Guest Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Hi guys, OK how about this for the latest bullshit from immigration !! I am flying to BKK on the 17th November and am planning to stay for 3 months. I applied for a TOURIST visa which would give me sixty days on arrival and then I could apply for an extra month while in Thailand. So I do not have the hassle of doing the monthly run. Today I went to collect it from the Thai embassy in Tokyo but was shocked to see that I was refused a visa. Of course no one could explain why and the guy at the counter suggested that I write a letter and try again which I did. The problem seems to be that I am not working, they seem to find it impossible that I am on holiday and not working, the guy at the counter pointed at the requirements on a sheet of paper which state that a "company employee must prepare a letter from the company" WTF is this if I have no job.... Then I was asked why I had a mobile phone if I was only on holidays and why was I not staying in a hotel???? I am staying in a gaijin/guesthouse, which is much much cheaper than a hotel. Anyone able to shed any light on the confused minds of the authorities who came up with this refusal? Will this impact on my arrival at the airport next week in getting my usual 30 days on entry. Thanks From one very fu**** off Uniformguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 maybe playing hard ball with citizens originating from countries with stringent visa policies for citizens of Thailand? I think you will be fine at don muang, worse is that you could have been entered in a computer in tokyo embassy, so they'll grill you for 10 minutes, but i doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 pattaya127 said:maybe playing hard ball with citizens originating from countries with stringent visa policies for citizens of Thailand? I think you will be fine at don muang, worse is that you could have been entered in a computer in tokyo embassy, so they'll grill you for 10 minutes, but i doubt it. Never applied for any Thai visa myself, can it really get that hard to get one? Backpackers stay there 3 months, why UG could not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 At first I thought you wrote Los, and I could see a problem there. Because of Apec, some visas are hard to get there. But Thailand? Sounds like you got a new person who may have confused it with a business visa, but then who knows. As for having problems at the airport - I doubt it. I do not think they are that sophisticated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 I doubt anyone has ever had a problem getting their first tourist visa. The problem is some consulates scrutinize people who get repeat tourist visa's in various ways. For instance, in Laos they just started a rule that if you have 4 tourist visa's in your passport, they won't give you a 5th, no exceptions. I have been told Singapore has a long standing rule that they will not give a tourist visa if you just exited Thailand on a tourist visa (that is, they deny back to back). Ironically, in either case you can just return on a 30 day border pass no problem. Sounds as if Japan has some sort of policy in place as well. But on the other hand, some consulates will keep on giving tourist visa's and some people are in Thailand for over 10 consecutive years on them. The reason for this scrutiny is Thailand wants people to get the right kind of visa such as a retirement visa, marriage visa, work visa, etc. At the same time, they are adjusting the rules to accept people who spend a lot and keep out those who don't. As a meaningless side note, you'd think the Thai Govt would go after the 1 million Burmese living and working in Thailand illegally if they had their priorities right in this regard. Oh well. The problem with the way Thailand is going with visa rules of all types including 30 day border passes is there are many "good" people who will fall through the cracks. For instance, if you are not of retirement age, are not married to a thai, and do not happen to have millions of baht on hand, then you might not be able to spend as long or frequent stints in Thailand as you would want. There's no reason to panic or any advance information the hammer will fall anytime soon, but just be aware things have been a changing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 Thanks for all the feedback guys and I feel slightly more relieved now. I have just come back from the embassy having tried again yesterday and there is a note on my application saying "Visa will not be issued" but of course no explanation. I have never applied for a tourist visa before but have been a regular visitor to Thailand over the last 3 years staying for 2/3 weeks at a time. This trip I was planning to stay for 3 months so I applied for a visa. I should also have made it clear that I am Irish not Japanese. My profession of 'Teacher' may have been a reason but I really don't know. Anyway I will have to spend the next week nervously wondering what will happen when I turn up at the airport next week. If they allow me in I'll see some of you during my stay!!!! Uniformguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 Very strange my friend. But all the consuls and embassies have been given new stricter guidelines over the past few months. Even my consul here in Vancouver is telling me that things have changed big and they 'have to' follow the new policies. I too, am not a happy camper at this point, but I will be visiting my Thai consulate that I have dealt with for over 20 years to try and get some sense out of them. I'll post once I have reached a conclusion with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted November 9, 2004 Report Share Posted November 9, 2004 uniformguy said:Thanks for all the feedback guys and I feel slightly more relieved now. I have just come back from the embassy having tried again yesterday and there is a note on my application saying "Visa will not be issued" but of course no explanation. I have never applied for a tourist visa before but have been a regular visitor to Thailand over the last 3 years staying for 2/3 weeks at a time. This trip I was planning to stay for 3 months so I applied for a visa. I should also have made it clear that I am Irish not Japanese. My profession of 'Teacher' may have been a reason but I really don't know. Anyway I will have to spend the next week nervously wondering what will happen when I turn up at the airport next week. If they allow me in I'll see some of you during my stay!!!! Uniformguy Suspect that you have a number of 30 day stamps in your passport and that is the reason, along with your application listing low budget traveler, the visa was refused. Tokyo is not known as easy. Do not believe you will have a problem with first 30 day entry - repeats may not be as automatic as they were however. Be sure you have required 10,000 baht in cash or travelers checks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 10, 2004 Report Share Posted November 10, 2004 Yeah I have a lot of 30 day stamps in my passport.......every three months for the past 3 years. But I have always left on time and never stayed more than 3 weeks at a time..... UG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted November 11, 2004 Report Share Posted November 11, 2004 Just got my normal renewal of my Non-Imm O (marriage) visa from the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles. Same-same in that I needed a letter from from my wife, our original marriage docs (returned to us of course) and the money ($125 now). No request for financials of any kind. They issued it with no problem save the clerical screw-up of giving me a 90 day single entry but charging me $125 (as listed on the visa sticker). A phone call and three weeks(!!!) of waiting solved that tho'. The ony difference from my previous same visas is that this one is stamped "employment prohibited". Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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