Don’t leave it to the last minute! Thai Immigration reminds foreigners ahead of amnesty deadline

[Keyser Soze666]

17 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

A letter from your Embassy (if your flights have been repeatedly cancelled or your country is closed off). 

Or, a letter from a Hospital with a medical reason someone cannot travel. 

 

 

Unfortunately, this doesn’t help those unmarried fathers of Thai/foreign children who have never obtained parental status (legally) and cannot apply for Non-Imm Type O, or those who cannot meet the 400k requirement. 

 

The regulations have existed for a long time, there have been numerous ways to ’side step’ those regulations until the Emergency Decree effectively locked down Thailands borders for those who would ‘border-run’.

 

Its extremely harsh and unfair, while at the same time those in this situation must have known they were borrowing time as the visa requirements were tightening over the past few years - these folk must have felt the walls closing in around them. 

 

An awful shame for many in a difficult situation.

 

 

 

You post like Mother Teresa, smithy. As you say they have had ample time to prepare, and why didn't they get the correct status anyway, before all this covid nonsense? Unlike yourself, I have zero sympathy.

[GeorgeCross]

i believe having to go home at the end of your "holiday" because your tourist visa has expired and you want to stay longer doesn't really count as a forced expulsion

 

[Keyser Soze666]

Btw, where did the 'don't leave it to the last minute' headline come from? Thai's don't use expressions such as that.

[Bangkok Barry]

19 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Semantics - you see ‘being forced to leave’ where as others would see ‘are unable to remain here legally’....

Look. Tourists have been told they have to leave by 26th September. If not, then they are in the country illegally and will become an IO's wet dream when they eventually rock up at a border to leave. In my book, they are therefore being expelled/forced to leave. They have no choice, therefore they are being expelled/forced to leave. There are no ifs or buts. Stay and they are liable to arrest and detention. If you can't see that tourists are being expelled/forced to leave then we'll have to agree to disagree as we interpret the English language differently. And there is no point in quoting irrelevant comparisons to me, such as speed limits.

[Seeall]

5 hours ago, trucking said:

Glad they have made this announcement. Hope it has finally filtered down to every immigration office that this is the correct official line and they will stop saying the extension begins on day of application.

So all those who were thinking to do it at the last day possible to save a few satang can now relax ....  

[utalkin2me]

23 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Semantics - you see ‘being forced to leave’ where as others would see ‘are unable to remain here legally’....

 

While I’m highly sympathetic to those struggling to remain, for want of a better phrase - they have been ‘using’ the loopholes in the visa system to their advantage.

 

 

 

Being forced to leave, is similar to telling me I am forced to drive under the speed limit....   people are expected to comply with existing laws - the difficulty for some is that they can no longer ‘border bounce’ which was stretching visa requirements anyway. 

 

 

 

Traveling to other countries is not a loophole. It is what the visa was designed for - to easily exit and reenter. For example, chilling out in a Cambodian casino for a few hours is a perfectly legitimate use of this vis.

 

Maybe if you used it, you could call it a loophole for yourself, but what you cannot do is assume how others are using theirs. Put another way, you are calling it a loophole, but you have no justification for having leaped to this conclusion. Are 20% of the visa holder doing what you say? 50%? 

 

Truth is, you have no idea, and it is wrong of you to generalize as you have.

[connda]

This is about to become like an Eddie Murphy comedy skit about a haunted house.

***  "Get Out!"  ***

[BestB]

3 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

People who came to Thailand as a tourist back in January / February MUST have seen all of Thailand by now .

  What else to do you want to see and where else do you want to go ?

What does Apple have to do with orange?

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Look. Tourists have been told they have to leave by 26th September. If not, then they are in the country illegally and will become an IO's wet dream when they eventually rock up at a border to leave. In my book, they are therefore being expelled/forced to leave. They have no choice, therefore they are being expelled/forced to leave. There are no ifs or buts. Stay and they are liable to arrest and detention. If you can't see that tourists are being expelled/forced to leave then we'll have to agree to disagree as we interpret the English language differently. And there is no point in quoting irrelevant comparisons to me, such as speed limits.

Semantics then...

 

You see that they [tourists] are being expelled and forced to leave. 

 

I see that they [tourists] have agreed to Thailands Immigration regulations upon entering Thailand, they have since been given amnesty due to travel restrictions. Now that travel out of Thailand is available they are being requested to comply with the regulations. 

