SETV in HMC

[GermanGuy]

Hi all,

 

I need to get a new visa next week. Since I have never been to Vietnam, I am thinking about going there.

 

I have a German passport issued in 2014 with only one SETV issued by the honorary Thai consulate in Essen - and one 30 days extension.

 

The HMC consulate website lists the following requirements

 

• Passport or travel document with validity not less than 6 months
• Visa application form completely filled out
• Recent( 4 x 6 cm.) photograph (s) of the applicant
• Evidence of travel (air/bus ticket to and from Thailand)
• Evidence of adequate finance (20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family)

 

Looks straight forward but since the "visa rules situation" seems to be a bit fluid at the moment, here are a few questions.

 

Is the website info still up-to-date?

 

Obviously I will extend my visa again after 60 days and will get a new visa after 60+30days. Can I use evidence of travel within 90 days, or does it have to be within the 60 days window?

 

At the consulate: Evidence of adequate finance. Have to carry cash in thb? Or can I carry dollar (cash) or a bank book (with 300000 baht) instead?

 

At the airport:  cash thb? Or dollar / bank book sufficient?

 

The website mentions 2 working days for the processing of the application. Does that mean I can drop off my application before 10am and pick up 2pm the next day?

 

Just in case I go to Vientiane or Penang or elsewhere. Some consulates require hotel booking or rental agreement. I just bought a condo and got the Chanote and blue book. I could copy those obviously, however none of those ownership documents clearly "proof" that I own a condo? Bluebook doesn't have my name. And the Chanote only shows my name in Thai script. Not sure what other documents I could provide to proof I own a condo? Electricity bill (just got my first bill fortunately)?

 

 

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

 

 

[BritTim]

At the consulate in HCMC, they may or may not ask for the financial proof. If they do, cash is not the preferred form. A recently updated bank book is fine.

 

On entry back into Thailand, you are not going to have a problem. However, if you decide to have financial proof anyway, it should be in cash, any currency.

[JackThompson]

Bring a Bank-Book or Bank-Statement for the Consulate - not cash.  Have copies plus the original, if a bank-book.

Have 20K Cash and/or Travelers Checks worth of any currency at the entry-checkpoint - and yes, people with valid visas are being denied entry for not having this - especially if you are a frequent visitor, or have stayed here for longer time-periods.  Be aware that at the immigration checkpoint, your entire history of stays in Thailand are available to the IO.  It is only consulates who only see "visible in passport" as your history.  Even if not likely to be asked to show it - it is good insurance to have.

Timing has been reported as - Drop off day 1 in the morning - pick up the next day in the afternoon - but ask at the consulate when you submit your application to be sure the process has not changed.

 

I would bring everything you have to prove you own the condo - it cannot hurt to have the electric-bill as well.  You might also have condo-mgmt print out a nice letter saying you live there (mine did this for me, but I only rent). 

[ChomDo]

You probably won't have problems with that record (only one SETV in your passport) but I just applied there this Tuesday and had surprising difficulties. Below what I wrote about it in another thread:

 

"Ok so I just returned from my visa trip to HCMC. Interesting story this time. I will write a more detailed review separately but I was very close to being rejected even though this would be only my second consecutive SETV (previous from Vientiane). In my passport I of course have a lot of in and out travel from Thailand and some SETV's but anyway I didn't expect any problems.

 

I've been to the Thai Consulate in HSMC once before and applying for a SETV was easy and smooth as many other reports suggest. Maybe things have tightened up there too then because this time it wasn't so nice and friendly anymore. They looked at my passport long and then told me that I have too many visas and it/out travel to Thailand. After a long interrogation they said that they can accept it this time but in the future I would have to have even more proof such as letter from guarantor in Thailand. 

 

After the 5 min questioning (which felt a bit like at the immigration office) and all the paperwork, which I had luckily prepared extra well, I got the receipt to pick up my visa the next afternoon at 1.30pm. I was also expecting it to be free but I guess most EU countries are not included in that extended period of free SETV, so it was 40USD."

 

Documents required:

 

- Flights to Thailand and out of Thailand

- Bank statement (copy of screen shot of my BBL account balance)

[ChomDo]

On 3/3/2017 at 11:23 AM, JackThompson said:

Be aware that at the immigration checkpoint, your entire history of stays in Thailand are available to the IO.  It is only consulates who only see "visible in passport" as your history. 
 

Do you mean that the immigration officers at Thai airports and borders can see all info (entries and visas etc) from my previous passports too? I mean for example now I've had my new passport for about 2 years and it's quite well filled with visas and entries to Thailand but my previous passport has even much more of those from the past 5 years before this passport. So the immigration can see my travel info from all passports and the embassies only from the current passport.

 

If this is really the case then how about in my situation that I have 2 passports from different countries (dual nationality, both Shengen). The other one is full of in and out stamps to/from Thailand + visas and the other passport is still unused (totally empty). Now that I've started to have problems with the other passport I plan to start using the empty passport next time I travel. It's still unclear to me would they be able to see that these two passports from different countries belong to the same person or would it be beneficial for me to switch between these two passports every now and again. I think I once asked this and I got different kinds of opinions. I would appreciate some advice on this? 

