Denied tourist visa at Singapore - what a joke!

[kurnell]

Is your boat nice? I have one with a double doorback thrumbone influctor. It help to keep plastic bags from blowing under the chair.

[CMCMANGOMAN]

I've been jerked around by immigration officers myself. Several of my expat friends, have also been treated with contempt and disrespect at different Thai immigration points and offices. If this were not true, I would not write it.

I cannot begin to recount the times I have been asked for documents, pictures and copies of things that were later discarded as not necessary by these grandstanding, self-important little bureaucrats at Thai immigration. But alas, it exists everywhere. Ever try to pull a building permit in anytown, USA? How about a burn permit? DENIED!

It just goes to show that little government stooges are everywhere and at some point good folks just say screw it all and go with the scorched earth approach. It's called venting. So let the op vent. We've all been there and we know his frustration. It's ok to vent once in a while. It's actually healthy.

Have a great day in Thailand...just watch your back my friends.

[HerbalEd]

Most likely your laughing at her and your wise-ass replies are why you didn't get a visa. But you really showed her, didn't you?

Don't you just love the way this guy brags about how he can easily buy the 500K visa ... but doesn't want to spend the money? There's no one cheaper than a rich cheap Charlie.

Edited October 22, 2014 by HerbalEd

[mike324]

Staff doing their job some people complain, staff not doing their job the same people complain. If foreigners were to do the same and talk to immigration in the OPs country, I'm sure they would have been worse off. What an ignorant stuck up.

[natway09]

We are getting our knickers in a knot aren't we.

Try & sell the boat, then see how much it is worth

Oh well, down to Thai Elite, it is in Sathorn Rd incidently, just opposite the HIV hospital

[HerbalEd]

The net result was that anyone with 'too many stamps' or 'too many Tourist Visas' ran the risk of being denied a tourist visa - no shortage of threads on that one - or granted a visa only to be denied entry at a border. This was particularly bad at the southern land crossings from Malaysia where it seems that IOs expected a 500-baht note to be inserted into any passports they deigned to open. They had the power and they weren't going to pass up a golden opportunity.

The only problem as I see it is that any crackdown is only meant to be on Visa Exempt arrivals but it's turning out that this is not the case. The reason I'm currently pointing this out is that I have long suspected tourist visas will also be affected by this 'non crackdown' and this now appears to be showing up.

Someone somewhere has decided to prevent tourist visas being issued at various Embassies around the world by apparently implementing unknown limits on recent visits.

To me it looks like a new crackdown by stealth. They're doing it but didn't let anyone know about it. It's very underhand.

I have entered Thailand well over a hundred times in the past 30 years and have never had a problem. I have always been immediately stamped into the country, and not even once in all those times have I ever been asked one question.

Three weeks ago I flew into BKK and easily got a 30-day visa-exsemption stamp. And that was with a 9 y.o. American passport filled with over 40 entries into Thailand ... including lots of back-to-back 30-day stamps, several triple-entry tourist visas, many extensions, and four overstay stamps.

Upon this latest entry, the immigration officer shuffled through the many pages of my passport (with added pages) looking at the hundred-or-so immigration stamps, gave me a smile and stamped me into the country yet again.

But, even so. Given the supposed immigration "crack-down" I don't want to press my luck. I'm currently in USA getting a new passport and will enter Thailand in three weeks with the so-called "Elite" 5-year visa. Having just turned 70 y.o. I'm tired of the hassle of getting visas & extensions, visa runs, overstays, etc., so I figure, why not spend the 500K baht and avoid all that. These days I have more money than time and I'm very happy to pay for comfort and the elimination of hassle. Why be in the LOS if it doesn't make you smile? ;-)

Edited October 22, 2014 by HerbalEd

[Christie Paul]

The OP comes off as a bit arrogant. But then again, that is after he went to the Embassy and went through what is a tedious process.

If the story is true, it's not good. The OP is someone who whilst in Thailand will directly or indirectly support a minimum of 3 and maybe as many 10 locals. And given the fact that business is way down, you'd think that they would be more welcoming.

Fortunately, there are lots of wonderful places in the world.

