Immigration officer refused entry at Bangkok Airport

[Essecola]

Would not be surprised at all if this type of stuff had something to do with Air Asia travellers or those on other discount carriers. The IO can see the airline the person flew in on when they update the person's flight number.

[DogNo1]

Carry cash and spruce up before you stand in front of the IO!  Smile!  Best to have 800,000 in hand.  Better luck to  the disappointed  visitors  next time.

[Maestro]

On 14/08/2017 at 9:12 AM, Essecola said:

Would not be surprised at all if this type of stuff had something to do with Air Asia travellers or those on other discount carriers. The IO can see the airline the person flew in on when they update the person's flight number.

 

I don't see why an immigration official would need to update an arriving traveller's flight number.

[Essecola]

10 minutes ago, Maestro said:

 

I don't see why an immigration official would need to update an arriving traveller's flight number.

Each time you enter and exit the country, if it is by air, the flight number is included in the line of data, along with visa length, time of day passed thru immigration, birthday and nationality etc. The IO updating the flight details is something I am 100% sure they do as I have seen it.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Essecola

[The manic]

In lieu of Thai baht will foreign cash be accepted and will credit cards and debit cards be accepted in lieu of cash? In 40 visits to Thailand I don't think I have ever had 20k baht on arrival. 

Edited August 15, 2017 by The manic

[Essecola]

Seems credit and debit cards not accepted. Some people have been unlucky to know about this strange little rule in advance of travelling. You probably won't be asked to show the 20000 baht but if you are it can be in baht or any other "readily exchangable" currency. So I would think notes like £,  €,  Yen , USD , and a few others would satisfy what's needed.

 

If you wanted to be very technical, it would probably be good to have a few thousand baht more than the equivalent of 20k baht in foreign currency, just so that they don't try to use a lower baht rate and say you are a few hundred baht under. If you can get what I mean. $600 USD was not long ago the equivalent of 20k baht but I always kept $700-800 with me to avoid any potential debate about the amount.

 

Lots of people have reported that travellers checks are ok too.

[electric]

On 7/29/2017 at 6:20 PM, ubonjoe said:

You need to look at the date this topic was done before posting. It was on April 10th and the OP has not visited since April 27th.

 

On 8/12/2017 at 6:10 PM, Jonmarleesco said:

You're right. So why is it appearing on TV in August?

 

On 8/12/2017 at 6:15 PM, ubonjoe said:

Because somebody dredged it up and posted in it.

 

It's been dredged up because the thread is still prominently promoted in a list of topics down the right side of the screen "Powered by Google"

 

My experience has been that it's a waste of time clicking on any of them. I'm unsure why Google or TV would be promoting this list. Most are very old topics, some even closed.

[DoneTravelling]

Note that tourists MUST carry 20,000 Thai baht per person when entering Thailand.

Edited August 22, 2017 by DoneTravelling

[boomerangutang]

                        Thai Imm officials reflect a bias against Indians.  A month ago, 3 Indian friends came to Thailand. They all have good jobs with Toyota Corp in southern India.  They had formal visas.  They wanted to take a day trip with me to Tachilek, the Burmese town across from Thailand's northernmost town, Mae Sai.  They were turned down, apparently because their visa only allowed for one entry into Thailand.  Not surprisingly, the Thai Imm authorities were curt and wouldn't/weren't able to discuss the issue, and of course, offered no options.  

 

                  It was middle of the say, and we drove 1 km south to the Thai Imm office. It was closed.  One scores of holidays which Thai officials skip work.  We did find one official there, and she at least conversed for a minute - but still offered zero options.  I could sense the bias against the dark-skinned Indians (dressed in business suits, clean shaven, polite).  Indeed, Thai officials have a way of not having any eye contact with (or even looking at) people they think are below their social status.   

 

Mai Sai immigration is probably one of the places  Thai bureaucrats get sent when banished to 'inactive posts.'  I think it's the farthest point from Bangkok, that's still in Thailand.

 

 

[boomerangutang]

On 8/22/2017 at 2:47 PM, DoneTravelling said:

Note that tourists MUST carry 20,000 Thai baht per person when entering Thailand.

