uberfarang

11 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

You do not have to keep sending PM's.

 

The Ministerial announcement is effective nationwide, which including CW.

The only thing I have copied and pasted is a section of the Ministerial announcement as well as the announcement itself, which if you've read, you seem unable to understand.

 

Ring CW as I advised if you don't trust my information.

Did you hear that from an officer at the immigration? There are more and more posters the past few days that are reporting that they are still receiving new under consideration stamps and ask to come back next week or early May. But still, you and senior members on this forum keep telling us that we are covered by the amnesty while actual field reports prove otherwise. It's one thing to make theoretical assumptions about what the ministerial orders should mean but the fact is that people with under consideration stamps who go to the immigration are still being treated as if there were no amnesty, definitely not a July 31st and sometimes not even an April 30th (see reports from those asked to come back April 27 and 29). I value your opinion but this is not helping now, we are a lot who are at risk of overstaying and we need evidences that immigration is applying the order, not opinions presented as facts.

4 hours ago, MrBiker said:

I went to Chiang Mai IO yesterday to get the rest of my Covid 19 with embassy letter extension, the under consideration stamp was due on April 22. Now, I am good until May 2nd. They told me they dont know anything about any amnesty until July 31st and that as of the current rules I need to come back on May 2nd with a new letter and all the paper work again... 

I was told the same a couple weeks ago.

I reckon that the July 31st amnesty is not official yet so that's why they can't tell you not to come back on May 2nd but what I still don't understand is why they ask to bring another embassy considering embassies announced they stopped issuing those letter. I'm supposed to go back with another letter on the 29th, hopefully the new amnesty will be in effect but I'll only believe it when they tell me so.

On 4/20/2020 at 11:47 PM, runamok27 said:

I extended a visa on arrival for 30 days and it expired today, April 20th. I went to immigration and they said I didn't need to come in because my visa was automatically extended to April 30th. The guy also said that if the government decides to extend that more that I would not need to come again. What we have to do next is really up to what the government decides in the next week. 

Could you specify which office? They all give different answers.

I just got a new passport (the previous has no empty page left), the embassy said I need to transfer my visa to the new one. I'm worried this is gonna cause some new headaches at the IO if they didn't prepare for the special case of a visa covid-extended. I guess I'll have to do another trip to the IO this week.

5 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

So you think this person I talked to today made a mistake and since I was valid on March 29 my under consideration stamp which I got on March 26th can be safely ignored.

I wonder why immigration officers would still be "mistaken" weeks after the amnesty was official. Or maybe they are not and amnesty still doesn't apply to people who have a "covid" extension, whether the "under consideration" stamp was turned into a "permit to stay" or not?

I know that senior members on this forum keep reassuring that we are covered but then why some IO keep saying otherwise? What if we when we leave Thailand in July the IO that processes us does not consider we were covered by the amnesty and charges us 3 months of overstay? (at least it's capped at 20000)

11 hours ago, Roger Of Chai Prakan said:

I have had the same experience, at Chiang Mai on 10th April.  Was originally on Non Imm O Marriage visa, which was extended for 60 days from 21 Jan. On trying to extend on 19th March I was told I had to get a Covid 19 Letter from the Brit Embassy (took 6 days incl w/end, by which time I was on Overstay!). I received an "Under Consideration stamp, come back 10th April". On 10th I got a 10 day extension to 20th, but my stamp says "Holder must leave the Kingdom" by 20th. My plan is to request another embassy letter, and submit the full documents for another Covid extension.  Anyone know if I would get another one, and will it also require a trip to C.Mai every 10 days. Thanks. 

By the way, have they considered if so many extensions need to be renewed again on 30th April, what crowds will turn up on that day? Recipe for Covid disaster? 

A post on topic that wasn't noticed. Did the officer explicitly told you to come back on March 20? That's what I was told too (in Bangkok) but others who went to the same office later were told they don't have to come back once the "under consideration" stamp is changed into a "permission of stay". If you do go back on the 20th, would you mind updating us? Btw I think embassies (confirmed for France, UK, etc) stopped issuing those letters so even if you wanted to apply for another covid extension, I don't think that would be possible anymore.

48 minutes ago, ANDREW999 said:

Italian. And I read something from the UK one too. Maybe some brit can confirm that information

French embassy too, they announced that on April 9.

3 hours ago, Siddharta said:

Good morning everybody,

I am just outside from CW and I just wanted to share my experience:

I came to Thailand with Tourist Visa, during the period of the normal extension, the Covid spreaded in the country. Having an italian Passport I had to go to the italian embassy to have the letter to be able to stay after the first extension. At CW I have been given 10 days (Under evaluation till 24th of March. After that they regularly stamped my passport till April 11th. So I have a regular the stamp till 11th of April. Seen that I already had one COVID EXTENSION , I thought it could happen as the guy (Uberfarang) that had to go to embassy again and have another letter to be able to renew for other 30 days. INSTEAD This morning I had CONFIRMATION from two different officers (I Regularly took the ticket and waited in line) that seen I have the stamp 11 of April, am good till April 30th as everybody have. So I think the case of Uberfarang was only due to misinterpretaion of the officer he met.

