Overstay: Where to surrender yourself?

[ttkeric]

Good morning all. I'm encouraging a family friend to end his nightmare and report himself in for overstaying. That way, the legal proceedings can begin which will, hopefully, see him deported home in a month or so (hopefully...). 

 

Very briefly: 5 years+ overstay, lost passport, lives in a border town that lets him fade in and out, so to speak. We're Asians, so we blend into the scenery. Was living it large pre-pandemic, took advantage of the Covid extensions, then apparently trusted an agent who will "settle it all" and found himself left in a lurch. He's now practically a shut-in doing odd jobs and begging for funds everywhere to survive. Again, lost passport. No bus or air ticket. No waltzing into the airport, pay and leave. 

 

My question: anyone has an idea where it's best to surrender himself? Police or immigration? Of course, if he's detain elsewhere, then it's all academic. 

 

Also, I'll be providing him support on behalf of the family i.e. paying the fines, bills, visiting him at the IDC, etc. Anyone has experience doing the same? What should I expect? 

 

I suppose, the wait will be for his sentencing, paying of the fines, waiting for our embassy to issue the right documents to get home, etc. 

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Upnotover]

I reckon I'd be approaching the embassy as the first step, perhaps they can issue an emergency travel document and then the airport waltz is potentially an option?

[ChaiyaTH]

First get the emergency document / passport by doing a basic police report without behaving like a idiot, this is not a big deal and could be any local police station really. Stating you lost it but aren't sure when and need to get a new one. You could first try with embassy to see if without is possible in this situation too.

If your friend survived this part, you should be able to obtain an (emergency) passport to travel home. When having this, you book a ticket and get to the airport 3-4 hours before the maximum early possible with checkin options, not to hang around there.

At the checkin counter you right away tell the steward(ess), you normally get this tag with overstay, this already puts you safe. If not, just continue to go to immigration itself and surrender yourself there. 

As this was a long time + a new passport, it could take a bit longer as usual, but my guess is your friend would still be in free duty within 1-1.5 hour max. If you do it another way, your friend might face the music with X days or weeks in jail before being able to leave.

 

For this scenario you as his friend can be his support only and prepare money (control) to buy his fines, food and ticket out.

[ChaiyaTH]

BTW your post is full of lies, you state he overstayed 5+ years while he did covid extensions. Last time I checked my son is 5 years old today and born in jan 2019.... So we talk about you or what?

[CallumWK]

3 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

When having this, you book a ticket and get to the airport 3-4 hours before the maximum early possible with checkin options, not to hang around there.

 

I should add, avoid Phuket airport lol

[G_Money]

2 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

First get the emergency document / passport by doing a basic police report without behaving like a idiot, this is not a big deal and could be any local police station really. Stating you lost it but aren't sure when and need to get a new one.

If your friend survived this part, you should be able to obtain an (emergency) passport to travel home. When having this, you book a ticket and get to the airport 3-4 hours before the maximum early possible with checkin options, not to hang around there.

At the checkin counter you right away tell the steward(ess), you normally get this tag with overstay, this already puts you safe. If not, just continue to go to immigration itself and surrender yourself there. 

As this was a long time + a new passport, it could take a bit longer as usual, but my guess is your friend would still be in free duty within 1-1.5 hour max. If you do it another way, your friend might face the music with X days or weeks in jail before being able to leave.

 

For this scenario you as his friend can be his support only and prepare money (control) to buy his fines, food and ticket out.

Forgot to mention to bring 20,000 baht to the airport.

[DrJack54]

28 minutes ago, ttkeric said:

I suppose, the wait will be for his sentencing, paying of the fines, waiting for our embassy to issue the right documents to get home, etc. 

You did not mention his passport country.

Stated " We're Asians, so we blend into the scenery" 

Also mention in OP, the guy on overstay has no money.

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

1 minute ago, CallumWK said:

 

I should add, avoid Phuket airport lol

True I would go for suva airport bangkok, or CM. CM would be super relaxed.

[ChaiyaTH]

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

You did not mention his passport country.

Stated " We're Asians, so we blend into the scenery" 

Yeah I think he overestimates that one too. Thai = Thai. Foreigner = Foreigner and Farang = Farang.