It's one of hundreds of rules which are rarely enforced.  There's a photocopy of the same garbage rule in Mae Sai, and in the scores of times I've crossed into Thailand, I've never seen it enforced.  At best it's a signal to pick pockets that "every adult farang who comes through this turnstile has at least 20,000 baht in their pocket."

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

                        Thai Imm officials reflect a bias against Indians.  A month ago, 3 Indian friends came to Thailand. They all have good jobs with Toyota Corp in southern India.  They had formal visas.  They wanted to take a day trip with me to Tachilek, the Burmese town across from Thailand's northernmost town, Mae Sai.  They were turned down, apparently because their visa only allowed for one entry into Thailand.  Not surprisingly, the Thai Imm authorities were curt and wouldn't/weren't able to discuss the issue, and of course, offered no options.  

 

                  It was middle of the say, and we drove 1 km south to the Thai Imm office. It was closed.  One scores of holidays which Thai officials skip work.  We did find one official there, and she at least conversed for a minute - but still offered zero options.  I could sense the bias against the dark-skinned Indians (dressed in business suits, clean shaven, polite).  Indeed, Thai officials have a way of not having any eye contact with (or even looking at) people they think are below their social status.   

 

Mai Sai immigration is probably one of the places  Thai bureaucrats get sent when banished to 'inactive posts.'  I think it's the farthest point from Bangkok, that's still in Thailand.

I think your impression that the officials tend to dislike Indians is real. However, on this occasion, there might really have been no solution. Your friends needed a reentry permit to cross and return. If it was a holiday, I do not think there is anywhere near that border crossing where it is possible to get reentry permits.

[jethro69]

What makes me a bit wonder is that they had a departure stamp in their passports.

When I remember well, there were also discussions here on TV, that you could get denied entry.

So in this case it looks more like a deportation?? Or what I'm getting wrong here?

 

I'm flying in on Sunday, equipped with an METV, have a bit over 20K bath on me, should I bring any more papers like onward travel (AA flight to PNH, which I'll probably never use) hotel bookings, bank statements?

 

Assumed someone get's denied entry, he'll stay in the transit area. How to acess the luggage which is after immigration?

[JackThompson]

5 hours ago, jethro69 said:

I'm flying in on Sunday, equipped with an METV, have a bit over 20K bath on me, should I bring any more papers like onward travel (AA flight to PNH, which I'll probably never use) hotel bookings, bank statements?

If you have any long-stay history in Thailand in the last year or two, you might be questioned.  It is highly unlikely you would be rejected-entry with an METV and 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks.  Additional factors leading to being rejected-entry include the IO's mood, if they have already caught their quota of rejects for the shift, and other unknown factors.  You can mitigate the odds of rejection, if questioned at all, with additional paperwork.

 

I would not buy a throw-away ticket coming in with an METV, but I would have a ready-explanation of exactly what my plans were in Thailand (itinerary - printed even better) including how, where, and when I was planning to leave.  Also, good to have proof of where one plans to stay (hotel booking - free), and some printed bank-statements showing you have a bunch of money, so do not need to work illegally.

 

If avoiding the airports and the one bad land-border (Poipet/Aranyaprathet), all you would ever need is maybe the 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks.  But if flying in, even though you probably won't even be questioned at all, I would still carry all of that to be safe.

 

5 hours ago, jethro69 said:

Assumed someone get's denied entry, he'll stay in the transit area. How to acess the luggage which is after immigration?

If detained, your luggage would also be detained.  If sent back where you flew from, your luggage will go with you.  Hopefully it was a short-hop from a neighboring country, so you could just come across by land and still enjoy your planned trip to Thailand. 

 

Be sure to let the IO who takes you to your holding-cell at the airport know you have luggage - they may need the claim-tag to identify/fetch it.

[jethro69]

4 hours ago, JackThompson said:

If you have any long-stay history in Thailand in the last year or two, you might be questioned.  It is highly unlikely you would be rejected-entry with an METV and 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks.  Additional factors leading to being rejected-entry include the IO's mood, if they have already caught their quota of rejects for the shift, and other unknown factors.  You can mitigate the odds of rejection, if questioned at all, with additional paperwork.

 

I would not buy a throw-away ticket coming in with an METV, but I would have a ready-explanation of exactly what my plans were in Thailand (itinerary - printed even better) including how, where, and when I was planning to leave.  Also, good to have proof of where one plans to stay (hotel booking - free), and some printed bank-statements showing you have a bunch of money, so do not need to work illegally.

