Overstay With A New Passport...

[magniv]

Hi,

My friend in Thailand lost his passport. He had to get new flight ticket and

pay over stay so he never went to the img. to fix it.

Now he is on 2 1/2 month over stay with a new passport from the Embassy.

Can he go to the airport to get his new passport entry signiture and pay

the overstay before he leave Thailand or he must go to the Img. in BKK.

Also what are the chances he will need a bail to resolve it.

Please express your opinion...

[george]

What nationality is he?

[huski]

What nationality is he?

important question that needs to be answered first

Can he go to the airport to get his new passport entry signiture and pay

the overstay before he leave Thailand or he must go to the Img. in BKK.

when exactly did he pick up his new passport?

i think he should go to immigration in BKK and have an officer look up his visa details on the computer and try and have them entered into the new passport. then the officer is going to tell him to head to the airport with a plane ticket to leave since he has overstayed his visa by 2 1/2 months. this at least shows some kind of responsibility. your friend i'm sure was told or given a letter to go to immigration to transfer the visa when he picked up his new passport.

however, if he goes to immigration in BKK they also could very easily just say "head to the airport NOW" and not deal with it any further.

Also what are the chances he will need a bail to resolve it.

at the airport, that depends on his nationality, your friend's attitude, the officer's mood etc...

99% sure they will not arrest him in immigration in BKK, but walking around the street with a blank passport and no visa and he gets picked up, he will go to jail.

[magniv]

Thanks for your answers... His a Canadian citizen

[dr_Pat_Pong]

What nationality is he?

important question that needs to be answered first

Can he go to the airport to get his new passport entry signiture and pay

the overstay before he leave Thailand or he must go to the Img. in BKK.

when exactly did he pick up his new passport?

i think he should go to immigration in BKK and have an officer look up his visa details on the computer and try and have them entered into the new passport. then the officer is going to tell him to head to the airport with a plane ticket to leave since he has overstayed his visa by 2 1/2 months. this at least shows some kind of responsibility. your friend i'm sure was told or given a letter to go to immigration to transfer the visa when he picked up his new passport.

however, if he goes to immigration in BKK they also could very easily just say "head to the airport NOW" and not deal with it any further.

Also what are the chances he will need a bail to resolve it.

at the airport, that depends on his nationality, your friend's attitude, the officer's mood etc...

99% sure they will not arrest him in immigration in BKK, but walking around the street with a blank passport and no visa and he gets picked up, he will go to jail.

Better to get it fixed up. The Detention Center is not a nice place at all. Follow the advice given here.

[finn]

A little more info. An associate, unjustly held in remand at Kong Prem for 6 months over a business contract, upon release without charge headed first to recover his passport back from Yannawa police and then onto Suan Plu immigration with ALL necessary court and police letters in hand.

Despite this, at BKK immigration, upon seeing that his passport indicated that he'd "in their mind" overstayed for for 6 months they immediately locked him up in the detention area. NOT A FRIENDLY PLACE!

He was due to fly late that evening and they kept him locked up and in total confusion about what he'd done wrong. He did finally make the flight but was told that he was being officially deported. This drastic action was thought to have been because he simply was financially unable to meet demands for monies.

My advice to all, if you're not sure about over-stays and where you will stand, go see a GOOD immigration lawyer and have them with you when you finally have to visit whichever immigration branch.

Thailand is no longer a place to leave anything to chance. Stick to the rules as best you can.

All the best...

[george]

Do you know the exact date and flight number when you entered the Kingdom?

If you have a nice letter from your Embassy explaining the situation, bring the new passport with you, have the overstay 20,000 Baht in cash ready and a homebound ticket for the same evening confirmed, you could go to Suan Pluh and clear and get a 7 days extension.

Another alternative is to wear that neck-tie and just check-in at Don Muang, bring that Embassy letter together with cash 20K and passport and just ask at Immigration at Don Muang to leave. But you need to know for sure what date and flight number you entered with!!

There is a 50/50 chance that they will let you go home without problems.

Worst case would be a couple of nights in IDC, but with a good letter from the Embassy it should not be a problem in my humble opinion.

Bring a close friend with you, so you have someone can take care of change of departure date while in jail, if it ######s up.

Chok dee! I think you can make it! Dress well!

[M23]

My advice.

Never go to the Thai immigration especially at Sathorn Road.

The risk is high that you get jailed there if you are on overstay.

This advice I got from my lawyer in Pattaya.

Even having lost the old passport but knowing the facts of the arrival card for example out of a copy you are quite sure to make it at the border without problems if you pay without hanky panky.

The chances are not 50% like george stated but near to 100% to get through "error free".

What sense could it make to jail a guy who already crossed the border and leaves in the next hour?

Things are not the same at the Thai immigration downtown.

Who guarantees that the guy leaves?

Nobody.

So they have to deport him first to the airport and usually they are too lazy to do this.

In bare consequence they lock him up.

M23

[dr_Pat_Pong]

whatever is a BARE consequence ?

[asinah]

I think SP is the place to go. I would suggest too dress well, have a friend with you (someone on a work permit) and be very polite to the officer that handles the case.

I know of a Belgian guy that went to SP with his newly issued passport, didn't even had a letter from the embassy but gave them 20,000 Baht, showed him the flight tickets for the same day and he had no problems at all on leaving Bangkok.

They did so some background check on him but he was permitted to stay in the reporting room until evening and he never actually saw the famous SP cells from the inside.

So they have to deport him first to the airport and usually they are too lazy to do this.

I heard but could be wrong that they charge 500 Baht @ taxi fare for a trip to the airport.

[huski]

My advice.

Never go to the Thai immigration especially at Sathorn Road.

The risk is high that you get jailed there if you are on overstay.

This advice I got from my lawyer in Pattaya.

if you have a new passport issued you need to have thai immigration transfer the existing visa and it's extensions either from the old expired passport or from the thai immigration computer if the old passport is lost or being replaced.

most embassies will give you a letter asking immigration to do this. your new passport will start with a full page paragraph of thai stamped in and the type of visa/expiration date you have written in so that your new passport matches the current information in the computer.

if you have overstayed it is still best to have it done right away at immigration, with all your paperwork, the correct amount of the fine, dressed nice, and with an outbound ticket. some pay the fine there and get short extensions, some are told just to leave and go to the airport, but few are arrested.

What sense could it make to jail a guy who already crossed the border and leaves in the next hour?

you haven't crossed the border until you go through thai immigration first. if you rub an officer the wrong way, he can cuff you right there, but this unlikely. if you are border hopping, he may find more pleasure in sending you back into no man's land when you try to come back in to thailand. i have seen farang's jaws drop as they are denied entry into thailand a few times at borders.

[magniv]

Hi,

First I would like to thank God for helping my brother getting out of this

situation without any problem. I was very worried becuase

when its started a lot of people got arrested for visa problems.

Also I would like to thank you guys for all the coments here.

My brother went today to the imigration at bangkok with 4 1/2 month overstay

and manage to get out of it with no problem, got the new visa stamp and

paid $500 and they let him go to the airport tomorrow.

I don't recomend to do the same simply because its was very risky

he got 3 time stop by police and lucky he did not have the passport

with him. Any way its all over now and he is planning his next trip.

All the best

Avi