A few questions about SETV in Vientiane

[ChomDo]

Hi, Could someone please help me with these questions:

 

I'm going for a 10 day vacation in Laos (so not a classic visa run this time) in Feb and I booked my Tourist Visa Application appointment on Feb 8. I will be flying back to Europe on May 10. This ticket is payed for long ago. Now obviously I would like to show them that real flight ticket out of Thailand and not have to book any cheap Air Asia ticket for this purpose. The only issue is that I'm planning to enter Thailand from Laos on Feb 9, so the ticket out on May 10 would not be within 90 days. If I've counted correctly it would fall one day short (91 days), is that correct?

 

Anyway, I've applied for a SETV in Vientiane countless times during the past 10 years and they never even asked for a flight ticket out of Thailand. Has this changed? Do they now want to see the ticket out? If so, can anyone confirm if I'll just have to book some fake ticket since my real ticket is for May 10?

 

I'm also wondering how would they even know what my actual entry date to Thailand would be if I cross at land border (meaning no flight ticket to Thailand). Can I not just tell them that I would be entering on Feb 10, even if I really would enter or probably fly form Vientiane to BKK on Feb 9?

 

Thanks!

[travelerjim]

From recent info on Vientiane for Tourist Visa...

"Tourist Visa, if you had previously some Tourist visas your application will be considered more carefully.

 

Vientiane is now asking for proof of funds, Book Bank with balance THB 20,000.- up OR print out from Bank account from home country value USD 700.-up.

 

Onward air ticket is not required, but prepare Rental Contract. "

 

Note that if you have been living in Thailand using various visas, extensions, exempt arrivals, 

you may be denied the Tourist Visa.

Be prepared...

Good Luck

 

https://www.thaivisaservice.com/visa-application-bangkok-to-vientiane-lao-pdr

 

 

[ChomDo]

2 hours ago, travelerjim said:

From recent info on Vientiane for Tourist Visa...

"Tourist Visa, if you had previously some Tourist visas your application will be considered more carefully.

 

Vientiane is now asking for proof of funds, Book Bank with balance THB 20,000.- up OR print out from Bank account from home country value USD 700.-up.

 

Onward air ticket is not required, but prepare Rental Contract. "

 

Note that if you have been living in Thailand using various visas, extensions, exempt arrivals, 

you may be denied the Tourist Visa.

Be prepared...

Good Luck

 

https://www.thaivisaservice.com/visa-application-bangkok-to-vientiane-lao-pdr

 

 

Thanks, that's all useful information and I will take it into account. Still, I need the answers to the questions in my original post. Could anyone help with those??

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, ChomDo said:

Thanks, that's all useful information and I will take it into account. Still, I need the answers to the questions in my original post. Could anyone help with those??

OP, maybe I'm missing something. It's start of 2020. Have you used a visa exempt border entry? You have 2 available per calendar year. Each of which can be extended by 30 days at imm. Not to mention a flight into CNX is pretty safe for visa exempt entry. Just a suggestion.

[ChomDo]

4 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

OP, maybe I'm missing something. It's start of 2020. Have you used a visa exempt border entry? You have 2 available per calendar year. Each of which can be extended by 30 days at imm. Not to mention a flight into CNX is pretty safe for visa exempt entry. Just a suggestion.

No I have not. I got a SETV from Saigon in November 2019 and now I'm going travelling in Laos for 10 days as stated in my original post. I know all the basics (I've been doing all kinds of visas for over 10 years). The issues that I raised in my post are just new to me so that's why I need help with those specific questions. I'm sure the veterans on the forum would know the answer to these questions?

[DrJack54]

31 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

No I have not. I got a SETV from Saigon in November 2019 and now I'm going travelling in Laos for 10 days as stated in my original post. I know all the basics (I've been doing all kinds of visas for over 10 years). The issues that I raised in my post are just new to me so that's why I need help with those specific questions. I'm sure the veterans on the forum would know the answer to these questions?

