Problems at Savannakhet and Border July 2019 Report

[ThaiBunny]

2 minutes ago, tcp7 said:

Not an option, got a new girlfriend, bought a house, got one daughter with the previous Thai wife and one kid on the way with the new girlfriend

This seems a variation on that old saying: a man with two wives is a bigamist, a man with three is a bigamystery

[Caldera]

1 hour ago, tcp7 said:

How would I go about having a "fake" residency in UK as a frenchie? Any ideas?

That will depend on the Brexit terms, I would imagine. As you have a Thai child and run a business in Thailand, wouldn't it make more sense to get extensions in country?

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, tcp7 said:

 

How would I go about having a "fake" residency in UK as a frenchie? Any ideas?

Only the embassy in London has the residency requirement to apply for a visa due to the online application requirement.

The honorary consulates in the UK have no residence requirement.

Check here on the Hull consulate website. http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/tourist-visa-single-tr.php

[Lovethailandelite]

19 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Only the embassy in London has the residency requirement to apply for a visa due to the online application requirement.

The honorary consulates in the UK have no residence requirement.

Check here on the Hull consulate website. http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/tourist-visa-single-tr.php

Your correct that he can apply there but look further down the page at item 7. He still needs proof of residents

 

1. Confirmation of residence in the UK.
   For person who is not a UK national (Council Tax Bill, UK Driving Licence, Bank Statement, Residence Permit or Long Stay UK Visa).

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Your correct that he can apply there but look further down the page at item 7. He still needs proof of residents

In reality you might find out that do it without those supporting documents. Just a passport showing they entered the UK is needed.

Simple matter of asking the consulate directly for info.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Only the embassy in London has the residency requirement to apply for a visa due to the online application requirement.

The honorary consulates in the UK have no residence requirement.

Check here on the Hull consulate website. http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/tourist-visa-single-tr.php

Great, didn't even knew there were consulates in UK. Looks like I could apply at the Thai Consulate in Hull with my french passport. That's a life saver.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

In reality you might find out that do it without those supporting documents. Just a passport showing they entered the UK is needed.

As a french national with a french passport they don't even stamp me going in and going out of UK at all, I just show my passport when crossing the English Channel, they don't add any remarks to it.

[Lovethailandelite]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

In reality you might find out that do it without those supporting documents. Just a passport showing they entered the UK is needed.

Simple matter of asking the consulate directly for info.

Yes. Nothing to lose by asking but in reality, European Thai embassy's and consulates just don't issue visas to non residents any longer.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Lovethailandelite said:

Yes. Nothing to lose by asking but in reality, European Thai embassy's and consulates just don't issue visas to non residents any longer.

They definitely are tightening the rules, it's getting harder and harder to live here as the time passes.

[lkv]

7 hours ago, tcp7 said:

Not an option, got a new girlfriend, bought a house, got one daughter with the previous Thai wife and one kid on the way with the new girlfriend, running a business in Pattaya as well, scrapping it all up at 43 to start from scratch in Spain, not an option at all... besides all I can speak is French and English.

 

Well, if you have been running your business on SETVs from London, I guess your business plan was lacking a proper SWOT analysis.

 

[KhaoYai]

On 7/12/2019 at 1:29 PM, lkv said:

 

Or you can push it like this until you decide you want to go back home (and change passport).

I know many people recommend this but from what I've seen, its a waste of time. When they enter your details on the computer at the point of entry, your entire travel history, including other passports comes up on the screen.  I used to (legally) have 2 British passports and was surprised to see that entering on one still showed up my history of entering on the other.

[KhaoYai]

14 hours ago, tcp7 said:

Great, didn't even knew there were consulates in UK. Looks like I could apply at the Thai Consulate in Hull with my french passport. That's a life saver.

Mr Taylor at the Hull consulate is a very nice guy and looks at the whole picture - not just whether or not you have 100% of the documents required. Be pleasant and explain your position - it goes a long way. I'm sure he will advise you of what you need (if anything) to show residence in the UK.  This is not official - just my opinion but as the UK is currently sill a member of the EU, I don't believe you have to have a Residence Card - you're an EU citizen and as such are entitled to live and work in the UK. I would have thought some 'other' kind of 'proof' of address would suffice.

 

However, you say you will never get a visa at the Thai Embassy in France - are you aware that there are consulates in Lyon and Marseille?

Edited July 14, 2019 by KhaoYai

[Guest]

4 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

However, you say you will never get a visa at the Thai Embassy in France - are you aware that there are consulates in Lyon and Marseille?

And can these two consulates issue visas "on the spot" without double checking with the Embassy in Paris?

[KhaoYai]

45 minutes ago, tcp7 said:

And can these two consulates issue visas "on the spot" without double checking with the Embassy in Paris?

