Tourist Visa Expiry Date

[phoenixbird]

Hi

My tourist visa date expired on 29 October 2010. I traveled to Thailand on a Temporary Passport as my old passport was stolen and the new passport was still being processed. The Temporary passport is still valid till next year June 2011. I have however traveled a few times with the temporary passport and when I tried to do the visa run on October 28 to Cambodia to apply for 90 days, I was informed that there are no more pages available in the temporary passport to attach the visa sticker.

The Plot thickens: I now need a new passport that is still being processed and will be couriered to me around the end of November 2010. What other recourse do I have. In the interim I was appointed as a Native English Teacher at a public school in Bangkok. I will be starting to teach English next week 15 November 2010 and then my agency will commence with formal work permit applications. How much will the penalty be if I need to ask for extension. I am told for 7 days extension it is 1900 Thai Baht. I don't have that amount available after every 7 days and can only start thinking of paying at the end of this month (November 2010).

Please can someone assist me with clear direction and advice as the "advice" that people give is always varied and in-cohesive. i need urgent assistance on this matter as I am low on funds and want to pay any penalties involved before the end of November to Thai Immigration.

Kind Regards

[Mario2008]

Your agency should start processing the WP now, as you can't work without a work permit. You cna apply for it on a tourist visa, but it will not be issued till you have returned on a non-immigrant visa.

If you already had a 30 day extension, you can only get 1 7 day extension. That might require a ticket out of the country.

If your employe starts applying for the WP now, you can ask immigration to convert your tourist visa to a non-immigrant visa, provided you have enough space in your passport.

[lopburi3]

You should have the option to return to your home country (after paying any overstay).

If your permitted to stay expired on the 29th you are currently on overstay since then at 500 baht per day and would appear you have not applied for a work permit? Thus any work would/will be illegal.

If your permitted to stay has not expired you could only obtain one 7 day extension of stay in any case so about the only option would be a flight to Malaysia or Singapore where a visa is not required for entry for most native English speakers and return for a 30 day entry stamp. That will require room for a few entry/exit stamps, that passport is still valid (and enough money for airfare).

If you are not willing to return to your home country suspect you may have to wait until new passport obtained and they make visa trip, moving information at airport and paying 500 baht per day fine. You will be risking legal consequences (even if low risk). And if your work takes place it could be more serious.

[klauswernst198]

If your country has an embassy in Bangkok get a certified letter that your passport is being issued. And with this you can go to Immigration and try to get an extension based on this letter. My brother had the same problem a few years ago and by law he should have been able to get an extension of only 7 days However they gave him 30 days (He was on a visa exemption stamp of 30 days) . If they refuse they only way to legally stay in Thailand is the following

You will have to do border runs each border run will give you an additional 14 days. By law you will need an outgoing air or train ticket paid in full. Normally this law is not enforced but if the officer has a bad day or don't like you he can refuse you on this. The only way to avoid this risk is to get a ticket. For this the best choice is the train ticket Bangkok Butterworth Malaysia cost is around 1200 and once you are back in Bangkok you can cancel the ticket and you will get back around 800 Baht. This is the cheapest way.

If you wanna know how to make a cheap borderun have a look at my post in this topic http://www.thaivisa....ots-of-legroom/

Edited November 9, 2010 by klauswernst198

[phoenixbird]

You should have the option to return to your home country (after paying any overstay).

If your permitted to stay expired on the 29th you are currently on overstay since then at 500 baht per day and would appear you have not applied for a work permit? Thus any work would/will be illegal.

If your permitted to stay has not expired you could only obtain one 7 day extension of stay in any case so about the only option would be a flight to Malaysia or Singapore where a visa is not required for entry for most native English speakers and return for a 30 day entry stamp. That will require room for a few entry/exit stamps, that passport is still valid (and enough money for airfare).

If you are not willing to return to your home country suspect you may have to wait until new passport obtained and they make visa trip, moving information at airport and paying 500 baht per day fine. You will be risking legal consequences (even if low risk). And if your work takes place it could be more serious.

