Passport held by shady agent for 8 months - please help

[Blue Muton]

59 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Not defending the OP but you can do a years 90 day reports online without your passport or visiting a IO.

....but presumably not if your permission to stay has expired.

[IvorBiggun2]

9 minutes ago, Blue Muton said:

but presumably not if your permission to stay has expired.

I was giving as an example if the 'permission of stay hadn't expired'. Has/ had the 'permission' expired?

[Blue Muton]

4 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

I was giving as an example if the 'permission of stay hadn't expired'. Has/ had the 'permission' expired?

That is unknown to all except for the agent, hence us both using "if". 

I'm inclined to agree with those who suspect that this is a fabricated story though.

[IvorBiggun2]

55 minutes ago, BritTim said:

that they are empowered to waive funds seasoning requirements.

For my past extensions I used to have my extension monies in a 'Credit Union'. Interpretation of 'Credit Union' is a 'savings bank'. Credit unions are financial institutions, like banks.

For the first year or so Buriram IO accepted my monies being in the Credit Union and my extension was signed off by the head honcho. So all was legal.

Went into same office later. Same staff different head honcho. New honch refused to accept credit union as being the same as a bank even though I was getting annual and monthly interest from my monies.

 

[JTXR]

One of the major reasons I do all my immigration myself rather than by an agent is because I would never hand my passport over to someone I did not know extremely well and trust 100%. 

 

It amazes me that folks hire agents they know do dodgy things and never imagine that the agents are by definition dodgy themselves.

[JTXR]

Don't know about France, but on the inside of U.S. passports there's a statement that the passport doesn't belong to the person it's issued to; it belongs to the U.S. government.  If it's the same for France, you may want to tell the agent that unless they return it immediately or admit to you they lost it, you're reporting to the French government that they are illegally holding French government property and the French embassy will be dealing with them.  (The last bit may not be true, but it may help motivate the agent....).

[LoeiI]

5 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

If you are using an agent to obtain an extension when you do not have the funds in the bank it is often from a province you do not live in, clearly illegal. Then you are stuck with an agent as going back to your real office is going to raise problems, you can fill out a TM30 and lie about just moving but what if they ask what your previous address was in the province you never actually lived in, can of worms. Try going into your real office and do a 90 day report, a reentry permit or a legal extension and see what happens!

Nothing will happen as your agent will sort it whilst you go fishing with a box of cold ones ???? ????

[Liverpool Lou]

16 hours ago, BritTim said:

21 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He can only be on overstay as his "visa" expired in August.

I do not see how you can make that assumption.

He stated in his OP that his visa expired in August and he's still here without a passport, that's how I can make that presumption, it was not an assumption.

[Smithson]

3 hours ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Take a days holiday. Or lose an hour unpaid. The people I know who use agents do it cuz of lack of finances. Never met anyone that use an agent for any other reason.

A day or an hour to organise a visa, good luck with that in Bkk. It's common for companies to use agents. Like most outsourcing, it works out cheaper.

[BritTim]

26 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He stated in his OP that his visa expired in August and he's still here without a passport, that's how I can make that presumption, it was not an assumption.

Did you miss the bit where he said he had given the passport to an agent, "presumably" with the intention of getting an extension? Why do you believe it is impossible that the agent did, indeed, apply for an extension on his behalf?

[DrJack54]

6 minutes ago, BritTim said:

Why do you believe it is impossible that the agent did, indeed, apply for an extension on his behalf?

He stated he was requiring some certification of marriage or whatever. Had to tell in a troll thread.

In any event since when do agents obtain/apply  MARRIAGE extension "on his behalf".

 

 

This is a nonsense thread and ridiculous OP imo.

 

[EricTh]

It is illegal for the agent to hold your passport for more than a few days.

 

But then immigration will be asking why do you need an agent to renew your visa. 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, BritTim said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He stated in his OP that his visa expired in August and he's still here without a passport, that's how I can make that presumption, it was not an assumption.