 

If avoiding the airports and the one bad land-border (Poipet/Aranyaprathet), all you would ever need is maybe the 20K Baht worth of cash or travelers checks.  But if flying in, even though you probably won't even be questioned at all, I would still carry all of that to be safe.

 

If detained, your luggage would also be detained.  If sent back where you flew from, your luggage will go with you.  Hopefully it was a short-hop from a neighboring country, so you could just come across by land and still enjoy your planned trip to Thailand. 

 

Be sure to let the IO who takes you to your holding-cell at the airport know you have luggage - they may need the claim-tag to identify/fetch it.

Thanks mate, seems I'll print out at leasr those bank statements where I wired money inti my BB account, and on some other occasion withdraw money with a foreign CC on a Thai bank account.

The ticket I had to buy anyway because of the METV application.

I fly in with my Thai GF, in worst case I guess it's better for her to take care of any luggage.

[OJAS]

On 8/15/2017 at 6:40 PM, Essecola said:

If you wanted to be very technical, it would probably be good to have a few thousand baht more than the equivalent of 20k baht in foreign currency, just so that they don't try to use a lower baht rate and say you are a few hundred baht under.

Probably best to calculate the amount of a particular foreign currency required in lieu of 20,000 THB on the basis of Bangkok Bank's latest Notes Buying rate for the currency in question, since this is the rate which Immigration use for calculating compliance with minimum monthly income requirements for retirement and marriage extensions.

[wealthychef]

Are there any other countries in the world that use this "bring enough cash" criterion at their border?  I still don't understand the point of it.  I know, this is Thailand, sometimes it's just stupidity, is this one of those times?  What's wrong with using a visa card?  

[JohnThailandJohn]

7 hours ago, wealthychef said:

Are there any other countries in the world that use this "bring enough cash" criterion at their border?  I still don't understand the point of it.  I know, this is Thailand, sometimes it's just stupidity, is this one of those times?  What's wrong with using a visa card?  

 

Bottom line an Immigration officer in many countries, including the USA, can refuse you entry at their discretion regardless if you have a valid visa. Thailand Immigration Officers on the other hand seems to use this 20k as an excuse to not allow people in they don't think should enter.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

Bottom line an Immigration officer in many countries, including the USA, can refuse you entry at their discretion regardless if you have a valid visa. Thailand Immigration Officers on the other hand seems to use this 20k as an excuse to not allow people in they don't think should enter.

... and if that fails, just claim the person is "entering to work illegally."  This is why longer-stayers and more frequent visitors would be advised (by me, anyway) to carry the 20K Baht, plus proof of where they will stay, plus proof that their long-term funds have come from overseas - and there is plenty more money available from the same.  Add in a return-ticket if one is coming in visa-exempt - and be prepared to buy one on the spot, even if entering with a tourist-visa, based on one recent report.

 

The OP's description in this thread did concern people coming from a nation with lower pay-scales, so the concern about a motive for economic-migration would be valid, in that case.  OTOH, Westerners are not coming to Thailand as economic-migrants, yet are sometimes treated as if they are. 

 

The USA has a very different legal process, and can deny those entering with TR-type visas for suspicion of "intending to convert to an immigrant-type status."  Economic-migrants are a real problem for the USA - but, meanwhile, the land-borders are wide-open to anyone who wants to enter illegally, and there is near-zero enforcement of illegal-working.  The result of this system, is that 1/2 of US-citizens cannot put their hands on even $500 USD in an emergency ( https://www.nbcnews.com/better/money/most-americans-lack-reserve-cash-cover-500-emergency-survey-n493096 - General Electric owns NBC, so no mention of how cheap immigrant labor led to this situation).
 

It is sad to see Thailand beginning to emulate some of the USA-immigration system's aspects.  They are even playing the same game of allowing immigrants "within walking distance" to flood in and take construction jobs at 1/2 the Thai min-wage.  Those jobs could, instead, help poorer Thais escape poverty for a small-increase in the per-sq-meter cost of new construction.  This is a nearly identical reflection of US-policies - a meaningless "crackdown" for foreigners from afar, but welcoming nearby poor-immigrants to undercut Thai opportunities.

