Denied the METV-visa, because I'm not employed.

[ricku]

After working hard and saving up a lot of pocket money, I'm finally heading back to Thailand at the end of February.

A few days ago, I tried to apply for the new 'METV-visa' (multiple entry), but here in Sweden, the Thai consulate denied me, because I am not employed.. I kid you not, for a 6 month traveling visa, they require me to be an employee. I tried to to reason with them, but it was like banging my head against a brick wall. They completely ignored that I had a lot of money saved up (above 400.000 THB.)

Oh well.. What are my alternatives? Border runs?

I just ask, because last year I had some problems after my third 'fly-out-fly-in'.. I came back from a weekend trip to Singapore, and then thai customs told me that I must stop making border runs, because "I had reached my limit".

What can a simple unemployed guy do?

Edited January 16, 2017 by ricku

[FritsSikkink]

get a SETV, extend, get another SETV in neighbouring country, extend

[ukrules]

Maybe consider going somewhere else for six months and spending your money where you're made to feel more welcome.

[sanuk711]

49 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Maybe consider going somewhere else for six months and spending your money where you're made to feel more welcome.

Yes he could do that --or maybe spend some of that Hugh wealth he is bringing to Thailand  on one or two Math lessons and work out just how many of those 90 day boarder run"S" he would have to do on a 153 day visit............

[Crossy]

57 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

get a SETV, extend, get another SETV in neighbouring country, extend

 

Pretty well the only solution unless our OP is over 50.

 

With sensible use of different consulates it's still possible to to the tourist visa / extend thing pretty well ad-infinitum.

[IMA_FARANG]

Sorry but that is the rules.

For the METV you need to be employed according to their rules.

It is stupid, but since when did any government have to be logical?

You can get a Single Entry Tourist Visa (SETV) for a 60 day entry, then extend it at immigratio for 30 days at a 1900 fee.

That will give you 90 days stay.

Then go to a neighboring country....Penang Malaysia or Savanakhet, Laos are possible choices and get a 2nd SETV from them.

Then re-enter Thailand by air and do the SETV extension thing again.

That can give you the total of 18o days stay in Thailand.

As the post from Crossy mentions above.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2017 by IMA_FARANG
correct typo

[Lovethailandelite]

I believe the thinking behind expecting you to have a Job is so the METV is only used for short periods of multiple visits as a Tourist and not using the METV to live and or work here on it. The misuse of visas is IMO, the driving factor behind making it more and more difficult to get visas which appears to be happening on a daily basis in one form or another.
This is not implying the OP was in anyway going to misuse the METV.

[visarunner]

41 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

I believe the thinking behind expecting you to have a Job is so the METV is only used for short periods of multiple visits as a Tourist and not using the METV to live and or work here on it. The misuse of visas is IMO, the driving factor behind making it more and more difficult to get visas which appears to be happening on a daily basis in one form or another.
This is not implying the OP was in anyway going to misuse the METV.

I fully agree, the Consulates should be given a bit more freedom. 

I always wonder from where they pull their figures and change the visa regulation so often which has a negative impact on how people see Thailand. Did they even look at the number of visa issued at Consulates, people enter via land border,etc. I guess compare to the claimed 30 million or so arrivals this figure might be less than 50,000 people per year.  

[glegolo]

Yes, sometimes it can look illogical with all these rules and regulations. But think at it this way instead... The sicker a sociaty are, the more laws there are... Already the old greeks told us that.

 

This means that the more we falangs misuse, and mistreat the laws, the more obsticals there will be... So do the right thing,,, instead of focus of cheating and lying

 

This was just only said in general, not pointing at any direction..

 

Glegolo

[captnhoy]

" I tried to to reason with them, but it was like banging my head against a brick wall. "

 

That's a little bit like already being here.

[LivinLOS]

11 minutes ago, glegolo said:

This means that the more we falangs misuse, and mistreat the laws, the more obsticals there will be... So do the right thing,,, instead of focus of cheating and lying

 

 

The issue I have with that is, when applying for something legally prescribed by law, is it miss use ?? 