[brubakertx]

One lady at that embassy, is a lady from hell. She should be fired. She is the main lady who first looks through your documents before you talk to the officers. She as issues with farangs! I would not recommend Singapore to do any immigration documentations.

[themechanic]

If you think that this lady was hard, try applying for a US visa as a Thai national or citizen of any other third world country. She just wanted to see your papers. Uncle Sam's evil minions don't even look at any papers. If a visa officer (they typically earn $12 an hour and is a sort of "internship" every aspiring FSO must go through for a year) doesn't like your face, or is having a bad day, you don't get the visa. And you pay $150 (maybe more now) for the privilege of the 30 second interview before you're dismissed. Look up Section 214B. If Thailand had a similar law, we'd all be screwed.

Edited October 22, 2014 by themechanic

[slipperylobster]

Who else hates it when you fly somewhere special, to get a visa....and then some guy just in front of you starts making a fuss and starts arguing and showing off in front of the consular agents? Then it comes to be your turn...and just watch how a good day can turn into a bad one.

These people that get turned down should ask to see the senior officer on duty, and talk privately with them.. Not argue at the window.

Sounds like the OP has been doing what many of us used to do. I smartened up and got the 90 day non immigrant O, and one year retirement extension. I am no longer a tourist, as I want to settle down here. I was not sure I would be staying, prior to now.

[dotpoom]

" Who cares...you can buy anything here and people like her are just a mild annoyance. They think they are important but its all in their head.What a waste of 20 minutes of my life."

I don't think she's the only one who thinks they're important.

[atyclb]

I think most of you are missing the point. Regardless of the OP's 'slightly off' attitude there is not meant to be any 'crackdown' on tourism. This is going to annoy some people in the TAT.

What are they trying to do ? What are they cracking down on, tourism ? Are they trying to reduce the revenue generated by each Embassy ? I've read similar reports from other Embassies, some as far away as Europe.

It defies logic.

Are there too many tourists for Thailand to handle so they've started turning people away by refusing to sell the entrance tickets ?

If the arrival numbers go real low this year (which they already have) then when they do return to normal someone will be claiming to have turned the tourism industry around. Who will it be and who stands to gain from this scenario I wonder.

There is NO logic, and furthermore whatever there is, is erratic.

"dorothy, we're not in kansas anymore" quote from movie "wizard of oz"

Edited October 22, 2014 by atyclb

[muffy]

_{Was she wearing a scarf ?}

[marios]

You seem to think that money is a fix-all magic bullet. It's not.

His only problem was that he was in Singapore, not Thailand.

In Thailand, money fixes just about everything. 13 years here has taught me that there isn't a problem I've come across yet that I can't buy my way out of, fix an issue, grease a wheel, or make a NO turn into a YES. Money is now and always will be #1 in Thailand. Corruption can be your enemy, or your friend. It's up to how you use it. People even buy their way out of murder here on a regular basis.

If this is true to that extend, that makes me very sad..At least the judicial must be a little bit untainted. very sad conclusion by Tokay.

[Johnmeldrum]

Your the joke .

I have never read anything so silly your think money gets you anything . I just wish imergration could read this take your visa off you and ban you for life . Your the type of person no country wants .

[bangkoklasse]

The only joke here is the arrogant OP

[MobileContent]

_{Was she wearing a scarf ?}

I found the Malay woman always caring when she handled many years my papers for None Imm B/M.

[mrtoad]

One lady at that embassy, is a lady from hell. She should be fired. She is the main lady who first looks through your documents before you talk to the officers. She as issues with farangs! I would not recommend Singapore to do any immigration documentations.

I constantly hear people complain about Singapore, I have used that embassy three times in the last 10 years for Non Im B Visas, but have never had any problems. Go with the correct documents, there is nothing that they can really do. Getting assy with them, will for sure lead to delays though

[jspill]

People were left stranded at land crossings and - a few weeks later - turned away at the airports.

The net result was that anyone with 'too many stamps' or 'too many Tourist Visas' ran the risk of being denied a tourist visa - no shortage of threads on that one - or granted a visa only to be denied entry at a border. This was particularly bad at the southern land crossings from Malaysia where it seems that IOs expected a 500-baht note to be inserted into any passports they deigned to open. They had the power and they weren't going to pass up a golden opportunity.