Edited August 30, 2017 by JackThompson

[JohnThailandJohn]

37 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

... and if that fails, just claim the person is "entering to work illegally."  This is why longer-stayers and more frequent visitors would be advised (by me, anyway) to carry the 20K Baht, plus proof of where they will stay, plus proof that their long-term funds have come from overseas - and there is plenty more money available from the same.  Add in a return-ticket if one is coming in visa-exempt - and be prepared to buy one on the spot, even if entering with a tourist-visa, based on one recent report.

 

The OP's description in this thread did concern people coming from a nation with lower pay-scales, so the concern about a motive for economic-migration would be valid, in that case.  OTOH, Westerners are not coming to Thailand as economic-migrants, yet are sometimes treated as if they are. 

 

The USA has a very different legal process, and can deny those entering with TR-type visas for suspicion of "intending to convert to an immigrant-type status."  Economic-migrants are a real problem for the USA - but, meanwhile, the land-borders are wide-open to anyone who wants to enter illegally, and there is near-zero enforcement of illegal-working.  The result of this system, is that 1/2 of US-citizens cannot put their hands on even $500 USD in an emergency ( https://www.nbcnews.com/better/money/most-americans-lack-reserve-cash-cover-500-emergency-survey-n493096 - General Electric owns NBC, so no mention of how cheap immigrant labor led to this situation).
 

It is sad to see Thailand beginning to emulate some of the USA-immigration system's aspects.  They are even playing the same game of allowing immigrants "within walking distance" to flood in and take construction jobs at 1/2 the Thai min-wage.  Those jobs could, instead, help poorer Thais escape poverty for a small-increase in the per-sq-meter cost of new construction.  This is a nearly identical reflection of US-policies - a meaningless "crackdown" for foreigners from afar, but welcoming nearby poor-immigrants to undercut Thai opportunities.

You may not realize but there are tons of people from first world nations who come to Thailand and work illegally in order to stay long term. The overwhelming vast majority of scrutiny of people entering Thailand is to limit those without proper visa looking to work illegally in Thailand. There are numerous visa types available to those who want to stay long term who don't need to work while they are in the Kingdom.

 

Like the US and many other countries, locals don't want those crap jobs and nobody wants prices to increase due to higher salaries for these unskilled and often back breaking jobs. Keep in mind too that Thailand has an incredibly low unemployment rate. There simply is not many Thais looking for a job that cannot find one.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

You may not realize but there are tons of people from first world nations who come to Thailand and work illegally in order to stay long term. The overwhelming vast majority of scrutiny of people entering Thailand is to limit those without proper visa looking to work illegally in Thailand. There are numerous visa types available to those who want to stay long term who don't need to work while they are in the Kingdom.

 

The "tons" consist of English teachers, and a few dive-instructors.  Foreigners with "good jobs" in Thailand can easily obtain the paperwork to work here legally.  The English teachers are actively-prevented from obtaining legal working-papers by their employers, as attested to by several in this thread, including the OP:

 

As in my country (USA), if the authorities really wanted to stop illegal working, they would arrest and charge those employing them illegally, which would result in the immediate end to the practice.  Business owners and their HR people would not risk a good chance of high-fines and prison-time.  But instead of solving the problem, the hypocrisy continues.

 

Quote

Like the US and many other countries, locals don't want those crap jobs and nobody wants prices to increase due to higher salaries for these unskilled and often back breaking jobs. Keep in mind too that Thailand has an incredibly low unemployment rate. There simply is not many Thais looking for a job that cannot find one.

Those "crap jobs" such as in construction were well-paid middle-class careers in the USA just a few years ago.  One Trade at a time, middle-class careers were replaced by cheap immigrant labor.  I lived through this.  Please don't buy into the "jobs they won't do" lie, pushed by transnational corporations, through the media-outlets they own, whose executives pocket the savings from cheap-labor, as this practice destroys (in the USA) or prevents the existence of (in Thailand) middle-class jobs.

 

Yes, the unemployment rate in Thailand is much lower, because Thais still have family-farms to return to when they cannot get good jobs.  Americans lost their farms - see "farm-aid" in the 1980s, as the banksters systematically destroyed them.  This contributes to why Americans become homeless when their careers have wages cut by over 50%, or jobs sent overseas, and are replaced by foreigners willing to live on crumbs.  If only we had a strong voice for "national self-sufficiency," as Thailand fortunately did.

