American here, based for the past 4-5 years in Nepal where I have a working visa. I came with here with my wife and small daughter on March 1 for the birth our new baby. The global COVID crisis hit before we could travel out. Our Thai Airways return flight was cancelled. Nepal has been closed to commercial flights ever since. Now the COVID situation there is seriously spiking. They were aiming to open up the airport to commercial flights August 17 but now it doesn't look like the situation will change until September or more likely October.

 

Curious what advice you folks would give. I'm happy to try for a 30 day extension if there's any hope for it. The US embassy won't provide an extension of stay letter of course, but I do have fresh working papers and authorizations from the Govt of Nepal, as well as a fresh Nepal visa (which can't be used). I also have all the papers from the hospital regarding our arrival here. Point being, I have plenty of documentation about the fact that we came here for short time on medical related matters, couldn't leave because the new baby didn't have a passport or vaccinations, and now we cannot get back to our residence in Nepal.

Citizenship: US
Type of visa: Non Immigration O, 90 days, single entry, issue Kathmandu

Date of arrival in Thailand: March 1 2020

Valid until: May 29 2020

# Extensions: None, on amnesty now
Here with: wife, kid (3 years), baby (5 months)

 

Edited August 15, 20205 yr by RubenRemus

Your wife, nationality?

Something I would try is talking to the Nepal Embassy, to see if they will give you a letter. They should be able to confirm that you are unable to travel to Nepal to return to your workplace. Frankly, I do not hold out high hopes that this will do the trick, but it does not hurt to try.

I don't know if I should be posting this, but my experiences in Nepal led me to believe that "tea money" can work wonders, I personally don't think you will have any problem extending, if you are in the mood to offer a "gift" to the concerned officials.

 

10 hours ago, BritTim said:

Something I would try is talking to the Nepal Embassy, to see if they will give you a letter. They should be able to confirm that you are unable to travel to Nepal to return to your workplace. Frankly, I do not hold out high hopes that this will do the trick, but it does not hurt to try.

that won't necessarily be sufficient.  if both parents are us citizens they can repatriate back to the usa.  work visa for nepal probably won't make any difference unless they also have permanent residency or an actual right to return.

Just an ignorant American attempting to help, so no rude comments please.   Have you spoken to Thai Officials about how to handle this situation yet?  Seems like it would be the first thing to do.  If you can't go anywhere because of both governments what would they expect you to do?

16 hours ago, Upnotover said:

Your wife, nationality?

She's British. The kids hold dual passorts US/UK.

12 hours ago, BritTim said:

Something I would try is talking to the Nepal Embassy, to see if they will give you a letter. They should be able to confirm that you are unable to travel to Nepal to return to your workplace. Frankly, I do not hold out high hopes that this will do the trick, but it does not hurt to try.

Yeah, did that. They suggested trying to get the ministry I work under in Nepal to send them a letter. Otherwise they can't help non-Nepalese citizens. The ministry I work under in Nepal will be very very difficult to engage on this.

1 hour ago, ChouDoufu said:

 

that won't necessarily be sufficient.  if both parents are us citizens they can repatriate back to the usa.  work visa for nepal probably won't make any difference unless they also have permanent residency or an actual right to return.

My wife is a UK citizen. The kids have dual passports. 

31 minutes ago, TGIR said:

Just an ignorant American attempting to help, so no rude comments please.   Have you spoken to Thai Officials about how to handle this situation yet?  Seems like it would be the first thing to do.  If you can't go anywhere because of both governments what would they expect you to do?

I'm going this week to Muang Thon Thani for just this purpose. 

1 hour ago, CanadaSam said:

I don't know if I should be posting this, but my experiences in Nepal led me to believe that "tea money" can work wonders, I personally don't think you will have any problem extending, if you are in the mood to offer a "gift" to the concerned officials.

Which officials do you mean. Thai?

What was your non-o visa based upon?

Do you want the 30 day extension to stay beyond September 30th?

