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I hold Israeli citizenship and passport and I am currently residing in Bangkok; I reside here nearly two years already - I didn't visit Israel since I came here. I don't hold Israeli residency status (i.e I am "a citizen which isn't a resident").

My current Thailand visa is amnesty visa which should end on 26/09/20.

If I won't be able to obtain a new (non-amnesty) visa, I do plan to stay somewhere in east Asia or in a nearby part of Oceania.

My problem

While Thailand is a Covid-19 safe country with respectively very low number of cases and deaths, a "green country", Israel is a Covid-19 struck country, a "red country" and currently (17/07/20) Israeli passport holders generally aren't allowed to enter almost any country.

My question

Because I plan to stay as near as to Thailand as I can (for 3-6 months), I ask:

In general, can immigration officers in airports make exceptions for citizens which aren't residents of Covid-19 struck states?

In other words, if a border officer examines my passport and can understand that indeed I didn't visit Israel for almost two years but the government of that person's state generally prohibits Israeli citizens from entering, do such officers, in general, have the authority to make an exception as I described?

Update

I think I shouldn't ask several different questions each one almost identical but about another state; I would want to know about Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Ari Brodsky
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George
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1 Answers1

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Israeli passport holders generally aren't allowed to enter almost any country.

Your assumption is false. Most (not all, but most) countries determine who's allowed to enter based on where they have been, not their nationality.

So what you need to do is find a country that both a) allows people who have been in Thailand for the past 14 days, and b) will grant an Israeli citizen a tourist visa. The second part is likely to be much harder, since almost all countries in Asia/Pacific have stopped allowing entry to tourists, regardless of where they are from. But South Korea might still be an option?

Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

I believe all five of these countries have stopped issuing tourist visas, regardless of nationality or origin.

lambshaanxy
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