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Thai Visa Applications: Tumblers in a Lock

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Visa applications. 

I sometimes liken the overall process to, it is like tumblers in a lock. I am talking about both Thai Visa processing at Thai Embassies and Consulates abroad as of the time this video. Also to a lesser degree but it is still a good analogy, it is also true for Visa extension applications here within Thailand. When I say tumblers in a lock it is like the requirements are all the tumblers or I should say the key has the right divots to hit those tumblers and then the timing of how that goes in and how that all interacts, results in the lock being opened. In this case the timing and the requirements associated with processing the Visa through the Royal Thai Embassy for example in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia for example, you have to hit all the requirements just at the right time so it all comes together to result in the lock opening up. I am simplifying this far more than perhaps it may be should be because we have seen a lot of people especially folks that are trying to do it DIY, do-it-yourself, and get this Visa sorted out, they really get frustrated because this process can really be cumbersome. It is pretty Byzantine at the moment, all the documentation. Some of it seems, it is even titled kind of duplicatively. Things like "fit to fly" versus COVID testing; it would seem that that is all one thing; well in point of fact they do differ. Things like Certificates of Entry and a Visa; well they are two different things. So again this is complex, it is confusing and the way I liken it though is if you are dealing with it is just like the tumblers in a lock. You have the key. The key is made in such a way that it hits all those tumblers correctly at a certain time as it is going in and then it all unlocks. That is basically the way that these visas are processing out of Embassies in Consulate abroad. 

Meanwhile, it is not dissimilar to what happens here for Extensions but it is far more a simultaneous thing. It all happens all at once. You are dealing with filing for your extension. You have to have everything on the checklist, go ahead and file that and even then there is discretion on the part of the Immigration Officer. They may want to see something else, you go ahead and present that and then you go ahead and bam you have got your Visa extension, at least under review and presumptively you are going to be able to get that extended. Again, the way to analogize this in my mind is like tumblers in a lock. You have to get that key to go in and hit those tumblers with a certain timing in order to open everything up.