There were what, 20 reports of problems at land crossings at borders? Most eventually got through. Maybe half a dozen were actually turned away at one corrupt land border that has a history of problems, Sadao, for having a history of visa exemption stamps / perhaps not being savvy enough to pay a bribe.

Half a dozen in tens of thousands of tourist arrivals. The 'crackdown' was blown out of proportion on Thaivisa, perhaps understandably.

There is no crackdown so there can be no milking the system. Everthing changed when the head of immigration who was planning these 'crackdowns' was fired days after the coup.

The crackdowns were all about visa exempt entries.

And this, the same head of immigration isn't in the position anymore.

The Ed visa crackdown has been extensively discussed here and - FWIR - it has been considerably tougher to get a new Ed visa in the wake of the crackdown. This has absolutely nothing to do with tourism and it's a dead horse flogged far too many times so I'll leave it there - suffice it to say that the same people who are given summary power over who can and cant stay in Thailand for more than 30 days oversee that process.

Are you a student? The only thing that has actually changed is the remote possibility of a test in Thai which is laughably easy to pass, just 'writing down a few sentences in romanised Thai' - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/748898-quizzed-for-visa-extension-for-non-ed/

Attendance isn't being enforced, the 8 hrs/week thing or whatever didn't happen. The forms for checking of visa history and proof of finances didn't get implemented either.

Everyone I know at my school has had no problems renewing. There are many threads on here 'yep just got another ed visa'.

There's the Penang issue yesterday but that's Penang, and schools that didn't fill in the correct MOE paperwork. And one guy at the scene posted it had been resolved, although it got buried in the usual thread noise.

[Suitcase]

A lot of negative replies to the OP!

Don't be so fast to blame him for not getting a tourist visa.

In Singapore they will have any and all excuses for denying you a visa!

Been there and done that!

[paz]

But, even so. Given the supposed immigration "crack-down" I don't want to press my luck. I'm currently in USA getting a new passport and will enter Thailand in three weeks with the so-called "Elite" 5-year visa. Having just turned 70 y.o. I'm tired of the hassle of getting visas & extensions, visa runs, overstays, etc., so I figure, why not spend the 500K baht and avoid all that. These days I have more money than time and I'm very happy to pay for comfort and the elimination of hassle. Why be in the LOS if it doesn't make you smile? ;-)

Think well.. why spending 100K when you can have the same result with 5,000.

You can pay something to do the paperwork on your behalf, and give some of the difference for charity, rather than to the Thai state.

[paz]

ukrules, I'm not going to get into a quoting war with you, but you and I seem to have a different understanding of the 'crackdown' - numerous threads in this forum discussing the various phases but this is my understanding -

- the civilian government initiated it to target overstayers and those who were exploiting the visa exemptions, particularly illegal workers from Russia, VN and South Korea.

- the military continued the push and we were told that it would be implemented in early August, but overly zealous Immigration Officers and Consulate staff quickly made it apparent that they intended to please their new masters in Bangkok by enforcing the rules as they saw fit. People were left stranded at land crossings and - a few weeks later - turned away at the airports.

The net result was that anyone with 'too many stamps' or 'too many Tourist Visas' ran the risk of being denied a tourist visa - no shortage of threads on that one - or granted a visa only to be denied entry at a border. This was particularly bad at the southern land crossings from Malaysia where it seems that IOs expected a 500-baht note to be inserted into any passports they deigned to open. They had the power and they weren't going to pass up a golden opportunity.

I have been on the forum all past summer and I have seen very little reports of a "crackdown", just like jspill says above.

In one case a German couple did three visa back-to-back exempt entries to the infamous Phuket airport w/o a problem. At Dannok they continued to to get money from visa runners as they always did. At the airport nothing exactly has changed on the date they had promised they would start enforce "regulations". And as of today banning for overstay is not in effect yet.

By the way, I think that even if the OP is an arrogant jerk, the embassy clerk is no better than him.

[Sabaisabai1]

I'm not arrogant....and my visa would have been accepted had I been willing to give her a copy of the boat registration papers and wait 4 days for processing. She just wasn't used to people travelling by boat so she could not approve me without further documentation. My point is that she thought she could deny me when in reality, anyone can just buy a visa with 500,000. So the truth is that they can't keep anyone out that has money.