[ChaiyaTH]

10 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Forgot to mention to bring 20,000 baht to the airport.

If I have to mention that after what he already did he deserves to arrive without it lol

[DrJack54]

@ttkeric suggest when you start a thread stick around for at least short period to clarify questions from posters 

[Phillip9]

He needs to:

• Get a passport
• Buy a ticket to his home country
• Bring 20,000 baht cash to the airport when he departs to pay his overstay fine.

 

There will be no detention if he does that.  If he really can't scrape together that much cash, he needs to contact his embassy and ask if they can help get him home.  Some countries will provide emergency loans for repatriation.

 

 There is no reason to surrender.

 

[Caldera]

39 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

There is no reason to surrender.

 

Technically, if he follows your advice (which is excellent), he does surrender to airport immigration on his way out.

 

That's relevant insofar as lesser penalties (a shorter ban) may apply in case an overstayer surrenders vs. gets caught.

[ttkeric]

Hello again, everyone.. Thanks for all the tips so far.  It's a busy work day, so I can't hang around but I appreciate all the helpful responses so far.  

 

I don't why some people are here to try and pick up issues with my "story". It's no story and I wasn't telling one. I'm here to find directions and clarity, that's all. 

I did say he came over in 2019, lived and worked comfortably prior to and through the Covid lockdowns before getting himself into this situation. By my count, that's 5+ years.

We're Malaysians, if that helps. Please, no sneak across the border jokes.

He's in Mae Sot, that border town and if you know the place, you would know there are quite a few police roadblocks just heading in and out of the town, not to mention going all the way to Bangkok. 

 

Yes, I did suggest if reporting his passport as lost is an option. I think he's afraid of what they will ask him and he's not sure if he can hold his nerves. I mean, if all goes well, we can head down to Bangkok, to the embassy and get it sorted out. 

 

If not, his time in detention begins then...

I did ask if he wanted me to drive him down to Bangkok but he's afraid I might get picked up as an accomplice. Accomplice to what, I ask? I don't suppose if you're in a car or at the bar with someone who permission to stay is expired, you get picked up as well? Does that happen? I'm legally here in any case. 

Guess that's why we are thinking of just having him surrender himself. Just go straight right to the legal process. 

[theblether]

2 minutes ago, ttkeric said:

Hello again, everyone.. Thanks for all the tips so far.  It's a busy work day, so I can't hang around but I appreciate all the helpful responses so far.  

 

I don't why some people are here to try and pick up issues with my "story". It's no story and I wasn't telling one. I'm here to find directions and clarity, that's all. 

I did say he came over in 2019, lived and worked comfortably prior to and through the Covid lockdowns before getting himself into this situation. By my count, that's 5+ years.

We're Malaysians, if that helps. Please, no sneak across the border jokes.

He's in Mae Sot, that border town and if you know the place, you would know there are quite a few police roadblocks just heading in and out of the town, not to mention going all the way to Bangkok. 

 

Yes, I did suggest if reporting his passport as lost is an option. I think he's afraid of what they will ask him and he's not sure if he can hold his nerves. I mean, if all goes well, we can head down to Bangkok, to the embassy and get it sorted out. 

 

If not, his time in detention begins then...

I did ask if he wanted me to drive him down to Bangkok but he's afraid I might get picked up as an accomplice. Accomplice to what, I ask? I don't suppose if you're in a car or at the bar with someone who permission to stay is expired, you get picked up as well? Does that happen? I'm legally here in any case. 

Guess that's why we are thinking of just having him surrender himself. Just go straight right to the legal process. 

 

Phone the embassy. Get the passport issue sorted out first. Everything else will follow. 

 

You do want to minimise the time spent in IDC, there is no benefit to spending excess time behind bars. The process in IDC can be clinical, they have seen and heard it all before. So the gold standard here is to achieve what Philip said, arrive at an international airport, pay the fine, and leave. 

 

It all starts with a passport, call the embassy today. 

[Maestro]

22 minutes ago, ttkeric said:

Hello again, everyone.. Thanks for all the tips so far.  It's a busy work day, so I can't hang around but I appreciate all the helpful responses so far.  