I just wanted to share with all the people in my same situation.

All the officers were very very kind and speaking good English.

Thanks for reading.

Luke

Thanks for the feedback! So that confirms the hypothesis: once the "under consideration" stamp is converted into a proper "permission of stay" then we fall under the amnesty and automatically extended until April 30 (and subsequent extensions).

1 hour ago, theVenerable said:

Maybe we are in the same situation or maybe not.
I First arrived in Thailand on 28th January so my 'initial visa' expired on 28th Feb?
Or is my first extension at the visa office dated until 28th March also classed as my 'initial visa'?

How about you? @uberfarang When did you first arrive here and did you also have a normal visa extension from the immigration office, and did it expire after 26th March?

I'm English by the way.. so maybe we have different policies from our Embassies? Or are you English also?

I arrived on January 1st with a 60 days SETV then got the standard 30 days extension. My initial plan was to do a visa run to get my ED visa but borders were starting to shut down at that time so eventually I had to apply to the special extension. So the original permission to stay expired on Feb 29 and was extended to March 30, then I applied to the special extension. So basically by doing the right thing I got penalized, I would have been better off being on overstay, not paying 1900 baths, not going 4 times to the immigration office, not pulling out my hair over this, and receiving the amnesty anyway... easy to say in hindsight though ????

Honestly, it's still not clear to me what date they use to compare with March 26th but I guess if you haven't applied with an embassy letter yet, then you should be fine.

I am French btw, but it seems like all embassies released the same statement that they won't be issuing those letters anymore since there is an "amnesty" now (even if it doesn't cover all cases...)

8 hours ago, renz said:

@uberfarang, when you went back with the "under consideration" stamp" what documents did you have to bring and did you have to pay anything for extending till april 29th ? how many days was given for your first extension using embassy letter ? which building did you go - was chaengwattana or impact muang thong ?

No document needed, no question asked, no need to pay either, she just took my passport and asked me to wait.

I applied with the embassy letter on March 30, was asked to come back on April 10, only 11 days although they said it was "two weeks" but I guess they expected that Songkran would still be a holiday so they asked me to come before?

It was in Chaengwattana. I went to Muang Thong Thani by mistake 2 weeks ago but they only dealt with VOA and visa exempt there, the SETV are still done at CW and I guess they will shut down MTT now that there are so few people going?

4 hours ago, vermin on arrival said:

Is there a special queue for the under consideration people. Or do we go to the same one as other people in our visa category?

At CW it was the usual counter J (tourist visa), it was almost empty, three people seated in that section in the afternoon. 

2 hours ago, theVenerable said:

I had the Embassy letter and  extension on 3rd April. But my 'normal' visa didn't expire until 28th March. 

So yes I have the extension, BUT my normal visa didn't expire until after 26th March. 

 

So do I need to go to immigration office or not.? 

<deleted> Thais.. Only they could make it so confusing. 

I think our understanding is that if you have an "under consideration" stamp, then you need to go. But that's still a weak hypothesis, we need to hear feedbacks from more people to confirm if that's a requirement and not an internal miscommunication at the immigration. 

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Don't doubt what your stating. I'm thinking the io is wrong. You obtained a 30 day permission of stay which will expire in April. 

The amnesty will be extended most likely on monthly basis and you (imo) won't be obtaining future covid extensions.

I hope you're right and she (and her colleagues) will be properly briefed next week. At least I don't have to go there for 18 more days.
I also hope the PM will announce an extension before that one expires and not on May 7th...

7 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

The text says 'since March 26' !

Did this immigration officer really reads and explains it as BEFORE March 26?

That wouldn't make any sense it all, because it would then only apply to those on over-stay.

 

Sorry there was a typo, I meant "visa that expire AFTER March 26".

So not only overstayers, it also applies to anyone whose visa expires in April. For instance you arrived in Thailand in March 15 with a 30 VOA, then you don't have to extend on April 15, it would be automatically extended until April 30.

Not even sure if the backdated March 26 was intended to give an amnesty to overstayers.

3 hours ago, audaciousnomad said:

I completely agree with you.  The positive spin on it is that when they do come in to convert their "under consideration" to a "permitted to stay", there will not be a horrendous queue to contend with. Should be in and out within an hour. And once they have that "permitted to stay" stamp with a date that is now after 26-March....they are now within the "amnesty group".

