Urgent Visa Advice Help

[GeneticallyAlpha]

hi there guys.

ill start off by explaining the situation so that i can get informative replies asap. if i leave anything out that u need to know

i will try to reply asap.

i entered thailand on the 25th march 09 in bangkok from australia. i had 3 x 60 day tourist visas purchased in australia and the visa was stamped in my passport *was a big stamp took up a whole passport page on its own with vias no.s etc dates of expiry for last use*

visas have to be used by the 20th august 09

ill blame onto myself for not checking the correct visa was certified at the airport and sooner after arriving in pattaya.

but the situation is that at the airport. i was given a regular 30 day tourist visa stamped for expiry on the 23rd of april. 10 days ago or so now.

i only checked to see when we had to do our border run by...

i have already been to the immigration in jomtien, pattaya. and an official said i have to go to the bangkok office to rectify the bad stamps and expired visa dates.

another thai friend, after talking with their immigration centre has indicated that i have to leave the country *border run to cambodia* and pay a fine for overstaying on an expired visa and that they may let me re enter thailand at the border and stamp my original 60 day visa as it should have originally been done.

or my 60 day re entry visas may be cancelled altogether because i was given the 30 day visa which would make me really pissde off with myself.

i need to know what are my options in regarding my already purchased visas. becasue as to my knowledge i should have had up to the 25th of may if correct visa been stamped upon arrival.

one option was given to us that going to the airport to have it rectified may be the best option as soemone got it fixed before.

listen to the thai official and go to the bangkok immigration becasue they couldn't do it at Jomtien immigration. *making it counter intutitive to haev Immigration offices if they cant do everything in that part of town*

or go to cambodia and hope they give us our visa like originally intended.

i feel REALLY dumb for letting this happen and NOT CHECKING my passport at the airport.

but i thought the dude looks at thousands of passports a day. that on the system at immigration my passport would have been flagged with a visa no. and would have come up with soem sort of indictator to these situations? so i wasnt really thinking at the time

my friend is in the exact same situation as i.

thanks for your time and help

G.A

[Mario2008]

Did you enter your visa number on your arrival card? If you did, no problems as immirgation can easly check it and determine they made a mistake and will correct it. If you didn't, it might take some more convincing.

[lopburi3]

If you entered the information from your visa on the entry card they can probably correct it at Suan Phlu in Bangkok. But if you did not enter visa information on the card they were right in providing you the 30 day visa exempt entry stamp so they may ask you to leave and pay fine on way out. I expect they will not however.

There are risks involved in crossing a land border with an expired entry stamp as police might see it on a routine check and that could, worst case, result in a short period of detention until seeing a judge. It does not happen often but could. Safest departure is always by air when on an overstay. If you do leave and return they should stamp your first entry - just be sure to enter the visa information on the arrival card.

[ubonjoe]

Go back to Jomtien and try again. They can do it.

This has happened before and Jomtien took care of it.

[GeneticallyAlpha]

i dont beleive i did enter my Visa no on my arrival card. also... i was ASLEEP on the plane right up until landing... i dont rememeber sitting down on the plane as i had taken medication to help me sleep.

its a while ago now. and i think i would have remembered if i wrote it down on the arrival card... also i prob wouldnt have had this problem had i put it down too.

i went back to Jomtien with my thai friend and she was able to communicate better with them and got the same response from the guy at the front greetings counter... saying that The Department in Jomtien could not fix this... going to Bangkok they could because for whatever reason they have to change stamps etc... i would not have to pay the overstay fine... but im not getting my hopes up.

government departments in australia are THE worst when it comes to ppl problems... so im not gonig to expect anything better here... btu hoepfully they are a bit more receptive to my dilema.

[ubonjoe]

I still think Jomtien is giving you the run around. They have the same stamps as Bangkok.

You can go to Bangkok and they will take care of it for you. You won't have to pay an overstay because you do have a valid visa.

You could also get a 30 day extension while you are there (1900 baht).

[GeneticallyAlpha]

so even though my valid 60 day visa was not stamped i am still ok? because if it were stamped i would be well within my first 60 day stay?

[ubonjoe]

What they will do is cancel your first entry stamp that was for 30 days. Then they will put a new stamp that will be 60 days from your date of entry (aprox May 23).

They do it all the time so it won't be any problem.

As I said you can get a 30 day extension if you don't want to do a border run now.

[GeneticallyAlpha]

hope your right. good news if you are indeed. you have much experience with this sort of situation?

thanks again for your help

[ubonjoe]

Lots of similar reports and the same suggestion. All with good results.

Immigration knows that mistakes are made at the airport. So it's not a problem because it is not your fault.

[GeneticallyAlpha]

thanks for your speedy reply. much appreciated.

will go into bangkok tomorrow. and let you know how it pans out.

thanks again

[ubonjoe]

Make sure you do it tomorrow because they will closed on Friday.

[pTh]

I still think Jomtien is giving you the run around. They have the same stamps as Bangkok.

You can go to Bangkok and they will take care of it for you. You won't have to pay an overstay because you do have a valid visa.

You could also get a 30 day extension while you are there (1900 baht).

Maybe not a runaround but ... the clerk may not be well-informed. Having learned some things about dealing w/ bureaucraps, my experience @ Jomtien was similar - Info. counter clerk (civilian clothes) said, "No!" Then I went to one of the processing desks & asked a uniformed officer - he said, "Yes", which turned out later to be correct. (Or I was lucky later? Always hard to tell.)

So, the lesson - lower level may often not understand question or know (correct) answer. (I also got the impression the Info. counter clerk enjoyed saying "No" to farangs.)

[GeneticallyAlpha]

thanks for all your help guys

MUCH appreciated

went to immigration on thurday.

and all i can say is thank you for thailand. NO way at all like Australian Government departments

all i had to do was photocopy my passport and visas across the rd. 12 bht. and one form fill out and 2 stamps later

was finished

no problem at all

thanks again for your help guys!

take care

GA