 

 

 

When my Wife, son and I travelled to Japan, my Wife was issued a 14 day visa. On day 14 we flew back to Thailand in compliance with visa regulations. Your argument would imply we were ‘forced’ to leave. 

 

 

People travelling to Thailand on a Tourist Visa or receiving a Visa Exempt stamp on arrival were given amnesty - they have since been given nearly two months to get their visa affairs in order.

 

You are arguing they are being forced into something, thats like arguing that I am being forced to pay my phone bill. 

Its something I have to do, its something I need to if I expect to keep using my phone. 

 

Any foreigner entering Thailand does so with an agreement, they were not ‘forced’ they chose to enter Thailand under a specific set of conditions, the main condition being they would leave Thailand after a set period of time.

 

A tourist who thinks they are being ‘forced’ to leave has not understood their conditions of entry into Thailand in the first place.

[up-country_sinclair]

About a month ago I went through the process of applying for and getting an extension of stay for my Non-O visa.  According to the stamp in my passport, the clock started ticking on my extension in August, not on September 27th.  What's the deal?

[Peter Denis]

2 minutes ago, Seeall said:

So all those who were thinking to do it at the last day possible to save a few satang can now relax ....  

The actual reason people were/are postponing their applications till last minute was/is twofold:

1 - Some IOs would provide the extension with start-date the day of application.  Obviously, in order not to lose days from your permission to stay, every sensible applicant will postpone till last minute if that is the case.  Luckily that issue has now been cleared in no uncertain terms by the Announcement.

> ANY extension applied for from now on will have 27 Sept start-date.

2 - But some applicants will still keep postponing till 'last minute', and actually I don't blame them.  This in case, the Cabinet would indeed extend the Amnesty again as they have done previously.  When that happens, the applicants that used their short-stay Extension Joker would have done this needlessly.

> Only a clear announcement of the Cabinet that they will NOT extend the Amnesty, will keep those applicants from 'hoarding' their application till last days of the Amnesty.

 

[kimamey]

2 hours ago, andy8017 said:

I am still waiting for a new passport which I applied for in May ,? they are using Covid & every other excuse under the sun it seems ,but it is obvious the UK civil service Unions are making everything difficult .!

 

I'm not sure how the passport process works but I suppose it depends on how practical it is to do working from home. Plus there may be difficulties if there is a lack of space in offices. Finally they are printed in Poland I think so there may be problems there as well. 

 

I hope you get it sorted soon. Nobody needs extra stress right now. 

[richard_smith237]

14 minutes ago, utalkin2me said:

Traveling to other countries is not a loophole. It is what the visa was designed for - to easily exit and reenter. For example, chilling out in a Cambodian casino for a few hours is a perfectly legitimate use of this vis.

 

Maybe if you used it, you could call it a loophole for yourself, but what you cannot do is assume how others are using theirs. Put another way, you are calling it a loophole, but you have no justification for having leaped to this conclusion. Are 20% of the visa holder doing what you say? 50%? 

 

Truth is, you have no idea, and it is wrong of you to generalize as you have.

 

Is it wrong of me to ‘generalise’ that a tourist visa is for tourists and not for people living long term in Thailand?

Thats not a generalisation that is Visa regulation.

For years people have been prevented entry with back to back tourist visas or visa exempt entries, border bouncing has been clamped down upon.

 

 

I am highly sympathetic to those now in a difficult situation and I take no pleasure in their difficulty. However, the visa regulations are quite clear and those ‘border bouncing’ were doing so by stretching a loophole, they did so with the flexibility of Immigration Officers and when some immigration offers were not flexible we saw the consequences when reading the many reports and complaints on this forum. 

 

I’ve no idea what percentage of people are using border runs or attempting to outlive their tourist visa. However, upon entry to Thailand they were given a finite timespan of entry - the only change to that is that this time span was extended with amnesty and the difficult that they can no longer border run. 

Edited September 6, 2020 by richard_smith237

[GeorgeCross]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A tourist who thinks they are being ‘forced’ to leave has not understood their conditions of entry into Thailand in the first place. 

 

 

oh, they will still be 'forced' to leave. that step comes after "locked up", "fined", but before "blacklisted"

 

 

[vandeventer]

     Call me stupid, as I see nowhere that they will not give another amnesty

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

11 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

A tourist who thinks they are being ‘forced’ to leave has not understood their conditions of entry into Thailand in the first place. 

