3 Year Overstay to Clear: What to do?

[Para]

OP as a side note.

Yes I left with a 4 years overstay (court had my passport) and I sailed straight through immigrations after paying the fine BUT as has been posted many times here you run the risk of serious problems is asked to provide your PP by the police. I had cause to show ID a number of times whilst without a PP by a laminate of the back page but if challenged to provide the original you are in a world of pain.

[gk10002000]

My take on this is if you were working here or not. Recently somebody else posted about working here without a permit and proper visas for several years. I assume he did NOT pay any Thai income taxes on the mony he earned here. Things like taxes owed can cause quite a problem. Ask Al Capone the American gangster.

[cloghead]

Maybe the OP is a wind-up/trolling and 62 posters have taken the bait???

[nickmanchester2]

OP,

 Don't worry Just go to any border, but watch out for police check points , if you get stopped on the way this changes the whole issue. I overstayed for 20+ years  and paid the 20K fine and came back in 10 mins the immigration actually laughed and said!!!!! ohhh  20yrs you must like Thailand very much, I guess we will see you again in a few minutes!!!! and yes I came back in no problems at all, as was said in previous posts be polite don't try to hide anything  and you will be fine. Just for you info I left via the Nongkhai Border  crossing .

 

 

Pinball

20 Years without leaving Thailand !!!! 

 

I'm speechless.

How can you have a passport which is valid for 20+ years? It would have expired already

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Para]

OP,

Don't worry Just go to any border, but watch out for police check points , if you get stopped on the way this changes the whole issue. I overstayed for 20+ years and paid the 20K fine and came back in 10 mins the immigration actually laughed and said!!!!! ohhh 20yrs you must like Thailand very much, I guess we will see you again in a few minutes!!!! and yes I came back in no problems at all, as was said in previous posts be polite don't try to hide anything and you will be fine. Just for you info I left via the Nongkhai Border crossing .

Pinball

20 Years without leaving Thailand !!!!

I'm speechless.

How can you have a passport which is valid for 20+ years? It would have expired already

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

@nickmanchester2 I think you will find that post was dripping is scarcasm.

[pinball]

There is nothing stopping you renewing a passport, even if it does not have a valid visa in it.

The problem with TV is there are to many I Know everythings on here who actually don't know anything, and just post and make themselves look stupid.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

And many people state everything will be easy and okay when the context is that the OP is unlawfully in the country and at risk of arrest. Having an unlawful status is hardly a "relatively simple thing".

You still didn't state how long your overstay was so we can't judge if your experience is comparable? I doubt that it was anything approaching 3 years............

I understand, it worked for you in a different context and you don't really care if the OP is arrested or encounters any problems. If it was me, I certainly wouldn't be taking advice from anyone that didn't fully detail their own experience based on similar circumstances.

It does pay to be prepared by having a clear understanding of the procedure and not assume all will be 'mai pen rai' and numerous cases have shown. Even on TV people have been advised incorrect info only to be later be subject to criminal liability. Obviously, qualified legal advice is normally preferable in such circumstances compared to those who carelessly state it will that 'everything be okay' without at least raising potential problems.

The primary context is that the OP is 3 years overstay. Legally he is risk of arrest. Practically, as we know the common practice is that if he turns up at an immigration departure point, has his 20k and is polite then all will be fine. 19 out of 20 times it is all fine but that still means 1 in 20 encounters a problem.

However, his new passport makes it a little more complicated. You and Mr Red give the impression that it is a breeze. Both of your confidence is such that I am sure that in the unlikely event the OP encounters any problems then you'll be happy to oblige to assist him and pay for any associated costs should he incur any!

If this was a requirement to offer advice I wonder if you would be so cavalier in what you state?

All I have stated to the contrary is that he will need to complete paperwork to transfer the entry details from the old passport to the new - as I was previously required to do and was prepared for having sought advice from Immigration (not in an overstay context). It will probably still be all fine but the new passport issue in the context of a long overstay does mean an extra procedure and the demeanor of an immigration officer is key. An officials discretion works both ways so it is only prudent to be fully understand what the official process entails

Anyway, the OP appears happy with the info he has and no doubt will advise everyone of his experience for future reference.

im uncertain as to what your issue here is.

