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Expat Visas News
Latest 10 news items tagged Visas
20 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Expat retirees in Thailand still scared of more rule changes
Chaos still rules in Thailand’s immigration requirement for long-stay expats. Whilst tourists and other visitors are now covered until late September by the junta government’s latest edict, other sectors of the expat community may be left out in the cold. Having made a sensible decision based on helping trapped visitors on tourist visas, the government seems to have left out other expat sectors which continually contribute to the country’s economy. The decision to allow another amnesty, for want of a better description, was...
17 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Hope springs eternal for expats and visitors trapped in Thailand
Expats trapped in Thailand and threatened with deportation on the expiry of the visa amnesty are waiting with bated breath after several local English language media outlets suggested there’s now hope for another extension. Thousands of business travellers, tourists and expatriates whose visas had expired during Thailand’s strict lockdowns have been stuck in the country for months, unable to leave due to border closures and an almost total lack of international flights. Yesterday’s flight listings from Bangkok’s international...
15 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Trapped expats in Thailand now dumped by their embassies
As if things weren’t bad enough already, Bangkok embassies are now refusing their trapped expats the necessary visa extension letters. For those expats trapped for months in Thailand and now under threat of fines and deportation as the visa amnesty ends, the last hope of an embassy letter supporting another extension of stay has now been snatched away by their own people. Both the British and USA embassies have now dumped their troubled citizens in the mire, as the letter is a mandatory requirement for trapped foreigners needing a...
14 Jul at 6 PM 2020
What now for unlucky expats and visitors trapped in Thailand?
As the end of the month approaches, thousands of expats and unlucky visitors trapped in Thailand due to the pandemic are fearing being thrown out of the country once their visa amnesties end. Many of those affected will simply have nowhere to go as their countries’ borders are also closed. What threat to Thailand and its excellent handling of its pandemic do these trapped visitors and expats pose? They’re been here for months and are virus-free, yet are about to be thrown out like unwanted rubbish with many as yet having no way of...
13 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Second passports at bargain-basement rates offered by Caribbean nations
Now’s the time for expats to bag a discounted second passport as the Caribbean nations are having a fire sale due to the coronavirus. The tropical island nations in the Caribbean are highly reliant on tourism for their GDP and are suffering due to the pandemic-induced flight bans and lockdowns. As a result, they’re now offering steep discounts on their second passport schemes simply in order to bring in more cash. At the same time, second passports are being seen as one way to avoid being stranded whilst riding out the pandemic....
9 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Reports of frozen expat bank accounts in Saudi are fake news
Saudi Arabia is now reassuring expats their bank accounts are safe from being frozen. Expat professionals began to panic after social media reports suggested the Kingdom is planning to freeze all foreign-owned personal bank accounts which show monthly incomes larger than account holders’ official salary payments. According to the Saudi Monetary Authority, the reports are fake news and expat professionals should ignore them as no such plan is in the governmental pipeline. The government spokesperson also stated that Saudi banks...
7 Jul at 6 PM 2020
How to avoid UK quarantine after your Portuguese vacation
The UK Foreign Office is urging Brit expats in Portugal to stop helping their compatriots avoid quarantine. As reported in an English language local expat newspaper, expat Brits living in Portugal are advising prospective UK tourists on how best to avoid having to quarantine for two weeks after returning to the home country. Some enterprising expats are even volunteering to pick British tourists up at local airports in Spain and drive them across the Portuguese/Spanish border. For British holidaymakers needing to avoid the 14-day...
7 Jul at 6 PM 2020
Saudi to extend expat residency and work permits
In order to mitigate the negative economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi Arabia is extending expats’ visas including work and residency permits. The move is aimed at the high number of working expatriates who found themselves stranded outside the kingdom when the lockdown was announced and all international flights were grounded. The Saudi government hopes the move will mitigate the chaos being caused to residents, private and public companies, investors and the Kingdom’s economic activity by the pandemic....
30 Jun at 6 PM 2020
Expats trapped outside Thailand can now return home
Expats trapped outside Thailand by the anti-coronavirus measures have been exchanging information via their own Facebook page. Now that the long wait is almost over, Western expats with jobs as well those with Thai wives and families will be permitted to return to their homes. Some have been trapped outside the country since the first measures to control the pandemic were introduced almost six months ago, guilty of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Facebook ‘Farangs Stranded Abroad Due to Lockdown in Thailand’...
26 Jun at 6 PM 2020
