Thai Visa for my Filipino girlfriend

[borolad]

Ok, a bit of background first. I have a multi entry Thai Visa and will be arriving in Thailand in October, i want my filipino girlfriend to come and visit me for a few months whilst i am here. I have been told that she will get a 30 day visa upon entry. What does she require to get through immigration without a problem both in Phils and in Thailand? If anybody has any experience of this it would be much appreciated.

Am i right in saying that she will need a letter of invitation from myself? What do i include in this? Also will she need to have a certain amount of money in her account as proof of funds? Any other things that she will require?

Again, many thanks for taking the time to read this, i hope someone has experience with this or can give me some accurate info.

Regards

[mrtoad]

I would suggest that she picks up a 60 day tourist visa in Manila. However, I think she will have no issues arriving into Thailand, will get 30 days no problem. If she stays longer, it will be border runs.

If she applies for a visa, then she may need a letter from you, proof of funds, and a return journey air ticket.

[borolad]

I would suggest that she picks up a 60 day tourist visa in Manila. However, I think she will have no issues arriving into Thailand, will get 30 days no problem. If she stays longer, it will be border runs.

If she applies for a visa, then she may need a letter from you, proof of funds, and a return journey air ticket.

OK thanks, apparently it is nigh on impossible for a single girl to get a visa from the thai embassy in manila. I think the best thing to do is to give her a letter of invitation, make sure she's got enough money in her bank and get her a return ticket for no more than 30 day duration. Once she is here we can look at soritng something else out if we want to extend her stay.

I'm a bot confused about what i should put in the letter of invitation.

Thanks again for you input.

[jrtmedic]

Single,young, women have a problem exiting the Philippines.

Wait until someone more knowledgeable than me comes along.

[midasthailand]

I would suggest that she picks up a 60 day tourist visa in Manila. However, I think she will have no issues arriving into Thailand, will get 30 days no problem. If she stays longer, it will be border runs.

If she applies for a visa, then she may need a letter from you, proof of funds, and a return journey air ticket.

OK thanks, apparently it is nigh on impossible for a single girl to get a visa from the thai embassy in manila. I think the best thing to do is to give her a letter of invitation, make sure she's got enough money in her bank and get her a return ticket for no more than 30 day duration. Once she is here we can look at soritng something else out if we want to extend her stay.

I'm a bot confused about what i should put in the letter of invitation.

Thanks again for you input.

Not sure why you feel you need to give her a letter of invitation? She can visit Thailand and get 30 days on entry as long as she has a return ticket.

[borolad]

I would suggest that she picks up a 60 day tourist visa in Manila. However, I think she will have no issues arriving into Thailand, will get 30 days no problem. If she stays longer, it will be border runs.

If she applies for a visa, then she may need a letter from you, proof of funds, and a return journey air ticket.

OK thanks, apparently it is nigh on impossible for a single girl to get a visa from the thai embassy in manila. I think the best thing to do is to give her a letter of invitation, make sure she's got enough money in her bank and get her a return ticket for no more than 30 day duration. Once she is here we can look at soritng something else out if we want to extend her stay.

I'm a bot confused about what i should put in the letter of invitation.

Thanks again for you input.

Not sure why you feel you need to give her a letter of invitation? She can visit Thailand and get 30 days on entry as long as she has a return ticket.

I have read that without a letter of invitation there may be problems leaving philippines. especially for a young girl, not young young, she's 22. I've heard that immigration at the Phils side can be a bit dodgy.

[lopburi3]

Actually she is unlikely to even be able to get through the airport to aircraft without valid and verified business reasons for travel. Much better to visit PI and exit with than expect a young girl to be allowed exit by PI immigration from reports I have read - even when I lived there 30 years ago it was next to impossible without being in a group, undergoing formal course of study for travel or with someone.

[jrtmedic]

lopburi3

Thank you.

That pretty much sums up my understanding of the situation.

[geordieman2]

Thailand is not the problem.

It is the Pilippine immigration which can (sorry, will) be a PITA.

She will need a good story, stick to it, and be able to back it up.

Address where she will be staying, who will she be visiting, proof of the address (i.e. a rental contract of a place in Thailand in the name of the person she visits), or a pre booked hotel stay etc. Bunch of pictures of boyfriend on the phone.

Proof of financial capability, not just recently arrived money in the bank (easily arranged by traffikers), but steady income etc.

There really is no fixed guide, it seems to be very much hit and miss depending on the immigration officer.

Best chance will be you going there and then accompanying her when flying out!