That's actually what I asked the officer, if I was now covered by the "after March 26 amnesty", she said no and that if want to stay in Thailand after April 29, I have to come again and apply *with another letter from my embassy*. So even if the "under consideration" is converted to a "permitted to stay", it does not "upgrade" you to the automatically exempt group. The March 26 seems to be a hardcoded date related to your original visa expiry date, not extensions of permit of stay.

27 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

Your present status is 'under consideration' which is not an approved permission to stay.

Even though you were eligible for the automatic extension (your original permission to stay being after March 29) you applied for the emergency extension (which was wise to do so in the absence of info) and so you according to your present status you must report back on April 23. 

You would then receive your permission to stay stamp, and would be at least legit till April 30 (which by then will probably have been prolonged).

I would advise you not to take any chances, having to explain to an immigration officer why you did not report back.  

Agreed. If your passport says "applicant must contact again in person on April 23", then you should just do that, unless they clarifies in the coming days that the amnesty also applies to people with "under consideration" stamps. 

5 hours ago, fondue zoo said:

The Australian embassy stopped issuing the letter on the day of the announcement. implying that the "Covid" extension is no longer necessary.

 

The Thai Government has announced automatic extension of visas for foreign nationals in Thailand until 30 April 2020.
As a result of this announcement, you are not required to apply for a visa extension or to enter a 90 day report with the Immigration Bureau during this period.
Given this, the Australian Embassy will no longer be issuing letters to support Thai visa extensions at this time. 

I few weeks ago when I asked my embassy for a letter to get the extension they said it was "fake news from social media" and that no letter was needed and embassies do not have such authority. A few hours later at the immigration I was turned away because I didn't have such letter. My point is, embassies are not a source of truth, the only one that is, is the officer who decides to grant your extension or not. The official announcement isn't clear about the situation of visa that are already extended, and the embassy's interpretation is as good as ours, or maybe worse, there are many people here who have a better understanding of thai immigration laws than people at the embassies.

13 hours ago, andux said:

 

It seems that all of the information here is pretty clear: https://immigration.go.th/content/visa_auto_extension?click=1. Is there anything about your specific situation that doesn't match the requisites mentioned in the Immigration Bureau update?

 

Here's a diagram too:

 

I showed that same diagram (the thai version) to the officer and she said it specifies "visa that expired after March 26" and that wasn't for me.

Tbh I do not know if the reason for my visa not to qualify was because I already had an extension before March 26 or had that dreaded "under consideration" stamp. She seemed irritated that I asked (maybe because the hundred people before me did the same) so I didn't insist. Considering how things are changing from day to day and office to office, what her arguments were on Friday might not hold on Monday. I am looking forward to reading feedbacks from other members who will go there next week.

16 hours ago, andux said:

 

First attempt, no letter. Here is the information from the immigration bureau official website:

 

 

Source: https://immigration.go.th/content/visa_auto_extension?click=1

First attempt, so that might explain why the automatic extension worked for you since your visa did expire after March 26. While in my case it expired in February and was already extended. The immigration diagram does not mention extensions so if the officer just look at the stamp on the actual visa (and not the extension) and saw the February 29 expiration date, the would consider it expired before March 26 and therefore the automatic extension did not apply to my case.

29 minutes ago, andux said:

 

Standard tourist visa.

 

Edit: According to the news though, the extension applies to all visas, and even 90-day reporting is not required during this time, with no fines.

You mean SETV? Did you already apply for an extension before or was it your first attempt (without embassy letter)? And most importantly, which office did you go to? Thanks ????

8 hours ago, Benitostacos said:

I'm supposed to show up to KK immigration on Monday. I might just go to be on the safe side and if they shoo me away, so be it. Even with these sweeping directives, I can still see different offices having their own interpretation of the regulations.

Seems like each office has its own way to interpret this new act. Offices are quite empty now so I'd recommend you still go on Monday (Songkran holiday is canceled so it should be opened) and see for yourself, each case might be different.

10 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Would be great if other members can confirm what your friend was told.

That really sounds strange but......

I can't talk for CM office or what others heard on the phone but today at CW they expected you to show up if you had this "under consideration" stamp. That's my first-hand experience.

9 minutes ago, vermin on arrival said:

Sure. Makes sense. Why would people come? They thought the extensions were automatic, especially after checking the dates on their stamps, and they want to avoid possible infection.

Totally agree. I just showed up (and glad I did) because I haven't read yet any "field reports" (at CW) since the announcement came into effect and I was probably in the first ones to have to come back for the "under consideration" stamp, more will follow next week.

4 minutes ago, vermin on arrival said:

@ubonjoe So my original date to exit was March 29 using extension of visa exempt. I went on March 26th to get an emergency covid extension so as not to overstay at MTT. I got an under consideration stamp until April 23rd. Do I need to go again or do I have until April 30th? I would think I have automatic extension, but these two reports are worrying, and I am wondering if CW IO has the discretion to interpret it differently.

I think by the time you need to go back, other members would have had a chance to clarify the situation.