Why even bother having visa approval people when visas are simply for sale? No other country I know of sells visas...you have to be approved based on a whole list of factors and is not just your willingness to pay 500,000. Only in Thailand.

[ravip]

Then a comment about proof of funds...my damn boat is worth more than she will make in her lifetime.smile.png I just laughed and told her..."you really have no idea.". **deleted**. I can stay as long as I want....all I need to do is buy an Elite visa except I really don't want to give the Thai government 500,000 baht of my money.

They think they are important but its all in their head.What a waste of 20 minutes of my life.

Beautiful words. You must be a very famous and popular character in this world.

We all have a lifetime of lessons to learn from your above few words.

Be proud!

Keep your head up!

I hope the sea would be kinder to you than you were to that lady.

[paz]

Why even bother having visa approval people when visas are simply for sale? No other country I know of sells visas...you have to be approved based on a whole list of factors and is not just your willingness to pay 500,000. Only in Thailand.

All countries do, in a way or another. Some even sell citizenship, e.g Portugual, Malta. Thailand just do openly.

[ukrules]

The net result was that anyone with 'too many stamps' or 'too many Tourist Visas' ran the risk of being denied a tourist visa - no shortage of threads on that one - or granted a visa only to be denied entry at a border. This was particularly bad at the southern land crossings from Malaysia where it seems that IOs expected a 500-baht note to be inserted into any passports they deigned to open. They had the power and they weren't going to pass up a golden opportunity.

The only problem as I see it is that any crackdown is only meant to be on Visa Exempt arrivals but it's turning out that this is not the case. The reason I'm currently pointing this out is that I have long suspected tourist visas will also be affected by this 'non crackdown' and this now appears to be showing up.

Someone somewhere has decided to prevent tourist visas being issued at various Embassies around the world by apparently implementing unknown limits on recent visits.

To me it looks like a new crackdown by stealth. They're doing it but didn't let anyone know about it. It's very underhand.

I have entered Thailand well over a hundred times in the past 30 years and have never had a problem. I have always been immediately stamped into the country, and not even once in all those times have I ever been asked one question.

Three weeks ago I flew into BKK and easily got a 30-day visa-exsemption stamp. And that was with a 9 y.o. American passport filled with over 40 entries into Thailand ... including lots of back-to-back 30-day stamps, several triple-entry tourist visas, many extensions, and four overstay stamps.

Upon this latest entry, the immigration officer shuffled through the many pages of my passport (with added pages) looking at the hundred-or-so immigration stamps, gave me a smile and stamped me into the country yet again.

But, even so. Given the supposed immigration "crack-down" I don't want to press my luck. I'm currently in USA getting a new passport and will enter Thailand in three weeks with the so-called "Elite" 5-year visa. Having just turned 70 y.o. I'm tired of the hassle of getting visas & extensions, visa runs, overstays, etc., so I figure, why not spend the 500K baht and avoid all that. These days I have more money than time and I'm very happy to pay for comfort and the elimination of hassle. Why be in the LOS if it doesn't make you smile? ;-)

I have one of the 500k Elite visas and it does save a lot of hassle but if I was over 50 I'd probably go down the retirement extension route.

[MrWorldwide]

People were left stranded at land crossings and - a few weeks later - turned away at the airports.

The net result was that anyone with 'too many stamps' or 'too many Tourist Visas' ran the risk of being denied a tourist visa - no shortage of threads on that one - or granted a visa only to be denied entry at a border. This was particularly bad at the southern land crossings from Malaysia where it seems that IOs expected a 500-baht note to be inserted into any passports they deigned to open. They had the power and they weren't going to pass up a golden opportunity.

There were what, 20 reports of problems at land crossings at borders? Most eventually got through. Maybe half a dozen were actually turned away at one corrupt land border that has a history of problems, Sadao, for having a history of visa exemption stamps / perhaps not being savvy enough to pay a bribe.

Half a dozen in tens of thousands of tourist arrivals. The 'crackdown' was blown out of proportion on Thaivisa, perhaps understandably.