Why so cranky. You state you have been all kind of visas for 10 years. Thinking that makes you a veteran. 

You need to stay till May. Easy done. Even without visa.

Depending on history prior to setv from Saigon don't rule out rejection at Vientiane.  However if no previous setv from there I'm thinking not an issue.

Regarding onward flight (if required) explain to clerk that you intend to obtain extension to setv. Reports of that accepted. Not a given. Fall back would be throw away ticket. 

 

Edited January 15, 2020 by DrJack54

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, ChomDo said:

Still, I need the answers to the questions in my original post. Could anyone help with those??

As already stated, Vientiane will usually not be interested in any airline reservations. Certainly, they will not be carefully counting days. If they start interrogating you about the length of your recent stays in Thailand, possibly evidence of a flight reservation to home country in May might help your cause. Your main concern should be the number of days in Thailand visible to them in your current passport. The situation in Vientiane has completely changed in the last year, and they will usually deny tourist visas to those they consider spending too much time in Thailand.

[ChomDo]

10 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Why so cranky. You state you have been all kind of visas for 10 years. Thinking that makes you a veteran. 

You need to stay till May. Easy done. Even without visa.

Depending on history prior to setv from Saigon don't rule out rejection at Vientiane.  However if no previous setv from there I'm thinking not an issue.

Regarding onward flight (if required) explain to clerk that you intend to obtain extension to setv. Reports of that accepted. Not a given. Fall back would be throw away ticket. 

 

Oh sorry about that, didn't mean to sound cranky. I just wanted to get to the point about the date of my return ticket to Thailand. My primary question was to know if it would be an issue that my flight back to home country is not within 90 days of arrival to Thailand. This was just in case they ask for flight tickets out of Thailand, but according to the info here they don't normally ask for flights. I did read some other threads on the TV forum where people applying for SETV had been asked for flight ticket out of Thailand.

 

I'm hoping to not have any troubles because last year I spent 6 months back in my home country. So I arrived in Thailand in Sep 2019 with exempt stamp. Then I got a SETV in Saigon in November and now I will be applying for a SETV in Vientiane. So this would only be my second consecutive TR visa and I have my ticket back to home country in May (I'm hoping that will help).

 

If the flight dates back to home country did matter, my other option would of course be to stay in Laos a few days longer so my return ticket would be within 90 days of arrival to Thailand. My initial plan was to enter Thailand on Feb 8 and then just pay the 1-2 days overstay at Suvarnabhumi in May when I leave back.

[DrJack54]

3 minutes ago, ChomDo said:

Oh sorry about that, didn't mean to sound cranky. I just wanted to get to the point about the date of my return ticket to Thailand. My primary question was to know if it would be an issue that my flight back to home country is not within 90 days of arrival to Thailand. This was just in case they ask for flight tickets out of Thailand, but according to the info here they don't normally ask for flights. I did read some other threads on the TV forum where people applying for SETV had been asked for flight ticket out of Thailand.

 

I'm hoping to not have any troubles because last year I spent 6 months back in my home country. So I arrived in Thailand in Sep 2019 with exempt stamp. Then I got a SETV in Saigon in November and now I will be applying for a SETV in Vientiane. So this would only be my second consecutive TR visa and I have my ticket back to home country in May (I'm hoping that will help).

 

If the flight dates back to home country did matter, my other option would of course be to stay in Laos a few days longer so my return ticket would be within 90 days of arrival to Thailand. My initial plan was to enter Thailand on Feb 8 and then just pay the 1-2 days overstay at Suvarnabhumi in May when I leave back.

I like the plan of stay extra couple days in Laos. You don't even get a fine for only one day overstay however I always suggest to avoid any overstay if there is alternative. 

[ChomDo]

10 hours ago, BritTim said:

As already stated, Vientiane will usually not be interested in any airline reservations. Certainly, they will not be carefully counting days. If they start interrogating you about the length of your recent stays in Thailand, possibly evidence of a flight reservation to home country in May might help your cause. Your main concern should be the number of days in Thailand visible to them in your current passport. The situation in Vientiane has completely changed in the last year, and they will usually deny tourist visas to those they consider spending too much time in Thailand.

