Singapore: Denied Visa at Application Window

[JHolmesJr]

On 20 February, 2017 at 11:34 AM, NanLaew said:

The Thai Embassy is primarily in Singapore for the rapidly spiraling value of the land it occupies.

 

But sometimes they issue visas.

 

They are doing what appears to be some massive construction on that site…one building has already been built and they look like they are putting up another. Why would they do that if they just wanted to occupy the land? I hope they never sell it because all we will get is another crap mall with the same shops.

[JayBird]

If we understood why, we could possibly find a way around it.

 

I do have a theory that somewhat fits the facts I have but I have no official proof to backup this theory:

 

When a foreigner does something bad in Thailand, the police look at his passport to see what nationality he is.  Then they (or Immigration) look to see where he came from and who gave him permission to come in.

 

Whoever is responsible for letting him in gets a negative mark on their report card for the year.  At the end of the year all the marks for all the embassies are tallied up and the one with the lowest marks get reprimanded.

 

If someone does something bad in Thailand and it is found out they got a visa (or came from) Singapore, then the embassy in Singapore gets a negative mark.  Too many negative marks and Singapore Embassy is reprimanded.  Therefore if Singapore refuses to ever give a Visa and discourages people to go to Thailand whenever possible,  the embassy will get less negative marks. 

 

So perhaps the embassy in Singapore decided to take this approach to try and avoid getting on a naughty list.  Likewise the Malaysia embassy.  And perhaps other countries (Laos?) or consulates (Penang?) don't care enough.  It is possible that these locations are either already on the naughty list (so no reason to avoid it) or already issue so few visas they would be unlikely to get on the naughty list.

 

It's a theory without any real evidence, but it fits the facts and it is a better theory than 'They just don't like you' or 'having a hissy fit' or 'just mean'.  At least there is rationale behind it :)

 

How would this information help us?  If in the future we see a string of undesirables in Thailand who all show they got a visa from a specific consulate then it might be wise to avoid going to that consulate in the subsequent future as they may not be in a mood to give out any more visas.

 

What would be interesting to know is if there is anyone here old enough to remember a time when Singapore or KL used to hand out Visas without problems and then shifted policies.  And if there was any catalyst in the news (such as a series of undesirables) that might have occurred at the same time.

[kanook]

2 hours ago, JayBird said:

If we understood why, we could possibly find a way around it.

Rott put it best when he said, "Why? is not a question to ask here ... we are just foreigners and there is never any expectation for us to understand 'why it is'."  Most Thai employees and government officials are also not expected to understand 'the why' of a company or gov't policy.  As for your theory, try not using western logic or rationale to decipher policy in Thailand; the stay will be much more enjoyable.

[blackcab]

The Singapore Embassy has a new, online application process. You don't even go there until your application has been approved online, whereupon you print out/copy the electronically submitted documents and take them with you to submit in person.

 

If the system works it should solve most of the above problems.