I thought people here might find the following interesting. And if anyone has any advice on how to deal with this, I%26#39;d love to hear that as well!
I fedexed my visa application and passport to the Myanmar Embassy in Washington DC on 4/16. Unfortunately, I forgot to check on Myanmar holiday celebrations, so they didn%26#39;t receive it until April 21.
I patiently waited for the return. And Fedex%26#39;s web site tracking indicated the passport was back on the way to me on 4/29. I received the Fedex package on 4/30....
Well, there%26#39;s my arrival and immigration forms stapled into the passport by a Myanmar visa. It%26#39;s my picture on those forms and they%26#39;re the ones I filled out...
But the passport is NOT mine. It belongs to a woman in Texas. Luckily, her phone number was in the passport so I called her. She hasn%26#39;t gotten her package from the embassy back, but the Fedex web site indicates it%26#39;s due today. She%26#39;s going to call when it arrives and I%26#39;m hoping it will have my passport in it.
But, even if this is true, I don%26#39;t think we can just each keep our arrival/immigration documents and send each other the passports.
The visa glued into the passport DOES have the correct passport number on it (hers). Hopefully mine will as well.
But the arrival/immigration documents have a visa number on them and it%26#39;s the visa in her passport. I%26#39;m afraid if I put these documents in my passport, that the discrepancy when I reach Myanmar will cause me to be turned back at the airport. (Any thoughts on this?)
I%26#39;m really sick about this.
Right now I%26#39;m worried that I won%26#39;t even have my passport back to leave the country for the rest of my trip on May 15th. (I%26#39;m visiting Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia before Myanmar).
If the woman in Texas has my passport and sends it to me, at least I%26#39;ll be able to have the rest of my trip. But my trip to Myanmar won%26#39;t happen.
Under the best possible circumstances, I%26#39;ll get my passport back tomorrow, May 2 (if the woman in Texas receives it and is able to get it to Fedex today also). More likely, I%26#39;ll receive it on Monday May 5 I don%26#39;t think I have time to send my passport back to the Myanmar Embassy to straighten this out in time... (since I%26#39;m leaving early in the morning on May 15).
But if anyone has any advice, please share it!
Thanks in advance for the advice.
travelgail
Bizarre Visa ProblemDear Travelgail,
My heart sank. I am very sorry to learn of your troubles; and I am angry about it. In UK it would be known as the right royal mess! Clearly the embassy/consulate has mixed up the passports. My only advice is to ring up the embassy/consulate you sent the passport to (I understand there is a Myanmar consulate in New York - corect?) and insist you speak to the charge de affairs or the First Secretary no less and give him or her a good earful - I don%26#39;t mean to be rude, but to put your points clearly and firmly and ask what redress he or she would be able to make. I would go as far as writing a formal complaint to the ambassador/charge de affairs or the first secretary whichever is the most senior there. At the very least you deserve refund of your costs. Looks like the Burma part of your trip is seriously jeopardised. I wouldn%26#39;t risk going with someone elses%26#39; visa stuck to your passport. The alternative is to apply for the visa in Bangkok but then you will certainly have to explain about the visa already on your passport which actually wasn%26#39;t issued to you. With increased stringency applied on visa now a days due to this referandum the government is currently conducting in Burma, I have a feeling it becomes a bit more complicated and difficult. In any case, I just hope at the very least you get your passport back!
Khayeethe
Bizarre Visa ProblemI hope you today get your passport.
I%26#39;m so sorry about your passport problem and you can imagine it happens even in the United States, what would have been happening there inside.
I think somebody suggestion here would be an option to call to embassy about it. And get endorsed and acknowledged about this on passport. So that you can show the signature or letter that they did something irregular proving it%26#39;s regular and formal.
We have the referendum for new constitution in coming 10th of May and it might be the reason they are pressured and loaded for entries to Myanmar.
Don%26#39;t do double for Myanmar visa, just try to have a proof of that it wasn%26#39;t you but excellency.
Cheers!
I hope you today get your passport.
I%26#39;m so sorry about your passport problem and you can imagine it happens even in the United States, what would have been happening there inside.
I think somebody suggestion here would be an option to call to embassy about it. And get endorsed and acknowledged about this on passport. So that you can show the signature or letter that they did something irregular proving it%26#39;s regular and formal.
We have the referendum for new constitution in coming 10th of May and it might be the reason they are pressured and loaded for entries to Myanmar.
Don%26#39;t do double for Myanmar visa, just try to have a proof of that it wasn%26#39;t you but excellency.
Cheers!
Well, I did get my passport back. So at least THAT really serious problem is solved. Now I just need to decide what to do about the arrival/immigration forms.
The visa in the passport is actually mine. It has my passport number on it.
It%26#39;s only the extra documents (arrival/immigration forms) that are supposed to be stapled to the page in my passport with the visa that have the wrong visa number on them. I can staple them into my passport without it looking like they%26#39;ve been removed from someone else%26#39;s.
I%26#39;m tempted to just change the visa number on those forms to the correct (my) visa number. It%26#39;s only off one digit. And it%26#39;s handwritten. It%26#39;s certainly the kind of mistake a clerk could have made and then just corrected the number.
Unfortunately, I%26#39;m not going to be in Bangkok to get a replacement visa there.
And while I might find some satisfaction by calling up the embassy in Washington DC (which is where I sent my passport for the visa) and giving them some grief, I%26#39;m not sure it%26#39;s likely to actually help me get in the country.
Thanks for the sympathy, though! It really did make me feel better.
travelgail
Perhaps it is a blessing. You may not want
to visit Myanmar this time after all the devastation of the
cyclone.
Hi azraf,
I haven%26#39;t decided what to do about my trip. I%26#39;m just sick watching the news of the cyclone and the devastation.
I wasn%26#39;t planning on traveling to Myanmar until June 15th, anyway. Right now my plans are to see how things are going at that time. If I think the tourism dollars will help and it won%26#39;t be a strain on relief services for me to visit, I may still do so. Obviously, if this is not the case, I won%26#39;t go.
It%26#39;s also occured to me to volunteer. I already have a visa to enter the country and I have 10 days free. But non-skilled volunteers probably won%26#39;t be in high demand. Nevertheless, if an opportunity arises, I%26#39;d certainly look into it.
If anyone has any ideas along these lines, I%26#39;d be happy to hear them. FYI, I%26#39;m a 50 year old female associate professor of information systems. So, heavy manual labor is not my forte! But maybe there is some way I could help...
travelgail
Dear Travelgail,
I share your grief at watching the news pictures/videos of the cyclone disaster. I won%26#39;t go into the frustrations over the aid issue here. I think it will be more chaotic at this moment. I think it would be more apt around the middle of June to travel to Burma. You may not be able to get to the delta area; but at least to Rangoon/Yangon. If you do, spend your money on the people, i.e. buy cards, souvenirs etc from the market stalls such as the Bogyoke Market, the stalls at the pagodas etc. instead of buying at the big stores.
I would assume NGO%26#39;s like Save the Children, Oxfam, World Vision, the Red Cross might be able to utilise your services with regards logistics. Perhaps contacting them might be an idea?
Khayeethe
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