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

[Metropolitian]

22 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

1 hour ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

why many farangs here THINK they are better than other farang TOURISTS?

 

just because they got their visa easy, does not mean that other people can

 

even with money in the bank and have to go to crooked AGENTS with IO in their pockets

 

I think the extortion price is even going up more as we near 26 september...

 

I was quoted 55.000 baht 3 months ago and now I am reading 70.000+ baht for useless fake volunteer visa's that are not connected to any real NGO as you need a work permit to volunteer

The question is this ?  What type of Visa were you on when you came here, and if you have chosen to stay here long term, why do you need to try and obtain a visa or extension that is more than likely fraudulent more than if it was legitimate by having to pay.  It seems to me that you either have some issue regarding funds, your under 55, your not married to a Thai, or one of many other types of people who find it hard to stay legitimately in the country without having to post up an exorbitant amount of money.  Options are many if you truly have the funds at your disposal.  Just do the right thing and stay off the radar.

"  your under 55, your not married to a Thai, "

 

There are many solutions for retirees and those who have legal family here (marriage , children, spouse with visa,..)

 

But there are also select groups who get semi-issues like one with ME visas depending on border crossing.

 

And then there are the groups who are here on Non-o (volunteer) visa in a legit way, but their visa and extension expired during the amnesty simply on the fact that extensions are given maximum 3 times 90 days.

One year after their arrival in Thailand they are supposed to leave Thailand to obtain a new non-O (volunteer) visa.

 

I'm one of them, with valid and legit workpermit and volunteering for an association.

[BritManToo]

26 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

The question is this ?  What type of Visa were you on when you came here, 

I'm here on a ME Non-O, it's valid until April next year.

But all my trips to Cambodia/Vietnam/Philippines have been cancelled, so I can't use it.

[poloshirt]

I went to the Hua lamphong train station a week ago they said no train to butterworth(malaysia).

IS THERE A TRAIN TO GO TO MALAYSIA NOW? i AM WONDERING.

aNYONE KNOWS? tHANKS.

mY KEYBOARD PROBLEM SORRY

[bkk6060]

I bet they will extend nothing.

So, be an adult figure out a plan and take care of your business.

 

[CorpusChristie]

9 minutes ago, poloshirt said:

I went to the Hua lamphong train station a week ago they said no train to butterworth(malaysia).

IS THERE A TRAIN TO GO TO MALAYSIA NOW? i AM WONDERING.

aNYONE KNOWS? tHANKS.

mY KEYBOARD PROBLEM SORRY

No, the border is closed , no one is allowed to cross the border 

[Bangkok Barry]

4 hours ago, up-country_sinclair said:

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?

The deal is you are a victim of some immigration offices/officers deciding their own policy, regardless and in contradiction of what HQ directs. Perfectly normal behaviour, and very good reason to do absolutely nothing during the amnesty until a few days before the current expires. Despite the warning to 'not leave it until the last minute'.

[rott]

3 hours ago, crazykopite said:

I am okay I have carried on as normal renewing my retirement visa in June ,I shall be taking a trip to IO next week for my first 90 day report along with my updated bank book to show that I still have my 800k in my bank . Yet others who pay an agent a heavy amount of money because they do not have the funds required in the bank can sit back and laugh at me knowing that the agent does everything for them including 90 day report it’s clear who the fool is ME for being honest No doubt the agents in the next two weeks will be making bundles of cash for those who lack funds but are desperate to stay in the kingdom , then there will be many others who will take the chance of overstay in the hope they don’t get caught and if they do it will only cost them the maximum of 20,000 baht . Come the 25/26 I will sit and chill while 1,000s will be scrambling to there local IO unless the government announce a further 3 month amnesty which in all fairness would be the most sensible thing to do.

You are well sorted, as am I, so why so concerned about what other people are doing? 

 

Park Ender (retired) 

[NorthernRyland]

5 hours ago, PatrickC said:

No one is being expelled. They are leaving at the end of their legal entitlement to stay in Thailand. Simple as that.

yeah but then we can't get back in for an unknown number of months, maybe years for all we know. That's why people _feel_ expelled even though technically our visa is merely expiring, like it always does. If I could could leave and then come back then obviously I wouldn't care.

[NorthernRyland]

4 hours ago, Oldie said:

How is this in the US? If someones visa is expired can he still stay there if he doesn't want to go back to his home country? Must be like this because you expect exactly this from Thailand. 

These are not normal circumstances do you get that? Once we leave it's many months or years before we can get back. Again why are you so interested in where I live or do not live and why be so stingy during these times??

[Letseng]

11 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.

Btw, nonimm O ME is 90 days ext. , not 60.

[NorthernRyland]

2 hours ago, jirathama said:

Ask other countries. They do the same since always. A European tourist can not stay longer then 3 months in USA, then has to do a flight out, not incl. Canada or Mexico, to come back in. Then you have for sure the biggest trouble with the Immigration there to let you in. Most likely they send you back with the next flight.