I don't know - more and more decisions are handed over to the country's embassy. Hull could issue METV's before the e-visa was introduced and I don't think France is on the e-visa list yet. Why not try it? You may be reading more into the power of your ex wife than she actually has.  If it was found that she caused your visa to be refused without good reason, I think she could get into deep shit.

Edited July 14, 2019 by KhaoYai

[PingRoundTheWorld]

On 7/13/2019 at 1:11 AM, acenase said:

Border immigration sees it as if you get issued a Visa from an Embassy then you're good to go. Because the embassy has requirements to be approved for the Visa. If you didn't have money and couldn't show a bank statement you won't get the Visa to begin with. As long as someone has the money, truly not illegally working and not overstaying their Visa, I don't see a crime with that. 

I suspect it might be more involved than that. Border runs bring tourists (money) to places that would get very little otherwise. Even if you just buy a meal or drink and pay transportation - multiply that by hundreds or thousands a day and it adds up and goes into the local economy. Presumably border entry points are run by locals who have an interest in keeping the money flowing. Is it possible Poipet is run by outsiders now hence the difficulties there?

 

Bangkok airports on the other hand do not have such an interest, and/or aren't aware of it - especially if you indicate you will be staying outside Bangkok. It would be interesting to get the statistics on whether indicating you will stay in Bangkok or outside it has any impact on the IO discretion...

[PingRoundTheWorld]

On 7/13/2019 at 2:01 PM, elviajero said:

A visitor to Thailand staying long term needs to prove they have a job or other appropriate means of making/supporting a living. A long term tourist hasn’t done that. 

Anyone on a METV has proven they have both means of income AND enough money in the bank to support their stay (200k baht). So how do you explain people being denied on METV when they clearly DO have the means to support themselves? Even people on SETV have to provide some proof when getting their visas. The only way your interpretation holds water is for visa exempt entries, and even then it's stretching the law quite far from what's actually written.

 

Not to mention that by staying long term they have already "proven" their ability to support themselves so denying them as-if make believe they couldn't is ridiculous.

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

I don't know - more and more decisions are handed over to the country's embassy. Hull could issue METV's before the e-visa was introduced and I don't think France is on the e-visa list yet. Why not try it? You may be reading more into the power of your ex wife than she actually has.  If it was found that she caused your visa to be refused without good reason, I think she could get into deep shit.

In my case they have my ex wife's LINE along with her +66 number, every time I go to the Embassy in Paris (let's just say I am easily recognizable) they take me to a separate room and ask me unusual questions, then within the next say 10 minutes they reach out to the wife in Thailand then they refuse to even process my visa application regardless of it being in good shape.

 

What they technically do is, if I insist, they take my application along with the copies of all the required documents, they "supposedly" show them to the Consul himself in person and instead of saying either visa granted or visa denied, they simply don't reply, or if they do it's things like "The consul hasn't had time to review your application" or "The consul hasn't stated yet on the status of your application" and very often "We don't know, come back next week" then "Come back next week" and "Come back next week".

 

So technically I don't get denied, I simply get ignored.

 

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, tcp7 said:

And can these two consulates issue visas "on the spot" without double checking with the Embassy in Paris?

Lyon closed at about the same time the online application requirement for the embassy went into effect.

The consulate in Marseille no longer issues visas.

"For your perfect information, the Consulate is not authorized to issue Visas, or to legalize administrative acts." (translated from french by Google)

Source: https://www.consulat-thai-marseille.fr/

[Guest]

Yeah I see that now. So with Paris, Lyon, Marseille (FR), Brussels (BE) and London (UK) are out of the way, my remaining options would be Hull (UK) or Savanaket (Laos) or HCMC (VN).

 

Thanks Joe.

[elviajero]

7 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Anyone on a METV has proven they have both means of income AND enough money in the bank to support their stay (200k baht). So how do you explain people being denied on METV when they clearly DO have the means to support themselves? Even people on SETV have to provide some proof when getting their visas. The only way your interpretation holds water is for visa exempt entries, and even then it's stretching the law quite far from what's actually written.

 

Not to mention that by staying long term they have already "proven" their ability to support themselves so denying them as-if make believe they couldn't is ridiculous.

They are only likely to be deny entry if someone is using the visa to effectively live in the country. That is not the purpose of the visa.

 

It’s a ‘Tourist Visa’, and was aimed at the Asian market to make it easier for them to come and go.

 

If someone stays up to 9 months, goes back to there home country and applies for another METV, then returns for another 9 months they are misusing the visa. Some ‘westerners’ are doing that, and if it becomes ‘a thing’ they will clamp down on it as they’ve done with VE and other TR’s.

