Can I Come Back To Thailand If I Overstay By A Year And A Half?

[charlie007]

i am a US citizen. i overstayed my work visa by a year and a half. Now my family wants me back for the holidays, can i leave for a few weeks and come back to Thailand again? Will i have any trouble coming in with a tourist visa that they give on the spot at the airport.

Will they give me any problem when i try to leave the country?

Thanks in advance,

JV

[Mario2008]

When you leave the country you will be fined 20,000 baht and astamp about your overstay is put in your passport.

An overstay is no problem returning to Thailand, but you might want to get a tourist visa. Without a visa, as you plan, the airline can ask to see a ticket out of Thailand within 30 days of arrival or deny you boarding when you want to return to Thailand.

[TerryLH]

Twenty thousand Baht will allow you to leave. Just don't get stopped on the way to the airport/border.

The 30 days you would get is not a visa. It's a visa exempt entry. You should be okay to return.

[charlie007]

Thanks. i was told that they might put you on a watch list and might deny you tourist visa at the airport. Should i prepare for the worst.

[Mario2008]

Thanks. i was told that they might put you on a watch list and might deny you tourist visa at the airport. Should i prepare for the worst.

That is nonsense. Pay the fine and off you go.

Only when you get caught on the road with an overstay will you find yourself in more trouble adn can you be arrested till you pay the fine and have a ticket out. Once at the airprot is is pay and fly and com back.

[bangkokburning]

Get a new pp, you are going home anyway.

Name is the same but the stamp is gone and you have a new number. Apply for a visa as well, that should give you anindication of any problems ahead.

My 2b worth

If you are denied, buy a ticket to Penang, fly there instead of entering at Swampy and cross at Sadso - just as super triple backup plan.

[BWPattaya]

Even with a new passport your overstay will be on record and will show up on the immigration computer when you fly back. Unless you are blacklisted you won't have a problem coming back in.

Just be careful that you are not picked up before you pay your 20,000 Bt overstay fine or you will be sent to the IDC in Bangkok.

[charlie007]

Even with a new passport your overstay will be on record and will show up on the immigration computer when you fly back. Unless you are blacklisted you won't have a problem coming back in.

Just be careful that you are not picked up before you pay your 20,000 Bt overstay fine or you will be sent to the IDC in Bangkok.

Who are usually on the blacklist? Just curious. i just love this country too much i don't wanna leave.

[BWPattaya]

Even with a new passport your overstay will be on record and will show up on the immigration computer when you fly back. Unless you are blacklisted you won't have a problem coming back in.

Just be careful that you are not picked up before you pay your 20,000 Bt overstay fine or you will be sent to the IDC in Bangkok.

Who are usually on the blacklist? Just curious. i just love this country too much i don't wanna leave.

Good question. I have a friend who has lived here for nearly twenty years and he was deported two weeks ago. Blacklisted and can never come back. It is up to immigration whether you are deported and/or blacklisted. In his case it was no work permit for a long time. Anyone convicted of an offence here acan be deported and blacklisted at the discretion of immigration.

What it all boils down to is keeping yourself legal. Just because you love the country doesn't give you the right to overstay your visa. I have visited prisons and the IDC, (Immigration Detention Centre) here, and whilst they aren't as bad as some of the people writing about their incarceration make them out to be, they are not particularly pleasant places to be in. Your one & a half year overstay will be on record and if you do it a second time they may be less lenient.

[aerothai]

There is a lot of false facts presented on this subject. My particular case : I worked legally in Thailand for 17 years. The HR dept' screwed up

and I ended up with a one year overstay. Paid the 20K at the airport and went home. Just recently I went back to BKK to visit friends after two

years away (Too busy with my own business) and was refused entry until the Immigration Supervisor was satisfied that I had a return ticket

and had no intention to work. She was an extremely pleasant lady but hard as nails. Ended up with her stamping me in personally.

Be warned - the old 'pay the fine and come straight back' doesn't work anymore. Get your story straight before the potential interview.

Folks with no determinable income are going to have problems as are those without a return ticket to their own country.

[lopburi3]

Did you have a visa for Thailand when you made your recent trip? Anyone without a visa requires onward ticket and expect your history would have prompted a closer exam. If you actually had a visa and were still closely checked would be more inclined to believe there has been a change in policy.

[FritsSikkink]

My particular case : I worked legally in Thailand for 17 years. The HR dept' screwed up

and I ended up with a one year overstay.

You are responsible for your visa,workpermit and overstay.

[ubonjoe]

You should not have any problem returning.

I suggest as others have that you get a tourist visa while you are in the US. Even a single entry would be good since it would give you a 60 day entry. If there is any chance of staying longer get a three entry visa.

I suggest you get it from one of the honorary consulates in the states. Portland OR. has been mentioned as being very helpful.

[BWPattaya]

You should not have any problem returning.

I suggest as others have that you get a tourist visa while you are in the US. Even a single entry would be good since it would give you a 60 day entry. If there is any chance of staying longer get a three entry visa.

I suggest you get it from one of the honorary consulates in the states. Portland OR. has been mentioned as being very helpful.

However, despite a consulate or embassy issuing a visa the decision to allow anyone entry is the immijration officer's in the airport when you arrive. They may require you to show sufficient funds for the duration of your stay and a return ticket back to the US.

[lopburi3]

There is never a requirement for a return ticket for visa entry and it is almost unheard of to be asked to show money (which is a specific amount by visa type in range 10-40k).