When/if those jobs (ex: construction) offer good-pay in Thailand, you would see many who are not listed as unemployed - because they are at home on their farms, but are also not working much if at all - flock to take those jobs, and improve their standard of living.

Edited August 30, 2017 by JackThompson

[JohnThailandJohn]

28 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

 

The "tons" consist of English teachers, and a few dive-instructors.  Foreigners with "good jobs" in Thailand can easily obtain the paperwork to work here legally.  The English teachers are actively-prevented from obtaining legal working-papers by their employers, as attested to by several in this thread, including the OP:

 

As in my country (USA), if the authorities really wanted to stop illegal working, they would arrest and charge those employing them illegally, which would result in the immediate end to the practice.  Business owners and their HR people would not risk a good chance of high-fines and prison-time.  But instead of solving the problem, the hypocrisy continues.

 

Those "crap jobs" such as in construction were well-paid middle-class careers in the USA just a few years ago.  One Trade at a time, middle-class careers were replaced by cheap immigrant labor.  I lived through this.  Please don't buy into the "jobs they won't do" lie, pushed by transnational corporations, through the media-outlets they own, whose executives pocket the savings from cheap-labor, as this practice destroys (in the USA) or prevents the existence of (in Thailand) middle-class jobs.

 

Yes, the unemployment rate in Thailand is much lower, because Thais still have family-farms to return to when they cannot get good jobs.  Americans lost their farms - see "farm-aid" in the 1980s, as the banksters systematically destroyed them.  This contributes to why Americans become homeless when their careers have wages cut by over 50%, or jobs sent overseas, and are replaced by foreigners willing to live on crumbs.  If only we had a strong voice for "national self-sufficiency," as Thailand fortunately did.

When/if those jobs (ex: construction) offer good-pay in Thailand, you would see many who are not listed as unemployed - because they are at home on their farms, but are also not working much if at all - flock to take those jobs, and improve their standard of living.

Bottom line is Thailand in not the USA and Thailand and its immigration officers have the right to deny those from entering the country they don't think are good for the country and its people.  They also have the right, as they should, to dictate who and for what reasons a foreigner can stay in the country long term.

It is kind of amazing to me that the people who do the most complaining about Thailand are often the ones doing the most complaining about difficulties they have staying in Thailand long term.

 

Immigrant workers are an integral part of the economic growth and add to a shrinking labor force. Many of these workers, you may think are in Thailand illegally, are actually here legally as the government makes it fairly easy for folks from countries like Cambodia to work in Thailand and very costly if they don't register as workers in Thailand.

[JackThompson]

42 minutes ago, JohnThailandJohn said:

Bottom line is Thailand in not the USA and Thailand and its immigration officers have the right to deny those from entering the country they don't think are good for the country and its people.  They also have the right, as they should, to dictate who and for what reasons a foreigner can stay in the country long term.

They are not the same, but corporate-interests influence both, to the detriment of the average citizens of both. 

 

Those who have the authority in Thailand have chosen not to place limits on those staying in Thailand on consecutive Tourist Visas.  They have chosen to add restrictions, such as the 2--per-calendar-year exempt-entry at land-crossing rule - a rule which those from neighboring nations - who are the vast majority of illegal workers - are exempt.

 

Quote

It is kind of amazing to me that the people who do the most complaining about Thailand are often the ones doing the most complaining about difficulties they have staying in Thailand long term.

My complaints are not "about Thailand" per-se - but rather the enforcement of non-rules by rouge personnel at some checkpoints (airports and the Poipet/Aranya border), combined with the assertion that these actions are to "stop illegal workers" - while masses of foreign-workers pour in from neighboring countries - both legal and illegal.  This is a stage-show which does not achieve its stated-goal, while harming Thais who depend on foreign-visitors as customers.

 

Quote

Immigrant workers are an integral part of the economic growth and add to a shrinking labor force.

 

Consider "automation" - the last thing any developed or semi-developed nation needs is "more workers."

 

Quote

Many of these workers, you may think are in Thailand illegally, are actually here legally as the government makes it fairly easy for folks from countries like Cambodia to work in Thailand and very costly if they don't register as workers in Thailand.

