Paying overstay at border crossing

[William28]

Hi guys,

I have a 2+ year overstay and would like to hear some helpful suggestions on how to go about clearing it up at a border crossing.

I have also lost my passport so would be crossing with an emergency passport as i would like to clear it up now rather than wait 6 weeks for a new one from hong kong.

I'm living in buriram so my closest border is the poipet Cambodian border so doing there would be ideal but would travel to another if necessary.

Is it possible to clear it up with the emergency passport as it won't have any stamps in it.

Advise from British embassy was to clear at immigration in Bangkok and get fast track deportation but don't fancy going through that and don't want to return to England just yet as have commitments here (kids, wife etc.)

Also should I seek assistance from and visa services like the Cambodians at the border or visa run company's to help with the Thai immigration officials, if so please suggest some.

Please don't post If you are either going to criticise the fact that I have an over stay or try to tell of horror stories like getting jail time or blacklisted (which has never happened in Thailand for a visa over stay) and by jail time I mean convicted and sent to prison not at the IDC with no money to buy ticket and get deported!

I am also aware that if I were to get arrested while overstaying I would be sent to IDC until I can pay and get deported bu to be honest that isn't an issue for me as I've never been asked for my passport by the police once in 10 years and I travel up and down Thailand constantly and have even had a bad car accident and only gave them a photo copy which was sufficient

Money is not an issue so just looking for the quickest easiest way to sort it out at a land border.

Thanks for your help in advance

Edited August 27, 2013 by William28

[Mario2008]

As your embassy advised you, it is best to go to thei airport and clear it there. Any flight to a neighbouring country will do. A flight to your home country is only required if you are deported or can't pay the fine and are arrested. You intend to present yourself and will only need to pay a fine.

Immigraiton at a land border does not have to take into account that you need to catch a plane, so they can check and question you longer. That is why it is a bigger risk to use a land border. Plus that at the airport it is a very frequent occasion.

Having lost your passport and having an emergency passport might complicate things further. You might be alright at a land border, but in my opinion it is safer to use an airport.

[ubonjoe]

Hopefully a mod will move this to visas and immigration forum soon.

Having a lost passport and a emergency passport puts you in a different situation than normal.

If you have the 20,000 baht baht for the overstay fine you should go to immigration in Kap Chong to sort out over stay. Are you legally married by registering at Amphoe? If yes your wife should go with you and you could apply for a 60 day extension to visit her after paying overstay. Marriage certificate and her ID and house book would be needed plus copies. If not immigration would give you 7 days to leave by paying 1900 baht for a denied extension.

Do you have copies of your lost passport and TM6 departure card?

Going to border crossing in your situation could lead to serious complications.

I am not even sure about a airport departure not getting complicated.

Edited August 27, 2013 by ubonjoe

[William28]

Hopefully a mod will move this to visas and immigration forum soon.

Having a lost passport and a emergency passport puts you in a different situation than normal.

If you have the 20,000 baht baht for the overstay fine you should go to immigration in Kap Chong to sort out over stay. Are you legally married by registering at Amphoe? If yes your wife should go with you and you could apply for a 60 day extension to visit her after paying overstay. Marriage certificate and her ID and house book would be needed plus copies. If not immigration would give you 7 days to leave by paying 1900 baht for a denied extension.

Do you have copies of your lost passport and TM6 departure card?

Going to border crossing in your situation could lead to serious complications.

So are you saying I can go to kap chong pay fine and leave with emergency passport?

Where do they give me the stamp?

I have photo copy of old passport but not of departure card or stamp

[Huayrat]

I had a 1 year overstay and paid the 20k fine at chon chom which is Buriram/surin area.. I called them first and asked them if I could pay the fine there and cross back in without any trouble.. They said ok... This was 2 years ago..

[ubonjoe]

You would not have to leave immediately. You would have 60 or 7 days to leave is what I wrote.

They would put new permit to stay stamp and old entry if they find it in computer records. Plus

overstay stamp.

Are you waiting for a new normal passport?

So you only have photo page of passport? That helps a little but better if you had stamps also.

Edited August 27, 2013 by ubonjoe

[William28]

You would not have to leave immediately. You would have 60 or 7 days to leave is what I wrote.Are you waiting for a new normal passport?So you only have photo page of passport? That helps a little but better if you had stamps also.

