Does a Thai citizen who entered Thailand on a foreign passport and, due to genuine ignorance, overstayed by a month have to pay a fine? Have you, or anyone you know been through a similar situation? I know there is a clear law on overstaying but the fact that a Thai citizen can be fined for overstaying in Their own country is mind boggling to me, even if they did use a foreign passport to enter the country.

 

I've read a lot on this and i do realize there are a few posts here on similar predicaments. I am just wondering if there is any new info. I am aware of the option of using the Thai passport to exit Thailand. That, however, is not a feasible option atm.

 

Anyway around not paying the fine?

they will have to pay the fine. they need the exit stamp in the foreign passport when they leave. my mrs also has dual. enter and exit on thai next time and enter and exit the other nation on the other passport. they will need to pay the fine on the foreign passport as that is the one they used i'm afraid. no way around it as far as i am aware. expensive lesson learnt i guess

9 hours ago, DerekCM said:

Does a Thai citizen who entered Thailand on a foreign passport and, due to genuine ignorance, overstayed by a month have to pay a fine?

Yes they have to pay an overstay fine since they are in the country as a foreign national.

No reason for them to of overstayed since they could of applied for a one year extension at immigration based upon being a Thai national.

Obvious question. Do they also have a Thai passport?

 the fact that a Thai citizen can be fined for overstaying in Their own country is mind boggling to me,

 

the fact that a thai citizen enters his own country on a foreign passport is mind boggling to me. Does your friend enter his other country on his Thai passport??

1 hour ago, Belzybob said:

Obvious question. Do they also have a Thai passport?

A Thai citizen can enter Thailand using an expired passport or even just an ID card. All they have to do is prove they are Thai. However, on order to exit one must have a valid passport

1 minute ago, LukKrueng said:

A Thai citizen can enter Thailand using an expired passport or even just an ID card.

I don't believe entering with a Thai card would be allowed. Perhaps with a certificate of identity issued by an embassy it would be accepted as 2nd form of identification. 

Might seem mind boggling but the fact is they entered Thailand as a foreign national and were issued a visa on arrival (maybe not what you think but in effect that is what happened). Having made that choice they now have to live with it.

 

The issue of arriving and leaving a country is a common problem when people don't show enough common sense to do the right thing. In any country, you have the right to enter if you can prove you are a national of that country. In any country, you may be allowed to enter if you are a foreign national and have a visa. In Australia, many New Zealanders do not realise that when they enter Australia they are issued a visa even though they appear to enter as a special NZ right. That visa is only valid until they depart.

 

You will not be stopped from leaving if you do not have a passport but the airline will probably not ticket you as they face a significant fine if you arrive at the next port and do not have authority to enter.

 

General rule if you have dual nationality: use your foreign passport for ticketing travel to that country on departure (this shows you do not need a visa); use your foreign passport to enter and leave that country; use local passport to leave and enter your country of residence; use local passport for ticketing from the foreign country (this shows you do not need a visa).

 

You will normally be pulled up if you reside in a country (say Thailand) and try to leave on a foreign passport which you did not use to enter the country as you will not be recorded as having a visa and having entered the country. This happens in every country. What is done then depends on the rules of that country.

 

When you are taking advantage of dual nationality it well behoves you to understand the rules/implications and it is your problem if you don't.

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I don't believe entering with a Thai card would be allowed. Perhaps with a certificate of identity issued by an embassy it would be accepted as 2nd form of identification. 

This is actually very interesting if it would be possible to enter Thailand again only showing your ID card (for Thai citizens). 

But only interesting to know as I was able, a several years back, to enter my own country with my ID card, while coming from outside of Europe.
 

 

 

technical you ahve to pay fine but in front of a court you will never get a fine. You cant fine a citizen for overstaying.

this would brake the constitution as there is written every citizen is equal. 

Same in USA oe Europe, if you enter there on a foreign passport, you can´t be deported or fined even you stay longer than the second citizenship allows.

common sense and standart anglosaxon law!

1 hour ago, chickenrunCM said:

technical you ahve to pay fine but in front of a court you will never get a fine. You cant fine a citizen for overstaying.

this would brake the constitution as there is written every citizen is equal. 

Same in USA oe Europe, if you enter there on a foreign passport, you can´t be deported or fined even you stay longer than the second citizenship allows.

common sense and standart anglosaxon law!

I doubt there is any such thing as universal uniform Anglo/Saxon law with regard to immigration.  Not sure about braking a constitution. Probably would depend on how fast it was going at the time.

Quote

 

Same in USA oe Europe, if you enter there on a foreign passport, you can´t be deported or fined even you stay longer than the second citizenship allows.

common sense and standart anglosaxon law!

 

Not true in the US. Dual nationality is not mentioned in US law, according to the US State Dept. and a US citizen is not permitted to enter the US on a foreign passport, so attempting to do so would be breaking the law.

 

So apparently it isn't common sense or standard Anglo Saxon law.

 

Quote

 

U.S. law does not mention dual nationality ...

 

U.S. nationals, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/Advice-about-Possible-Loss-of-US-Nationality-Dual-Nationality/Dual-Nationality.html

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 20188 yr by Suradit69

15k big ones in cash ...pay as you go....have a nice trip!

This goes back fife years and involves the Nakhon Pathom Immigration office.

- Countryman entered Thailand with Thai Wife to retire in Thailand. Thai Wife entered with Swiss Passport. Farang went do do his 90 day report. He was informed that Thai Wife must also report.

Next day, my friend and I went to Immi-Office, stating that we find it the ultimative absurdity that a Thai citizen has to report his presence regularily in his own home country like a "foreighn resident". We stressed the point that we find this utterly absurd, also mentioning that such procedures would make my friends Thai Wife a "de facto" second class Thai citizen. We also insisted that, regardless under what circumstances a Thai citizen re-enters his home country, he/she shall remain a Thai citizen and can not be degraded to some sort of "Immigrant-Status" while living in his own home country.

That worked nicely.

After 15 minutes of waiting, we were told that this is no more an issue. My friends Thai Wife has not been bothered by Immigration ever since.
NOTE: Can not serve as a guide as different Immi-Offices handle the same issues differently. (Should be well known to Farangs by now).
Cheers.

Sorry, comment on wrong post.

Edited August 4, 20187 yr by kirstymelb101

 We had this happen to as.

Me my Thai wife  (US and thai citizenship) and her Thai friend (also US and Thai citizenship) arrived in Thailand   at different dates but departed the same day together. 

I had to do a visa run to Laos , wife did not because she dad entered on her thai Passport.  When we went to Laos both the wife and friend used their Thai Id card to enter and exit Laos , If we had known her friend had entered thailand with her US passport she would had also used her US passport to go enter and exit Laos and would have got and extension, but we did not know.

  Long story short, when departing Thailand at the airport her friend  was charged an overstay fine. 

I think she was showing off her US citizenship when she entered Thailand She will never make that mistake again. If Thai national ,always enter and exit Thailand with your Thai passport.  

Edited August 4, 20187 yr by sirineou