Education visa overstay?

[typ123]

Tbh, I would just pay up, get your passport with your extension back and change schools or whatever. I would not get into the middle of the school and immigration for 1500THB. Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 You’re probably right. I just feel taken advantage of and I don’t think fines are necessary nor do I deserve overstay stamps. I was thinking since the school already paid another thing I could do was go to the school and talk to the manager and say I don’t believe I should have to pay. But ultimately they have control of my legal status in Thailand and if they want to sabotage it they can do so. Not worth 1500 baht. The MoE was probably giving them issues but that’s not my fault. The MoE should have a database of visas being processed and when they were submitted so immigration can see that it’s not the student’s responsibility. If the school is being honest about all this which I highly doubt from several dubious claims and maneuvers so far, then the school also shouldn’t be punished. If anything make the damn MoE pay a fine or make a new law that says the students don’t have to pay for others procrastination.

 

But of course that won’t happen because all of this red tape has thousands upon thousands of baht getting stuck to it. I’m sure that 1500 will go to a good cause along with the other fines that are helping improve immigration structure and policies.

 

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[ExpatDraco]

 You’re probably right. I just feel taken advantage of and I don’t think fines are necessary nor do I deserve overstay stamps. I was thinking since the school already paid another thing I could do was go to the school and talk to the manager and say I don’t believe I should have to pay. But ultimately they have control of my legal status in Thailand and if they want to sabotage it they can do so. Not worth 1500 baht. The MoE was probably giving them issues but that’s not my fault. The MoE should have a database of visas being processed and when they were submitted so immigration can see that it’s not the student’s responsibility. If the school is being honest about all this which I highly doubt from several dubious claims and maneuvers so far, then the school also shouldn’t be punished. If anything make the damn MoE pay a fine or make a new law that says the students don’t have to pay for others procrastination.
 
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I don't think the MoE has anything to do with it. The MoE is only needed to provide the documents for the ED visa. The extension of stay is in the hands of immigration.

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[ubonjoe]

27 minutes ago, ExpatDraco said:

I don't think the MoE has anything to do with it. The MoE is only needed to provide the documents for the ED visa. The extension of stay is in the hands of immigration.

The MOE must supply documents for every extension of stay application.

From clause 2.9 of the police order for extension of stay.

 

Quote

2.9 In the case of enrollment in a private educational institution:

(4) Must have been confirmed by the relevant government agency (except in case of enrollment in international school and in higher education)

One of the departments of the MOE is the relevant agency.

[ExpatDraco]

One of the departments of the MOE is the relevant agency.

I stand corrected. ;-)

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[typ123]

One of the departments of the MOE is the relevant agency.

 When I go to immigration on Friday to pick up my passport, should I tell immigration that the school wants me to pay 1500 baht for fines issued by immigration for overstay/no show (it’s possible, again, that these fines are for the school and not me but the school has found a sneaky way to make me pay) and all the while the MoE was delaying my visa approval? Or should I just pay the school and keep my mouth shut?  

 

I have no idea how long it takes for the MoE to approve a visa before it can be sent to immigration, but I can’t imagine is takes more than 15 days (I’d add that the process could have began before they received my residency certificate because that was for immigration, not the MoE). Why on earth wouldn’t the school or MoE be able to notify immigration that it’s currently being processed instead of just issuing fines? 

Also since it’s 1500 baht it seems that I am pre-paying for the time that it takes for immigration to approve my visa. Immigration now has all of my documents. This is so infuriating.

 

 

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[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, typ123 said:

The MoE should have a database of visas being processed and when they were submitted so immigration can see that it’s not the student’s responsibility.  If the school is being honest about all this which I highly doubt from several dubious claims and maneuvers so far, then the school also shouldn’t be punished. If anything make the damn MoE pay a fine or make a new law that says the students don’t have to pay for others procrastination.

I understand what you mean, but that is in no way congruent - in efficiency or "blame" - of how things are done here.  A law written to alleviate fines to foreigners is not even remotely plausible - unless it were directly affecting a large tourism sector or large-scale foreign-investment. 

Consider recent policy-shifts (official and un-official) which are designed to decrease self-funded foreigners staying longer-term in Thailand.  This, to spite this throwing away billions in baht, as those ex-pats move their spending to Cambodia, Vietnam, The Philippines, and other places that welcome their foreign-sourced capital.  Their own citizens are hurt by this policy - but they don't care about their misfortune - so certainly not about ours. 

Those paying-off the system via agents or "buy a visa" offers are still welcome, of course, because the goal is maximizing certain persons' revenues.  If each payoff means hundreds of Thais lose their jobs/businesses, as honest people flee - "So what?  Look at my new car," from their perspective. 

 

1 minute ago, typ123 said:

When I go to immigration on Friday to pick up my passport, should I tell immigration that the school wants me to pay 1500 baht for fines issued by immigration for overstay/no show, and all the while the MoE was delaying my visa approval? Or should I just pay the school and keep my mouth shut?

