Re: Overstay 4 Months!

[filbert]

Hi all,

I need your feedback, I have overstayed 4 months and will be flying out tomorrow. Here is the scenario:-

I am on max, bought my airticket and have a new passort. My old passport which I still have has my old stamp in. Now I have contacted immigration(2) and the british embassy and had a mixed response some of them tell me I can Pay at the airport even though I don't have a stamp in my new pp.Others say I have to go to Suan Plau. Now I don't want to go to Suan Plau and get detained but I also don't want to go to the airport and be refused the flight due to me not having a stamp transfer in my new passport. Please advise.

Any negative comments please keep to yourself, they aint going to help! No use kicking a man when he's down and feeling humble.

[jdinasia]

to the best of my knowledge you will have to go to Immigration (Suan Plu) and get your stamp transferred and pay the fee. (If you were using the same passport you could just go to the airport)

[Sunbelt Asia]

Hi all,

I need your feedback, I have overstayed 4 months and will be flying out tomorrow. Here is the scenario:-

I am on max, bought my airticket and have a new passort. My old passport which I still have has my old stamp in. Now I have contacted immigration(2) and the british embassy and had a mixed response some of them tell me I can Pay at the airport even though I don't have a stamp in my new pp.Others say I have to go to Suan Plau. Now I don't want to go to Suan Plau and get detained but I also don't want to go to the airport and be refused the flight due to me not having a stamp transfer in my new passport. Please advise.

Any negative comments please keep to yourself, they aint going to help! No use kicking a man when he's down and feeling humble.

You need to go to Suan Phlu first. You must show your plane ticket, pay the overstay and get a 10 day extension.

Clients in your situation wanted peace of mind and have hired our firm to go with them to Sua Phlu. A number of cases we have negotiated to keep the client from being detained. Our professional fee is 3,000 Baht.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[visarunner]

as long as you bring old passport to the airport you are fine.

Pay THB 20,000.- and you are free to leave.

You can also follow jdinasia advise , but the transfer , payment of the fee and the departure should be on the same day.

[Sunbelt Asia]

as long as you bring old passport to the airport you are fine.

Pay THB 20,000.- and you are free to leave.

You can also follow jdinasia advise , but the transfer , payment of the fee and the departure should be on the same day.

The following was from a Thaivisa member several months ago....

Hi Sunbelt

In fairness to you, I wanted to quickly update you on my previous passport problem. It seems your advice was, afetr all, spot on correct.

You may recall my passport expired, and i was on 3 month overstay. I was worried about picking up the new passport from Uk embassy and going to the border. You told me I had to get new passport and go to immigration first to transfer stamp, then go to border. I called the British embassy who told me you dont have to go to immigration and the safest thing to do would be to simply fly out with old and new passport. So i did, and sailed through.

I then sent you a PM saying that you dont have to go to immigration, and that you may want to bare this in mind for future reference.

HOWEVER! -- i did a visa run a few weeks ago with my new passport (and fresh heavy overstay stamp!), and had serious grief at the Cambo border. They asked me how the airport let me fly out on new passport without old stamp transfered. I said i simply dont know. They said that wasnt good enough. I said 'hey! I paid the overstay and flew out/in on same day. So it must be ok'. They said that the airport had ######ed up, and suspected me of having a fake overstay stamp and VOA as 'no way would the airport let you fly out/in without your old stamp showing in new passport' I said that wasnt my problem - and they said 'it is now' and detained me for 50 minutes while they made phone calls, checked computer etc etc. When they were on the phone, after 20 minutes I slipped outside for a smoke and one of them lept out the door, grabed my arm and 'escorted' me back into the office holding my arm! It was horrible. At one point they said they wouldnt let me out of LOS, and may have to detain me, send me back to BKK to get my old passport and go to immigration. It was a real mess and i sat there thinking how much i should have listened to your advice, and not this jerk at the embassy.

They wanted to know who i flew with 30 days previous, how much i paid, the times... they even asked me to describe what the immigration overstay guy looked like at the aiport! Eventualy they let me out/in but only with a telling off and told me that next time, if i didnt bring my old passport to show them, they would detain me.

What a mess. I should have listened to you. I was just simply scared about going to immigration office and the guy at embassy told me there would be no need, so i didnt.

Anyhow, thought you should know that your advice, as always, was after all spot on.

Cheers

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[sonicdragon]

What happens to people who lose their passport, or have it stolen, and were on visa exemption ?

Do they have to proove when they arrived in Thailand and get a new stamp at immi before leaving the country ? What kind of proof is aceptable to immi ? I guess it must occur to some overstayers to report a fake robery or something like that.

I had some dealings with the british consulate when I reported a guy who was involved in a serious accident. It took a week for immi to retrieve the arrival card to find out where there guy was supposed to be staying, and this was a real emergency - the guy was on life support, and they knew his arrival date, coz he had his passport on him.

Edited March 13, 2007 by sonicdragon

[tijnebijn]

If you do not want futute eventual problems you should take the legal advise from Sunbelt.

Maybe even take there services,3k seems a small amount to me to clear things out!

I also know a guy who got detained,I'm not sure where he is now,but what I do know is that he stayed a couple of days in monkey house,payed 200k,after 2 years or more overstay(and get out the f.. place),trying to fly out......So in your case you got allready advised,take it!Good luck,and no worries.

[jeebusjones]

You DEFINITELY don't want to go to Suan Phlu by yourself. An old acquaintance of mine overstayed by a few months after he lost his passport. He went to Suan Phlu immigration thinking he could just pay the overstay fine, but they detained him. He ended up having to hire the services of a law office (not Sunbelt but I don't remember which one) which helped get him out.