 

Fine, so your answer is they should give us zero more time. Thanks for telling us what you think Thai immigration laws should be. 

 

These talks are really mind melting I must say. Some random guy on the internet says "it would be great if they gave me more time, that would really help me out" and then some other random guy on the internet says "NO MORE TIME FOR YOU, TIME TO GO HOME SIR!". 

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

why many farangs here THINK they are better than other farang TOURISTS?

 

just because they got their visa easy, does not mean that other people can

 

even with money in the bank and have to go to crooked AGENTS with IO in their pockets

 

I think the extortion price is even going up more as we near 26 september...

 

I was quoted 55.000 baht 3 months ago and now I am reading 70.000+ baht for useless fake volunteer visa's that are not connected to any real NGO as you need a work permit to volunteer

This is probably because the process for getting a Volunteer Visas take 4-5 weeks so you're paying for an expedited service.

 

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

22 minutes ago, Letseng said:

Btw, nonimm O ME is 90 days ext. , not 60.

Not sure what you mean here, a Non-O ME gives you 90 days on entry but you can only get a 60 day extension (on the grounds of visiting your wife assuming you have one for Marriage) or the full 12 months extension, there isn't an option to extend one for 90 days... 

 

Go out & come back in, then yes you get another 90 days, but obviously that's not very easy to do at the moment (technically it is possible for the Non-O ME Marriage guys but good luck with that) 

 

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

29 minutes ago, Letseng said:

Btw, nonimm O ME is 90 days ext. , not 60.

your absolutely correct, I was looking at my Multiple Entry Tourist visa stamp next to the Non Imm O ME in my old passport that gave me 60 days, my memory must be fubar as I have every visa possible in that passport. Sorry to confuse anyone.

[Zikomat]

  There is a big group of visitors left without any valid visa option at the moment. Those are people under 50, not married to Thai, and not having a business in Thailand. They also don’t want to study a Thai language. Until now, this group of people has mostly used a visa run option (totally legal). Some even used it for years.

  Now the borders are closed firmly and the option is not available anymore. Remember - this is not a small marginalized group but many many people who want to stay in Thailand for a longer period of time. Now our only valid options are the hope for another amnesty or leaving the country without any chance to return any time soon. Why are we left with such a bad choice? What have we done wrong to be expelled by the Thai authorities?
 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Zikomat

[Zikomat]

34 minutes ago, PatrickC said:

To those who are proposing that the amnesty should be extended again - how often would you keep extending it?

 

There is increasing proof that people can get re-infected with covid, and so a vaccine might well be ineffective. There was talk early on of HIV being cured - never happened. Covid might be the same. We might never find a cure.

 

So if this does drag on for 2 years or more, and if borders are closed all of that time, would you propose to stay in Thailand for 2 years on amnesty? Is that a realistic expectation that the Thai govt should accommodate this?

 

It is possible that tourism may never again exist as it did in our lifetime. It is possible that the nomad lifestyle that some westerns have adopted will never exist again in our lifetime.

 

I'm just speaking harsh facts here - and you can bash me - but it is conceivable that there will never be a cure, and also conceivable that tourism as we knew it is over. So, how long should these amnesties continue?

 Why you are only talking about nomads? Why, for example, not to expel all the retirees too? The situation has changed. What makes you think that the retirees have more reasons to stay in Thailand at the moment than nomads?

[JeffersLos]

53 minutes ago, PatrickC said:

To those who are proposing that the amnesty should be extended again - how often would you keep extending it?

Until all neighboring countries are open with freedom of movement, and international travel doesn't include quarantine in any developed nation. 

[JeffersLos]

So those with expired multiple entry non o visas will get a 60 day extension based on family, taking them to the end of November. Then they won't have a visa or an extension, so what will they do if the borders aren't open and the don't meet the immigration requirements (embassy requires 6 months of proof of funds from home country to supply the financial cert. not the 2 months from overseas that is the immigration rule)? 

[Mitkof Island]

And for those with Type O Marriage visas that renewed yearly in Savannakhet Laos without needing 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account and made 90 day border runs. Do what if their visa expired ?

Edited September 6, 2020 by Mitkof Island

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, PatrickC said:

So if this does drag on for 2 years or more, and if borders are closed all of that time, would you propose to stay in Thailand for 2 years on amnesty? Is that a realistic expectation that the Thai govt should accommodate this?

Yes, why not? They just weigh up the pros and the cons. As long as the pros outweigh the cons it makes sense to extend it. Of course the pros are not too big (spending some foreign money), but the cons are also not big.

I think most people who complain about a potential amnesty extension here on Thaivisa are retirees, many of whom don't even meet the requirements for an extension and only get it by paying an agent. They now feel that it's unfair that they paid 30k for their extension and tourists get to stay for free.

 

10 minutes ago, Mitkof Island said:

And for those with Type O Marriage visas that renewed yearly in Savannakhet Laos without needing 400,000 baht in a Thai bank account and made 90 day border runs. Do what if their visa expired ?