Since you have paperwork to prove you can are authorized to work you might be able to get on a repatriation flight to Nepal. I suggest you contact their embassy. https://th.nepalembassy.gov.np/

The IATA website shows flights are not allowed until the 31st of this month. See: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php Perhaps you will able to fly to Nepal after that day.

44 minutes ago, TGIR said:

Just an ignorant American attempting to help, so no rude comments please.   Have you spoken to Thai Officials about how to handle this situation yet?  Seems like it would be the first thing to do.  If you can't go anywhere because of both governments what would they expect you to do?

 

The problem is he can go somewhere, specifically to his country of citizenship. He prefers to wait for Nepal to open up in Thailand than in the US, but that is not likely to be considered grounds for an individual extension.

 

If he were a Nepali citizen or permanent resident then it woudl be different.

 

OP I suggest you see if you can find a fully refundable ticket to the US to book for the 3rd week of September, so that in case there is further extension of blanket amnesty you can cancel and if not, you are able to leave. (I'm assuming your wife could get entry to the US).

 

4 hours ago, TGIR said:

Just an ignorant American attempting to help, so no rude comments please.   Have you spoken to Thai Officials about how to handle this situation yet?  Seems like it would be the first thing to do.  If you can't go anywhere because of both governments what would they expect you to do?

As ChouDoufu pointed out, unless you can muddy the waters somehow, immigration will look at whether they could return to home country. The answer, frankly is, yes they could, but would do almost anything to avoid doing so.

 

4 hours ago, RubenRemus said:

She's British. The kids hold dual passorts US/UK.

Yeah, did that. They suggested trying to get the ministry I work under in Nepal to send them a letter. Otherwise they can't help non-Nepalese citizens. The ministry I work under in Nepal will be very very difficult to engage on this.

It seems this could be a time to contact a well connected Nepalese lawyer.

18 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

What was your non-o visa based upon?

Do you want the 30 day extension to stay beyond September 30th?

Since you have paperwork to prove you can are authorized to work you might be able to get on a repatriation flight to Nepal. I suggest you contact their embassy. https://th.nepalembassy.gov.np/

The IATA website shows flights are not allowed until the 31st of this month. See: https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php Perhaps you will able to fly to Nepal after that day.

Thanks - our non-Os were based on traveling to have a baby in Thailand (Samitivej)... so medical in nature. I think 30 days is sufficient although 60 days would make me more comfortable. The issue with small children is that you don't want to bring them into a country like Nepal where the hospitals are already overflowing with COVID patients and the capital city is a major hotspot. It's a risk I will consider undertaking if commercial flights are available out in an emergency. But if we need to wait a week for the next outgoing humanitarian flight, it could be really dangerous for the little ones. This isn't really about them catching COVID as much as it is any number of early childhood risks.  

18 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

The problem is he can go somewhere, specifically to his country of citizenship. He prefers to wait for Nepal to open up in Thailand than in the US, but that is not likely to be considered grounds for an individual extension.

 

If he were a Nepali citizen or permanent resident then it woudl be different.

 

OP I suggest you see if you can find a fully refundable ticket to the US to book for the 3rd week of September, so that in case there is further extension of blanket amnesty you can cancel and if not, you are able to leave. (I'm assuming your wife could get entry to the US).

 

Hi - yes, you are I are thinking along the same lines. We'll book the tickets and hope for the best, barring success at immigration this week. Thank you. 

27 minutes ago, RubenRemus said:

Thanks - our non-Os were based on traveling to have a baby in Thailand (Samitivej)... so medical in nature. I think 30 days is sufficient although 60 days would make me more comfortable.

The longest extension you could get would be for 30 days with a letter from your embassies. As far as I know the US and UK embassies are not doing them yet.

Children do not need extensions since they are exempt from overstay fines and punishment for it. Have you gotten a passport for your newborn child yet? 

In your case you do not have a lot ot option to stay beyond September 26th.