CW help USA friend

[Wake Up]

I have a friend who entered Bangkok from USA. His old extension of stay ended in December 2020. The airport immigration stamped him into Thailand for ninety days ending June 3. 
 

He went to CW on Friday and got confused and was told 600 people were ahead of him by someone at immigration. He then went to an agent at Trendy building who told him to go to udon Thani where he got his one year extension that expired in December 2020.  
 

He is living at a Marriott hotel in Bangkok. 
 

he has 800 k in a thai bank but only put it in there last week. 
 

I am going with him to CW on Monday. I am trying to help him do two things. One extend his 90 stay from June 3 until the longest date possible. And also help him file his first ever 90 day report after obtaining his extension past June 3. 
 

he wants to stay in Thailand on a one year extension of stay probably a O visa. He is too upset to handle it on his own and for some reason the agents and him have miscommunications between them. 
 

Several people on this forum have helped me. Can you please advise me what is best for me to have him do when we go to CW on Monday that ultimately allows him to stay past June 3 and then also ultimately get a one year retirement extension of stay. He plans on living in Bangkok in the Marriott hotel for the next 6 months or more. 
 

[ubonjoe]

Did he enter with a non-o visa that allowed him the 90 day entry?

He could apply for a 60 day covid 19 extension. He would apply for that at the Muang Thong Thani office.

[Tanoshi]

55 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

I have a friend who entered Bangkok from USA. His old extension of stay ended in December 2020. The airport immigration stamped him into Thailand for ninety days ending June 3. 

If he was grated a 90 day stay on arrival, then he either entered on a Non O Visa or an STV Visa, both of which will grant a 90 day entry.

You cannot obtain a 1 year extension from entry on an STV, only further 90 day extensions until Sept 30th.

 

If he entered on a Non Imm O Visa and only just put the 800K in a Thai bank, then he can't meet the requirements for the funds to be in for 2 months prior to his June 3rd permitted stay.

He could apply for a 60 day extension to allow his 800K to mature, then apply for the 1 year extension.

 

To know how to proceed you really need to know on which type of Visa he entered Thailand on.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Tanoshi

[DrJack54]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

he has 800 k in a thai bank but only put it in there last week

Your friend must have entered with non O (retirement) to be stamped in for 90 days.

He needs the 800k to be in band for 2 months prior to day of applying for 12 month extension.

He could obtain a 60 day covid extension at MTT if more time required for 2 month seasoning.

No point him going to CW Monday.

For his 12 month extension he will attend CW. Appointment system is available and works well.. CW still do walk ins. Link for appointment

 

http://203.151.166.132/immigrant_queue/booking/

Edited May 29, 2021 by DrJack54

[Tanoshi]

Just now, DrJack54 said:

Your friend must have entered with non O (retirement) to be stamped in for 90 days.

Or a STV (Special Tourist Visa), also 90 days on entry.

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, Tanoshi said:

Or a STV (Special Tourist Visa), also 90 days on entry.

True. Overlooked that. Surely he didn't obtain STV. 

Hope not as he won't be able to obtain non O at immigration with STV entry.

[sanuk711]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

He then went to an agent at Trendy building who told him to go to udon Thani where he got his one year extension that expired in December 2020.

Its a little confusing Wake-up..... he went to Udon Thani ??    or his old extension was from Udon Thani

[DrJack54]

8 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Its a little confusing Wake-up..... he went to Udon Thani ??    or his old extension was from Udon Thani

Agree very confusing.

In any event udon Thani has nothing to do with him now. Wrong info from Trendy.

His hotel located Bangkok would have done a TM30 for him. He should ask for printout from hotel and attend CW for his 12 month extension after 800k in bank for 2 months

That assumes he entered on non o (rt)

Edited May 29, 2021 by DrJack54

[Wake Up]

5 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Its a little confusing Wake-up..... he went to Udon Thani ??    or his old extension was from Udon Thani

Before he lived in udon Thani before.

 

then he left and was  in the USA for over a year for Covid travel reasons so his past extensions of stay was from udon Thani.
 

But he lives in Bangkok now so I see no need for him to go to udon Thani for anything. The extension of stay expired December 23. 2020. 

[Wake Up]

43 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Did he enter with a non-o visa that allowed him the 90 day entry?

He could apply for a 60 day covid 19 extension. He would apply for that at the Muang Thong Thani office.

I am looking at his passport. He arrived March 5, 2021 from USA and with no visa and was visa exempt. The immigration officer looked at his expired extension of stay that ended on December 23, 2020 and stamped him in until June 2, 2021. 
 

He would like to stay in Thailand and lives in Bangkok at the Marriott hotel since March 20, 2021. He has a reservation at the Marriott that is paid for until June 30 and wants to stay at the hotel another 6 months. 
 