There is no crackdown so there can be no milking the system. Everthing changed when the head of immigration who was planning these 'crackdowns' was fired days after the coup.

The crackdowns were all about visa exempt entries.

And this, the same head of immigration isn't in the position anymore.

The Ed visa crackdown has been extensively discussed here and - FWIR - it has been considerably tougher to get a new Ed visa in the wake of the crackdown. This has absolutely nothing to do with tourism and it's a dead horse flogged far too many times so I'll leave it there - suffice it to say that the same people who are given summary power over who can and cant stay in Thailand for more than 30 days oversee that process.

Are you a student? The only thing that has actually changed is the remote possibility of a test in Thai which is laughably easy to pass, just 'writing down a few sentences in romanised Thai' - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/748898-quizzed-for-visa-extension-for-non-ed/

Attendance isn't being enforced, the 8 hrs/week thing or whatever didn't happen. The forms for checking of visa history and proof of finances didn't get implemented either.

Everyone I know at my school has had no problems renewing. There are many threads on here 'yep just got another ed visa'.

There's the Penang issue yesterday but that's Penang, and schools that didn't fill in the correct MOE paperwork. And one guy at the scene posted it had been resolved, although it got buried in the usual thread noise.

Not a student - retired with a re-entry permit so a lot of it is academic to me atm but I relied heavily on ubonjoe and others in this forum when putting the paperwork together for my initial application. I just felt the need to reply to a post that pointed to the crackdown as being aimed at those with too many visa exemptions - I still believe it was less about the attitude of the people at the top of the pile than those charged with enforcing the rules that they seem to have ignored for many years. I agree that some of the problems were blown out of proportion by people with a persecution complex and others with an axe to grind, but I still feel for the people left stranded at border checkpoints in s_hole towns - particularly those who claim to have been extorted. Whether it was 20 or 200, they fronted up with 'valid' paperwork only to be told they weren't welcome in Thailand - whether they were rorting the system or not, it would have been a very ordinary experience. Let's hope future crackdowns are handled with a little more common sense - I know, but hope springs eternal

[ravip]

Staff doing their job some people complain, staff not doing their job the same people complain. If foreigners were to do the same and talk to immigration in the OPs country, I'm sure they would have been worse off. What an ignorant stuck up.

Well said! Well said!

Many dont know how 'their' embassy staff treat others!

[ravip]

If you think that this lady was hard, try applying for a US visa as a Thai national or citizen of any other third world country. She just wanted to see your papers. Uncle Sam's evil minions don't even look at any papers. If a visa officer (they typically earn $12 an hour and is a sort of "internship" every aspiring FSO must go through for a year) doesn't like your face, or is having a bad day, you don't get the visa. And you pay $150 (maybe more now) for the privilege of the 30 second interview before you're dismissed. Look up Section 214B. If Thailand had a similar law, we'd all be screwed.

I am unbelievably surprised!

How can you state the truth so simply and directly?

It is very rarely one comes across someone like you.

Thank you.

[MrWorldwide]

Why even bother having visa approval people when visas are simply for sale? No other country I know of sells visas...you have to be approved based on a whole list of factors and is not just your willingness to pay 500,000. Only in Thailand.

Utter nonsense - bring enough money to 'invest' in Australia and you'll be welcome with open arms. Get caught in Australian waters without the correct paperwork and your experience will be very different.

http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/Pages/891.aspx

1.5 million AUD for 4 years and Sydneysiders ask themselves why property is so expensive - 4 years neatly gets two kids through Uni and you have an appreciating asset which you can profit from tax-free if you can prove it was your principal place of residence. Unlike the Elite card, however, Australian Immigration seems to really lay out the welcome mat -

With this visa you can:

• establish a business in Australia or make a designated investment
• travel in and out of Australia any number of times as long as the visa is valid
• have your family accompany you to Australia. They will have access to work and study rights
• establish a pathway to permanent residence

The Kiwis would also love to hear from high net worth individuals like yourself -

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/invest/

As paz pointed out, there's no shortage of countries willing to offer this sort of incentive to invest in their country - the difference between those visas and the Elite card is that Thailand's price of admission is a relative pittance.