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Crackdown on tourist visas - 6 month limit?


Stickman

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I note the following article from eThailand.com, the exact link for which is as follows:

http://www.ethailand.com/LIFESTYLE/wp/visa_risks.htm

The article goes on to say that the Thai authorities have limitied the number of tourist visas that can be consecutively applied for to six months after which time the applicant must leave the country for six months. No source is given for this information, so I wonder if it is bona fide or otherwise... Anyway, the article is well worth reading, nonetheless.

Stick

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quote:

Originally posted by Stickman:

Stick[/QB]

You seem to be knowledgeable about these visa issues. Do you think there is reason to suspect the same rules may apply to the regular 1-month visa, that people just get when entering the country? I think technically maybe that is also a 'tourist' visa or not? It would be a major inconvenience to me to have to leave the country for 6 months, it would really shatter my live.

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All--

I had a very nice coversation with the Royal Thai Consulate General (CG) today.. We chatted about a great many things... As a matter of practical interest I asked generally about the "alleged" tightening of Thai visa rules.. The CG said that they have received several directives (or memos) from the Washington Embassy and directly from Immigration Bangkok about being more 'selective' about visas and to please conform more closely to the stated visa rules... I did ask about the common practice of using back-to-back-to-back tourist visas. The CG said that while it has been a long-used, and long-known practice in BKK for some foreign visitors to do this the current Immigration Department has "frowned" on the misuse of the tourist visa program.

I asked if the current Thai political system (leadership) could have anything to do with this.. The CG replies that "of course it does." The CG also said that Immigration is looking closer at all passports that have multiple visas stamped to check against visa fraud or missue.. The CG did say that, like many things in Thailand, "you may find that some offices are better at doing this than others"

I also found out that the Immigration department sends to each individual Diplomatic post (Embassy or CG) a summary of the number of visa violations that occured with visas issued from their post. Much like the US Embassy/CG does, there is a list which shows the Embassies/CG's that have few violations and those that have a lot... I'm sure that there is some benefit of being on the top of the list and some form of punishment for being on the bottom of the list... I would assume that this is a part of the reason for the increased level of scrutiny in the visa issuance process we have all seen and experienced as of recent.

--UPSer laugh.gif" border="0laugh.gif" border="0

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