 

 

oh, they will still be 'forced' to leave. that step comes after "locked up", "fined", but before "blacklisted"

 

Indeed, the consequences of ‘breaking contact’ - which in effect is what a visa is. Permission to enter a country for a specific time frame, the visitor / tourist agrees to those conditions. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, vandeventer said:

     Call me stupid, as I see nowhere that they will not give another amnesty

 

Have you seen anywhere that they [Thai Government / Immigration] will ‘extend’ amnesty when they have already made a very clear announcement which clearly outlines the end of the Amnesty ??

 

The absence of any such announcement does not by any stretch of the imagination mean there may be an extension. 

[warcy]

Thai immigration should NOT have given the two loopholes of embassy letter and medical cert. All these will be circumvented by unscrupulous people to extend their visa indefinitely.

 

Immigration should list the countries where flights are available for their own citizens, there's no excuse if their home country allow flights back.

 

As for medical cert, this can be abused by certain private medical doctors. It should only for serious incapacitating medical problems and certified by government hospitals. ie. they are unable to move.

 

Minor problems like common cold, diarrhea, mild fever, high blood pressure with quick recovery time shouldn't be issued. As usual, immigration don't think comprehensively enough.

Edited September 6, 2020 by warcy

[flyingfox1]

6 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

I sure hope this announcement is spread far and wide.  It has been out for quite along time already, so I will unfortunately not feel to bad for those that wait until the final week, and start to squeal "We did not know, or we did not have enough time".  I do feel for those on the Non O ME visa's who were not able to get out and back in every 90 days to keep the Visa active, and I do understand why many with families went this route because of there jobs and such.  I have always wondered why the Non Imm O-A ME Visa and the Non Imm O ME visa were not treated the same with 90 day reporting's and a 1 year stay granted.  Must have been a reason way back when they made the rules.  I know that the O_A I am on is for retirement, and the O is for visiting family, but if over 55 and still working somewhere outside of Thailand the O is best for them.  Should be some continuity, but then I am sure many are under the age and work abroad, in the oil industry, or work as digital nomads.  In reality there should be a way to go to immigration every 90 days on those O visas and extend for another 90 days, instead of every 60 days to get a 30 day extension, and then having to bounce out and then back in.  Maybe it was all about the money.  When I first came here many many years ago I was on a 30 day, which I would fly out and then back in and renew on arrival.  When I married, and because I was under the age and still working in the US I went the Non Imm O ME route, then finally an extension of stay based on the Non Imm O until that was no longer good for me, Then to my current Non Imm O-A ME, which will now be turned into an extension when it expires because I can not fly out and back in to add another year to it.  So many different rules, that staying up to speed can be hard for someone who never takes the time to learn the rules and get the true information from others such as Ubon Joe, Peter Denis and the others. I wish everyone the best in the upcoming days.

Nice write ,  I’m hoping that I can get back in thai before my retirement visa expires in end of November, but guess no one knows not even the government ????lol

missing GF of 7yrs, home, pickup, bike, cat dogs, Been away since January ,

dog died, both chickens died and cat gone missing. 

Edited September 6, 2020 by flyingfox1

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'm waiting until the final week because I'm expecting the government to announce another extension.

And the government always leaves it until the final week.

Don't think that's going to happen, this announcement is clear.

Sort out a visa/extension or you're going to be paying fines !

[trucking]

14 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

Youve been a tourist for well over 8 months , just how much more of Thailand do you want to tour ?

 

I think Frank Sinatra would have sung :

 

There's a few more lonesome cities that I'd like to see
While the wine of wondering is still inside of me
There's a few more pretty women that I'd like to know
Bridge or two I'd like to cross, a few more oats to sow
Maybe when I've done it all, seen all there is to see
I'll find out I still cannot run away from me
But as long as trains keep running, restless man I'll be

[katatonic]

47 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Youve been a tourist for well over 8 months , just how much more of Thailand do you want to tour ?

So have I, but quite happy staying in my house as I've had it for over 10 years, as well as my Thai wife. 

[khunjeff]

5 minutes ago, warcy said:

Thai immigration should NOT have given the two loopholes of embassy letter and medical cert. All these will be circumvented by unscrupulous people to extend their visa indefinitely.

 

Immigration should list the countries where flights are available for their own citizens, there's no excuse if their home country allow flights back.

 

As for medical cert, this can be abused by certain private medical doctors. It should only for serious incapacitating medical problems and certified by government hospitals. ie. they are unable to move.

