Got stopped at suvarnabhumi airport

[jgold]

I was coming back from a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, I had a re-entry permit and was on an ed visa and my gf too. We both got pulled aside, she was let go quickly, I got questioned for 3 hours and I was let go because of an "agreement" I cannot talk about here. Immigration officer was talking about Pro Language which was my old ed visa I got almost 2 yrs ago. 

I am moving to HCMC so the timing is about right. 

[steve187]

very helpful, if only there was SOME details.

[swampdonkey]

A rather vague post

[swampdonkey]

What airline did you fly with ?

[johnny Cage]

Could you provide some more details pleade O.P? Did they pull you aside because you had a long history of visa exempts and tourist visas or was it mainly just because of the ED visa you had before at pro language.  Did your girlfriend also have an Ed visa from that school in the past? What were they questioning you about for 3 whole hours? Did you need to provide any proof of anything? Cheers

[elviajero]

6 minutes ago, johnny Cage said:

Could you provide some more details pleade O.P? Did they pull you aside because you had a long history of visa exempts and tourist visas or was it mainly just because of the ED visa you had before at pro language.  Did your girlfriend also have an Ed visa from that school in the past? What were they questioning you about for 3 whole hours? Did you need to provide any proof of anything? Cheers

They were probably suspicious because of the long time he's been on an Ed visa/extension. There are still a lot of people living here using ED visas that never see the inside of a classroom.

[Ronuk]

Seems to be all sorts of problems at airports, border crossings and I/O offices being reported the last few days.

Something is afoot. Maybe immigration themselves being investigated has woken them up a bit? Either that or they really are about to crack down.Who knows.

[Carib]

This is a "non topic". The OP doesn't give out any information so others could benefit. 

[jgold]

Ok here are the details. I have been here over 4 yrs, I just got a second Ed visa 2 months ago, and the previous visas was a mix of tourist visas and the in/out in Poipet years ago. I had a re-entry permit as well.

It was a Thai Airways flight from HCMC.

IO looked at my passport and called supervisor, first words out of his mouth was about the Pro Language ed visa I had on a previous passport 2 yrs ago.

Got taken to a desk and they started writing down all my stays here, counting the duration of every stay.

Supervisor asked me many times how come I haven't been back to my country and then asked if I owned a condo here and where I was staying. Everything was written in the arrival card I handed to her. 

Not once she mention the possibility of me working me, which I don't. Asked if I had any books or school ID from my school, I told her that I don't take books and school ID when I travel. 

It was almost midnight and there was no more flights arriving.

 

I started to wonder what the hell she wants w me because she was holding me for 3 hours and not saying she would let me pass or not. 

She asked if I knew any thais here, had a thai gf, asked the number to call the school (it was almost midnight) so she can call and verify the information.

I gave her a number of a thai person I know, she called him and there was an "agreement".

They hung up and I was let go. 

[johnny Cage]

20 minutes ago, jgold said:

Ok here are the details. I have been here over 4 yrs, I just got a second Ed visa 2 months ago, and the previous visas was a mix of tourist visas and the in/out in Poipet years ago. I had a re-entry permit as well.

It was a Thai Airways flight from HCMC.

IO looked at my passport and called supervisor, first words out of his mouth was about the Pro Language ed visa I had on a previous passport 2 yrs ago.

Got taken to a desk and they started writing down all my stays here, counting the duration of every stay.

Supervisor asked me many times how come I haven't been back to my country and then asked if I owned a condo here and where I was staying. Everything was written in the arrival card I handed to her. 

Not once she mention the possibility of me working me, which I don't. Asked if I had any books or school ID from my school, I told her that I don't take books and school ID when I travel. 

It was almost midnight and there was no more flights arriving.

 

I started to wonder what the hell she wants w me because she was holding me for 3 hours and not saying she would let me pass or not. 

She asked if I knew any thais here, had a thai gf, asked the number to call the school (it was almost midnight) so she can call and verify the information.

I gave her a number of a thai person I know, she called him and there was an "agreement".

They hung up and I was let go. 

 

So they didn't ask how you support youself here long term without working?

 

Thanks for the info and glad you got through in the end.