I haven't applied yet was going to just go and get an emergency one in a couple of days

Yes only have photo page unfortunately

So are you suggesting I go get passport first then go to kap chong

then exit from where? Within the 7 days

[ubonjoe]

I had a 1 year overstay and paid the 20k fine at chon chom which is Buriram/surin area.. I called them first and asked them if I could pay the fine there and cross back in without any trouble.. They said ok... This was 2 years ago..

But probably not with a emergency passport because of a lost passport.

Kap Chong is on the way to Chon Chom.

[Huayrat]

I had a 1 year overstay and paid the 20k fine at chon chom which is Buriram/surin area.. I called them first and asked them if I could pay the fine there and cross back in without any trouble.. They said ok... This was 2 years ago..

But probably not with a emergency passport because of a lost passport.

Kap Chong is on the way to Chon Chom.

Why not? Money talks I gave him a 1000 baht note for helping me.. This is Thailand. Money buys freedom for the rich so I'm sure it will for a border crossing... He has nothing to lose if he calls them they will say yes or no..

[ubonjoe]

You are going to have to get passport problems sorted out first. You will need a police report for lost passport. Needed for immigration also so make a copy.

While in Bangkok I would go to immigration there.

If I recall correctly if you loose a passport you have to go to immigration before departure to get stamps sorted out in any case.

Edited August 27, 2013 by ubonjoe

[William28]

You are going to have to get passport problems sorted out first. You will need a police report for lost passport. Needed for immigration also so make a copy.While in Bangkok I would go to immigration there.If I recall correctly if you loose a passport you have to go to immigration before departure to get stamps sorted out in any case.

That was my original Plan but the lady at British embassy said if I go to immigration office in Bangkok I would be detained until pay 11000 baht fast track deportation and then escorted to airport and put on the plane back to uk. She didn't say anything about paying fine and then let go to leave within 7 days

[jrtmedic]

"Ladies" or "Gents" at the Embassy are not necessarily experts in Thai immigration issues !

[William28]

"Ladies" or "Gents" at the Embassy are not necessarily experts in Thai immigration issues !

That's what I thought that's why I'm on here

But read many threads on this topic and get many different opinions

To be honest I don't mind chancing it at a a boarder but would like to know if anyone has done it with a new passport.

If not will have to go to immigration first

[ubonjoe]

You are going to have to get passport problems sorted out first. You will need a police report for lost passport. Needed for immigration also so make a copy.While in Bangkok I would go to immigration there.If I recall correctly if you loose a passport you have to go to immigration before departure to get stamps sorted out in any case.

That was my original Plan but the lady at British embassy said if I go to immigration office in Bangkok I would be detained until pay 11000 baht fast track deportation and then escorted to airport and put on the plane back to uk. She didn't say anything about paying fine and then let go to leave within 7 days

Embassy gave information for a case where a person got caught with an overstay, got locked up and then went before a judge who set his fine at 11k baht.

If you go to immigration on your own it is different and can be done as I wrote.

If marriage is registered meaning you have a Thai marriage certificate you could get a 60 day extension to visit your wife.

[ubonjoe]

"Ladies" or "Gents" at the Embassy are not necessarily experts in Thai immigration issues !

That's what I thought that's why I'm on here

But read many threads on this topic and get many different opinions

To be honest I don't mind chancing it at a a boarder but would like to know if anyone has done it with a new passport.

If not will have to go to immigration first

You need to ask if anyone has done it with a new passport because they lost their passport.

I think there is a requirement that in this you go to immigration to get things sorted out.

[William28]

"Ladies" or "Gents" at the Embassy are not necessarily experts in Thai immigration issues !

That's what I thought that's why I'm on here

But read many threads on this topic and get many different opinions

To be honest I don't mind chancing it at a a boarder but would like to know if anyone has done it with a new passport.

If not will have to go to immigration first

You need to ask if anyone has done it with a new passport because they lost their passport.

I think there is a requirement that in this you go to immigration to get things sorted out.

Just got off the phone with kap chong, airport and head office Bangkok immigration.

All said only way to do it is go to airport with emergency passport and money and get flight directly back to your own country

Confusing as so many people have said different things

But to be honest I wouldn't even trust what the people in the immigration office says!

Have you done this before? And how did you go about it?

[William28]

"Ladies" or "Gents" at the Embassy are not necessarily experts in Thai immigration issues !

That's what I thought that's why I'm on here

But read many threads on this topic and get many different opinions

To be honest I don't mind chancing it at a a boarder but would like to know if anyone has done it with a new passport.