Thanks for the info. I'll have every possible document prepared just in case they ask. And hopefully my flights back to home country are ok even though it may not be within 90 days of arrival to Thailand. 

 

In my case it's hard to say if they can count the days I've been in Thailand, because I use two passports (dual nationality). The passport I'll be applying with has previous stamp into Thailand sometime in the spring of 2019. I'll have to use this passport because the other one is expiring in a few months. Usually embassies don't ask anything when switching between passports, but once I was asked to show both passports (in the Thai embassy at my home country) and that created problems.

 

The tricky part is answering the question in the application "date of last visit to Thailand". Normally I just answer honestly as it is but then the embassy should wonder why there is no such stamps in the passport that I'm applying with (In this case I would leave Thailand with the passport I'm currently using and apply for visa in Laos with the other one that has previous visit to Thailand in spring 2019. Hope this explanation makes sense). For some reason they never ask any questions about it except for that time in my home country.  

[ChomDo]

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

I like the plan of stay extra couple days in Laos. You don't even get a fine for only one day overstay however I always suggest to avoid any overstay if there is alternative. 

Ok thanks for the suggestion. Does a 1-2 day overstay actually matter. Like would they stamp my passport for overstay? I've overstayed a day once long ago so don't remember how this works or what the policy is now. 

 

Also, am I counting the dates correctly? I counted that to not have any overstay I would have to enter Thailand on Feb 10 because my flight out is May 10. I use the "add date" calculator on this website and add 90 days from Feb 10: https://www.timeanddate.com/date/dateadded.html?d1=13&m1=2&y1=2020&type=add&ay=&am=&aw=&ad=90&rec=

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, ChomDo said:

Also, am I counting the dates correctly?

My date calculator (Windows 10) says May 9th since it I used 89 days due to the day you enter the country counts as day one and most date calculators do not include the first day.

 

If you're leaving from either airport in Bangkok you will not be fined for one day of overstay.

A 1 or 2 day overstay is not normally a problem unless you are unlucky enough to get caught with it on the way to the airport.

[ChomDo]

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

My date calculator (Windows 10) says May 9th since it I used 89 days due to the day you enter the country counts as day one and most date calculators do not include the first day.

 

If you're leaving from either airport in Bangkok you will not be fined for one day of overstay.

A 1 or 2 day overstay is not normally a problem unless you are unlucky enough to get caught with it on the way to the airport.

Thanks a lot for confirming this. So in order to avoid overstay I would have to enter Thailand on Feb 11. I'll have to consider that, but it doesn't really suit my schedule to stay in Laos any longer so I might just have to take the one day overstay at the end. 

[ChomDo]

So got my visa done in Vientiane without any hassle or questions asked. Things went really smooth with the new scheduled appointment system. I had like queue no 8 so got in at 9am and was the first one to finish at 9.05. Before I used to spend at least 2 hours at this place, so clearly this system works better. 

 

At the documents counter I gave them only the papers mentioned on the embassies site + the photocopy of the Laos visa and entry stamp (which are not mentioned on the site). I had about 10 other papers prepared just in case of any questioning but nothing was asked. Can't think of another consulate that doesn't even ask for flight tickets out of Thailand or any bank statement. 

 

Next day they opened the gates at 1.30pm and got my passport back in about 5 minutes. At least 50 people stormed in so I guess some of them with a higher queue number had to wait a bit longer.

 

Luckily also avoided questioning at Don Muaeng this time. So my 60 day stamp now lasts until April 9 after which I would do a +30 so it should leave me with one day overstay – I hope (as discussed above).  

[Toosetinmyways]

Thanks for sharing your experience. A pity more posters asking for advice did not report back their outcomes so a better picture could emerge of problem areas regarding visas etc.