 

I readily agree that someone coming on visa exemptions, and hitting the border every 30 days was miss using it.. Even to use tourist visas for people living here.. But isnt someone who comes for a northern winter to the tropics a tourist ?? Isnt that exactly what they just made the visa for. 

 

Surely its not that hard to create one set of rules, implement it everywhere, and operate that set of rules for a period of years. The constant changes are bordering on a bad joke. 

[glegolo]

9 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

 

 

The issue I have with that is, when applying for something legally prescribed by law, is it miss use ?? 

 

I readily agree that someone coming on visa exemptions, and hitting the border every 30 days was miss using it.. Even to use tourist visas for people living here.. But isnt someone who comes for a northern winter to the tropics a tourist ?? Isnt that exactly what they just made the visa for. 

 

Surely its not that hard to create one set of rules, implement it everywhere, and operate that set of rules for a period of years. The constant changes are bordering on a bad joke. 

 

I agree of course with you, but plse do not forget... The present laws is based on former behavior by us falangs. and THAT is something that cannot be disputed......

 

Glegolo

[mstevens]

2 hours ago, IMA_FARANG said:

Sorry but that is the rules.

For the METV you need to be employed according to their rules.

 

I think this is a regulation in Sweden.  In Australia, no need to be employed to get the METV.

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, ukrules said:

Maybe consider going somewhere else for six months and spending your money where you're made to feel more welcome.

 

Seconded. Why come to a country that doesn't want you there? There are 194 countries in the world apart from Thailand and your own. Many of them are quite nice. Including Sweden, actually.

[Lovethailandelite]

48 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Seconded. Why come to a country that doesn't want you there? There are 194 countries in the world apart from Thailand and your own. Many of them are quite nice. Including Sweden, actually.

The UK, USA, Canada etc etc There is 3 countries off of your list not to try continual back to back tourist visas in for months and years at a time. Have you seen what a Thai has to go through to travel outside of his or her country? And I don't mean Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines or Myanmar that will except just about anybody. If these places are so great that people like to keep using for examples, why don't they just move there? Thailand sets her own immigration rules. Why isn't that acceptable?

[captnhoy]

7 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

 Why isn't that acceptable?

I don't think anyone is saying the rules are unacceptable. It seems to me that the real issue is that the rules are not enforced the same in each location AND that the rules change so so frequently. If all was crystal clear the No. 1 visa admin on TV would not have over 14,000 posts helping people untangle the details.

[NoshowJones]

Oh well.. What are my alternatives? Border runs?

You have my sympathy, your post makes me wonder my so many Westerners stick up for Thai immigration, I am not saying they are all the same, but it would seem that many of them have very little between their ears, all the Thai Consulates and Embassies make up their own rules, how do some of the people who run these get their jobs? Oh! wait.

[NoshowJones]

25 minutes ago, disambiguated said:

The Thailand Elite visa solves this problem.

Yes, if you have 500.000 Bt to throw away, still do your 90 day reporting, contributing to the Thai economy and after fives years you get nothing in return.

The Elite visa is only for those who have plenty of money, which is not usually the under fifty year old tourists who want to stay in Thailand in the longer term.

[NoshowJones]

21 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

The UK, USA, Canada etc etc There is 3 countries off of your list not to try continual back to back tourist visas in for months and years at a time. Have you seen what a Thai has to go through to travel outside of his or her country? And I don't mean Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines or Myanmar that will except just about anybody. If these places are so great that people like to keep using for examples, why don't they just move there? Thailand sets her own immigration rules. Why isn't that acceptable?

"Thailand sets her own immigration rules".

Wrong, the individual Thai Embassies, Consulates, and Immigration make up a lot of their own rules which just confuses people.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, glegolo said:

 

I agree of course with you, but plse do not forget... The present laws is based on former behavior by us falangs. and THAT is something that cannot be disputed......

 

Glegolo

 

Yes, most of the supposed "crack downs" that have resulted in making things more difficult for everyone have come about because existing, more lenient rules have been abused. 

7 hours ago, ricku said:

I tried to to reason with them, but it was like banging my head against a brick wall.