[JackThompson]

20 hours ago, ChomDo said:

Do you mean that the immigration officers at Thai airports and borders can see all info (entries and visas etc) from my previous passports too? I mean for example now I've had my new passport for about 2 years and it's quite well filled with visas and entries to Thailand but my previous passport has even much more of those from the past 5 years before this passport. So the immigration can see my travel info from all passports and the embassies only from the current passport.

 

If this is really the case then how about in my situation that I have 2 passports from different countries (dual nationality, both Shengen). The other one is full of in and out stamps to/from Thailand + visas and the other passport is still unused (totally empty). Now that I've started to have problems with the other passport I plan to start using the empty passport next time I travel. It's still unclear to me would they be able to see that these two passports from different countries belong to the same person or would it be beneficial for me to switch between these two passports every now and again. I think I once asked this and I got different kinds of opinions. I would appreciate some advice on this? 

 

Yes, your history for all passports is in their system, unless there was an error, and they failed to connect the 2 passports to you.  Mine are connected, per a conversation I had where they mentioned this.   But, both of my passports are from the same country.  I do not know if your situation might keep the 2 "un-linked".    It is the same Name and Date-Of-Birth in both, right?  It might not be noticed, unless someone with the same Name and Date of Birth got into some trouble, and a search for matches was done.

 

The advantage of them not being linked (assuming they are not), is that you would look like you visit Thailand less, might be questioned less, might be able to do more Visa-Exempts before being denied entry, etc.  Even so, I would have all the requirements for entry (like 20K Baht in cash) ready to show on any entry - even if were my first time visiting Thailand ever.  "Betting" on an advantage might be unwise, even if you might have it.

[GermanGuy]

All, Thanks!

 

That pretty much answers all my questions. I will try to get a letter from the Juristic person (Good idea, thanks). A bit counter intuitive that the consulate prefers a bank book since "a normal tourist" probably doesn't have a bank account in Thailand ... Anyway, I will bring cash and book :-)

 

One question regarding the ticket out of Thailand is still open though. Can I book a ticket within 90days (60+30 extension), or does it have to be within the 60 days window? If nobody answers, I will have to book a "throw away" ticket within 60 days - I guess ...

 

Oh, and maybe as a bonus. If somebody has a hotel recommendation (near the consulate in HMC), that would be nice, too :-)

 

[JackThompson]

6 hours ago, GermanGuy said:

All, Thanks!

 

That pretty much answers all my questions. I will try to get a letter from the Juristic person (Good idea, thanks). A bit counter intuitive that the consulate prefers a bank book since "a normal tourist" probably doesn't have a bank account in Thailand ... Anyway, I will bring cash and book :-)

 

One question regarding the ticket out of Thailand is still open though. Can I book a ticket within 90days (60+30 extension), or does it have to be within the 60 days window? If nobody answers, I will have to book a "throw away" ticket within 60 days - I guess ...

 

Oh, and maybe as a bonus. If somebody has a hotel recommendation (near the consulate in HMC), that would be nice, too :-)

 

Savanakhet accepted a flight out within 90 days - not sure about HCMC, though.  If you are going to actually use the "within 90-days" ticket, I'd try using that one first, early in the morning, leaving enough time to book a "throw away" if that fails (was my plan).

[ChomDo]

9 hours ago, JackThompson said:

 

Yes, your history for all passports is in their system, unless there was an error, and they failed to connect the 2 passports to you.  Mine are connected, per a conversation I had where they mentioned this.   But, both of my passports are from the same country.  I do not know if your situation might keep the 2 "un-linked".    It is the same Name and Date-Of-Birth in both, right?  It might not be noticed, unless someone with the same Name and Date of Birth got into some trouble, and a search for matches was done.

 

The advantage of them not being linked (assuming they are not), is that you would look like you visit Thailand less, might be questioned less, might be able to do more Visa-Exempts before being denied entry, etc.  Even so, I would have all the requirements for entry (like 20K Baht in cash) ready to show on any entry - even if were my first time visiting Thailand ever.  "Betting" on an advantage might be unwise, even if you might have it.

Thanks for the reply. Yes it still seems to be unclear would my passports from 2 different countries be connected by the immigration when I start using the other one (the empty one that has never been used before). That's what I'm hoping for that my dual nationality would give me the advantage of switching between these two passports. The info (name, date of birth etc) on both passports is of course the same except for nationality. 

7 hours ago, GermanGuy said:

All, Thanks!

 

That pretty much answers all my questions. I will try to get a letter from the Juristic person (Good idea, thanks). A bit counter intuitive that the consulate prefers a bank book since "a normal tourist" probably doesn't have a bank account in Thailand ... Anyway, I will bring cash and book :-)

 

One question regarding the ticket out of Thailand is still open though. Can I book a ticket within 90days (60+30 extension), or does it have to be within the 60 days window? If nobody answers, I will have to book a "throw away" ticket within 60 days - I guess ...

 

Oh, and maybe as a bonus. If somebody has a hotel recommendation (near the consulate in HMC), that would be nice, too :-)

 

The flight ticket out of Thailand can be within 90 days. I just showed mine last week at the HCMC consulate.

[GermanGuy]