 

Minor problems like common cold, diarrhea, mild fever, high blood pressure with quick recovery time shouldn't be issued. As usual, immigration don't think comprehensively enough.

Immigration doesn't particularly care whether these letters are abused - they just want a piece of paper in the file so that they can put the responsibility for the extension on a third party, rather than making an independent decision using their own judgment. This way, no one can blame them for not granting an extension ("it's the Embassy's fault for not issuing a letter"), or for granting one ("we just did what the Embassy asked, as a courtesy to a diplomatic representative").

[VBF]

30 minutes ago, BestB said:

What does Apple have to do with orange?

This? 

 

Yes I know this is a serious issue, but this is about as much help as all the bickering over semantics going on here. ????

[Morch]

So yeah, haven't really been paying attention to recent developments, please clue me in:

 

My non-O (marriage, 400k in the bank route) extension ends 22 December 2020.

My next 90 days report is due on 23 September 2020.

 

What does the OP imply in my case, then?

[CorpusChristie]

6 minutes ago, katatonic said:

So have I, but quite happy staying in my house as I've had it for over 10 years, as well as my Thai wife. 

Youre not a tourist then 

[fraggleRock]

Well after so many years of living and working in Thailand [Bangkok] I have decided to ‘hang up my coat’ and move on with immediate effect.  Thailand was great ... actually amazing when I came here (2001), but before this current flu situation the country was on a serious sliding scale of economic failures already on SE Asia standards (2005>). This current situation has but amplified it... I just cannot wait to leave and never have to face Thai Immigration Officers again... lower than a parking enforcement officer ... Thailand in 2022 is going back 50 years... why, simple economics.... you cannot sustain a false economy via quantitative easing or precious metal reserves... look at the current Bhat...! some one has to pay and considering less than 70% of the population pay any tax plus of the corrupt loopholes it boils down to a very ‘dodgy’ <10% pay tax... the 35 to 40% GDP dependancy on tourism ... which does not exist... and when it does is 0 Chinese and Indian tourists 

[BritManToo]

36 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Don't think that's going to happen, this announcement is clear.

Sort out a visa/extension or you're going to be paying fines !

That announcement is by immigration, an arm of the police (who are in opposition to the government).

The government is a completely different organisation, essentially the army.

 

Always amazed at the amount of foreigners that think Immigration and the government are on the same side.

Think of the army and the police as two rival gangs fighting for supremacy of the country.

One gang always doing it's best to disrupt the plans of the other gang.

 

The government issues an amnesty, immigration does everything it can to sabotage & negate that amnesty.

You can't have an extension because there isn't 15 days left on your permission to stay.

Your extension will start on the day you apply, even though they've been told to start them on 26th.

You have to leave the country for a new VISA, even though the borders are closed.

Etc.

 

The army gang (Prayut) has all the tanks and rifles.

The police gang (Thaksin) has the support of the people.

 

The government needs to issue an edict that immigration can't negate, I'd suggest something like .....

"Immigration is to issue a 1 year extension to any person applying with a bank statement showing 400k in a Thai bank on the day of application" (or 3 months showing 100K, etc.)

 

Alternatively, in these current unusual circumstances ............

"Immigration is to sell a 1 year extension to any person applying for a fee of $300" (same as Cambodia)

That would make the government some money, instead of corrupt immigration officers making money.

Edited September 6, 2020 by BritManToo

[katatonic]

1 minute ago, PatrickC said:

 

Agree - the only exemption should be if you're incapacitated or dying of cancer with a few weeks to live, which would also be exemptions in normal times.

 

Qatar flies pretty much everywhere. No one has any excuse.

Just what is it that people like you and warcy etc have against other people who happen to be here, often in unplanned circumstances? Quite bizarre how terms such as 'unscrupulous' and 'abuse' are being levelled at people who have to be somewhere and quite possibly have no other home due to peripatetic careers or just their own choices. What on earth gives you the right to criticise an entire cohort of visitors on the basis of what visa they happened to hold on a particular date? They may as well be here as anywhere else at the moment. I'd certainly prefer to be here right now than in Europe with winter and a new flu season fast approaching.

[ThailandRyan]

17 minutes ago, Morch said:

So yeah, haven't really been paying attention to recent developments, please clue me in:

 

My non-O (marriage, 400k in the bank route) extension ends 22 December 2020.

My next 90 days report is due on 23 September 2020.

 

What does the OP imply in my case, then?

Absolutely nothing to do with your case.  Just proceed as usual.