Thank you for your help. I can take a photo of his entry stamp if needed. 

[Tanoshi]

11 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

True. Overlooked that. Surely he didn't obtain STV. 

Hope not as he won't be able to obtain non O at immigration with STV entry.

Exactly.

He can get 2 x 90 extensions taking him to Dec 3rd with a STV.

 

The fact an agent also told him to go to his previous IO appears something is not as it seems, or the OP's friend confused the agent.

[Tanoshi]

1 minute ago, Wake Up said:

I am looking at his passport. He arrived March 5, 2021 from USA and with no visa and was visa exempt. The immigration officer looked at his expired extension of stay that ended on December 23, 2020 and stamped him in until June 2, 2021. 

If he entered VE, he should have been granted a stay of 45 days, not 90.

The stamp is wrong, that's the issue here.

He should have been stamped in until April 18th.

Technically he is on overstay. (42 days).

 

He needs to apply for the Non O, but must have at least 15 days remaining on his permission of stay.

He will therefore need a 30 day extension to acquire further permission of stay in the first instance.

The requirements to apply for the Non O from a VE entry are here; Form TM87.

Non O retirement.pdf

 

The first problem is to speak to Immigration about the wrong entry stamp date.

Claim ignorance and it was Immigrations error that mislead him.

It could go one of three ways;

1. They accept the error was made by one of their entry clearance officers and allow him to apply for the Non O. The 800K only needs to be in the bank on date of application.

(2 months for the extension, but the Non O gives him a further 90 days).

2. They allow him to apply for the Non O after paying the overstay fee, or give him a further 30 day extension first.

3. A combination of the above.

[Tanoshi]

4. They could claim it was his responsibility to check the stamp, show no compassion at all and give him 7 days to leave the Country. Max fine 20,000 baht.

[Wake Up]

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

Your friend must have entered with non O (retirement) to be stamped in for 90 days.

He needs the 800k to be in band for 2 months prior to day of applying for 12 month extension.

He could obtain a 60 day covid extension at MTT if more time required for 2 month seasoning.

No point him going to CW Monday.

For his 12 month extension he will attend CW. Appointment system is available and works well.. CW still do walk ins. Link for appointment

 

http://203.151.166.132/immigrant_queue/booking/

Thank you. Can he apply for a 90 day non O visa and then later apply for a one year extension of stay. Would he apply for the 90 day non O visa at CW. 
 

All of this has to be done on Monday. He has been in the hospital and had two surgeries since he quarantined so he has been at the Marriott and unable to do any of this paperwork sooner. Good guy. Has money and is stressed to the max after going to get the extension on Friday and told 600 people ahead of him and they could not help him on Friday and then getting bad information from the Trendy agent. 
 

Anyway anything you can do to help me help him on Monday on where to go and what to do would be great. I have al day Monday but I cannot go with him on Tuesday. 
 

I have confirmed his passport was stamped in for 90 days March 5 to June 2. I have confirmed his last extension of stay expired December 23, 2020. He entered Thailand from USA and quarantined 15 nights. 
 

I was thinking of making him a retirement extension appointment for Monday at CW and trying to get a sympathetic immigration officer. 
 

I do not believe he is on overstay because he is stamped until June 2, 2021. 
 

many thanks for your advice for me to help him. ????
 

 

[ubonjoe]

5 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

Thank you. Can he apply for a 90 day non O visa and then later apply for a one year extension of stay. Would he apply for the 90 day non O visa at CW. 

Yes and both would be applied for at CW. But he must have 15 days remaining on his entry to apply for the non-o visa.

Requirements are here. https://bangkokimmigration.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/08-edit_NON-O.pdf

[DrJack54]

14 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

do not believe he is on overstay because he is stamped until June 2, 2021. 

The issue seems to be that he was given incorrect permission of stay. Should have been stamped in for 45 days.

He has the 800k in the bank so normally he would attend imm and obtain his non O which would give him 90 day permission of stay. In the last 30 days of that 90 day POS he would obtain his annual extension. 

He needs to focus on this incorrect stamp. Again we assume he entered visa exempt. 

If you had more time up your sleeve I would suggest the assistance of visa agent. Not for the financials but help to sort out stamp.

You don't have time my suggestion would be to attend CW Monday.

@ThaiVisaCentre any suggestions for this guy?

Edited May 29, 2021 by DrJack54

[Tanoshi]

3 hours ago, Wake Up said:

I was thinking of making him a retirement extension appointment for Monday at CW and trying to get a sympathetic immigration officer. 

You need to have a Non O visa to obtain a 1 year extension based on retirement.

If he entered VE he first of all needs to apply for a Non O.

He must have at least 15 days permission of stay left to apply for the Non O.

 

He has neither of the above.

From the same information posted by myself and UJ.