I am waiting for my new passport and we will be signing the work contract this week as well. My agency is busy processing the Work Permit and I have notified them about my predicament regarding the overstay. Now what you are saying is that once I receive my new Passport then I should fly or take the overnight bus to Malaysia and apply for a 60 day entry stamp? The work permit is not what i'm concerned, because my agency does that processing, it's more the overstay that I'm concerned. Does that means that I have to pay 500 Baht per day for overstay since 29 October until they issue me with a Work Permit?

Pleas advice

[phoenixbird]

If your country has an embassy in Bangkok get a certified letter that your passport is being issued. And with this you can go to Immigration and try to get an extension based on this letter. My brother had the same problem a few years ago and by law he should have been able to get an extension of only 7 days However they gave him 30 days (He was on a visa exemption stamp of 30 days) . If they refuse they only way to legally stay in Thailand is the following

You will have to do border runs each border run will give you an additional 14 days. By law you will need an outgoing air or train ticket paid in full. Normally this law is not enforced but if the officer has a bad day or don't like you he can refuse you on this. The only way to avoid this risk is to get a ticket. For this the best choice is the train ticket Bangkok Butterworth Malaysia cost is around 1200 and once you are back in Bangkok you can cancel the ticket and you will get back around 800 Baht. This is the cheapest way.

If you wanna know how to make a cheap borderun have a look at my post in this topic http://www.thaivisa....ots-of-legroom/

Yes my country do have an embassy here in Bangkok. I can ask them for a certified letter. My issue is will they charge me with the overstay seeing my original Tourist Visa expired on 29 October 2010. I suspect that I will only receive my passport around the end of November 2010. Once I receive the new passport should I then leave the country for Malaysia for the 60 day? By that time I assume my Agency should at least have already have the Work Permit processed and ready..... My temporary passport is currently not an option for me now since I will be working here and there are no longer pages free to paste the visa sticker. That is the root of the problem. I can leave Thailand completely, but I have already committed myself to the school and agency to start teaching soon. The only option that I assume is viable is to wait for the new passport or request a certified letter from my embassy outlining them my problem regarding the temporary passport with the limited pages. Does the Work Permit then cancel the overstay fee once it is issued to me?

Please advice

[klauswernst198]

If your country has an embassy in Bangkok get a certified letter that your passport is being issued. And with this you can go to Immigration and try to get an extension based on this letter. My brother had the same problem a few years ago and by law he should have been able to get an extension of only 7 days However they gave him 30 days (He was on a visa exemption stamp of 30 days) . If they refuse they only way to legally stay in Thailand is the following

You will have to do border runs each border run will give you an additional 14 days. By law you will need an outgoing air or train ticket paid in full. Normally this law is not enforced but if the officer has a bad day or don't like you he can refuse you on this. The only way to avoid this risk is to get a ticket. For this the best choice is the train ticket Bangkok Butterworth Malaysia cost is around 1200 and once you are back in Bangkok you can cancel the ticket and you will get back around 800 Baht. This is the cheapest way.

If you wanna know how to make a cheap borderun have a look at my post in this topic http://www.thaivisa....ots-of-legroom/

Yes my country do have an embassy here in Bangkok. I can ask them for a certified letter. My issue is will they charge me with the overstay seeing my original Tourist Visa expired on 29 October 2010. I suspect that I will only receive my passport around the end of November 2010. Once I receive the new passport should I then leave the country for Malaysia for the 60 day? By that time I assume my Agency should at least have already have the Work Permit processed and ready..... My temporary passport is currently not an option for me now since I will be working here and there are no longer pages free to paste the visa sticker. That is the root of the problem. I can leave Thailand completely, but I have already committed myself to the school and agency to start teaching soon. The only option that I assume is viable is to wait for the new passport or request a certified letter from my embassy outlining them my problem regarding the temporary passport with the limited pages. Does the Work Permit then cancel the overstay fee once it is issued to me?

Please advice

I Suggest you read my post again

1.) I never said you should go to malaysia. Just get a train ticket to their from Bangkok . This train ticket can be used a a prove of a ticket to leave Thailand. Which by law is necessary to have if you arrive in Thailand and you wanna get a visa exemption stamp.