[55Jay]

Have you been studying Thai language here on the Ed visas?  What was the gist of the telephone call between this Thai person and the IO? 

 

Did you call this Thai person after you got out of the airport, and ask what was said? 

[jgold]

Yes, I told them I get monthly payment from an apartment rental back home. My gf got stopped and taken aside for the 3rd time this time.

We are fed up and I am packing my stuff as I type this. We are moving to HCMC since they have a much more friendly visa policy. Staying here if you are under 50 is a hassle. Getting extorted at the airport is not a good feeling. 

[bkkcanuck8]

24 minutes ago, jgold said:

Yes, I told them I get monthly payment from an apartment rental back home. My gf got stopped and taken aside for the 3rd time this time.

We are fed up and I am packing my stuff as I type this. We are moving to HCMC since they have a much more friendly visa policy. Staying here if you are under 50 is a hassle. Getting extorted at the airport is not a good feeling. 

 

Telling them is not proof of income.  As far as your gf being stopped, gf is not a legal status (i.e. your income is meaningless).  They obviously have suspicions that your gf is may be working illegally and until she can prove she is not a risk she will likely continue to be hassled.  There were massive frauds going on within the Language schools with people not actually going to schools, so it would not be a surprise if certain schools have raised red flags.

 

Going back and rereading your OP seems to indicate they were hassling you more than your gf though.  You had an ED two years ago, you have one now - have you lived in Thailand consecutively between those two points (on other visas)....  How is your Thai?  Were they concerned that your Thai language skills were not advanced enough for the amount of time that you have spent in Thailand (on multiple ED visas)?  It sounds like the ED visa itself is raising red flags.....  and that you might have been issued an ED visa in error.

Edited August 9, 2016 by bkkcanuck8

[DerringDo]

Perhaps the school was found to not be strict in enforcing the terms of an Ed visa and this has been brought to the attention of immigration. They may now be doing their own investigation with arrivals who are known to have had a visa.

 

All speculation of course.

[mesterm]

22 hours ago, jgold said:

Immigration officer was talking about Pro Language which was my old ed visa I got almost 2 yrs ago. 

 

Friend got pulled over recently around a past ed visa too, but from a different school. They let him in after 20 minutes.

[siam2007]

I accompanied a friend who has limited English skills to a consultant dealing with Visa issues recently, and he was told by that consultant, that his (non-immi) Visa is actually illegal, and the consulate was not supposed to issue this Visa to him, even though it was issued by a (honorary) consulate in his home country and he provided all the papers requested according to their (recently updated) website.

That makes me wonder where those documents go after a Visa has been issued. If a Visa has been issued by a consulate (honorary or general), I am sure they need to forward it to the actual embassy for verification checks, or not ? I don't believe the papers will be buried in the shelves of the consulate forever....

 

[bkkcanuck8]

13 minutes ago, siam2007 said:

I accompanied a friend who has limited English skills to a consultant dealing with Visa issues recently, and he was told by that consultant, that his (non-immi) Visa is actually illegal, and the consulate was not supposed to issue this Visa to him, even though it was issued by a (honorary) consulate in his home country and he provided all the papers requested according to their (recently updated) website.

That makes me wonder where those documents go after a Visa has been issued. If a Visa has been issued by a consulate (honorary or general), I am sure they need to forward it to the actual embassy for verification checks, or not ? I don't believe the papers will be buried in the shelves of the consulate forever....

 

 

Maybe the honorary consul itself has limited authorization (i.e. maybe tourist visas only) -- but assumed that he had full visa issuing authority ... or that he did issued it to a person that his process said should not have qualified.  It must have been obvious since the consultant would only be representing the individual not likely to have access to systems to check it.... or maybe the consultant was just looking for extra income to fix the problem?  Hard to tell without knowing why it was illegal....

 

My guess is that the paperwork is sitting on the floor somewhere in a bundle of paper tied together.  The visa number and visa type though should be entered into some sort of system in most countries - which will then be matched on entry.   I had my passport stolen one time and the visa extension authorization information was not in the computer itself, they took a half an hour sorting through paper in bundles at the office where I got it .... and that was only after I gave them the exact date.... imagine the problems if I could not remember correctly ...

