Under consideration stamp: what's my legal status?

[mikem20]

Hi

 

Chonburi IO finally accepted my application for 30 days extension with a consulate letter after sending me back once with a nitpicking demand for further documentation.
I got a stamp for under consideration with return on October 9th as seemingly everybody else who was there on the same errand that day.

So I guess I'm supposed to come back on that date and get the real extension stamp?

 

My problem is I'm not planning on anymore extensions than this, I'm waiting for a ticket on one of those special flights with Thai Airways next month that will get me as close to my destination as possible using my already paid-for ticket. So I don't care anymore how long an extension I get, I just don't want to be here illegally when my day of departure comes.

So for me it's just a ridiculous demand as October 9th is on a Friday and my first possible flight is leaving on that weekend. To be then maybe told that desk has closed now at their whim.

 

My plan was leave Pattaya for good and stay somewhere else until my (possible) flight goes and then go straight from there to Suvarnabhumi, but now I seem to be bound to return to Pattaya only to get a confirmation of 30 days at the IO less than 2 days before my departure. 

 

1. What's my legal status while I'm waiting? Am I supposed to stay at the address I gave on the application and don't go anywhere? Am I legally bound to return to the IO on this date and neither sooner nor later?
2. I guess it's a stupid question but I expect I must go to the IO in Chonburi that gave me this stamp? I cannot just pop into the closest IO at hand?
3. Is it possible to get the stamp without waiting all this time, to expedite this somehow (I'm not talking agent money)?
4. What happens if I just completely ignore it and just show up at immigration in Suvarnabhumi for my flight, before or after the 9th, with only this stamp in my passport? Will they charge me for overstay since the 27th of September or worse? 

 

I just think it's nuts if Thai immigration is actually hampering people's attempts to leave the country promptly, as they so dearly wish, with idiotic bureaucracy.

 

By the way I got a blue receipt in Thai for 1900 baht but I was never asked for any money. Am I supposed to pay when I return or did they simply forget to charge me? They were passing my papers back and forth between two officers, each one seemingly checking the other's work. If they don't ask me for the money I'm not going to volunteer to pay, they can take it out of heap of money they're getting from the chumps who are paying 50.000 for any kind of extension.

[2530Ubon]

Don't bother going back - pay 1000 baht on departure for 2 days overstay. The 'under consideration' gives you legal status until that date. Problem solved

Edited September 19, 2020 by 2530Ubon

[jackdd]

3 minutes ago, mikem20 said:

By the way I got a blue receipt in Thai for 1900 baht but I was never asked for any money. Am I supposed to pay when I return or did they simply forget to charge me?

They forgot to charge you.

 

The easiest option would be to fly out before 9th October, then you don't have to do anything.

You have to go back to the IO where you applied, you can't get the final stamp at another IO. It could be possible that they have the confirmation already before 9th October, so you could just visit them earlier and try your luck.

I have no idea what happens if you would fly out a few days after 9th October, without having obtained the final stamp.

[Autonuaq]

When you leave the country without a final stamp after the date allowed to stay you can run into problems when you later apply for new visa.

 

Therefore be wise and get the final stamp.

You probalby can ask for an extension because that die to the circumstances you can it book a flight on time.

 

Write this also as reason on the application form to for future references.

[Jackcwba]

They forgot to charge you? 555 bunch of cowboys.  

[mikem20]

Thanks for some sensible advice. But does someone have first hand experience of overstaying the under consideration stamp return date or have some definite knowledge of how it works? Is it exactly the same as a extension to the return to IO date, with overstay fines if not finalized?

Would it be any use asking for them to give the final stamp now on grounds of leaving town?  Is it really a 3 week process for them to decide to reject or not?

Or would it be possible for me to apply for another 30 days extension again at another IO without getting the final stamp for the previous one? Would trying that land me in trouble?

It will be a huge inconvenience for me to have to travel two days to get that stamp in the short time I have left now and not something I was expecting. And I expect it will be futile trying to call to ask if it's ready before time.