If not will have to go to immigration first

You need to ask if anyone has done it with a new passport because they lost their passport.

I think there is a requirement that in this you go to immigration to get things sorted out.

Just got off the phone with kap chong, airport and head office Bangkok immigration.

All said only way to do it is go to airport with emergency passport and money and get flight directly back to your own country

Confusing as so many people have said different things

But to be honest I wouldn't even trust what the people in the immigration office says!

Have you done this before? And how did you go about it?

And sorry to answer your question I do have a marriage certificate

[ubonjoe]

Being legally married gives you a few more options for staying here.

I think the problem with phone call is mentioning an emergency passport.

They probably are under the impression that it would only be valid for travel to your home country.

Many countries only issue them that way.

Are you sure that you can get one that allows you to travel anywhere?

There have been several report of going to immigration and sorting out a long overstay.

I have seen it done at immigration up here for a Laotian lady getting a one year extension based upon marriage and handing over the 20k baht for the overstay.

Edited August 27, 2013 by ubonjoe

[William28]

Being legally married gives you a few more options for staying here.I think the problem with phone call is mentioning an emergency passport.They probably are under the impression that it would only be valid for travel to your home country.Many countries only issue them that way.Are you sure that you can get one that allows you to travel anywhere?There have been several report of going to immigration and sorting out a long overstay.I have seen it done at immigration up here for a Laotian lady getting a one year extension based upon marriage and handing over the 20k baht for the overstay.

Yes emergency passport allows you to travel to 5 countries before returning t.o u.k

I didn't actually mention emergency passport to them on the phone I just said I'd lost my old one and need to apply for new one but they said I can use either at airport but have to fly home

I think a lot of these issues are at the discrecian of the official at that time whatever airport/border u are at. but they will always tell you this way if you call beforehand.

[Nautilus05]

Wouldn't worry about clearing the overstay at a border crossing. I cleared a 3+ year overstay at Nong Khai a while back, and everything was fine. Just dress and act respectfully.

Only thing I would worry about is the emergency passport. No idea about yours, but I know for Canada an emergency passport allows you to get back to Canada once, and that's it.

[Dork]

You are going to have to get passport problems sorted out first. You will need a police report for lost passport. Needed for immigration also so make a copy. While in Bangkok I would go to immigration there. If I recall correctly if you loose a passport you have to go to immigration before departure to get stamps sorted out in any case.

I believe that Ubonjoe is correct about this. If a passport has been lost or stolen the entry stamps and replacement TM6 need to be transferred to the new passport and this can only be done by an immigration office and will require a police report.

The use of an emergency passport further complicates things because the use of such a document is not only restricted by the issuing country but also by the country you are intending to visit. If you check TIMATIC at http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/ you can see that depending on the destination country, the entry requirements will sometimes mention valid normal passport only, sometimes minimum of 6 months validity and sometimes mention that there is an exemption for emergency passports. So it's possible that if travelling by air to a country that doesn't list the emergency passport exemption, you could be refused boarding by the airline and if travelling overland perhaps refused entry by the neighbouring country.

Since this situation has the potential to turn nasty, if it was me I would enlist the help of a visa agent (or someone else with immigration connections) to go to immigration and negotiate a solution without being present myself. That would cost something obviously but probably much less than the worst case scenario.

[ubonjoe]

Isaan Lawyers (sponsor of Isaan forum) in Korat would be a good suggestion.

They have experience handling overstays. I can recall a post by them where they handled a multiple year overstay at immigration and the individual got 7 days to leave.

[geordieman2]

A good friend of mine was in the same situation.

Almost 3 years of overstay.

Received an emergency travel document from her embassy (6 month validity).

To avoid complications, she went to a legal office specialized in immigration cases.

They advised her the following:

1) Need to get the stamps in her passport first. With multi years overstay, especially if no stamps at all in passport (and no old passport), no departure card, immigration at the airport can require background criminal check, taking many hours, leading to missed flights. If at a busy moment, they might even transfer you to Chaeng Wattana to get processed.

2) Need to get new TM card.

3) Leave to home country. Not really a requirement, but they told her a difficult immigration officer along with the temporary passport might make things problematic. Immigration might wonder why your embassy did not issue a full passport, indicating maybe issues back home.

They also advised her to let them handle the initial contact with immigration, because with long overstays it would be their right to arrest her on the spot. Mostly they will not do this, but again, having an officer on a bad day can see you arrested + deportation procedure, instead of paying for overstay/getting 7 day extension!

