Big Overstay

[Gish]

Hi everyone ,

i really need some advice on what to do .

I have a ED visa for 1 year with which i thought i didn't had to do visa runs .

I even asked my consulate in Belgium where i applied for the papers if i still had to do them .

They said no .

Yeah right , because of them i'm in trouble now .

My stamp was valid until the first of february and now it's already the end of may !

So i've been asking around on what to do next and people keep giving me different advice .

I wanted to go to the immigration office in Phuket but some say that technically there's only one thing they could do there , and that's detain me and possibly deport me .

Others say to just go to Ranong and pay the fine there and that there wouldn't be any major problems .

But then people said ( and that's also what i think ) , that because of so many people passing through there , that the officers there are very difficult and wouldn't be very understanding of the situation .

And the best advice i was giving was to go to Penang , that that would be my best option for sorting things out .

So i hope the people here can help me out and give some advice on what would be the best thing to do .

Thx alot

[lopburi3]

The best advise is to fly out of the country, pay fine of 20k at the airport and then return with a new visa entry. Land crossings can be used but if police stop you on the way it could result in further complecations.

[colino]

Get 20,000 BAHT and a flight ticket to anywhere and get to the airport .

Pay your 20,000 overstay fine, fly out then fly back into Thailand.

Problem solved,

But better advise will follow by other posters

colino

beaten again ha ha

[Gish]

Hmmm , hoped there would be more people to give some advice .

So what i have to do is go to the airport , pay the fine there , fly to Penang to get a new stamp and then fly back ?

Thought it would be more complicated then that .

Ok then , thx everyone

[colino]

Hmmm , hoped there would be more people to give some advice .

So what i have to do is go to the airport , pay the fine there , fly to Penang to get a new stamp and then fly back ?

Thought it would be more complicated then that .

Ok then , thx everyone

Yep thats it as long as you don't get caught before getting to Airport

The reason that thier are no more posts is because Lopburi 3's post is correct there is nothing more to add really

Colino

[Gish]

Ok , thx for the help

[MeetJohnDoe]

I am not sure why you would think you could stay in the country with this education visa. When you first entered, they would have stamped in the date (90-days) when you had to leave the country and re-enter ("visa run"). My understanding is if you actually sign-up for a legitimate course of study at an accredited institution, every 90 days, you can dispense with actually leaving the country, and instead, pay a B 1900 visa-extension fee and receive another 90-days entry stamp at the appropriate local immigration office.

20,000 baht is the maximum fine amount for an overstay. As others has said, this is easiest to pay and clear at the airport. I am not sure if overstaying your entry would cause a cancellation of the visa. If not, you just need to exit the country and re-enter and you will receive another 90-day entry.

The danger is if you get caught with an expired entry before you get to the airport by the police (random street check, accident, bar-raid, whatever), you may get put in immigration jail and clearing the mess becomes more complicated and expensive (and who wants to be in a Thai jail).

[Gish]

I thought i could stay here without doing visa runs because i specifically asked that at the consulate when i applied for the papers .

Shows how helpful they are in my country .

Don't even want to think what would have happened if the police like did a routine check or i had an accident , not knowing that i was breaking the law the whole time .

I received my ED visa because i'm training Muay Thai , so i'm not sure that i can get an extension for that by paying the 1900 Baht .

[phaethon]

I'm not certain, but if you have an ED then you should have been reporting to an immigration office every 90 days, so you have in fact failed to report for an extension rather than simply overstayed (although since you failed to obtain the extension you are, in fact, overstayed).

With your acceptance letter from a Thai School or university you will be able to get a "Non-Immigrant ED" visa from a Thai Embassy or consulate abroad.

This visa will allow you to stay in Thailand for 1 year subject to one extension within the first 90 days.

Basically this means you can stay in Thailand for one full year without any visa runs whatsoever, after the extension has been made. 90 day reports to the Immigration Office, still have to be made the same way as for any other visa extension.

http://www.thaivisa.com/279.0.html

Fly out and back to get a new 30 day exempt entry (if you are sure your school can get their act together in 30 days) or a 90-day tourist visa. Get the required documents via your school and then fly to a foreign consulate, get a new ED visa and don't forget to report every 90 days thereafter. That's my understanding at least, but whaddoIknow.

[britmaveric]

Get to the airport quick, pay the fine and leave the country. Pray you don't get nicked before making it to the airport or you will end up in locked up/deported. (not very nice there either)

[Gish]

Get to the airport quick, pay the fine and leave the country. Pray you don't get nicked before making it to the airport or you will end up in locked up/deported. (not very nice there either)

But everything will be ok once i get to the airport right ?

I mean is it still possible that i could have big problems at the airport ?

I overstayed since the first of february so that's a pretty serious thing , no ?

[britmaveric]

You are ok once you make the airport with a ticket in hand. (as long as you pay the 20K that is) However I strongly advise you make your travel plans and do so quickly. Technically you need to have your passport on you at all times and if the BIB request to see it - you are done.

[Gish]

Thx for the advice britmaveric .

I just have one last question :

if i go to the airport or do a visa run , either way there's still the possibility to get checked out by cops .

Normally i should have my passport with me at all times , but i've been stopped by cops many times for not wearing a helmet , never had ANYTHING on me , and never had problems whatsoever .

I've never been checked by cops for anything else besides not wearing a helmet .

So my question is why should i go to the border or take a plane , why can't i just go to the immigration office here and get things sorted out ?

I'm probably going to take a plane to KL anyway , and i don't want to sound like i know better then you guys on what to do , because i don't , but just wanted to know if besides the cops , there would be no problem getting things sorted out at the IO here .

Thx

[harrry]

Thx for the advice britmaveric .

I just have one last question :

if i go to the airport or do a visa run , either way there's still the possibility to get checked out by cops .

Normally i should have my passport with me at all times , but i've been stopped by cops many times for not wearing a helmet , never had ANYTHING on me , and never had problems whatsoever .

I've never been checked by cops for anything else besides not wearing a helmet .

So my question is why should i go to the border or take a plane , why can't i just go to the immigration office here and get things sorted out ?

I'm probably going to take a plane to KL anyway , and i don't want to sound like i know better then you guys on what to do , because i don't , but just wanted to know if besides the cops , there would be no problem getting things sorted out at the IO here .

Thx

Because you cant sort things at the immigration office. You are at the moment in the country illegaly. Take Lopburies advice or practice sleeping 40 to a room.

[thaicbr]

And your doubly stupid for not wearing a helmet.

[ubonjoe]

I'm probably going to take a plane to KL anyway , and i don't want to sound like i know better then you guys on what to do , because i don't , but just wanted to know if besides the cops , there would be no problem getting things sorted out at the IO here .

Thx

Immigration will do nothing but make you pay the fine and give you a 7 day extension (1900 baht) if you have a ticket out within those 7 days.

The best thing to do is buy a ticket and leave the country paying the 20,000 on the way out. Then return and get the 90 days that your visa allows you to have.

[Jungian]

I saw a new sign about overstays at Chiang Mai immigration when I was doing my 90 report. It said that overstays are now a maximum of X amount of ฿, I don't recall how much but I don't it exceeded 5000฿ however that may apply to people reporting in every 90 days that are late. I would check it out.

[lopburi3]

The 5,000 baht is only for not doing 90 day address reports. Normally it is 2,000 baht.