Did you miss the bit where he said he had given the passport to an agent, "presumably" with the intention of getting an extension? Why do you believe it is impossible that the agent did, indeed, apply for an extension on his behalf?

I'm assuming that he gave the passport to an agent to get an extension  and that is what he means by "visa".  You could be right this time, though!

 

"Why do you believe it is impossible that the agent did, indeed, apply for an extension on his behalf?".

I didn't say that it is impossible but if the agent had, successfully, applied for and received the extension how come the agent hasn't shown any evidence of it to the OP?

 

But, who knows and who cares any longer?!

[BritTim]

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"Why do you believe it is impossible that the agent did, indeed, apply for an extension on his behalf?".

I didn't say that it is impossible but if the agent had, successfully, applied for and received the extension how come the agent hasn't shown any evidence of it to the OP?

Perhaps because the passport and other documentation had been mislaid subsequent to completion of the process. Nevertheless, those who believe the OP was trolling could well be correct and, even if not, one quite likely time for the passport to be mislaid could be during the under consideration period, after the initial application was made but before the final extension stamp was affixed. (Actually, in that situation, I am unsure whether the situation would be retrievable without the OP being considered on a long overstay.)

 

Note that the (sub-)agent to whom you hand your passport is not always the agent who actually processes the extension (who often handles passports from several other (sub-)agents). Passports are often mislaid by disorganised agents after being misdirected to the wrong (sub-)agent. Usually, this is annoying but not ultimately a catastrophe, with the passport turning about after a couple of weeks.

 

10 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

But, who knows and who cares any longer?!

If the OP is genuine, as I have tried unsuccessfully to make clear, knowing whether he is actually on overstay is an essential precondition when deciding on the correct course of action.

[BritTim]

1 hour ago, DrJack54 said:

He stated he was requiring some certification of marriage or whatever. Had to tell in a troll thread.

In any event since when do agents obtain/apply  MARRIAGE extension "on his behalf".

 

This is a nonsense thread and ridiculous OP imo.

You may well be correct that this is a troll thread. Unfortunately, when it is not a troll thread, the OP will often be just as confused as we see here. I do not discount that the enquiry was genuine.

 

Taking the OP at face value, the most likely explanation is that he initially tried to do the extension himself, was rejected owing to lack of proper proof of (continued) marriage, which could be because the marriage was concluded abroad. Confused and unsure what to do, the OP handed the problem over to an agent to resolve, expecting the passport to be returned with a one-year extension of stay within a month or so.

 

A foreigner with a Thai spouse under the age of 50 has few options for long term extensions, and some agents will assist in getting it done. This may be a nonsense thread, but that is not proven.

[VocalNeal]

What about the intervening 90 day reports?

[BritTim]

33 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

What about the intervening 90 day reports?

If not on overstay, that is at worst a 2,000 baht fine.

[Liverpool Lou]

56 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

What about the intervening 90 day reports?

No problem at all until you actually do a report after missing some, then just a B2,000 fine and a stamp.

[scubascuba3]

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No problem at all until you actually do a report after missing some, then just a B2,000 fine and a stamp.

i wonder how long you can go before doing a 90 day report, if have to pay 2,000 baht might as well avoid it until they discover it

[Liverpool Lou]

7 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

14 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

No problem at all until you actually do a report after missing some, then just a B2,000 fine and a stamp.

i wonder how long you can go before doing a 90 day report, if have to pay 2,000 baht might as well avoid it until they discover it

That's what many people do.   If it's left until "they" discover it (as opposed to someone turning up at IB to do the next one voluntarily) it could be a B5,000 fine.   I don't believe there is a limit on the number of missed reports after which more action is taken than the B2k fine unless you really take the p_iss.  

[The Hammer2021]

10 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

If you are using an agent to obtain an extension when you do not have the funds in the bank it is often from a province you do not live in, clearly illegal. Then you are stuck with an agent as going back to your real office is going to raise problems, you can fill out a TM30 and lie about just moving but what if they ask what your previous address was in the province you never actually lived in, can of worms. Try going into your real office and do a 90 day report, a reentry permit or a legal extension and see what happens!