It is basically only at a border that the standard procedure is a fine + departure. If you have a simple overstay, i.e. a valid passport with all stamps and TM card, but overstayed against the admitted until stamp.

This was also the reason they advised her to get a ticket to her home country, as this would make immigration more ammenable to simply clear the overstay, give extension and be on her merry way.

This ended up how it was done.

Give money for overstay and extension to lawyer, along with lawyer fees, and they went into immigration and came back out a few hours later with all proper stamps in the new passport, with 7 day extension.

They advised strongly against showing up at the airport with a temporary passport without any stamps or TM card.

They said that a land border run would be potential recipe for disaster, firstly in getting the overstay and no stamp issue cleared with the Thai side, secondly risking no entry in the other country due to temporary passport, which at that time will have less then 6 months validity.

Again, you might just walz through a land border or the airport, but in your case they call it a "complicated" overstay due to the lack of stamps etc, and there will be a real risk of getting stuck and ending up arrested/deported.

Edited August 28, 2013 by geordieman2

[William28]

A good friend of mine was in the same situation.

Almost 3 years of overstay.

Received an emergency travel document from her embassy (6 month validity).

To avoid complications, she went to a legal office specialized in immigration cases.

They advised her the following:

1) Need to get the stamps in her passport first. With multi years overstay, especially if no stamps at all in passport (and no old passport), no departure card, immigration at the airport can require background criminal check, taking many hours, leading to missed flights. If at a busy moment, they might even transfer you to Chaeng Wattana to get processed.

2) Need to get new TM card.

3) Leave to home country. Not really a requirement, but they told her a difficult immigration officer along with the temporary passport might make things problematic. Immigration might wonder why your embassy did not issue a full passport, indicating maybe issues back home.

They also advised her to let them handle the initial contact with immigration, because with long overstays it would be their right to arrest her on the spot. Mostly they will not do this, but again, having an officer on a bad day can see you arrested + deportation procedure, instead of paying for overstay/getting 7 day extension!

It is basically only at a border that the standard procedure is a fine + departure. If you have a simple overstay, i.e. a valid passport with all stamps and TM card, but overstayed against the admitted until stamp.

This was also the reason they advised her to get a ticket to her home country, as this would make immigration more ammenable to simply clear the overstay, give extension and be on her merry way.

This ended up how it was done.

Give money for overstay and extension to lawyer, along with lawyer fees, and they went into immigration and came back out a few hours later with all proper stamps in the new passport, with 7 day extension.

They advised strongly against showing up at the airport with a temporary passport without any stamps or TM card.

They said that a land border run would be potential recipe for disaster, firstly in getting the overstay and no stamp issue cleared with the Thai side, secondly risking no entry in the other country due to temporary passport, which at that time will have less then 6 months validity.

Again, you might just walz through a land border or the airport, but in your case they call it a "complicated" overstay due to the lack of stamps etc, and there will be a real risk of getting stuck and ending up arrested/deported.

Thanks for everyone's help

Decided to wait six weeks and get new full passport

But can anyone suggest any lawyer/visa agent who can help me pay fine, get new stamps and 7 day extension at the immigration office ?

so I don't have to go in person.

Called issanlawyers in Korat he said couldn't help me

Edited August 28, 2013 by William28

[Mario2008]

There is a fine involved, for which you have to appear in person to sign the citation.

[lopburi3]

You are going to have to do this regardless of help - all an agent can do is go with you and in case of arrest be your contact. I seriously doubt you are going to be allowed any extension once overstay known. There is no 7 day extension in any case - that is an allowance for an application for extension that has not been approved. A few days of overstay it will normally be allowed but for this max fine I suspect it would not be. You should have ticket to travel when making visit to immigration and as has been said the best place is at airport.

[ubonjoe]

Thanks for everyone's help

Decided to wait six weeks and get new full passport

But can anyone suggest any lawyer/visa agent who can help me pay fine, get new stamps and 7 day extension at the immigration office ?

so I don't have to go in person.

Called issanlawyers in Korat he said couldn't help me

I agree with full passport. Remember police report.

You are going to have to make an appearance at immigration yourself.

Take family along with you (sympathy factor). Have marriage certificate, wife's ID/house book plus copies with you. Copy of old and new passport. Try for the 60 day extension to visit wife.

You could send wife in first with money and paperwork to see what they say.

At least border is close to Kap Chong if they told you to do it there.

Can't help you much more than this.