Warning at Immigration Don Muang - Question

[Alfred2017]

Hello

 

I just got back from Singapore to do a Visa run for a few days and on the way back in I got a warning at Don Muang Immigration.  This was my second Visa run in a row to Singapore this year and havent had a problem before doing Visa runs and Visa on arrival previous years.  

 

Can I still extend that 30 days for another 30 days at Immigration for B1,900?  I have already done that once earlier to this Visa run.  Or will that be pushing it?  Can I next time fly to Phnom Penh and get a 60 day Tourist Visa or would that be rejected?  I have an apartment here and dont want to get stuck outside Thailand.  

 

I assume the warning was triggered as earlier this year I overstayed as the company I was working for made a complete mess on my Visa and I had to pay a B20,000 fine.  The company I was working for didnt do anything about extending my Visa until two days before it expired.  I asked for my Passport back to fly out but they said they would sort it out.  I subsequently left the company and eventually they gave me my Passport back weeks latter and said they couldnt sort it out and I had to pay B20,000 overstay fine.  

 

A friend suggested getting a Student Visa but I understand that takes time.  I dont qualify for a retirement Visa or a marriage Visa.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

[elviajero]

14 minutes ago, Alfred2017 said:

Can I still extend that 30 days for another 30 days at Immigration for B1,900?

They let you in so there's no reason why you can't extend the stay.

 

16 minutes ago, Alfred2017 said:

Can I next time fly to Phnom Penh and get a 60 day Tourist Visa or would that be rejected?

No reason why not. Your previous overstay shouldn't affect getting a new visa.

 

19 minutes ago, Alfred2017 said:

I assume the warning was triggered as earlier this year I overstayed

Possibly, but they can question anyone staying long term as a tourist. 

[darrendsd]

Yes you can extend no problem at all

 

The paperwork for a ED Visa takes around 2-3 weeks, you have plenty of time to do this on your current Visa Exempt

 

If you continue to live here using Visa Exempts then you are going to run into more issues if you continue to come in via the Airports, you could consider going to Vientianne and getting a Tourist Visa using one of the Visa Run companies who travel overland

[orchis]

What was the nature of the warning?

[BritTim]

Back-to-back visa exempt entries with a minimal gap in between are frowned upon, especially if there are other indications you could be working illegally. Being of working age, and a previous long overstay are negative factors. Your safest low cost approach (after extending your current stay) would be a single entry tourist visa in Vientiane, returning via the Friendship Bridge at Nong Khai. If you want to avoid a long bus journey, you can then fly (domestic) from Udon Thani to Bangkok. If you are intending to stay long term, you will need to sort out something other than tourist entries.

[PoorSucker]

You probably got a red notification on the computer when you arrived. 

Get a proper visa before next entry and bring 20.000 baht in cash next time, they can and will deny entry if you can not show 20.000 baht in cash. 

 

30 days extension is not a problem. 

[3421abc]

I got into this same problem once before. The supervisor told me once you get flagged I would always have a problem coming in.

U will get stuck outside thailand at some point if u keep doing visa runs.

 

I had to get an elite visa to stay, cost me a lot and I was upset I had to spend so much but now no worries.

[Fairynuff]

I always thought if you're working here you need a work permit not a visa exemption 

[edwardflory]

You NEED a work permit to work in Th.
Retirement extension, you can NOT work. Marriage extension, you CAN work WITH proper paperwork.

Sent from my ASUS_X00AD using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[csabo]

So you were doing visa exemption trips. Don't say "visa run" over and over. It just confuses things. I highly doubt you ever got a Visa on Arrival and you also can't "extend your visa" so you can refrain from disseminating that misinformation as well. 

[ubonjoe]

A inflammatory off topic post has been removed.

[Grumpy Duck]

18 hours ago, Alfred2017 said:

Can I next time fly to Phnom Penh and get a 60 day Tourist Visa or would that be rejected

I went to Phnom Phen to get a visa, once there I read many articles about the corruption in the Thai Consulate so I decided to try an entry visa at the border. The immigration officer was kind and told me I didn't need a new visa, I had a double entry visa. Live and learn. 

[KiChakayan]

Don't get it. The OP relies on visa runs, and WORKS for a company that used to take care of his visa? This just doesn't add up, or ?

 

Sorry, he left his employer.

Edited September 4, 2017 by KiChakayan

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, KiChakayan said:

Don't get it. The OP relies on visa runs, and WORKS for a company that used to take care of his visa? This just doesn't add up, or ?

I think this explains it. He only mentioned it to explain the overstay he had.

18 hours ago, Alfred2017 said:

 I subsequently left the company and eventually they gave me my Passport back weeks latter and said they couldnt sort it out and I had to pay B20,000 overstay fine.  

 

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, 3421abc said:

U will get stuck outside thailand at some point if u keep doing visa runs.

He isn't actually doing visa runs if he isn't getting a visa and returns with the expectation that he'll be admitted exempt from the need for a visa.

 

3 hours ago, Fairynuff said:

I always thought if you're working here you need a work permit not a visa exemption 

Surprisingly not everyone who works here does it within the law, thus the suspicion that some people who repeatedly enter using visa exempt entries or using tourist visas may be working illegally since their behavior is not considered typical for tourists or for those using the visa exempt entry for the purpose for which it was intended.

[KiChakayan]

10 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

He isn't actually doing visa runs if he isn't getting a visa and returns with the expectation that he'll be admitted exempt from the need for a visa.

 

Surprisingly not everyone who works here does it within the law, thus the suspicion that some people who repeatedly enter using visa exempt entries or using tourist visas may be working illegally since their behavior is not considered typical for tourists or for those using the visa exempt entry for the purpose for which it was intended.

Well, if this is true, it sheds light on some of the new immigration practices, especially at Don Muang.

[elviajero]

5 hours ago, csabo said:

So you were doing visa exemption trips. Don't say "visa run" over and over. It just confuses things. I highly doubt you ever got a Visa on Arrival and you also can't "extend your visa" so you can refrain from disseminating that misinformation as well. 

 

3 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

He isn't actually doing visa runs if he isn't getting a visa and returns with the expectation that he'll be admitted exempt from the need for a visa.

"Visa run" has been used to describe border hops to get a new visas exempt entry for decades. Prior to 2006 it was the way most people living in Thailand as a tourist did it, and the reason why it was clamped down on. The clamp down caused more people to have to do runs to Vientiane etc. to get an actual visa, so these days the term is used to describe either a border hop or trip to embassy/consulate to get a new visa.

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, elviajero said:

"Visa run" has been used to describe border hops to get a new visas exempt entry for decades.

And many people crossing a border , i.e. a border hop, without the intention of obtaining a visa, for example because they had multi-entry visas that required them to leave and return, called it what it is, a "border hop". 

 

Labeling or describing something inaccurately for decades ( a dubious assertion anyway) doesn't improve its accuracy.

 

For centuries people believed that the sun revolved around the earth and that if you sailed too far on the sea you'd fall off the edge. And for nearly that long people have used "visa" to describe extensions of stay or anything else put in their passports in Thailand. 

 

Thanks for your homespun history of misnomers (and, incidentally, for decades people have misused the word "misnomer," too.)

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Suradit69

[Alfred2017]

Thank you for your replies.  Appreciated.