2.) Visa exemption stamps have two different length a) When you arrive in Thailand at a airport they will give you 30 days When u arrive via the land border you get only 14 days

3.) One way to stay legally in Thailand is doing border runs. It doesn't matter where you go you just need to leave Thailand and come back the same day to get a new visa exemption stamp. Closest place from Bangkok is Aranyaprathet/Poipet

4.) Since you have overstayed your visa forget about getting a work permit with it. With other words you don't have a visa anymore because it is expired.

Since you have a embassy here the best choice for you would be to go to your embassy and apply for an emergency passport. Once you have that you go with that and your old emergency passport to Thai Immigation in Bangkok and transfer your data and pay the overstay fee. After that go to Vientiane and apply for a Tourist visa. Once you come back you can than start the process of applying for a work permit and change your visa to a non b

Your Priority now should be to resolve the problems related to your passport and staying illegally in Thailand. Only once this is solved you can think about getting a job and work permit

[lopburi3]

I have serious concerns with your supposed application for a work permit without a valid entry into Thailand. Either the people involved have not or it must have been started before you went into overstay. You can not apply for a work permit on overstay.

Yes you will have to pay 500 baht per day up to 20,000 baht for overstay. And if without funds to pay and leave you could face time in jail.

You can not actually obtain a work permit without a valid non immigrant B visa and that will require leaving Thailand and application at a Consulate with a packet of paperwork for your employment.

[steve187]

What you need to do is to stop being on overstay,it is costing you 500 baht every day, as well as risks associated with overstay. you can do a border run to poipet with an e-visa, that way the only space needed would be a small space for a total of 4 entry/exit stamps. You may need a ticket out within the 14 days that the visa exempt entry would give you, a refundable air ticket could be a solution to this problem

[digitalchromakey]

OP when you say that your 'Tourist Visa Date' expired on the 29th October, do you mean that the Thai Customs stamp 'Admitted Until' date in your temporary passport was 29th October?

[phoenixbird]

OP when you say that your 'Tourist Visa Date' expired on the 29th October, do you mean that the Thai Customs stamp 'Admitted Until' date in your temporary passport was 29th October?

Yes correct

The agency started with the process before the "Admitted Until" date in the temporary passport. I notified them about the date and they replied that it was not a problem. It was only at the Thai/Cambodian problem on 28 October that the staff there told me that there are no longer open space on the pages to attached the Visa Sticker. That is when the problems actually originated. Or else I would have left the country altogether If I was aware of the attended problems that it generated.

[digitalchromakey]

OP when you say that your 'Tourist Visa Date' expired on the 29th October, do you mean that the Thai Customs stamp 'Admitted Until' date in your temporary passport was 29th October?

Yes correct

The agency started with the process before the "Admitted Until" date in the temporary passport. I notified them about the date and they replied that it was not a problem. It was only at the Thai/Cambodian problem on 28 October that the staff there told me that there are no longer open space on the pages to attached the Visa Sticker. That is when the problems actually originated. Or else I would have left the country altogether If I was aware of the attended problems that it generated.

Ok, Thanks, then you need to leave Thailand a.s.a.p, as has already been pointed out you are incurring a 500 THB per day penalty for every day that you remain here.

Best bet is to borrow the money to fly to Kuala Lumphur with the right paperwork from your school to apply for a 90 day single entry non-immigrant Type B visa and pay your fine at the airport (it is already 5,500 THB).

Malaysia will give you a visa exempt entry that comprises one small stamp and hopefully there is still room in your temporary passport for two more small stamps (Exit Thailand. Entry Malaysia).

When you get to KL apply at your country's embassy for a replacement temporary passport and then use that to apply for your new 90 day non-immigrant Thai Visa.

With luck you can get this sorted out and be back in Thailand legally with the right visa in time to collect your Work Permit and start work at your new school on the 15th.

Link with required paperwork for non immigrant B visa

Edited November 9, 2010 by digitalchromakey