Fake visas and work permits: Visa officer and associate at top Bangkok school arrested

[dave moir]

4 hours ago, moe666 said:

I think you guys missed the story, they were forging the documentation for their proof of eligibility. Police checks, medical checks and what ever else they needed. I guess you guys missed the part were the embassy reported forged documentation. The school should have been on top of this, no one at the school complain?

???? That's the trouble on this forum too many people too keen to jump on the band wagon and put their own take on things instead of reading it through first!!!!????

[rossd]

5 hours ago, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

Read the post a bit more carefully. The person arrested at CW was not an officer working there, it was one of the two perpetrator's from school "A". 

[Number 6]

I ran the naewna story through Google translate. It's not the school I had thought. It also specifically states khun Ton worked at the school and processed the paper but I cannot say with certainty that the woman did. Story and translation muddy. She may have just been the go between. The school is in on her procecution though.

 

It is definitely a private school. So, a top Bangkok private (in all likelihood international) school.

 

How stupid, how many English teachers can a school have? A few dozen. So they run fifty through the same consulate. Greed.

 

 

https://translate.google.com/

[DannyCarlton]

8 minutes ago, SkyFax said:

So does the IMM official put his/her signature and stamp in the agent's passport?

It's the visa agent that coerces him into doing that, not the passport holder. Read your own post again.

[pookondee]

3 hours ago, Number 6 said:

I would think the only people need worry are those with a one year B visa. I'd also venture to say that it allows the person to work in a language school quasi legally. It's a mountain of paperwork, I'd have charged 30k minimum as well. Costs, split between two people.

 

50k for the privilege of staying in Thailand. What a laugh. Hope they are running a gogo and laundering money bc that makes zero sense to me living in this pollution.

 

- I might know the school.

If you think people paying 50k to stay in Thailand is crazy, what about Elite visa holders, forking out 500k or a cool million??

some people must live in an alternate Thailand i thinks

[Colabamumbai]

Couldn't happen here, must be fake news. 

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

And a lot less than quoted. Normally 15 - 20k.

True. Maybe the only option they knew of was her. If they are under 50 that option is probably not available and maybe if teaching in language school they want B visa and that fancy private they can literally claim they work there.

[ThomasThBKK]

11 minutes ago, pookondee said:

If you think people paying 50k to stay in Thailand is crazy, what about Elite visa holders, forking out 500k or a cool million??

some people must live in an alternate Thailand i thinks

 

Elite visa 20 year is 50k per year, with perks like fast track. All legal, all zero effort, way better deal.

 

50k for an illegal visa is indeed crazy.

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, ThomasThBKK said:

 

Elite visa 20 year is 50k per year, with perks like fast track. All legal, all zero effort, way better deal.

 

50k for an illegal visa is indeed crazy.

Is 15k OK? All legal, zero effort.

[dddave]

5 hours ago, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

Many years ago, a prominent visa agent in the Nana area used to collect expats passports and do the visa run for them, returning the freshly stamped passports a few days later. 

Turned out, all the stamps were counterfeit. A lot of guys had their passports stamped "INVALID" at passport control when they tried to leave the country and were stuck here until they could get replacements.   Huge headache for all involved.  

I remember the British Embassy was especially tough on replacing passports with invalid stamps. Just getting an emergency travel document good only for return to the UK was a major undertaking. I knew some UK citizens who were stuck here for several months.  Complicating the whole mess, since they didn't have a valid passport, they didn't have a valid Thai visa and no way to get one without a passport.  Nightmare.

Edited January 16, 2020 by dddave

[Jonathan Swift]

5 hours ago, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

I wouldn't trust any "agent" other than an established and well known law firm such as Siam Legal, whom I've consulted on such matters. It's not worth the risk of deportation and prosecution and possible banishment. I will do everything myself as I did with my retirement VISA, and if I need to I'd use Siam Legal and pay them the $800(US) legal fee, which is reasonable and modest in the overall scheme of things. 

[SkyFax]

31 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

It's the visa agent that coerces him into doing that, not the passport holder. Read your own post again.

The inducement offered the IMM Officer as in Section 144 is to the benefit of the passport holder regardless of any intermediary involved.

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, SkyFax said:

The inducement offered the IMM Officer as in Section 144 is to the benefit of the passport holder regardless of any intermediary involved.

Not offered by the passport holder. Offered by the visa agent.

[Just Weird]

5 hours ago, thequietman said:

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

The officer who was arrested at Chaeng Wattana was the woman, the school's visa liaison, not a CW Immigration Officer.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Just Weird

[Tropposurfer]

5 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

But how dumb is it to pay between 20,000 and 50,000 baht when a little patience and understanding you can do by yourself

 

Fool and his money etc etc…

 

Now there are some true and simply wise words ????????????????????

[Katipo]

The school was only known as A? Hmmm, I wouldn't want to make any assumption based on that scant evidence as to the identity of said school. 

[Why Me]

I had a years appointment once at a private uni. They had a Government Relations Dept. to help foreign employees. And very efficient too. Give them your passport, copy of your contract, photos, med cert. (for the WP, done at the school's clinic), sign a couple of places and they'll take care of the rest. They did take me to the Labor office for the WP though.

 

Now, I can see where a corrupt person in the GRD can make money: slip in a forged contract with the regular ones. I would guess they would have a partner in crime in the HRD as well to get the signatures, unless they were forging those in the GRD too.

