As a follow up to yesterdays post on Vientaine some Thailand expats may be interested in how I got a non immigrant O visa in Vientaine.
It seems to be getting harder and harder these days to get a Non Immigrant visa for Thailand in a neighbouring country but with the right papers it's easy enough in Vientiane. I just got a single entry 90 day Non Imm O visa (I didn't need a multiple entry so I can't say if they are possible to get or not).
I turned up at the consulate at 8.30am on the dot, that's the time the consulate opens. It took my taxi about 20 minutes in morning traffic to get from the Mongkol (riverfront) hotel to the consulate. (Note that there is an embassy and a consulate in Vientaine and visas are done at the consulate. Even if you say embassy to a tuktuk driver he'll take you to the consulate). By the time I arrived the queue was already long so my ticket number was 139 and there were at least another 100 behind me, so arrive early. The queue took 3 hours to get to me. After I had submitted my papers there was a further 45 minute wait to make payment and collect a receipt.
I arrived with a pile of papers. These are the ones they took from me:
Completed Form (freely available inside the embassy, ignore the guys outside the gates)
Passport
Copy of passport
2 passport photos
Copy of wife's passport
Copy of wife's id card
Copy of wife's tabien baan
Copy of marriage cert in Thai and English
Copy of marriage registration dov in Thai and English
Copy of my son's birth certificate in Thai and English
A letter from my wife (in English and Thai) asking that I be granted a visa because I support her and my son.
Copy of my drivers licence
Copy of my bank book showing over 400k baht
All my wife's papers were signed by her, all papers were signed by me.
I'm not sure if you need all these docs but I had them just in case and the consulate took them. I also had photos of our family and our house and a map of our house location. These were given back to me.
The Visa fee is 2000 baht for a single entry and you collect the visa the following day in the afternoon from 13:00 to 15:00. People start queuing to collect their passports outside the gate at about 12 noon but it's not really necessary. I arrived at 1pm and got ticket number 107 and collected my passport within an hour, the queue moves quickly. There is no shelter from the midday sun or rain for those who queue outside the embassy.
I hope this is of use to someone. By far the biggest hold up on the day was muppets without the proper papers arguing with the embassy staff.
Interestingly the guy next to me at the counter was only after a tourist visa. The embassy official asked him conversationally if he was married to a Thai. He said he was and she asked where was his marriage cert? He said he only wanted a tourist visa but she handed him back his papers and said if he was married to a Thai he should apply for a marriage visa and if he didn't have the papers he would have to get a visa on arrival (just 15 days at the Friendship Bridge).
Another thing I noticed for tourist visas is that they say they require proof of onward travel from Thailand. Not sure if this is enforced but it could catch some people out.
