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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawVisa NewsThai Immigration Chief Seeks National & International Coordination

Thai Immigration Chief Seeks National & International Coordination

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the new Immigration Chief here in Thailand and the further coordination of various agencies, apparatus and the overall policy with respect to Immigration here in the Kingdom.

In a recent article from the Bangkok Post discussing the new Immigration Chief, his name is Lieutenant General Sompong Chingduang. The article is titled: New Immigration Chief Bullish. I urge those who are watching this video to read this article; there is more than what I am talking about. I am talking about just one specific thing that caught my eye. Quoting directly, "It is necessary for the IB to collaborate and share information with Interpol and the Immigration Authorities of other countries to keep track of foreign criminal gangs he said."  By "he" they are talking about the new General in charge of Immigration. IB also specifically refers to the immigration Bureau. "He also said he had recently instructed the IB's Investigation Center to work with other agencies to create a more connected system of logging foreign criminals. That's important and I want those watching this video to really understand that.  I am going to read that again, "He also said he had recently instructed the IB's Investigation Center, (let's be clear; Investigation Center) to work with other agencies to create a more connected system of logging foreign criminals." 

So first of all, yes they are going after criminals but we are also going to be looking at a more coordinated system whereby they are going to be looking at everything and if you think about this in the context of heightened scrutiny with respect to for example Business Visa applications that can have a tremendous impact. Also if you're looking at it from the standpoint of heightened scrutiny with respect to sham marriages; we have seen a lot of sham marriage problems here in Thailand over the last two or three years and I think this heightened scrutiny will probably result in possibly more of those being found as well as some of the more pretensive ways people use B visas to remain in the country.  Moreover obviously “genuine”, for lack of better term, criminals will be found out but I think it also going to result in again heightened scrutiny or adjudicative pressure if you will, with respect to visa applications because the system is becoming more coherently efficient in operating, dealing with the various aspects of the overall system.

What am I talking about here? Just as a for example.  Business Visas at one time would process very differently than the way they do now because in many ways the Immigration apparatus was sort of left somewhat at a disadvantage with respect to documentation because they kind of had to take the applicant's word for it that the documentation presented was genuine. As we have seen in the past year or so those visa agencies etc. that were assisting people with falsified documentation, were called out because of the increased coordination between Immigration and for example the Revenue Department or Social Security or Labor Department, various other departments that have an impact. They make up a facet, or their documentation makes up a component of the overall B Visa application. So where this heightened coordination resulted in the finding of criminals who were presenting falsified documentation, we could see that having ramifications on a much wider scale as the system becomes more coordinated. 

So the thing to take away from this video, I won't say it is necessarily going to get harder but I will definitely say that those who are looking to somehow try and game the system are definitely going to find it more difficult to do so in the future especially as these various agencies become more coordinated and work more efficiently together.