Non-immigrant B visa rejection

[darrenp1987]

Hi All, bit of a long one this but if anyone can help then it would be greatly appreciated!

I flew out to Thailand on 01/08/14 on a non-immigrant B visa which I had approved about a month beforehand. I flew to Thailand having already secured a teaching position at a school there. My work permit is in process but according to my school this could take up to 4 months.

On the 24/09/14 I flew back to the UK to attend the wedding of a close relative. Obviously this meant that my initial non-immigrant B visa was now used and no longer valid. The day after arriving back in the UK I posted my passport and all the necessary documentation to be able to obtain my second non-immigrant B visa from the Thai embassy in London. Absolutely all the information I provided was the same as first time around but I received a phone call earlier today from the embassy telling me that my visa application has been rejected. The rejection is due to a minor caution on my criminal record from January 2007. When I queried why my application was rejected this time around but not before, considering that all the information was the same as before, I was told this was because 1. staff discretion is used when processing visas and this time the member of staff in question has decided not to grant me a visa, 2. it was an oversight first time around and I should never have been granted the visa in the first place, 3. there are tighter guidelines in place now (despite both application beings lodged after the recent military coup there and the staff unable to tell me what difference there was to the guidelines between now and then), 4. they do not have the authority to grant a visa in situation like this and I would have to 'sort it out' upon my return to Thailand by going to an embassy there, or in Malaysia. They couldn't really make up their mind as to why I had already been given a visa before. In fact, when I pointed out to them that I had already been in the country for almost 2 months they were genuinely surprised and didn't realise.

They were very rude and hung up on me a number of times and accused me of basically causing the visa application section of the embassy to grind to a halt by keeping them on the phone for too long (30 minutes).

The call finished with me having to accept a tourist visa to get back in to the country but for some reason they couldn't guarantee the return of my documents in time for my flight this Friday.

Does this seem strange to anyone else? Is there anything I can do? Ideally I'd like to complain and get a concrete reason as to why I was accepted once but not a second time but I don't really see who I can complain to.

Any advice someone here can give will I'm sure be a great help!

Thank you.

[paz]

You can't complain to anyone, you would be questioning a decision taken by a foreign country, when it it's clearly stated that they don't even have to provide a reason for refusal (just like your country does). I would be happy enough with recouping the application fee for the tourist visa and follow their advice, go get it in another country.

[bkkgooner]

Get your tourist visa come back to Thailand and then get your school to organize the documents in order to convert the tourist visa to a non-b. Immigration anywhere in Thailand won't be checking criminal records or just come to Thailand and then do a visa run up to Vientiene, Laos and get yourself a non-b there with the relevant paperwork.

best of luck

[BKKSnowBird]

Boarder countries don't require a check. Just do it here.

How serious was the caution?

[darrenp1987]

Thanks for the replies. It's good to know there is at least a way round this problem, just a bit of a pain in the backside.

How serious was the caution?

The caution was for a drunken fight so, though silly, not the worst thing in the world.

You can't complain to anyone, you would be questioning a decision taken by a foreign country, when it it's clearly stated that they don't even have to provide a reason for refusal (just like your country does). I would be happy enough with recouping the application fee for the tourist visa and follow their advice, go get it in another country.

It's not so much that. It's that my application was accepted not even two months ago but has now been rejected. Pretty inconsistent especially in such a small space of time.

I'll certainly take this advice though and go on a visa run at a later date when I'm back in Thailand. I'll hear back from school tomorrow who I'm sure will say much the same thing.

Them not being able to guarantee the return of my documents before my flight is pretty petty though.

Thank you all!

[paz]

It's not so much that. It's that my application was accepted not even two months ago but has now been rejected. Pretty inconsistent especially in such a small space of time.

Inconsistency is the norm at Thai consulates, one does one way, another one a different way, some do differently from what is posted on their website, wrong indications, etc.