So, I'd say you have two options.

One is to go the airport with your old passport and new passport. When you go to stamp out of Thailand, show them the stamp in your old passport. You will then need to pay the 20,000 baht overstay fine. There is a chance things could get a bit hairy at this stage, but since you're at the airport with a ticket to leave I think you would most likely be ok.

Your second option would be to hire a lawyer (like Sunbelt) to go to Suan Phlu with you. This is definitely the safest option but obviously a bit more expensive. 3,000 does seem like a small amount for peace of mind in a situation like this.

[StickKettleOn]

SUAN PHLU

If you go to Suan Phlu with your flight ticket for that day, the 20,000 fine and both passports, they should transfer the VOA/TR into your new passport, stamp the fine in your passport and send you on your way. Dress smart, smile, offer sincere appologies and even the odd Wai and you should be ok. It will be one hel_l of a <deleted> scary experience for you either way. Suan Phlu is an imposing place, made all the worse by the fact that the IDU is located pretty much next door and whichever way you look at it, whilst you are waiting for your turn, you are an illegal alien in Thailand.

That is the official line. It is also subject to grave risks. It remains at there discresion - alow you to pay the fine and be on your way, or throw you in a cell. Its a gamble. Chances are, they will let you pay the fine. I would estimate the chance of this at 75%. That leaves a 3 - 1 chance of being thrown in the IDU. I emphasise this is just my calculated version of events, but i would guess i am not to far off the mark. At Suan Phlu, anything can happen.

AIRPORT

At the airport, technicaly they should not alow you to fly out with the new passport unstamped. Chances are, they will. I would say a good chance. I know a guy who this happened to and they did not say a word about the new passport being unstamped. He just paid his fine and left, and flew back the same day - no problems. He did expereience problems at a later point though, when an official noticed he was missing a stamp from an earleir visit. This option may cause you problems when/if you fly back into Thailand.

Either way, im afraid to report there are no 100% safe options. Just calculated risks. If you decide to go to Suan Phlu, go with Sunbelt and you will be ok. Its a tough one to call. Up to you.

I have overstayed previosuly a couple of times. I will never overstay again.... It is just not worth the constant fear of being thrown in prison.

[Lite Beer]

My opionion, for what it`s worth.

3,000 Baht fee to Sunbelt sounds like the bargain of the year.

[astral]

What happens to people who lose their passport, or have it stolen, and were on visa exemption ?

Do they have to proove when they arrived in Thailand and get a new stamp at immi before leaving the country ? What kind of proof is aceptable to immi ? I guess it must occur to some overstayers to report a fake robery or something like that.e guy was on life support, and they knew his arrival date, coz he had his passport on him.

These situations should not present a problem.

It is all in the Immigration Computer.

Whenever I go to my local Imm office for anything, they always

run a check and the print out is attached to whatever documents they process for me.

[filbert]

Update!!!

Hey all,

just to update you, I went to Suan Plau and informed them I needed my passport stamp transfered and that I was on max overstay. I also took my flight ticket back to England for that evening and they transfered the stamp and also stamped that I was booked on a flight that day and told me to pay the fine at the airport.

I got a scolding and apologised to them in thai a few wais and I was out within 30 mins but its a lesson learned and I be sorting out a proper visa in the Uk.

Thanks to all of you who replied to my dilema.

[Krub]

Update!!!

Hey all,

just to update you, I went to Suan Plau and informed them I needed my passport stamp transfered and that I was on max overstay. I also took my flight ticket back to England for that evening and they transfered the stamp and also stamped that I was booked on a flight that day and told me to pay the fine at the airport.

I got a scolding and apologised to them in thai a few wais and I was out within 30 mins but its a lesson learned and I be sorting out a proper visa in the Uk.

Thanks to all of you who replied to my dilema.

Thanks for reporting back and good luck at the airport

[StickKettleOn]

Im pleased for you mate. It must have been a nevry experience. Good news.

You will be fine at the airport. 100%.

[THAILIBAN]

nevertheless, for those less adventurous, the SUNBELT service for sure is the better and less risky option.....

[jEFFREYk44]

This thread oddly sounds like an idiot overstaying for 4 months when he knew he should not or an advertisement for Sunbelt

Just my opinion

Edited March 14, 2007 by jEFFREYk44

[jeebusjones]

This thread oddly sounds like an idiot overstaying for 4 months when he knew he should not or an advertisement for Sunbelt

Just my opinion

Yeah it did feel like a very obvious plug for Sunbelt. Hope I don't get banned for saying that!

Edited March 15, 2007 by jeebusjones

[Sunbelt Asia]

This thread oddly sounds like an idiot overstaying for 4 months when he knew he should not or an advertisement for Sunbelt

Just my opinion

Yeah it did feel like a very obvious plug for Sunbelt. Hope I don't get banned for saying that!

LOL. Yeah right!

Not sure about a plug, when he didn't use a lawyer. "Fibert" went to Immigration and took care of the problem himself. Thought it was more a plug on how to save 3,000 Baht. :-)

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[lopburi3]

An observation was made and answered. Although I can understand the question from someone not reading this forum on a daily basis can say that I watch closely for such posts/threads and find Sunbelt to be a very open source of good and current information. He does run a business and pays the bills but he also appears to charge a very reasonable fee for service and is gracious enough to share with all without the normal hiding behind (that's our secret type of response).

Now will close this before I violate forum norms with extended discussion of sponsors.