I Am In A Position Where I'm Forced To Overstay

[wasabi]

I am here on a student visa that must be renewed as of 7/31/08. I am still a student and the school already wrote a letter attesting to this fact. The letter was sent to the ministry of education and this is where the problem started. The principal of my school told me the ministry of education recently moved and thus has many boxes. My letter is at the bottom of one of the boxes and can't be certified in time for my visa. He told me the ministry themselves told him my best option is to overstay until they can get whatever document I need to bring to Suan Plu. He said my only other option is to leave the country and come back on a tourist visa afterwhich I will then lose my education visa and have to start all over again.

I said can't we go to immigration and explain the situation and get some kind of extension and he said he has already tried and overstaying is my only option. He said he's been through this before and the matter should be resolved within a few weeks. He said the school will pay all overstay fees and he will personally go with me to immigration to explain.

I really like my school and I think the principal is genuinely trying to do his best but I'm not sure if overstaying is indeed my best and only option. I'm worried if i am for some reason stopped by the police they won't believe my reasons and I could get in trouble.

[opalhort]

DO NOT use the overstay option. It could land you in a lot of trouble.

Get a new visa outside of Thailand (ED or tourist or whatever you qualify for) and start new.

opalhort

[digitalchromakey]

I am here on a student visa that must be renewed as of 7/31/08. I am still a student and the school already wrote a letter attesting to this fact. The letter was sent to the ministry of education and this is where the problem started. The principal of my school told me the ministry of education recently moved and thus has many boxes. My letter is at the bottom of one of the boxes and can't be certified in time for my visa. He told me the ministry themselves told him my best option is to overstay until they can get whatever document I need to bring to Suan Plu. He said my only other option is to leave the country and come back on a tourist visa afterwhich I will then lose my education visa and have to start all over again.

I said can't we go to immigration and explain the situation and get some kind of extension and he said he has already tried and overstaying is my only option. He said he's been through this before and the matter should be resolved within a few weeks. He said the school will pay all overstay fees and he will personally go with me to immigration to explain.

I really like my school and I think the principal is genuinely trying to do his best but I'm not sure if overstaying is indeed my best and only option. I'm worried if i am for some reason stopped by the police they won't believe my reasons and I could get in trouble.

Is it not possible for your school to write a fresh letter of continuing attendance which you/a thai speaking representative could take to the Ministry of Education by hand to get the necessary approval stamp, thus bypassing the postal system backlog?

[wasabi]

I am here on a student visa that must be renewed as of 7/31/08. I am still a student and the school already wrote a letter attesting to this fact. The letter was sent to the ministry of education and this is where the problem started. The principal of my school told me the ministry of education recently moved and thus has many boxes. My letter is at the bottom of one of the boxes and can't be certified in time for my visa. He told me the ministry themselves told him my best option is to overstay until they can get whatever document I need to bring to Suan Plu. He said my only other option is to leave the country and come back on a tourist visa afterwhich I will then lose my education visa and have to start all over again.

I said can't we go to immigration and explain the situation and get some kind of extension and he said he has already tried and overstaying is my only option. He said he's been through this before and the matter should be resolved within a few weeks. He said the school will pay all overstay fees and he will personally go with me to immigration to explain.

I really like my school and I think the principal is genuinely trying to do his best but I'm not sure if overstaying is indeed my best and only option. I'm worried if i am for some reason stopped by the police they won't believe my reasons and I could get in trouble.

Is it not possible for your school to write a fresh letter of continuing attendance which you/a thai speaking representative could take to the Ministry of Education by hand to get the necessary approval stamp, thus bypassing the postal system backlog?

I too wondered why he couldn't just write another letter though TIT. I don't like this situation one bit. I think I will go to immigration tomorrow.

[wasabi]

The more I think about this the more I wonder if I was lied to. The principal said the ministry of education was unpacking boxes and could not find the letter and it was safe to overstay as long as needed. Why would he tell me this? I think my only option is to do a visa run. This is total BS as I came here with the expectation I would not have any visa worries.

[Carib]

Ask for a copy of the letter, if it cannot be produced, you are being lied to !

It just doesnot sound right.

[wasabi]

I am not going to name the school at this time because I don't have all the facts but it's a very good and well respected school on this board. I am very happy with the schooling itself and will be unhappy if I need to change schools. I just can't figure out what is going on? Can anyone confirm if the ministry of education actually moved buildings recently? The principal knew about this situation since last week, why is it still ongoing? I paid for a full ten months in advance based on my trust in the school and now feel totally screwed over. The principal told me he had one person that overstayed to the tune of 7000 Baht almost a month because of a similar situation and the school paid for it. My girlfriend is Lao so she is familiar with visa runs and she said once you stay beyond 7 days the problems start to mount and she doubted that story. If I go to the school tomorrow and the guy still has the same oh just overstay no problem story what is my best option who can I talk with?

Is it possible to get a 60 day tourist visa from Laos within one day?

Edited July 29, 2008 by wasabi

[george]

Never ever overstay is the golden rule. You could technically be stopped on the way to the airport, or in an accident, and asked for identification.

