Stolen Passport & 60-day Visa Reissue Problems...overstay!

[BjorkFan]

Hello, I am a U.S. citizen who had their passport and 60-day tourist visa stolen. (I made a police report and followed the proper procedure)

I got a replacement passport and went to the Thai Immigration. They did not have any record of me ever entering Thailand. So I had to get the flight manifest and show them that I was on the plane and they gave me a 30-day visa exemption stamp and told me to go to the Ministry of Affairs to have my original 60-day tourist visa reissued, which I did last week. The problem is that I entered Thailand on March 25 and my original visa would expire May 23 (tomorrow). I am currently waiting for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to verify my original visa, but they are taking their sweet time and I'm not sure how competent they are (plus I am dealing with a lady who has poor English skills). They said that since the visa was issued in the U.S. that they could not reissue it, but they might be able to waive the 60 days if they could verify it existed.

My questions:

1. If I get my original 60-day tourist visa reissued and I happen to overstay a few days, will I be able to go to the Thai Consulate in Cambodia and get another Thai 60-day tourist visa issued and return to Thailand for an additional 60-days?

2. Same question as above, but say I don't get my original 60-day tourist visa issued and I overstay by more than a month.

P.S. This is my very first visit to Thailand. I already know I will have to pay a 500 baht at day overstay fee - max 20k. I also have a English teaching job lined up starting sometime in June and have not told my future employer about the issue above.

Edited May 22, 2008 by BjorkFan

[jstumbo]

Overstays do not seem to affect getting future visas. But if you are on overstay you are at risk of being arrested, detained and deported if caught.

Cambodia may refuse you entry if they see an overstay (very, very small chance). If that happens, you would be arrested, detained and deported.

You can extend a tourist visa entry at immigration for an additional 30 days for 1900 baht. I would hope that if you went there and explained why you were a few days overstay that they would let you get the extension.

I would not go there with 30 day overstay though.

[lopburi3]

I would make an immidate trip to Vientiane and you can likely obtain a two entry tourist visa there if you need more than 90 days more time here. Visas are not re-issued once lost and Cambodia is not the best place to apply for a visa. It is not clear but assume you are currently on overstay if you only received 30 day entry from your March arrival date.

Normally your entry could be confirmed and Immigration will have provided a duplicate stamp for permitted to stay time. But with no record or your visa entry in there system I would be inclined to cover my A and get legal rather than hope another government agency can provide information, in an acceptable form, that may allow the first to make a guess that you did enter using a visa rather than a visa exempt entry.

[retiredusn]

Sounds to me like there are more problems than stated if he has a job lined up and no work permit or ???

[BjorkFan]

Sounds to me like there are more problems than stated if he has a job lined up and no work permit or ???

The job isn't definite and I would only start working after I became legal (non-immigrant B visa, work permit, teacher's license).

[BjorkFan]

Update: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs finally verified my visa from the States and I went to Thai Immigration and they changed the 30-day visa exemption to my original double entry 60-day tourist visa. I did end up paying for three days overstay of 1500 Baht. I also filed for a 30-day extension and I am now officially legal again.

One thing that concerns me is actually being able to use the second entry because Thai Immigration said that I might have trouble doing this (my passport has dates with red lines through them and a whole paragraph of Thai writing in it). Can anyone recommend the best border to do this at?

[ovenman]

One thing that concerns me is actually being able to use the second entry because Thai Immigration said that I might have trouble doing this (my passport has dates with red lines through them and a whole paragraph of Thai writing in it).

Presumably Thai immigrations can read Thai and should be able to sort out a visa that they themselves issued. Where is the potential for problems?

[BjorkFan]

As I said above, the people who reissued the visa at Thai Immigration said that I may have trouble getting the second entry when I leave the country and come back again. I assume that it is because of all the changes that were made inside my passport.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

As I said above, the people who reissued the visa at Thai Immigration said that I may have trouble getting the second entry when I leave the country and come back again. I assume that it is because of all the changes that were made inside my passport.

Get a Thai to tell you what the Thai notations say.

[bjhabal]

If it is clearly stated in your passport that you have a double entries visa and you have used only one, then there will be no problem to get your second entry, I guess the officer was just trying to scare you off. Nevertheless remember that you still can get a 30 days visa exemption in case some thing went wrong and that will give you enough time to plan for you next trip to get a visa. Try to relax; you have done the difficult job, the remaining is not that bad. Good luck

Bishop