 

I don't why some people are here to try and pick up issues with my "story". It's no story and I wasn't telling one. I'm here to find directions and clarity, that's all. 

I did say he came over in 2019, lived and worked comfortably prior to and through the Covid lockdowns before getting himself into this situation. By my count, that's 5+ years...

 

Yes, that's 5+ years your friend has been in Thailand so far, but in your opening post of this topic you wrote "5 years+ overstay", which can be interpreted only as "an overstay of more than five years". So there is the issue with your "story".

 

Yes, surrendering is the right thing for your friend to do and it is generous on your part to assist him with this, and from reading the replies in this topic so far you will have gathered that there are basically three ways, respectively three places, to surrender:

1. police station
2. nearest immigration office
3. immigration desk in the departure hall of the airport of departure

[Maestro]

1 hour ago, ttkeric said:

...Guess that's why we are thinking of just having him surrender himself. Just go straight right to the legal process. 

 

All three options of surrender I mentioned follow the legal process. The difference is that only the third option, surrender at the immigration desk at the airport of departure, results in an immediate departure from the country, with a fixed fine depending on the length of overstay but a maximum of 20,000 Baht and without arrest, detention, appearance in court, sentencing and a deportation order issued by a court of law.

 

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, ttkeric said:

He's in Mae Sot, that border town and if you know the place, you would know there are quite a few police roadblocks just heading in and out of the town, not to mention going all the way to Bangkok. 

 

What others have written is best advice. Passport->air ticket->get to airport->pay fine->fly out.

BUT, the biggest worry should be getting from Mae Sot to either Chiang Mai or Bangkok without getting detained. I took a bus from Mae Sot to Bangkok in 2016. The bus was stopped, and boarded by immigration officers checking documents no less than 3 times (they got several Burmese off the bus). And that was before passing Kampaeng Phet. This would be the biggest risk in my opinion.

 

[Maestro]

Sentencing by a court of law, if that option of surrender is chosen, will be under Section 81 of the Immigration Act.

 

Quote

Section 81. Any alien staying in the Kingdom without permission, or with
expired or revoked permission, shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding two years
or a fine not exceeding twenty thousand baht or both.

 

So far, I have never seen news of a prison sentence given for overstaying.

 

[Caldera]

Leaving Mae Sot without a passport will definitely be tricky.

 

While the officials at the checkpoints are mostly interested in Burmese and there's a good chance they just take a look at the passport's picture page of other foreigners who look like tourists to them, not having ANY passport to show is bound to pique their interest.

 

Does he have any other valid form of Malaysian ID, such as an ID card or driving license? Chances are he'd need a convincing story (e.g. left the passport in Bangkok to apply for a visa) and a good amount of luck. 

[Phillip9]

2 hours ago, ttkeric said:

He's in Mae Sot, that border town and if you know the place, you would know there are quite a few police roadblocks just heading in and out of the town, not to mention going all the way to Bangkok.

Report the passport as lost to the police in Mae Sot.  Bring that report with him when he travels. 

 

Try to make an appointment with the Malaysian embassy to get the passport replaced.  Print the appointment and bring it with him. 

 

Print and bring anything you can find about replacing a lost Malaysian passport.

 

Those and and a little luck should get him past any check point.

[scottiejohn]

37 minutes ago, Maestro said:

Sentencing by a court of law, if that option of surrender is chosen, will be under Section 81 of the Immigration Act.

 

 

So far, I have never seen news of a prison sentence given for overstaying.

 

I assume you are not counting time in the IDC whilst waiting for funds etc as "imprisonment"!

[OnTheLash]

I would go the passport, airline ticket and airport route as others have suggested. 

 

If he was my friend I would wait at airport for him just in case with extra cash.

 

I would also give him additional cash, lets say another 10,000 baht.

 

This might help when it comes to ''negotiating'' the length of ban. 

 

It all depends how good a friend he is, I guess.

 

Saying that if he was my friend he wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

 

Good luck!!

[impulse]

I'm not suggesting anything dodgy, but I'd be seeking advice from the huge communities of Malaysians in Thailand for the best suggestions.  I suspect it'll be different from the best advice for Brits or Yanks, which is what you'll mostly get here.