Edited August 30, 2013 by geordieman2

[borolad]

Thailand is not the problem. It is the Pilippine immigration which can (sorry, will) be a PITA. She will need a good story, stick to it, and be able to back it up. Address where she will be staying, who will she be visiting, proof of the address (i.e. a rental contract of a place in Thailand in the name of the person she visits), or a pre booked hotel stay etc. Bunch of pictures of boyfriend on the phone. Proof of financial capability, not just recently arrived money in the bank (easily arranged by traffikers), but steady income etc. There really is no fixed guide, it seems to be very much hit and miss depending on the immigration officer. Best chance will be you going there and then accompanying her when flying out!

Cheers for all the advice, there seems to be little chance of her being allowed to leave on her own. I have decided to fly to the philippines and bring her to thailand with me, extra cost but less risk.

Cheers

[merijn]

Thai immigration is not the problem but the Philippine immigration is the big problem.

According my experience the best way for you is to go to the Philippines and get a tourist visa for her.

This together with financial statements from her bank, letter of invention, all reservations for Thailand etc.

Then when you travel together she should have a better change to exit the Philippines.

Look luck, you both will need it.

[granuaile]

Single,young, women have a problem exiting the Philippines.

Wait until someone more knowledgeable than me comes along.

I can believe this, though not sure why they would. I have been thinking about inviting some friends of mine to visit (at my expense) and assumed as long as they had a round trip ticket there would be no problem as citizens of an ASEAN country. But this aspect of this thread resonated, because my sister-in-law (ex sis-in-law actually) had some trouble leaving to visit other countries. When she went to Hong Kong her name matched a person wanted on drug charges and she has to now carry a letter from authorities that she is not the same person. When she visited Bangkok a few months ago, she told me they wanted to know if she was coming here to marry :S I can't understand though what difference it makes, on the Filipino side of things... But I can believe this (and my sis in law is married or at least been living w same person for many years)...

[granuaile]

Actually she is unlikely to even be able to get through the airport to aircraft without valid and verified business reasons for travel. Much better to visit PI and exit with than expect a young girl to be allowed exit by PI immigration from reports I have read - even when I lived there 30 years ago it was next to impossible without being in a group, undergoing formal course of study for travel or with someone.

@Lopburi, What about studying Thai? Or just to visit as a friend or if they had a formal invitation to attend a professional conference here I guess I just have a hard time understanding the POV of Filipino immigration rules,

[gerryBScot]

Single,young, women have a problem exiting the Philippines.

Wait until someone more knowledgeable than me comes along.

Everybody potentially has a problem leaving the Philippines - immigration regularily stop people from leaving for no apparent reason. I know of people who have been stopped when travelling here to attenda family wedding. It seems immigration take their responsibilities very seriously in the Phils. I think the approach is justified on the basis of minimising the cost of repatriating those who may become a burden. However not 100% certain of why.

The people I know who have been most affected by this are teachers. I know someone who was denied exit because they found he was travelling with his teaching credentials but nothing to indicate he had a job to go to. so he was coming here on spec........entering as a tourist in the hope of finding work.

Your gf will almost certainly have problems if she is travelling overseas for the first time presumably on a new passport and if she is travelling on her own. if it is feasible you might want to accompany her when she is leaving. the authorities will be much more cautious if you are present and you should also buy a return ticket for her.

This is the only country I know which makes it dificult for its citizens to leave! on the plus side being married to a filipino means i get a one year permission to stay for free when I enter with mrs gerryB and we produce our wedding report isued by the filipino embassy in bkk.

[lopburi3]

Immigration officer at airport is last chance in the prevention of human trafficking (which has always been a problem) and they are tasked with doing everything they can to insure traveler is aware of this possibility (with required study courses) and preventing any suspect travel. Add the extreme corruption of even normal daily life and you have very restricted travel without possible payments and a lot of luck.

[tingtongfarang]

I heard from others that often the immigration are looking for quite a bung of $ to let their citizens through

[mariocoron]

Good day, boys and girls. I work as an immigration officer at Manila's NAIA airport.

It's all in the name of human trafficking. New exit rules have been implemented over the years to prevent human traffickers from exploiting citizens of this country, particularly those who are vulnerable to being misled and those who are gullible or naive enough to believe in or fall for the modus operandi of criminals engaged in human trafficking. Experiential trends and patterns have shown that those who are most vulnerable are young and single women, of no particular educational or academic background, clean passports and of provincial or rural origin. This is not a uniform pattern and we do screen exiting passengers against rules designed in particular to meet the trafficking identification guidelines common among regional authorities, particularly those enacted by Aseanapol (a partner of Interpol).

As a result of the strict implementation of these rules, the Philippines is slowly but surely moving the right way in terms of, primarily, combating the problem of human trafficking and, fundamentally and on a more global scale, contributing towards international efforts in curbing the secondary consequences of this problem. It is undeniably a "problem" and one we do not deny is a pervasive and stubborn one. We have had it for decades and it will continue to exist. The measures in place at Philippine air and sea borders (i.e. our gateway airports) are there not to deliberately inconvenience the traveling public but to fight this problem. The ensuing inconvenience is a necessary evil but the benefits are appreciably more significant and positive.