Quote

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED MORE THAN 15 DAYS BEFORE VISA EXPIRATION IN SUPPORT OF THE APPLICATION FOR VISA OR VISA STATUS ALTERATION FOR 90 DAYS IF YOU HAVE OVERSTAYED, YOU ARE NOTALLOWED TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATIONFOR THIS TYPE OF VISA.

 

Leaving aside he was stamped in incorrectly for 90 days instead of 45 days, he now does not have 15 days left before his current permission of stay expires on June 3rd.

 

On Monday all you can do is apply for a 30 day extension, which will grant him further permission of stay until July 2nd. Then a week later make a further appointment to apply for the Non O.

Then within the last 30 days of the 90 days granted by the Non O apply for the 1 year extension based on retirement.

 

That said, if Immigration spot the entry stamp date error and realise he entered VE, then you could have some explaining to do. Claim ignorance as to what he should have been stamped in until.

A Visa exempt entry grants 30 days.

A Tourist Visa entry grants 60 days.

A Non O Visa entry grants 90 days.

Because of quarantine, they are currently granting a stay of 45 days when entering VE.

 

 

 

[ThaiVisaCentre]

4 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

The issue seems to be that he was given incorrect permission of stay. Should have been stamped in for 45 days.

He has the 800k in the bank so normally he would attend imm and obtain his non O which would give him 90 day permission of stay. In the last 30 days of that 90 day POS he would obtain his annual extension. 

He needs to focus on this incorrect stamp. Again we assume he entered visa exempt. 

If you had more time up your sleeve I would suggest the assistance of visa agent. Not for the financials but help to sort out stamp.

You don't have time my suggestion would be to attend CW Monday.

@ThaiVisaCentre any suggestions for this guy?

We would need to see the stamps to determine what exactly is going on.

He can always contact my team via LINE 

LINE: @ThaiVisaCentre

[Wake Up]

Below is a copy of his passport page where he was stamped in on March 5, 2021 until June 2, 2021 and 

a copy of his passport page where his extension of stay expired December 23, 2020. 
 

The immigration officer mentioned his expired extension of stay and then told him he would stamp him in for 90 days instead of 45 days.  

[tonray]

First pic clearly shows a 45 day exempt stamp (W45) and mu guess is the officer simply forgot to change his stamp from the last guy in line before your friend. He needs to get that corrected.

[DrJack54]

OP, that is weird. I can't understand why he was given 90 day entry.

I'm wondering if you can obtain a covid extension Monday. 60 days would give you time to organize what's required for obtaining non O.

Perhaps @ubonjoe can make sense of your stamp and recommend best action.

BTW the previous reentry and extension has nothing to do with it.

 

Edit: Tonray just did.

also Tanoshi suggested that stamp needs to be corrected.

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by DrJack54

[ubonjoe]

 

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Perhaps @ubonjoe can make sense of your stamp and recommend best action.

The arrival stamp clearly shows he entered visa exempt and should of only been admitted for 45 days.

 

 

If the officer intended to allow a 90 day entry he should of made a notation about it and signed it.

Not sure what immigration will do about it. They may have him pay the max overstay fine of 20k baht and grant a 30 day extension after paying the 1900 baht fee.

[DrJack54]

@Wake Up..... There you have it ubonjoe along with Tanoshi and Tonray all saying you need to go to CW and get stamp and potential overstay sorted out.

 

Note at immigration on the lower level there Is photocopy stall. They can assist with copies that you need for 30 day extension.

Good idea to take cash with you for overstay fine (if it's applied).

Good luck.

 

[ubonjoe]

16 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Note at immigration on the lower level there Is photocopy stall. They can assist with copies that you need for 30 day extension.

The 30 day extension would be done at Muang Thong Thani. CW might do in as a special case.

[Tanoshi]

@Wake Up

What exactly is it your confused about?

 

What should have happened is your friend should have been granted permission of stay for 45 days entering Visa exempt (no Visa) and stamped in until April 18th.

 

He wants to stay long term and apply for a 1 year extension based on retirement, however you must have a Non Imm type Visa in the first instance. You cannot obtain a 1 year extension from a VE or TV entry. For this purpose Immigration offer a service to apply for the Non O at a local Immigration office as a prelude to applying for the 1 year extension.

The process and requirements to do this are here (again):  Non O retirement.pdf

 

To apply for the Non O, you must have at least 15 days permission of stay left from your entry stamp to apply. In your friends case that should have been before 3rd April.

Had this been followed and approved, he would have received a Non O and granted further permission of stay, dated from April 18th to July 16th. (90 days)

 

Within the last 45 days of that permission of stay he could apply for the 1 year extension.

Basically from June 2nd onwards.