You are expected to be financially well-off just to be here, so making an issue of 1500 Baht at immigration might not work in your favor.  I will be curious to see if there is any "overstay" remark in your passport; there may not be, which would be a good thing.

 

The "no hassles" solution would be to pay the money (which may have gone into someone's pocket at immigration and/or MoE, to get your extension processed), then complete this term.  After that, perhaps transfer to a school that "plays the game."  It will likely cost more, to cover the costs involved, so ask if there is a fee for no-hassle extensions when shopping for a new school.

[typ123]

You are expected to be financially well-off just to be here, so making an issue of 1500 Baht at immigration might not work in your favor.  I will be curious to see if there is any "overstay" remark in your passport; there may not be, which would be a good thing.  

The "no hassles" solution would be to pay the money (which may have gone into someone's pocket at immigration and/or MoE, to get your extension processed), then complete this term.  After that, perhaps transfer to a school that "plays the game."  It will likely cost more, to cover the costs involved, so ask if there is a fee for no-hassle extensions when shopping for a new school.

 

 

I tried to go pick up my passport but immigration said to come back tomorrow. I asked if I had overstay and they said yes. I asked if I had to pay any money and they said no. I then asked did the school have to pay money and they said yes. I asked how much, because I would like to ‘help’ the school.

 

They said 500 baht. So what is this business about 2000/1500 baht? And if I don’t have to pay immigration and I’m not being punished then why is it called “overstay”? I told the school I’ll get my passport tomorrow and then I will go visit them at the school. I still haven’t paid any money. I’m thinking I’ll go to the school and say I’ll pay what they paid to immigration for one day ‘overstay’ (ridiculous to even call it that) - 500 baht. And that I would like to continue studying and do further extensions.

 

If they still hassle me then I will say maybe it’s better that I change schools in the coming months and that I’ll leave them a review so other students can see what kind of customer service they offer.

 

Also the school didn’t respond when I asked what a “no show” fine is. Probably because the answer wouldn’t make sense due to the fact that I DID show my face at immigration on day of expiry and explained that my passport/documents were being processed with the school/MoE. “No show” fine probably means “we procrastinated and we were unclear about new regulations from the MoE. This isn’t our fault or the MoE’s fault - it’s your fault” fine.

 

 

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[ExpatDraco]

In what province is this school located?

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[BritTim]

Remember to ask the school to show official receipts from immigration for the fines they paid to immigration on your behalf.

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, typ123 said:

 

I tried to go pick up my passport but immigration said to come back tomorrow. I asked if I had overstay and they said yes. I asked if I had to pay any money and they said no. I then asked did the school have to pay money and they said yes. I asked how much, because I would like to ‘help’ the school.

 

They said 500 baht. So what is this business about 2000/1500 baht? And if I don’t have to pay immigration and I’m not being punished then why is it called “overstay”? I told the school I’ll get my passport tomorrow and then I will go visit them at the school. I still haven’t paid any money. I’m thinking I’ll go to the school and say I’ll pay what they paid to immigration for one day ‘overstay’ (ridiculous to even call it that) - 500 baht. And that I would like to continue studying and do further extensions.

 

If they still hassle me then I will say maybe it’s better that I change schools in the coming months and that I’ll leave them a review so other students can see what kind of customer service they offer.

 

Also the school didn’t respond when I asked what a “no show” fine is. Probably because the answer wouldn’t make sense due to the fact that I DID show my face at immigration on day of expiry and explained that my passport/documents were being processed with the school/MoE. “No show” fine probably means “we procrastinated and we were unclear about new regulations from the MoE. This isn’t our fault or the MoE’s fault - it’s your fault” fine.

A one-day overstay is not something that is likely to cause future problems.  I am glad you got a straight answer from immigration.  As to paying the school more than 500-baht - "their fine" of an additional 1000 or whatever - it's up to you, but you might have to bite the bullet to keep enrolled and your extension valid. 

If it were me, I'd change schools after this term - but be sure the new school can handle future extensions without a problem, and can extend your ongoing ED-based permit-of-stay without any issues. 

[typ123]

I paid the school 1,500 baht.

 

My passport got stamped with a 1 day overstay at 500 baht per day. The 1000 baht “no show” fine is because “you have to go yourself but school go for you” and bla bla bla. They said if there is enough time then I won’t have to pay that.

 

So this 1000 baht is either a fine that the school has to pay “under the table” to rush to get approved OR it’s a fine for extra work they had to do to rush to get my visa approved.

 

Either way, like a few other commenters said it’s not worth getting between immigration and the school over 1500 baht, or worse risking my future legal status in the country.

 

The school says they need 3 weeks to process it but they don’t state that there will be a “no show” fine if they don’t get to it in time. I think they purposely leave you in the dark so they can get this extra money.

 

I’ll go at least one month before my visa expires from now on and check in with them to make sure it gets done.

 

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[balo]

Why don't you name and shame the school ?  So other future students can be warned.

I would never accept giving my passport away  and not get it back for weeks. Never, 

 

This is clearly some sort of scam operation.-