I had a 2 year overstay after a layoff, with a new business taking shape and a hefty set of international school fees. I chose to not leave the country for 2 years as an economic measure.

My initial overstay was prompted, by believe it or not a delay of 3 weeks as my passport had 3 days less than 6 months on it and i could not leave the country because i was unable to get into any other county in the region due to the less than 6 months on my passport..I discovered this en route to phnom pen at the check in counter.

A snafu with the passport renewal, put me at 3 weeks of overstay at which point i decided to ride it out. Any number of other reasons prolonged the delay. The guarantors signature had smudged, the processing office sent my passport back to thailand, i was not made aware of this until i went in after 10 business days to pick up my passport. I had to begin the submission process anew.

I had a virgin (read entirely blank) new passport

a cancelled passport with old entry stamp and 5 years worth of contiguous non imm b and non imm o visas inside it.

My departure card had gone awol somewhere along the line.

What happened:

I went to the airport in a taxi car.

I checked in with my clean passport.

I went to immigration.

I stood in line

I walked up to the officer gave a tiny wai and said "Sawasdee krup, I have an overstay"

She looked at my documents and called another officer over.

He looked at my documents and said this way sir.

He took me to the overstay processing area where they were dealing with three individuals of Afican descent who had overstays but said they had no money to pay.

I waited.

I waited more.

They decided to move the africans to the side and a grumpy fellow looked at my travel documents.

He wrote my entry and exit dates in my passport

He stamped my passport.

He took my money.

He printed a receipt.

I signed thereceipt.

he gave me my passport.

I asked if this would cause me further problems in returning to the country.

He said that is up to the embassy. -- these are the only words he spoke during the entire process.

I thanked him and gave another small wai.

I left.

I boarded my plane nearly late because of the time wasted waiting for them to deal with the africans.

I flew to vientiane.

I applied for a non-o

I got it.

I flew back into Thailand 3 days later with a vicious hangover.

what did not happen:

I did not need to complete paperwork to transfer the entry details from the old passport to the new.

I was not asked to provide a reason for why i overstayed

to reiterate:

Bring both passports

bring money for the fine.

be polite.

be upfront about your overstay

recommendations to anyone in this situation for whatever the reason:

You got away with it once.DONT do it again

Someone with a 3 year overstay has MOST DEFINITELY considered the risks, if sonething goes wrong, the overstayer has already accepted that risk. For this reason i felt no need to belabor the obvious. In this respect it is a simple matter. You pay your fine. that is it. there is no more.

thankfully my two years bore fruit and i am back to 1 year extension of stays.

I hope this clarifies matters for you. i most certainly cannot be any more specific about what i experienced that day.

PS - if asked to provide id by the police i would show my vaild thai drivers licence.

Edited October 18, 2013 by GirlDrinkDrunk

[Lakegeneve]

See that was not hard at all was it? The issue that you were so cavalier in your original post as to be both meaningless for the OP and of little help given his unlawful status and the request for info.

bring both passports.

be up front.

have cash

have time before flight as they will piss around to delay you at least 30 mins, more if they are busy with another overstayer.

The fact that your situation itself involved a long overstay meant that providing a more comprehensive explanation was even more pertinent don't you think - again in 3 previous posts you didn't state your overstay period.

Though you perhaps exhausted the level of detail this post will undoubtedly be of much more assistance to the OP than your original 5 line glib summary. The form for transferring the entry details into the new passport is obviously either an old requirement, a new one (depends on the dates) or most likely applied in an inconsistent manner given our different experiences.

The important thing is that the OP is aware of the general process as has been detailed and the possibility that it may be required. Hopefully, he'll post what happens for the benefit of others....

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

pedant

[JackieMager]

Hi all, ive had three overstays. I just smile, be polite, pay my fine, leave and come back a month later. Never had a problem getting back in except once...she said...too many overstays, u need to see head airport migration police, i cannot let u in. I saw the head of immigration at the airport in a small room where he was enjoying a ciggie and a coffee. He took one look at me and directed me to the baggage and told me to enjoy my stay. Too many overstays does ask for trouble. Now i have a retirement visa....thank god.