Exit and come back. Read the overstay topics on bottom of this page.

[lopburi3]

7,000 baht would not pay for "almost a month" of overstay - the fine is 500 baht per day.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

7,000 baht would not pay for "almost a month" of overstay - the fine is 500 baht per day.

Sounds very shady to me Lop.

[JaiGuru]

If I didn't understand the school was well respected from you and other friends, I'd certainly say it sounds like a (and I *hate* to use the word) scam; get students to pay for a year up front, and then shaft them on their visas.

If in your shoes, I wouldn't consider an overstay an option. The way I see it, I'd either sort it out today or visit Poi Pet tomorrow for a Visa Waiver. Then at least there'll be 30 days to fix it. If things really are on the level, it shouldn't take that long to get back on track.

[PeaceBlondie]

I do not know. But I suspect it is not a deliberate scam. I doubt the school pays huge fines for its students. I suspect the truth is never going to be known. Maybe the admin aide at the school is incompetent. Almost all Thai school administrations are hopelessly inept. He is not lying, he is just saving face because he cannot bear to tell the truth (which is magically different in this country).

Better not to overstay. I did it once (stumbling out of a first class hospital, on pain medicine), and I got fined and a black stamp in my passport, and will never let it happen again. What I fear is that once you return on a 30-day exempt stamp, the school is not competent enough to get you back on an ED visa without a visa run all the way to God-knows-where.

Good luck. You deserve better. But at the beginning of the day, you are just the scum of the earth - a mere student in a school in Thailand.

[wasabi]

I just want to update. I have the documents I need now. There indeed was some type of delay at he ministry of education. However overstaying was not the right choice should I have not gotten them in time. I think the principal didn't know what to do so he suggested overstaying. Now that I have the document I think it was an honest mistake but from what I've learned I'd advise others not to overstay if possible.

[tango]

If you are on a Non-O you automatically get an extension of 3 months upon exiting and immediately turning around and re-entering Thailand, but BEFORE your visa expiry date. I did. Was a surprise but hey I then had time to sort thru the shaff. Try it, you'll like it.

[Badbanker]

In my experience with immigration, they will give you a 7 day extension in extenuating circumstances, especially if you get a letter from the school explaining your situation.

A letter from a Public institution like a hospital of school will normally be all you need!

Bandbanker

Edited July 30, 2008 by Badbanker

[WilliamIV]

Hi Wasabi

So have you got your extension now?

I presume you are on 90 day extensions?

How many have you done already?

Was the school late in preparing your papers?

This is serious because Students from some countries have to return

to their home country for a new Ed visa.

Bill

[wasabi]

Hi Wasabi

So have you got your extension now?

I presume you are on 90 day extensions?

How many have you done already?

Was the school late in preparing your papers?

This is serious because Students from some countries have to return

to their home country for a new Ed visa.

Bill

Yes I got my extension, my earlier post was wrong. My last day was actually 7/30/08 so I got the papers on the last possible day.

I am on 90 day extensions this is my first.

According to the principal the MOE was late in preparing my papers. As PeaceBlondie noted it's likely someone screwed up and told a tall tale to save face. As things got more critical the tall tales got even taller!

My plan was to go to immigration and ask what to do should I have not gotten the papers in time. I was going to request a letter from the school to take with me.

Next time I'm going to request the letter an extra week in advance so hopefully this won't happen again. If indeed I needed to go all the way back to the USA to get a new visa I would have had to figure out a plan to change visas. Prehaps a 1year Non IMM B with 90 day visa runs offered by Sunbelt. Thankfully I didn't need to cross that bridge.

Edited July 31, 2008 by wasabi

[WilliamIV]

Hi Wasabi

Which School are you Attending?

Bill

Edited July 31, 2008 by WilliamIV

[RickFarang]

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT EVERY OVERSTAY. Get it?

You have to leave before your visa expires.

There is no reason you cannot talk this over with immigration. The earlier posts on this forum have some pretty good ideas, but I would certainly talk with immigration before doing anything. AND I WOULD DEFINITELY NOT BECOME A CRIMINAL BY OVERSTAYING.

[Malengone]

Don't overstay, go to immigration, if you have not a tourist visa, the immigration will stamp you a tourist visa for three months, waiting the papers needed to start again your last visa. I had this problem in Chiang Mai for a B-NI visa, the only bad was that I paid two times in 2 weeks for visa. And I got again my correct visa without moving from Chiang Mai.

[WilliamIV]

In my experience with immigration, they will give you a 7 day extension in extenuating circumstances, especially if you get a letter from the school explaining your situation.

A letter from a Public institution like a hospital of school will normally be all you need!

Bandbanker

The OP has already got his Extension

But in view of the previous Post about Tourist Visa (which I consider to be inaccurate)

- I would say that BadBanker's above advice is the Best on this thread.

If anybody is in a similar situation with any type of extenson,

Then request Immigration for an extension of 7 days to allow you time to

get the correct papers for a full subsequent 90 day (or one year - if applicable) extension.

Bill

Edited August 3, 2008 by WilliamIV