 

The CW IO probably wasn't in on it at all because a reputable school would be doing all the paperwork properly. A top school obviously wasn't bribing IOs for the sake of properly hired foreigners. And the IO is obviously going to accept that a signed contract from school A is what it is. (Edit: But probably got suspicious of one too many and called enforcement.)

 

Bottom line: this wasn't a visa agent caught going rogue. Completely different.

Edited January 16, 2020 by Why Me

[StayinThailand2much]

4 hours ago, Beggar said:

Never forget a story that happened in Phuket - but long time ago. Tourists gave their passports to an agent and these passports went to Penang for a visa run. One day on the way back this guy had an accident and in his car the police found a suitcase full of passports with new stamps. I don't know what happened to all these tourists afterwards. But be always aware that if you are doing something illegal that you might be prosecuted. 

Fun fact, I was offered exactly such a passport journey to Malaysia (so not me, just my passport), by no other but an Immigration officer of a certain seedy beach resort on the Eastern Seaboard, when I went to the local Immigration office there to extend my visa! (That was 18 years ago, though.) - I politely declined, not because of the cost, but because of the fact, that it had to be dodgy, even if it was offered right there at the Visa Extension desk of the Immigration office by a government officer.

Edited January 16, 2020 by StayinThailand2much

[Jonathan Swift]

4 hours ago, Number 6 said:

People can't be allowed to be this stupid. We all must know and understand how are immigration issues are addressed and processed. I for one have never used an agent for anything including a 90 day. By doing it myself I learn about the process and understand any issues that may arise.

Amen. How stupid, lazy, or irresponsible can you be to ignore such common sense as you stated. I studied all of this EXTENSIVELY before I got involved. After a while I stopped listening to what foreigners told me, or the different things stated in forums like this,  and simply went to the immigration offices to ask them in person, and mostly they were very clear and helpful. I handled my retirement visa myself, although I didn't understand everything they did at first, switching my tourist visa to a temporary non immigrant visa of some sort and 2 weeks later giving me the retirement visa. I think I was charged a fee of 1190 baht twice for both visas. I like traveling around here anyway and so such trips are always enjoyable to me, because I make it that way. The Bangkok office in Chaengwatthana has lots of young trainees going around the waiting area and making sure everyone was sorted out. Nice, smiling, helpful kids, although the clerks were someone dour and overworked, understandably.

[Happy Grumpy]

42 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

How stupid, how many English teachers can a school have? A few dozen. So they run fifty through the same consulate. Greed.

 

Seems the story is that the people getting the visas were not working for the school, or working at all.

 

It seems that these people were selling what's needed to get a one year visa (via work permit).

[samsensam]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Foreigners are KNOWINGLY participating in this fraud. Being taken advantage of by your own stupidity isn't a crime but this fraud being facilitated by dodgy locals wouldn't exist if dodgy foreigners didn't seek it.

 

right, and ignorance isn't a defence.

 

how hard is it to sort out your own visa anyway?!

[Just Weird]

4 hours ago, Number 6 said:

5 hours ago, Gulfsailor said:

The way I understand it is that the arrested persons worked for a school. I

Then why were the visas illegal?

 

Doubt. It was a side racket.

Fake documents, provided by the school's employees were used to obtain the visas.  It's all there in the OP.

[thequietman]

5 hours ago, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

I am willing to bet that the 17 people who left laughing emoji's to my post, all go through agents. ????

 

It's coming guys, it's just a matter of time. Be on your toes and get ready. ????

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, Happy Grumpy said:

 

Seems the story is that the people getting the visas were not working for the school, or working at all.

 

It seems that these people were selling what's needed to get a one year visa (via work permit).

It seems that way but what would make that difficult is Immigration coming to check on you in your workplace as a part of the process or is that not done at schools?

[DannyCarlton]

3 minutes ago, thequietman said:

It's coming guys, it's just a matter of time. Be on your toes and get ready.

In your dreams.

[Beggar]

4 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Fun fact, I was offered exactly such a passport journey to Malaysia (so not me, just my passport), by no other but an Immigration officer of a certain seedy beach resort on the Eastern Seaboard, when I went to the local Immigration office there to extend my visa! (That was 18 years ago, though.) - I politely declined, not because of the cost, but because of the fact that it had to be dodgy, even if it was offered right there at the Immigration office by a government officer.

Yes - this was about 18 to 20 years ago...

[thequietman]

3 minutes ago, thequietman said:

I am willing to bet that the 17 people who left laughing emoji's to my post, all go through agents. ????

 

It's coming guys, it's just a matter of time. Be on your toes and get ready. ????

It seems Danny is one such supporter of the agent route. I wish you well. ????

[Why Me]

1 minute ago, thequietman said:

I am willing to bet that the 17 people who left laughing emoji's to my post, all go through agents. ????

 

It's coming guys, it's just a matter of time. Be on your toes and get ready. ????

Get your facts straight before gloating. Nothing to do with visa agents per OP. Rather fake employment docs manufactured by a rogue school employee for paying customers to get a visa as a foreign hire.

 

Think about it. Take your time. It's different.

[DannyCarlton]

Just now, thequietman said:

It seems Danny is one such supporter of the agent route. I wish you well. ????

Never used an agent, no need but I know people that do out of necessity. From the passport holder's POV it's prefectly legal. I know that you wish it were different, but it isn't. Sorry to give you the bad news.

[asean]

Many foreigners including hundreds of Filipinos running around with fake visas and work permits with "employers" they have never met or know nothing about. They believe that having a work permit and visa keeps them legal. Not in this case.

2 years Jail when caught.