Getting a one year extension for having a Thai spouse would be an option.

Edited September 6, 2020 by jackdd

[Mitkof Island]

12 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Yes, why not? They just weigh up the pros and the cons. As long as the pros outweigh the cons it makes sense to extend it. Of course the pros are not too big (spending some foreign money), but the cons are also not big.

I think most people who complain about a potential amnesty extension here on Thaivisa are retirees, many of whom don't even meet the requirements for an extension and only get it by paying an agent. They now feel that it's unfair that they paid 30k for their extension and tourists get to stay for free.

 

Getting a one year extension for having a Thai spouse would be an option.

With now having to have 400,000 in the bank. I will remind you those that got their visas in Laos did NOT have to have a Thai bank account. So now have to put the money in and wait the four ? months . So they do what in the meanwhile ?

[jackdd]

52 minutes ago, Mitkof Island said:

With now having to have 400,000 in the bank. I will remind you those that got their visas in Laos did NOT have to have a Thai bank account. So now have to put the money in and wait the four ? months . So they do what in the meanwhile ?

Since they closed the borders in March it was uncertain how people who rely on non-O ME visas can continue to stay in Thailand. They had effectively 4 months time to put 400k in a bank account (if they can get an embassy letter or a visit wife extension, even one or two months more) to have it seasoned by 26th September and to secure their stay. If somebody still didn't manage to do this, then that's imho their own fault.

There are probably also some people who live from a 20k pension, who just don't have 400k (and can't accumulate it within a few months), but their stay was always uncertain. If Thailand would have decided to scrap the non-O ME visas they would have been in a similar situation, so they should have known that one day their time in Thailand might be over (My personal opinion is that there should be no income or money in bank requirement for marriage extensions, but this is not the Thai government's view and the rules have been like this since nearly forever)

 

[Rks22]

16 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.

I doubt that they will all get it, and even if they do the information is never shared with the full staff. and definitely now understood the same way, or interpreted the same way. That is why i only deal with the Big boss of the immigration office in Udon Thani. He is great as long as you are polite, respectful, and understanding. I have dealt with him for a few years and he knows that i only show up when i need to be there and that i have a good attitude, so he goes out of his way to help me. which is more than we can usually hope for.

[SteveJames]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

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.)

What a cheek.  Why would and better still why should regular tourists only have to show the same amount in the bank as those of us who have committed to a life long relationship with a Thai person and had to jump through all the hoops.  If anything you should show the same as a retiree 800K

Edited September 6, 2020 by SteveJames

[poloshirt]

7 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

No, the border is closed , no one is allowed to cross the border 

Then how do I get back to Malaysia. No money for air fares.

[fraggleRock]

I leave Thailand today by choice, this country is not what I dreamed about 10 years ago.... The smooth expat life dream is over.... I retired @ 42 years old, if you are 50+ your in trouble here... don’t kid yourself and learn basic economics and understand the healthcare system here now is desperate so premiums are going through the roof and will bankrupt you... plus payouts are extreamly difficult... and hearing the Phuket Gulag leper colony is now cancelled... Thailand is going to suffer. 

[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, Guderian said:

I wonder how much the agents are charging now for an "unfit to fly" letter?

That depends on how much the doctors are charging, as that's where the letter has to originate from.

[ThailandRyan]

37 minutes ago, fraggleRock said:

I leave Thailand today by choice, this country is not what I dreamed about 10 years ago.... The smooth expat life dream is over.... I retired @ 42 years old, if you are 50+ your in trouble here... don’t kid yourself and learn basic economics and understand the healthcare system here now is desperate so premiums are going through the roof and will bankrupt you... plus payouts are extreamly difficult... and hearing the Phuket Gulag leper colony is now cancelled... Thailand is going to suffer. 

Onward and upward Sir fraggleRock and remember to never look back or whine about whence you came.

[sandyf]

13 hours ago, poloshirt said:

I went to the Hua lamphong train station a week ago they said no train to butterworth(malaysia).

IS THERE A TRAIN TO GO TO MALAYSIA NOW? i AM WONDERING.

aNYONE KNOWS? tHANKS.

mY KEYBOARD PROBLEM SORRY

The train to Butterworth stopped some years ago when Malaysia went electric and Thai trains only go as far as Pedang Besar. Under normal circumstances you would just pass through immigration at the station, change platforms and catch a Malaysian train down to Butterworth.

Entry to Malaysia is currently restricted and even if you meet the requirements it is possible the immigration facilities in the station are closed, something that you would need to check as they are only part time normally.

The alternative would be to get the train to Hat Yai and travel by bus to the road border and walk into the station on the Malaysian side.

[sandyf]

5 hours ago, poloshirt said:

Then how do I get back to Malaysia. No money for air fares.

The border is not closed, just like Thailand, those that do not meet the requirements cannot cross.