 

 

[elviajero]

6 hours ago, tcp7 said:

In my case they have my ex wife's LINE along with her +66 number, every time I go to the Embassy in Paris (let's just say I am easily recognizable) they take me to a separate room and ask me unusual questions, then within the next say 10 minutes they reach out to the wife in Thailand then they refuse to even process my visa application regardless of it being in good shape.

 

What they technically do is, if I insist, they take my application along with the copies of all the required documents, they "supposedly" show them to the Consul himself in person and instead of saying either visa granted or visa denied, they simply don't reply, or if they do it's things like "The consul hasn't had time to review your application" or "The consul hasn't stated yet on the status of your application" and very often "We don't know, come back next week" then "Come back next week" and "Come back next week".

 

So technically I don't get denied, I simply get ignored.

 

If you’re divorced what does your ex-wife have to do with any visa application?

[lazygourmet]

29 minutes ago, elviajero said:

If you’re divorced what does your ex-wife have to do with any visa application?

Local guarantor, especially if she is loaded.

In my case, we had to divorce because Thai banking system did not give her anymore credit ranking (aka 2nd class citizen) since she married a farang.

But we are together for more than twenty years... And still counting!

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, lazygourmet said:

Local guarantor, especially if she is loaded.

In my case, we had to divorce because Thai banking system did not give her anymore credit ranking (aka 2nd class citizen) since she married a farang.

But we are together for more than twenty years... And still counting!

A local guarantor is not required for most nationalities.

 

I don’t believe the credit rating comment. How would the ‘credit system know the nationality of her husband, or care?

[Caldera]

4 hours ago, elviajero said:

It’s a ‘Tourist Visa’, and was aimed at the Asian market to make it easier for them to come and go.

Rather than blaming Westerners for maxing out their METV, you should blame the Thai authorities for poorly designing it this way.

 

I agree that it was aimed at the Asian market, I read the news back then as well. Fit for its intended purpose, they should have designed it as a VOA replacement: Validity 6 months, multiple entries, get stamped in for 15 days (!) upon arrival. Not 60 days, no 30 day extension - try to "live in Thailand" on that!

 

For Westerners, they could (or could not) have left the existing double entry tourist visa in place. They effectively replaced it with the METV - at a higher price and with additional requirements. I don't think it's surprising that certain Westerners "misunderstood" that.

[lkv]

13 minutes ago, Caldera said:

They effectively replaced it with the METV - at a higher price and with additional requirements. I don't think it's surprising that certain Westerners "misunderstood" that.

- Get it in your home country.

- Prove you have a job in your home country. That you will go back to. To....mmm....work.

 

If some were innovative with employment letters from 10 pound companies, with them as directors, that's a different story. Or from their friends.

 

You know what the Embassies wanted to see? "He works for our company, he will be on leave for xxx time, after which he will resume work."

 

Keywords: go back, home country, work.

 

If you look at it like that, it's easier to understand what they had in mind with METV.

Edited July 15, 2019 by lkv

[Guest]

5 hours ago, elviajero said:

If you’re divorced what does your ex-wife have to do with any visa application?

We weren't even married at all to begin with but now after 8 years together she's even sueing me in court and I'm going to have to countersue in an attempt of getting 50% of the house/land/car value. Trust me, you don't want to be in my shoes.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

Rather than blaming Westerners for maxing out their METV, you should blame the Thai authorities for poorly designing it this way.

I haven’t and don’t blame ‘westerners’ for maxing out a METV. 

[KhaoYai]

I haven't used the e-visa system yet, I doubt many have and I'm a little confused.  I was aware that where the e-visa system has been installed, for longer term visas sich an a Non O based on marriage applications can only be made by either that country's nationals or those with residence there.  That will obviously cause problems for some people.

 

I wasn't aware though, that this also applies to tourist visas - if that's correct then surely its an 'own goal' for Thailand? For example, a lot of young people go backpacking in S.E. Asia - many of those like the ability to make their plans as they go. So are we now saying that such people can no longer apply for a Tourist visa to Thailand in a country that has the e-visa system and where they are not resident?

Edited July 15, 2019 by KhaoYai

[ubonjoe]

17 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

So are we now saying that such people can no longer apply for a Tourist visa to Thailand in a country that has the e-visa system and where they are not resident?

Two out of the 3 embassies using the e visa system were already restricting them to citizens and residents of the country where they are located.

There are many embassies and consulates that have the same requirements.

[elviajero]

50 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

I wasn't aware though, that this also applies to tourist visas - if that's correct then surely its an 'own goal' for Thailand? For example, a lot of young people go backpacking in S.E. Asia - many of those like the ability to make their plans as they go. So are we now saying that such people can no longer apply for a Tourist visa to Thailand in a country that has the e-visa system and where they are not resident?

If they qualify for Visa Exemption a backpacker doesn't, in most cases, need a Tourist Visa.