URGENT : PP Embassy asked for employment letter for tourist visa

[poohy]

3 minutes ago, KarlS said:

NB I did not use the word "typical", it was your choice to use that disparaging word.

i fail to understand Why is the word "typical" is taken to be disparaging?

[fforest1]

11 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

Time for you to head on to another country you’re clearly working here in Thailand And trying to circumvent the system


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

So which job is he taking from a Thai?......O-Yea thats right hes not taking any Thai jobs....

[anatta0]

24 minutes ago, Cloudy said:

Time for you to head on to another country you’re clearly working here in Thailand And trying to circumvent the system


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

I wrote it because i found freelance worker wrote the letter for schengen visa application and they are fine, consider that people who run there are more likely to work illegally. 

 

My understanding is that working illegally is like being employed by a Thai or any Thai company without work permit and that is stealing the job from the locals. 

 

The nature of my job is analogous to a CEO of a company, when they visit a country as a tourist, often they have to still deal day to day operations of the business back at home country by phone, emails etc

Edited March 15, 2019 by anatta0

[RJRS1301]

2 hours ago, digbeth said:

 

Thai people getting a tourist visa to most 'western' countries have to provide proof of employment/income all the time

And in Australia they require a :genuine" connection to their home country, employment/land/house other commitments

[phuketrichard]

6 hours ago, anatta0 said:

Ok, too late, i already give the letter saying that i have a part time work with company in my country that i can run remotely in my laptop while i travel. Also have some side job that i can run remotely, which is true. But i am not employed or do any business in Thailand. 

 

Lucky lucky said we will get the news today by 5 PM. Either approved or rejected. Before we submitted the visa, we already been warned by lucky lucky that these days, the embassy may ask employment letter. We knew going to Vientiane will be easier, but i like coming to siem-reap and pp as i have not been there before. Also we have no any SETV. 

 

I understand many are frustrated with the visa rules of Thai immigration here. Fyi, i am from Indonesia, have travelled to 9 ASEAN countries (not yet to Brunei) and had been a digital nomad for years in few countries. There is a good reason i picked Thailand.

you are NOT allowed to work in Thailand>
u just F@#KED yourself by admitting ur going to work while ur in Thaland

[Letseng]

12 hours ago, pr9spk said:

There are plenty of other countries in the world, it's just unlucky that you are trying to get into one which is going all-out to deter Western visitors. If I could re-wind my life a few years, knowing what I know now, I would never have gone to Thailand.

Is there barbed wire round Thailand?

[Letseng]

11 hours ago, KarlS said:

PP has always been known as 'difficult' and it sounds as though they have decided to ramp their requirements. IMO you should abandon attempts to secure a Thia visa in Cambodia and seek, as others have suggested, a visa from an Embassy in a different country. 

Not only PP asks for it. Some Thai consulates in European countries do too.

[jimcarr65]

Not so Lucky Lucky

[PingRoundTheWorld]

3 hours ago, phuketrichard said:

you are NOT allowed to work in Thailand>
u just F@#KED yourself by admitting ur going to work while ur in Thaland

You guys are funny. Countless genuine tourists work while in Thailand. Checking your email, doing small tasks online - it's all "work". If immigration actually enforced those rules to the letter they'd have to get rid of millions of tourists. They actually clarified in interviews that they're NOT going to go after people doing things like checking their work email.

 

I highly doubt he would actually get denied his first SETV based on that. But let's see - keep us updated!

[balo]

23 hours ago, anatta0 said:

The problem is me and my friend work in IT as programmer, we work as freelancer, develop website remotely for people and also run online store remotely. We are self employed,

Then there is no visa that qualifies for you to stay in Thailand. Digital nomads are allowed to stay for 30 days , as tourists , but trying to live in Thailand over a longer period is no longer an option with today's military rule.  

 

So my advice is to settle down in Vietnam or Cambo instead , the culture is not much different from Thailand, and the prices are about the same , if not cheaper. 

[SteveK]

1 hour ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

You guys are funny. Countless genuine tourists work while in Thailand.

Do those people write letters to embassies essentially admitting that they will be working illegally in Thailand? Or are they just sensible and discrete about it? I suspect the latter.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

1 minute ago, pr9spk said:

Do those people write letters to embassies essentially admitting that they will be working illegally in Thailand? Or are they just sensible and discrete about it? I suspect the latter.

You are literally required to show a letter of employment to get a METV. How exactly is one going to be "employed" for half a year without working remotely? Their focus is on making sure you have means to support yourself and won't take jobs from Thais, not to make sure you're unemployed...

[SteveK]

12 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

You are literally required to show a letter of employment to get a METV. How exactly is one going to be "employed" for half a year without working remotely? Their focus is on making sure you have means to support yourself and won't take jobs from Thais, not to make sure you're unemployed...

So you have highlighted another "quirk" of the Thai visa system. They want proof of employment for an METV (however, they will also allow documents for proof of self-employment), yet you are prohibited from "working" whilst in Thailand, as you will be on a tourist visa - "employment prohibited" printed in your passport.

 

If they were purely focused on proving that you can support yourself for your time in Thailand, they would also accept an up to date bank statement showing sufficient funds for your stay, yet they do not.

 

They are experts in creating catch-22 situations, the end result being that they can deny entry or remove you as and when they feel like it, and because things are so convoluted, no one really understands the rules and your experience will vary depending on the officer you speak to.

