Integrity Legal

Unlike the past two and a half years, border running in Thailand is again possible as Thailand reopens and allows tourism once again. As to the definition of a “border run” it may be best to quote directly from legal.co.th:

So in my mind, the Border Run is basically when someone hops over the border for example Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, here in Thailand, they literally just hop over the Border. What you see a lot of down here in Bangkok, Pattaya area, sort of the eastern part of Thailand, you see a lot of folks run over the border to Cambodia. Literally they just hop the Border, they are there for a relatively short period of time, almost nominal period of time and then they hop right back into Thailand and then they get their status that way.

This definition is different from that of a visa run which is defined as:

Then there is what I think of as a Visa Run which is when one flies or you could drive but ultimately what is going on here is you are going to an Embassy, in this case a Thai Embassy and getting a new actual Visa, then coming back to Thailand.

Although border runs are again possible, those who do not use a visa agency or transportation service which specializes in border runs may find themselves unable to depart and return to Thailand in the same day.

Meanwhile, officials within the American State Department have noted that they are taking steps to decrease processing times for US visas. To quote directly from the State Department’s website:

As for many service providers, the COVID-19 pandemic forced profound reductions in the Department’s visa processing capacity in two main ways.  First, restrictions on travel to the United States, and local restrictions on public places like our overseas consular waiting rooms, curbed our ability to see visa applicants.  As most applicants are required by U.S. law to appear in person, these restrictions forced a reduction in the number of visa applications the Department could process.

Second, as revenue from the application fees that fund visa processing operations was cut nearly in half, the Department was forced to leave more than 300 overseas consular officer positions unfilled in 2020 and 2021.  This further reduced the number of visa applications we could process.

One method DOS appears to be using is waiver of interviews (this should not be confused with an I-601 waiver or an I-212 waiver). In certain nonimmigrant visa cases it may be possible to apply for, and receive, a visa without the need to physically be present in the interview:

During the pandemic, the Department of State coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security to waive in-person interviews for several key visa categories, including for many students and temporary workers integral to supply chains.  In addition, applicants renewing nonimmigrant visas in the same classification within 48 months of their prior visa’s expiration are now eligible to apply without an in-person interview in their country of nationality or residence.  This has already reduced the wait time for an interview appointment at many embassies and consulates.  We estimate 30 percent of worldwide nonimmigrant visa applicants may be eligible for an interview waiver, freeing up in-person interview appointments for those applicants who still require an in-person interview.

Actual case processing time remains far longer than prior to the second quarter of 2020 so the practical impact of these initiatives remains to be seen.

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