*If you (or someone you are sponsoring) require a visa to travel to Thailand, please read this message in its entirety.
2 November 2022:
The ICFP ISC Secretariat has been notified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and Department of Consular Affairs (DoCA) that all remaining registered ICFP2022 delegates who took part in the ICFP visa application pre-approval process have been approved to move forward with their expedited visa application at the embassy of their choice in order to attend the 2022 International Conference on Family Planning in Pattaya City, Thailand. No one who participated in this process was denied pre-approval.
ICFP2022 has sent an email to each individual on this list to notify them of their pre-approval and to detail next steps for delegates to move forward with obtaining their Thai visa to attend the 2022 ICFP.
If you are a registered ICFP2022 delegate who took part in this process and are still awaiting an update on your application status, you should have a message from ICFP2022 in your inbox, so please check your email immediately to locate this official communication and proceed with the next steps as outlined in that email (please also check your spam folder).
Next steps
All pre-approved delegates should immediately call their Thai embassy, if you have not done so already, to apply for the Tourist MICE visa (TR-MICE). Some embassies and consulates may have this listed only as a “Tourist” visa for approved MICE events.
As well, please alert the embassy at which you apply that you are on the special visa application pre-approval list that was sent by the DoCA to every Thai embassy and consulate that grants visas across the globe that outlines your visa application as a top priority for expedited turn-around.
Thailand’s Department of Consular Affairs has reiterated that this process should only take one or two days to complete, rather than the usual 3-4 weeks quoted by many Thai embassies/consulates for those not a part of the pre-approval process. They have also acknowledged that this special process is a decision made at the highest levels at the Department of Consular Affairs, and that they are committed to ensuring that all embassies understand this never-before-instituted procedure that has been put into place specifically for ICFP delegates.
Any pre-approved delegates that previously required an in-person appointment for the Thai visa process should contact their designated embassy or consulate to inquire about submitting the required documentation via an alternative method. Ultimately, the use of alternative methods to submit your visa application, as well as the approval of that application, is up to the discretion of each individual embassy or consulate.
The ICFP ISC Secretariat has been informed by the DoCA that everyone on the pre-approved list may garner their visa from any Thai consulate or embassy across the globe that is authorized to grant visas to enter Thailand.
The decision to grant any ICFP delegate a TR-MICE visa is made solely by individual Thai embassies and consulates. ICFP organizers have worked with Thailand’s Department of Consular Affairs to increase the likelihood of the acceptance of your application, but ultimately cannot give any official guidance on the process outside of what is outlined on the ICFP Visa Process page on the ICFP2022 website.
We want to hear from you!
If you are experiencing any issues with a particular Thai embassy or consulate, please reach out to us immediately, as we are actively monitoring the VISA FEEDBACK FORM and passing issues along to our conference co-host, the Ministry of Public Health of the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Department of Consular Affairs in real-time.
If you experience any difficulties with this process, please ask the Thai Embassy to give you the name, telephone number, and email address of the contact that the Department of Consular Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand should immediately reach out to in order to clear up any confusion on this special process that has been approved for the ICFP2022 delegates about which they have already received several official communications from the Thai government.
The ICFP Secretariat would like to thank you for your patience during this process.
We look forward to welcoming you to Thailand for the sixth ICFP 14-17 November 2022 in Pattaya City, Thailand as we work together to make family planning for all a reality.
