Getting foreign visa for Laos man.

[aarancam]

I just spent a couple of weeks in Bangkok with my mate from London. After about a week I met a guy from Laos who was in Bangkok on a three months working visa. He didn't want money at first but I ended up paying him quite a bit in the end, not daily 2000 baht but for other stuff. His room rent and off fees etc. Anyway, sorry this is a bit long winded, but I want him to come to Oz for a month, not just for sex which was a bit naive to be honest. He's gay and gorgeous but I would love him to have the experience of another country. Laos is landlocked so he's never flown or seen the sea. I will have to go and get him which is a pain in the arse to be honest. He's too scared to fly on his own which is fair enough as the change over at Singapore is difficult even for me! His English isn't bad and I've sent him $200 to cover visa costs. he has a shop selling coke and water, I've seen the photos and videos on Whatsapp and he's got pigs and chickens but still very poor.
Anyway, he now says he needs 15000 baht for a police check or he can't get visa. Is he taking the fucking piss? I really hope he's not but has anyone had an experience like this?

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[bobsaigon2]

Just curious - wouldn't he need the police check to be from Laos since he's a Lao citizen? If he actually needs it from Thailand, then by knocking off a Zero from his request might get you closer to the actual cost of the check. Just a guess. I'm not an Aussie, but 15K does seem excessive. And I suspect that there is a lot more than a police check involved before he could get a visa to Australia.

[arsenal]

If you pursue this path it will not end well.

[bobsaigon2]

Aarancam: Please consider Arsenal's post to be the definitive answer to your inquiry.

[bobsaigon2]

http://www.pcscenter.sb.police.go.th/eng/ This says Thai police clearance costs 100 Baht.

[cdnmatt]

15,000 baht for a police criminal check? It doesn't even cost that much in western countries, or even for a FBI background check. He's taking the piss.

BTW... how exactly are you planning to get him into Australia? It's much more than just signing for him, eh?

[frequent]

Have you checked your own government's web site - https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/600-/? As far as I am aware 3-month tourist visas for Australia require no police check at all. I assisted a Bangkok Bank employee get such a visa recently - everything was done online except for a mandatory collection of biometric data at the Visa processing centre off Sukhumvit and that cost less than 1,000. I think if you don't do it online it might be something like 5,000 baht for the entire process, paper-based. I don't imagine there's a police check for Lao citizens vs. anyone else but that site would tell you. However, a self-employed person at that level of the economy is going to run into all sorts of problems as the Aussies - like every other First World country who issues visas - will want evidence that he will return to Thailand or Laos. I expect you'll have to provide all sorts of evidence of financial stability yourself - payslips, bank statements, rates notices for your property - to support a successful application

As an aside when I went to the visa processing centre it looked as though Australia or the UK (same centre) might be hosting an undertakers' convention until I realised that there were lots of government employees having their biometric data processed that day

[cdnmatt]

Yeah, there's 3 things the government will want satisified before allowing him entry. It's best to get this done at an Australian embassy overseas, instead of just giving a short in the dark at the airport.

1.) Proof he will return home. Job, land, house, leases, etc.
2.) Proof of financies, from either you or him, or preferably both.
3.) Proof that your relationship is genuine. Doesn't have to be a romantic relationship, but just proof you genuinely know each other, so the government knows he didn't just pay you to bring him into the country.

[cdnmatt]

I just asked Leo for you. He wasn't really sure, but said around 200 baht for a criminal background check in Laos, which seems about right.

Think, a Thai passport costs 1000 baht, a criminal background check in Canada costs I think $30 (1000 baht), and if I remember correctly a FBI background check including fingerprinting only cost $60 (2000 baht). So there's no way a background check for Laos would cost 15,000 baht.

[bobsaigon2]

All info and opinions above are correct and helpful. It occurs to me that the US only requires police clearance for immigrant visa applicants, not for tourists. Apparently it is the same in Oz, as frequent pointed out. I still think the OP should re-read Arsenal's post #3 and give up any plans to bring Mr. Lao to Australia. "...he's never flown or seen the sea". OK, the OP can go back to Thailand and fly from Bangkok to Phuket with the guy.