai consular agent in the US might scan thru a passport for recent Thai entry/exit stamps but the idea that they might also be looking for exit stamps from Singapore (or wherever the applicant may be "hiding out") is ringing up a <No Sale>.

[JLCrab]

Maybe they have a directive order from the Royal Thai Embassy in WashDC:

Look for the most recent exit & entrance stamps.

Of course if an Honorary Consulate in USA can now, as reported, only issue visas to an applicant who visits their office in person, that whole exit/entry stamp thing becomes moot point.

Edited August 15, 2013 by JLCrab

[ubonjoe]

I can not remember the last time I got stamped into the US. Maybe back in 90's.

There are none the passport I just retired.