[siam2007]

3 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

 

Maybe the honorary consul itself has limited authorization (i.e. maybe tourist visas only) -- but assumed that he had full visa issuing authority ... or that he did issued it to a person that his process said should not have qualified.  It must have been obvious since the consultant would only be representing the individual not likely to have access to systems to check it.... or maybe the consultant was just looking for extra income to fix the problem?  Hard to tell without knowing why it was illegal....

 

My guess is that the paperwork is sitting on the floor somewhere in a bundle of paper tied together.  The visa number and visa type though should be entered into some sort of system in most countries - which will then be matched on entry.   I had my passport stolen one time and the visa extension authorization information was not in the computer itself, they took a half an hour sorting through paper in bundles at the office where I got it .... and that was only after I gave them the exact date.... imagine the problems if I could not remember correctly ...

 

 

yes exactly that was what I suspected - the consultant may have wanted to get some extra business. On the other hand, this consultant has been there for almost two decades and has a good reputation (I checked on that before going there).

That consulate for sure has the authorization to issue that kind of non-immi Visa, as I got some from them too years ago, and they would not publish the requirements visible for everyone on their website if they were not allowed to issue such Visas.

But it surprises me to hear that the documents obviously are being kept locally and - as you claim - only the Visa number is forwarded

[bkkcanuck8]

7 minutes ago, siam2007 said:

 

yes exactly that was what I suspected - the consultant may have wanted to get some extra business. On the other hand, this consultant has been there for almost two decades and has a good reputation (I checked on that before going there).

That consulate for sure has the authorization to issue that kind of non-immi Visa, as I got some from them too years ago, and they would not publish the requirements visible for everyone on their website if they were not allowed to issue such Visas.

But it surprises me to hear that the documents obviously are being kept locally and - as you claim - only the Visa number is forwarded

 

The extension was at the Wattana Immigration department...  The visa was issued elsewhere.  They likely had the visa itself on the computer, but I doubt they enter everything from the form - probably more than visa number and visa (though that would be the minimum).  The shock I had was that the extensions themselves in the central processing place were obviously still waiting for computerization many weeks after issue.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, siam2007 said:

I accompanied a friend who has limited English skills to a consultant dealing with Visa issues recently, and he was told by that consultant, that his (non-immi) Visa is actually illegal, and the consulate was not supposed to issue this Visa to him, even though it was issued by a (honorary) consulate in his home country and he provided all the papers requested according to their (recently updated) website.

That makes me wonder where those documents go after a Visa has been issued. If a Visa has been issued by a consulate (honorary or general), I am sure they need to forward it to the actual embassy for verification checks, or not ? I don't believe the papers will be buried in the shelves of the consulate forever....

 

The "consultant" is talking nonsense. If the visa was issued it is valid and not "illegal". If the Consulate weren't authorised to issue the visa that is their problem, not your friends.

[JackThompson]

17 hours ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

....

There were massive frauds going on within the Language schools with people not actually going to schools, so it would not be a surprise if certain schools have raised red flags. ...

 

From what I have heard, nothing has changed except the amount of the "fee" for the "no hassle package" for 3-mo renewals, and the increased cost of the tuition, to cover the new min-hours requirements.

 

7 hours ago, DerringDo said:

...

Perhaps the school was found to not be strict in enforcing the terms of an Ed visa and this has been brought to the attention of immigration. ...

 

LOL - More likely, did not pay the "right people" to continue their standard operating procedure. Even if you are one of the good folks that attend class, you are encouraged to pay the "no hassle" fee. 

 

Staying in Thailand the "legal way," if under 50, is being discouraged ever since the 'crackdown'.  Funny thing about that, and it must just be a coincidence, but I suddenly have a strong desire to learn German at a Thai Language School.  Word has it, their curriculum is top-notch.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Enjoy Vietnam...I hear the Pho and Ba Mi sandwiches are the bomb.

[Thaidream]

Frankly speaking, if I was under 50 and did not have a wife or a long term significant other- I would not put up with the hassle and move to a more friendly visa country. There are plenty nearby or within a few hours plane ride. There is nothing in Thailand that I could not find in another country. I learned Thai so I am certain I can learn any language.