Me again.

[colmx]

Bottom line, why would you have to pay for something that is totally unrelated to the visit you are offering him ? He doesn't need that piece of land to exit Lao anymore than he needs it to secure a visa.

He doesn't need the paperwork to exit Laos. he needs to bring the (translated) paperwork for the land to the Australian embassy as part of his application. It is considered a form of proof that he has a reason to return to his home country at the end of his visa. In non Schengen countries the burden of proof is on the applicant and not their sponsor...

[justaguy]

You are lucky that you have the Schengen visa where you come from... in the rest of the civilized world we are a little more fussy about who we let across our borders and force reams of paperwork upon applicants

A friend of mine is trying to get an Irish visa for his Chinese friend and they are being made jump through hoops... Same same when my Thai BF comes here. Worst thing is each time we apply they look for more and more paperwork

I am quite sure, it won't be all that more difficult to obtain than a Schengen visa, it's not like they give those away either.. But if you inform yourself of the requirements, they aren't all that difficult to comply with.

[justaguy]

He doesn't need the paperwork to exit Laos. he needs to bring the (translated) paperwork for the land to the Australian embassy as part of his application. It is considered a form of proof that he has a reason to return to his home country at the end of his visa. In non Schengen countries the burden of proof is on the applicant and not their sponsor...

Not according to the other thread, where the op quoted literally : "I actually meant the police or government want this money to check his land so they know he has s omething to come back to. "

Why would the Lao government or police care one bit if he returns or not ?

For the other side: surely obtaining proof of intend to return doens't have to cost a whopping 15.000 baht, certainly not in Lao.

[bobsaigon2]

My final word on this, for what's it's worth: 1. The Lao government does not care if your friend never returns to Laos. This goes for the Laos Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the police, the Girl Guides, the Ambulance Brigade, etc. He is totally free to leave and never return. Land title is irrelevant. Proving that he owns a shop house, regardless of the number of chickens and pigs that are in residence, is no guarantee that he will be financially motivated to return to Laos.

2. He will not get a tourist visa from the Australian government because he has no way to show that his financial situation in Laos is substantial enough to attract him to return to Laos when his tourist visa expires. No amount of promises or guarantees by an Australian sponsor will help to get the tourist visa.

Have fun with your friend in Thailand or Laos and be resigned to the fact that he's not going to be able to get anywhere near Australia, especially in these days of the Australian government's more restrictive immigration regulations.

[aarancam]

BTW the 20 x 30 measurements may not necessarily be metres - remember that in Thailand (and presumably Laos) they have their own measurement system - so those dimensions could be in Wa(2M) or Sen(40M)

If its in Sen - then your guy could be a considerable land holder!

He's got a shop and keeps pigs and chickens

[cdnmatt]

Well, if he has pigs and chickens, there's no way it's only 20x30m plot.

[justaguy]

Well, if he has pigs and chickens, there's no way it's only 20x30m plot.

5555 Ample room to keep a few chickens and pigs on that kind of area. Those animals generally don't need an awfull lot of space.

[cdnmatt]

I don't know, but I only have 2 dogs, and out land area is about 30x60m, and I think that's even quite small for them.
Bringing a bunch of pigs and chickens into the yard probably really wouldn't go over very well.

[Smiles]

I don't know, but I only have 2 dogs, and out land area is about 30x60m, and I think that's even quite small for them.

Bringing a bunch of pigs and chickens into the yard probably really wouldn't go over very well.

Cndmatt ... the only thing you've gotten right here is "I don't know".

If Thai (or Lao) farmers find they don't have enough land for what they want to do ... they'll immediately scrounge up a friend or a neighbour or some stranger to rent them the extra land. They'll make a deal with him/her to pay in kind, or cash annually, or selling his children, or some other way of compensation. So our Lao farmer friend will do what he has to do to get enough room to put down a crop or grow some animals even though his own land is not equal to the task.
My beloved Mr Suphot is owner of 22 rai of land ... 50 % of which is rented out to other folks. It's the way of the country side.

The Lao guy we are discussing here has many options to take care of his need to have pigs and chickens and illegal Muai Thai events, even though his own actual piece of land is not enough to to so.

[cdnmatt]

Ok, now you're just going off on a totally unrelated tangent. Yes, I know, Thailand is a very communal society, especially out in the villages. They seem to understand the simple concept that the village is only as strong as its weakest link, so they take care of each other to help strenghten the village as a whole. Got it.

However, this is about getting across the Australian border by trying to convince the Australian government you have a full-put ranch with pigs and chickens on a 20x30m plot of land, which includes your house. I could be wrong, but quite certain the Aus govt won't buy it.