Visa Issue - Help Needed

[Davster123]

Hi everyone

 

UK nationals here

 

So we are part of the way though a 10 week trip to Asia

 

24th June from Heathrow arriving Bangkok 25th June then flyng Bangkok to Cambodia Phnom Penh on 26th June, returning 25th July spending the rest of the time in Thailand returning 6th September

 

Flights to Cambodia gave us proof of onward travel we then planned to sort out Thailand by organising 60 day visa whilst in Phnom Penh

 

However we have hit a problem

 

Let our hotel help organise the visas (Palm Boutique hotel, not a cheap hotel so should be trustworthy?)

 

However they told us that the embassy won't give us a 60 day Visa because we had 'been in Thailand too long' 

 

This is weird as the last time we were in Thailand was about 18 months ago and we were there about 2 weeks, before then it was 2011 for about 10 days 

 

All we can think of was that on one of our last trip we were not properly 'checked out' of the country?

 

We found this out on Friday after 5pm just as we were about to set off for Sihoukanville so the passports are still with the embassy. The hotel have told us that in order to get the passports back we need to email them a copy of our bank statements; the plan being to then have the passports delivered back to the hotel and we will then pick them up on 25th before we head to the airport

 

So I have 2 questions please!

 

1 Are we being scammed?

 

Obviously I would only send a copy of my bank statements with my sort code and account number blanked out but are we being scammed here. Again I must reiterate that we were staying at a good quality hotel not a cheap hostel so you would hope it is legit but any input and any ideas on how to deal with this would help

 

2 How to resolve being over 30 days if we can't get the 60 day Visa

 

Getting another flight out of Thailand halfway through our trip seems the best solution to me so we have another proof of onward travel

 

Is there any reason that this would not work?

 

Do we actually have to take the flight or will just the tickets suffice? My other  half is convinced we will be asked to produce the boarding cards confirming we actually left the country?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[kanook]

First off my wife is based in PP so I travel there often and recently spent almost 2 months at our apt in BKK1 in the same area as your hotel.  The Thai consulate in PP can be unpredictable in terms of their requirements, so I am not surprised.  I don't believe you are being scammed, but rather the Khmer way of needing to use a competent fixer to get anything (as an expat) accomplished with a Cambodian gov't office has infected the Thai consulate as well.   I would contact another agent or security outside the consulate itself.

[Sigma6]

So if you send the bank statements they will issue a visa? 

Im assuming so, otherwise whats the point?

 

my last tourist visa was from pp, i used an agent on the riverfront. Requiring a bank statement, onward travel and hotel booking is pretty standard at most thai embassies these days. 

[JackThompson]

In my experience at the PP Thai-Consulate, they always want a bank-statement and/or proof of a flight out of Thailand.  My agent copied my entire Thai bank-book each time I applied there.  Based on that experience, I doubt there is a scam involved.

 

Be aware, you can apply for a 30-day extension of a visa-exempt 30-day entry at any Thai immigration office, giving you a total of 60-days - so that could be your backup-plan.

Edited July 2, 2017 by JackThompson

[Essecola]

You should be able to work something out in Phnom Penh unless there are other stamps from Thailand in ur passports which it seems there arent besides the one u just got which isnt a tourist visa anyway. Go over to Lucky Motorcycle on Monivong Road and see what they say and if could sort out something for u?

 

There are agents all over Phnom Penh. Speak with a few. If nothing can work, consider heading over to Vientiane where you should have no problem getting 60 day visas without needing any of the onward ticket and bank statement stuff. The only thing is, direct flights to Vientiane are roughly $220 from Phnom Penh unless u want to sit on a bus which I wouldn't recommend.

[Essecola]

Sorry. My reply may not have been the best. It isn't possible to delete comments here..

 

But could be a good chance that with onward ticket copy and bank statements (maybe half of acct #'s whited out etc) the embassy may just issue you both 60 day visas! Hope u get it.

[Davster123]

Hi everyone

 

Just to clarify; it seems to me that the embassy are refusing us a 60 day visa full stop and the bank statement requirement is simply to get our passports back (at least this was my understanding)

 

So I wanted to know, would proof of onward travel do the job (get a flight out of the country) so that we will then not be in Thailand for more than 30 days

 

Would this work and do we actually need to get on the flight or is proof of purchase of the tickets sufficient?

 

Thanks

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Davster123 said:

Just to clarify; it seems to me that the embassy are refusing us a 60 day visa full stop and the bank statement requirement is simply to get our passports back (at least this was my understanding)

So I wanted to know, would proof of onward travel do the job (get a flight out of the country) so that we will then not be in Thailand for more than 30 days

Would this work and do we actually need to get on the flight or is proof of purchase of the tickets sufficient?

 

The embassy would not hold your passport hostage to get a bank statement. The agent is wanting that to get your visa application accepted.

If you already have a ticket out of the country with 60 or 90 days that is all that would be needed to apply for the visa.

If you wanted to fly back without the visa you may need a ticket out within 30 days to board your flight.