I am not sure how it works where you are at but it usually takes a few sessions to have the tattoo removed completely. This is quite costly which is why people end up not going through with it.

My cousin got some unsavory tattoos and he looked in to getting them removed. It was going to cost a lot and take a number of sessions. There is a program here that helps people get them removed but I believe they have to be gang related tattoos and the person has to do a certain amount of hours worth of volunteer work for one session.