Edited March 15, 2019 by pr9spk

[fforest1]

4 minutes ago, pr9spk said:

So you have highlighted another "quirk" of the Thai visa system. They want proof of employment for an METV (however, they will also allow documents for proof of self-employment), yet you are prohibited from "working" whilst in Thailand, as you will be on a tourist visa - "employment prohibited" printed in your passport.

 

If they were purely focused on proving that you can support yourself for your time in Thailand, they would also accept an up to date bank statement showing sufficient funds for your stay, yet they do not.

 

They are experts in creating catch-22 situations, the end result being that they can deny entry or remove you as and when they feel like it.

What has happened to the visa friendly Thailand from not that long ago?....

Its so bad now I think Pattaya is down to 2 visa run companies...

The whole visa thing is turning into a real bummer....

[UASCB500BIKER]

Whats cost for 0ne month tourist visa to Cambodia, cross near Tract,(USA) $20,$25 30 35 $40 ????.......

[MZsolt]

I was in same situation: I applied for METV and at first the Consol not signed and they asked more infos about my situation.

 

So I presented then this documents:

- tax declaration about my regularly income as freelancer

- some copies about officially documentations where can see that I'm owner at some companies

- copy about some bank statements

- and I wroted a nice personal letter why I like to visit TH, and what is the reason that I spend so many time there.

 

2 days later I was called that I got the METV, and all staff read my personal letter and they love it (NOTE: text was mines but a native english speaker corrected it before to sent them 55555555)

 

So the point is how the embassy staff told earlier: if you want to get METV than have to show that you have enough sources to stay long time in Thailand. (This can be employment letter, or any other documents as well - but should be officially documents and should show that you have enough/ a lot of money.)

 

Edited March 15, 2019 by MZsolt

[SteveK]

Thailand is now doing it's best to deter long-term visitors.

 

It may be that Thailand is changing the rules so much, and so fast, that even the immigration workers don't understand them, and therefore do not apply them consistently. 

 

Also, I am sure that most people on this forum know that arguing gets you nowhere very fast in Thailand.

Edited March 15, 2019 by pr9spk

[SteveK]

1 hour ago, MZsolt said:

they asked more infos about my situation.

 

So I presented then this documents:

- tax declaration about my regularly income as freelancer

- some copies about officially documentations where can see that I'm owner at some companies

- copy about some bank statements

- and I wroted a nice personal letter why I like to visit TH, and what is the reason that I spend so many time there.

 

 

I'd love to know where you can wroten a letter to tells them that you is not bad tourist and you speaks English so they musts agree with thing you say so that we can all get the sames treatment.

[MZsolt]

9 hours ago, pr9spk said:

I'd love to know where you can wroten a letter to tells them that you is not bad tourist and you speaks English so they musts agree with thing you say so that we can all get the sames treatment.

 

It was in Europe. At first I only bring what they require on their website (flight ticket, bank statement about 200K THB) but staff told me that I was not approved and the Consol want more infos about me and I have to collect "everything what I can" (he told me like this). So, I collected all what I listed earlier and after it was fine.

[anatta0]

On 3/15/2019 at 2:21 AM, BritTim said:

There is zero chance that you will be able to get a visa by tomorrow. 

Both of our visas are approved yesterday (15 March) ???? We submitted the "employment" letter in the morning before 10 AM, then we got our visas in the evening 5.30 pm from Lucky Lucky. We submitted our application on 12 March.

 

Lucky lucky turns out to be lucky for us ???? At least for this time.

 

On 3/15/2019 at 2:42 AM, thermic said:

Write a letter yourself clearly explaining your conditions and how you earn your money. That was exactly what I was asked when I told them that I was not employed by a company in a Thai embassy at home country. It worked in my case.

Your advice is really helpful, that is exactly what I did. I wrote in the letter basically how I got my income by working for a company in my country, I got signature and stamp of the company on the letter to proof this point as this letter is written as a personal letter from me. I also mentioned other side job I have as Airbnb host in my country, even include my Airbnb profile link that has some good reviews in it lol. I also mentioned as a freelance programmer that I can do remotely while travelling around the world. As I saw it's common to say that for people who applied the Schengen visa who is also IT freelancer if they ask for employment letter. I re-read my letter, I mentioned a lot of remote jobs, BUT I did not mention specifically that I will travel AND do remote work in Thailand, but just what my jobs are.

 

Afaik, all they want is we do not work illegally with any Thai or Thai company without a working permit and not stealing jobs from the locals, also they want to know how we can support ourselves during the travel. Many people who has job back at home, often have to check work email, answer them, receive phone calls and support work issues when it's needed while travelling as tourist, if the definition of "work" is that strict, this is also "working"

 

I also added in the letter I do not provide any freelance service to any party in Thailand and not to do any business or employment in Thailand, which is true, and will leave Thailand before the visa expired.

 

While my friend who is a USA citizen, he just quit his job, he also wrote his own letter saying he is here for holiday and do self-study to upgrade his skills while traveling in Thailand. With only his own signature in the letter.

 

We fly through from PP to DMK and got through smoothly. 

 

Hope this info helps others who are in the same situation.

 

Thank you everybody.

Edited March 16, 2019 by anatta0