 

From the stamps you've provided it's quite evident that the entry clearance officer incorrectly stamped the wrong date. This frequently happens, picking up the wrong date stamp.

However your friend should have been fully aware of the number of days he should have been permitted to stay and the date stamped was wrong.

Even so, he has left it to late even from the date given on the stamp (June 2nd) to apply for the change from VE to Non O, as he only has 3 days permission of stay left (not the minimum 15 required) to make the application. He therefore needs to apply for a 30 day extension in the first instance to give him further permission of stay.

 

You have to resolve the incorrectly dated stamp first and the outcome of that depends on the compassion and understanding of the IO you deal with and the fact although it was an error by an IO, he has technically been on overstay from April 18th.

Claiming ignorance of the laws of entry and faith in the entry Immigration officer that he correctly dated your stamp, may allow you some wriggle room and a compromise.

 

Please do report back and let us know the outcome.

[KeeTua]

 

20 hours ago, Wake Up said:

 

Anyway anything you can do to help me help him on Monday on where to go and what to do would be great. I have al day Monday but I cannot go with him on Tuesday. 

"He went to CW on Friday and got confused...."

"He is too upset to handle it on his own...."

"Has money and is stressed to the max after going to get the extension on Friday"

"The immigration officer mentioned his expired extension of stay and then told him he would stamp him in for 90 days instead of 45 days."

 

Based on that info it sounds like your Monday would be better spent getting with a visa agent instead of visiting immigration. If you take your friend to immigration and things go against him and he gets upset, maybe angry, that would just make things worse. Also a visa agent could more easily negotiate if a 20k overstay fine is requested by an immigration officer without loss of face since there is clearly and error by immigration.

[ThaiVisaCentre]

Oh, he is under overstay now.

His visa expired April 18th. (even-though the officer stamped him wrong it wont matter, as inside of the system he will be under 45 day exempt entry, and it is his responsibility to always make sure the stamp is correct.)

He is 41 days overstay, and if he wanted to use our assistance please make sure to come to us ASAP when things go past 45 days the process gets much more complicated.
 

Edited May 30, 2021 by ThaiVisaCentre

[audaciousnomad]

37 minutes ago, ThaiVisaCentre said:

Oh, he is under overstay now.

His visa expired April 18th. (even-though the officer stamped him wrong it wont matter, as inside of the system he will be under 45 day exempt entry, and it is his responsibility to always make sure the stamp is correct.)

He is 41 days overstay, and if he wanted to use our assistance please make sure to come to us ASAP when things go past 45 days the process gets much more complicated.
 

 

21 hours ago, Wake Up said:

Thank you. Can he apply for a 90 day non O visa and then later apply for a one year extension of stay. Would he apply for the 90 day non O visa at CW. 
 

All of this has to be done on Monday. He has been in the hospital and had two surgeries since he quarantined so he has been at the Marriott and unable to do any of this paperwork sooner. Good guy. Has money and is stressed to the max after going to get the extension on Friday and told 600 people ahead of him and they could not help him on Friday and then getting bad information from the Trendy agent. 
 

Anyway anything you can do to help me help him on Monday on where to go and what to do would be great. I have al day Monday but I cannot go with him on Tuesday. 
 

I have confirmed his passport was stamped in for 90 days March 5 to June 2. I have confirmed his last extension of stay expired December 23, 2020. He entered Thailand from USA and quarantined 15 nights. 
 

I was thinking of making him a retirement extension appointment for Monday at CW and trying to get a sympathetic immigration officer. 
 

I do not believe he is on overstay because he is stamped until June 2, 2021. 
 

many thanks for your advice for me to help him. ????
 

 

I have nothing to add other than as messy as the situation now is, since you mentioned he has the means financially...it might just be a wise thing to consider working with a reputable agent to ease the headache of sorting this out. Especially since time is fast approaching (e.g. the 45-day mark).

[Tanoshi]

18 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

Especially since time is fast approaching (e.g. the 45-day mark).

He entered VE March 5th, it's fast approaching the 90 day mark.

[jackdd]

I would recommend to approach the problem is this way:

Always act stupid, like you don't know that anything is wrong, for the general person it's not obvious, and because the problem is caused by the wrong stamp by IO they might try to solve it without much trouble.

Complete a TM7 form to apply for a standard 30 day extension, take the required copies, photos, etc. and go to apply for this extension, just hand in your documents like everything is alright, don't say anything.

At some point they will notice that the stamp in the passport is wrong, when they mention it do again act stupid and let them find a solution.

Never mention that you were aware of this problem. If you are lucky you might get around the 20k overstay fine.

 

But bring 20k for the fine (and 2*1900THB for two extensions, regular 30 day extension and 60 day covid extension) with you, in case you have to pay it you can sort it out on the spot.

Make sure that there is enough time, it might take them a bit to sort out this mess.