Yes, and in the case of foreign-owned factories, which would be shipped from Thailand to Vietnam if they had to pay humane wages, this is understandable.  But in the case of "must do here" jobs, like construction, the policy is highly destructive.  Those buildings would still get built for a couple baht more per sq/meter in labor-costs - and the money would go to Thai families and farm-homesteads, instead being "sent home," out of the Thai economy, by foreign workers.

Edited August 30, 2017 by JackThompson

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 5:49 PM, SVS1 said:

Yes, they arrived on 22nd Dec early morning and were sent by same evening after hours of questioning and no justified reason of why they didnot allow them entry.

You said they didn't speak English. Was there a translator, or just someone shouting at them and getting frustrated because they didn't speak English?

 

While it is grossly unfair, it is my understanding the immigration officer does not have to give a reason. It is up to them to admit or not.

I think it says that somewhere.

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, wealthychef said:

Are there any other countries in the world that use this "bring enough cash" criterion at their border?  I still don't understand the point of it.  I know, this is Thailand, sometimes it's just stupidity, is this one of those times?  What's wrong with using a visa card?  

I think any immigration officer anywhere would have discretion if they thought they couldn't support themselves while on holiday.

The OP says they were questioned for "hours", but obviously they were not able to satisfy the I O. I doubt it's an anti Indian thing given the number that are in the country.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 8:49 PM, SVS1 said:

It was the most unfortunate thing to happen. Believe it or not, all of them had issued their passports for the first time in their life and had arranged for money since a long time just to do their first international trip. No one had any history of international travel before, let alone any history in Thailand.

 

It is just unfair to genuine people who are harassed at Bangkok airport.

 

Anyways, I'd like to thank everyone for their valuable replies. Atleast I got an idea of the whole issue.

Thanks.

IMO it was that they were on their first trip anywhere and that, coupled with not enough money may have aroused suspicion.

[JackThompson]

44 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You said they didn't speak English. Was there a translator, or just someone shouting at them and getting frustrated because they didn't speak English?

 

While it is grossly unfair, it is my understanding the immigration officer does not have to give a reason. It is up to them to admit or not.

I think it says that somewhere.

Unlike many countries, In Thailand, IOs do need a valid reason - and "suspicion of..." is not in the statute. But the cash-stipulation exists, and has been defined, so can be used to refuse-entry to those unfortunate enough not to anticipate this requirement. 

 

Airlines need to request to warn passengers of this requirement, including the 'trap' aspect - denying ATM-access to those who are requested to show funds.

[Docno]

On ‎2017‎-‎08‎-‎30 at 5:07 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO it was that they were on their first trip anywhere and that, coupled with not enough money may have aroused suspicion.

I agree - people doing dodgy things (e.g., working illegally) often show up with fresh passports because they have conveniently "lost" their previous passports showing entry stamps. IOs are not ignorant of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a fresh passport invites extra scrutiny as a result...  

[Docno]

On ‎2017‎-‎08‎-‎30 at 1:55 AM, wealthychef said:

Are there any other countries in the world that use this "bring enough cash" criterion at their border?  I still don't understand the point of it.  I know, this is Thailand, sometimes it's just stupidity, is this one of those times?  What's wrong with using a visa card?  

Not uncommon at all. Almost guaranteed that a young female traveller to Singapore from places like Thailand, Vietnam, or the Philippines, will need to bring what they call "show money" to convince the IO that they don't intend to be making money during their holiday, wink wink. 

[BritTim]

5 minutes ago, Docno said:

I agree - people doing dodgy things (e.g., working illegally) often show up with fresh passports because they have conveniently "lost" their previous passports showing entry stamps. IOs are not ignorant of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if a fresh passport invites extra scrutiny as a result...  

 

It is usually not that simple. Immigration tries to link new and old passports used by the same traveler. New passports may work for getting visas (consulates do not check the history of applications not visible in the current passport) but immigration will usually see the full history of entries on their screens. Certainly, there are some nationalities that are treated with suspicion (especially individuals that do not look affluent enough to be traveling for pleasure). Also, a history of travel to other countries in the passport looks good. However, I do not think new passports by themselves invite extra scrutiny.

[ubonjoe]

It appears it is  time to close this almost 6 month old topic since people keep bringing it up to the top of the page to reply to months old posts.

Topic