Intensified efforts to address this problem has led to a few countries, including the Philippines, to be recognized for local efforts, an example of which is mentioned here--

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/02/155693.html

In addition, you should know that your girlfriend's departure should work without any problems if she has the correct documents and legitimate reasons for leaving the country. This should preferably complement any documentation from you showing or demonstrating her and your intentions in Thailand.

In an unrelated matter (and not necessarily and specifically directed towards you but in a more general sense) the strict measures which apply to your girlfriend and other Filipinas are meant to prevent them from being used by drug mules. There have been several cases of Asian women being used as carriers of narcotic substances which have led to harrowing consequences for them and their families. I am a strong advocate of legislation and procedures, both nationally here in the Philippines and beyond our borders, which focus on protecting the vulnerable and in interdicting those who nefariously misuse the innocent in the name of criminal profit.

Assist your girlfriend by asking her to have

1. A valid passport

2. Valid reasons for travel which she should confidently verbalize if or when she is required to do so by an immigration officer at NAIA airport

3. Sufficient funds that demonstrate and authenticate her true travel intentions

4. An Invitation Letter from you (as per our rules and to ensure she leaves Manila smoothly and without hassles) which should be authenticated. Simply construct that letter, sign it and take it with you, along with your passport, to the Embassy of the Philippines in Sukhumvit and request for an Affidavit of Support. Here are the requirements:

http://www.bangkokpe.com/consular/services/affidavit-of-support/

5. Send the ORIGINAL affidavit to your girlfriend and she should be good to go and happily reunite with you.

All the best.

Mario Coron

BI Unit - Manila

Edited September 1, 2013 by mariocoron

[Maestro]

Thank you, Mario Coron, for signing up as a member of ThaiVisa and posting your detailed explanation of the procedures.

I remember reading a post by a member, many months or perhaps even a year or more ago, saying that Filipino nationals travelling abroad had to show immigration at Manila airport a certificate attesting the attendance of a course of some kind about the possible dangers and pitfalls of travelling abroad. Does this requirement still exist?

[Maestro]

I have deleted an off-topic post about Filipinos in Hong Kong.

[mariocoron]

Thank you, Mario Coron, for signing up as a member of ThaiVisa and posting your detailed explanation of the procedures.

I remember reading a post by a member, many months or perhaps even a year or more ago, saying that Filipino nationals travelling abroad had to show immigration at Manila airport a certificate attesting the attendance of a course of some kind about the possible dangers and pitfalls of travelling abroad. Does this requirement still exist?

Yes, I forgot to mention this earlier. My apologies for this.

This is a requirement IF she is your fiance whom you recognize as such (and mention on your Affidavit of Support as such).

It's a straightforward procedure:

http://cfo.gov.ph/

Click on the sublink "Filipino Spouses and Partners of Foreign Nationals".

[ubonjoe]

Here is link to download the affidavit.

http://www.bangkokpe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/10.-Affidavit-of-Consent-and-Support.pdf

[gerryBScot]

Welcome Mario to TV and thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed and clear account of what official thinking is. That really clears up a mystery for me.

[merijn]

Thanks for the excellent information, We can use this information as we are getting a lot of questions about this topic.

[dddave]

I hope Mario Caron's incredibly detailed and helpful post will be pinned somewhere on this forum where it will be easily found. So many times over the last few years, this topic has come up, always resulting in well meaning but often inaccurate or incomplete information.

This post has made absolutely clear not only the rules, but why the rules are there.

Thanks, Mr Caron for the time and effort.

[davejones]

.

Edited September 1, 2013 by davejones

[jrtmedic]

davejones

I suggest reading mariocoron's two posts.

He makes the reasoning very clear.

[ubonjoe]

Leaving for work they would have documents proving they are traveling for that reason.

[ann89]

Im a filipina and I experience with that..you have to make invitation letter for youre girlfriend that you are the one who's responsible of everything she needs, and bank account that you have the capability to support.. and if youre girlfriend has no work definitely she needs youre invitation and copy of youre bank acount statement or the copy thhat you sent her a money..the immigration will ask the picture both of you that youre together before..niether they will ask youre girlfriend what is youre birthday and so on and so fort..the immigration of the. Phil are so strict interms of a lady to avoid human traficking it seems it so awkward to answer those question but you have to answer it very nicely with a smile..but inside you will get crazy because theres a chance that you will never let you go..but to avoid hassle went apply tourist visa at thai embassy..and theres also a requirements on that.,but nevertheless is better to have a copy on youre requirements to show to the immigration when ever they ask you..