'If'...Your whole rant is based upon your own presumption and bears no reality to anything I have heard off. You seem to have an obsession  with agents and people who use them and don't accept that we use them in many countries to make the day to day administrive beuracracy easier. These tasks involve new passports, driving licenses, extensions, 90 day reports etc And it is simply not your business how we spend our time or money.

[The Hammer2021]

3 hours ago, EricTh said:

It is illegal for the agent to hold your passport for more than a few days.

 

But then immigration will be asking why do you need an agent to renew your visa. 

Why would immigration want to know about my gout?  Ha ha.

[clivebaxter]

6 hours ago, ThaiVisaCentre said:

I'm certain that this is not my client ????.

We never hold cases like this... And we don't take on requests we cannot complete.

But thanks for the rude comment ????.

--- 

Also there is no reason I can think of that would make this process take 8 months. For our clients its usually 2-4 weeks (even 6 weeks is too much).

If anyone does find themselves in a situation where they are waiting "months" for something that should take "weeks" they should be concerned. In those cases I would advise checking your status, and maybe just getting your passport back from the agent at any means necessary. If the passport was lost then you need to immediately apply for a new one, and have your stamps moved over, as well as an extension to avoid overstaying.

We have had many clients over the years come from these types of situations, and we have had to resolve their issues.

In some cases they used someone pretending to be an agent which scammed them. In other cases they hired someone that was a good agent, but may have fallen on hard times, and for whatever reason they were unable to complete the case, but did not wish to refund the money, or return the passport... This is illegal, and can be reported to the police.

Please be careful when deciding to use an agent make sure to always read their reviews on Google / Facebook as they are the most accurate. It's also good to choose an agent thats been around for many years, and has a proven track record, as seasons change...

 

Asking the op if it was you was not 'rude' it was merely a question. In my opinion we should avoid any agent offering under the counter corrupt payments.

[ubonjoe]

A off topic post containing a inflammatory comment and the resultant replies have been removed.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That's what many people do.   If it's left until "they" discover it (as opposed to someone turning up at IB to do the next one voluntarily) it could be a B5,000 fine.   I don't believe there is a limit on the number of missed reports after which more action is taken than the B2k fine unless you really take the p_iss.  

Where did you get 5k baht from? max I've heard is 2k

[DrJack54]

6 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Where did you get 5k baht from? max I've heard is 2k

Can be up to 5k 

Quote here from "thethailandlife" 

If you are arrested for any reason and found to be in breach of your reporting duty, the fine goes up to 5,000 Baht. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by DrJack54

[The Hammer2021]

1 hour ago, clivebaxter said:

Corrupt practices, when convenient will always have their defenders

Which corrupt  practices am I defending? Read my list again  please.  And I repeat: I have used agents in many different  countries to assist in day to day administration and deal with language barriers and cumbersome  bureaucracy.  It's appears you see corruption where there is none!

[LoeiI]

27 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

A off topic post containing a inflammatory comment and the resultant replies have been removed.

Could i politely inquire as to what is inflammatory about a visa agent trying to defend themselves regarding an accusation of theft ?

[ubonjoe]

1 minute ago, LoeiI said:

Could i politely inquire as to what is inflammatory about a visa agent trying to defend themselves regarding an accusation of theft ?

I was referring to the post that started it not the agents post.

[clivebaxter]

19 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Which corrupt  practices am I defending? Read my list again  please.  And I repeat: I have used agents in many different  countries to assist in day to day administration and deal with language barriers and cumbersome  bureaucracy.  It's appears you see corruption where there is none!

If an agent is getting you an extension when you do not have the funds, especially when they have to from contacts in an office in another province that is corrupt and illegal. If you are just getting them to fill in forms and hold your hand to do something you can do yourself in a few minutes for 1900 baht, up to you, but that is not what most customers use them for, as I expect you well know.