 

They were applying the rules as written. Proof of employment, for whatever reason, is one of the rules. I assume the reason is that it was assumed older people who were retired could make long-stay arrangements by getting a non-imm O or O-A and possible extension, while younger unemployed people are more likely to be coming here looking for employment. 

 

A single-entry tourist visa with an extension would net you 3 months and another single entry tourist visa can be obtained in a nearby country so it's not as if you were being denied entry. The METV was intened for people who plan to do a number of border crossings while traveling in the region ... so the result is pretty much the same either way.

[Lovethailandelite]

6 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

"Thailand sets her own immigration rules".

Wrong, the individual Thai Embassies, Consulates, and Immigration make up a lot of their own rules which just confuses people.

They are all supposed to work to the same set of rules. The difference is some are actually implementing them and some aren't. If they strictly enforced some of the rules that are already in place, a lot of people wouldn't be here. 

Edited January 17, 2017 by Lovethailandelite

[Suradit69]

5 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

the individual Thai Embassies, Consulates, and Immigration make up a lot of their own rules which just confuses people.

 

Embassies and consulates of every nation apply differing rules depending on their location and the nationality of the applicant.

 

Getting a tourist visa for a Thai national in Bangkok wishing to travel to  the US or EU countries would be quite different from the experience an Australian national in Canberra would have attempting the same thing.

[JayBird]

1) Each consulate/Embassy make up their own rules.  I think this stems from the ideology of allowing 'local government' to dictate what are the rules best for their location/situation.  Rather than Bangkok saying how each city should work (and all behave the same), they operate on the pretense that the people on the ground are in a better situation to dictate how they should work.

 

2) The Employment requirement is simply to show that you have a reason to go BACK to your country.  Perhaps this came about due to the (legitimate) problem of so many foreigners in Thailand illegally.

 

3) I think we are all moaning and groaning because, aside from the Thailand Elite Visa, there isn't a good solution for people who genuinely want to visit / stay for long time without any interest in working  or engaging in illegal activities.  But I think that represents a small enough group that the government has bigger fish to deal with. 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

7 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

They are all supposed to work to the same set of rules. The difference is some are actually implementing them and some aren't. If they strictly enforced some of the rules that are already in place, a lot of people wouldn't be here. 

"Supposed" to, that is the word. Your last sentence may be true, "a lot of people wouldn't be here", but also a lot of people probably would.

[NoshowJones]

6 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

 

Embassies and consulates of every nation apply differing rules depending on their location and the nationality of the applicant.

 

Getting a tourist visa for a Thai national in Bangkok wishing to travel to  the US or EU countries would be quite different from the experience an Australian national in Canberra would have attempting the same thing.

If that is the case, then they are also wrong.

[JB300]

 
I think this is a regulation in Sweden.  In Australia, no need to be employed to get the METV.

I think Australia is an exception, most places require letter from Employer or proof of Self Employment.


As has been suggested, OP should have no problems in getting an SETV from Sweden, extend it, then spend 2-3 days in get Laos, Penang etc... & get another one

[darrendsd]

2 hours ago, disambiguated said:

The Thailand Elite visa solves this problem.

 

And paying 500,000 Baht for a visa so you can stay here for 6-8 months for a holiday is a solution?

[larsjohnsson]

The Embassy in Stockholm clearly states on their website than you need to show an employment certificate in English when applying.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, mstevens said:

 

I think this is a regulation in Sweden.  In Australia, no need to be employed to get the METV.

 

Likewise, I posed the exact same ? by email to the Los Angeles Consulate re the METV -- retired but with good finances.

 

And they replied by email that I could get the METV from them, just write retired on the application and meet the other reqs, including showing finance in the bank.

 

So, at least some places seem to be able to exercise some discretion.

 

As I pointed out to them in my email, when I was working full time, I never would have had the free time enough to use or need an METV. Now that Im retired, I can.

 

PS - the LA Consulate also lists an employer letter as part of their stated METV reqs. But they seem willing to be flexible on that point.

Edited January 17, 2017 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Foozool]

Just apply for a SETV , 

and then get at least 2 more SETV in Laos later.