Don't Know What To Do?

[jackex]

I have lived in Thailand for 10 years and always had a non IM B visa and work permit.

I left my company in January but not the country. The visa is/was valid until July 31. I forgot about this and now am very worried as I believe I should have cancelled it.

As far as I am aware, I cannot pay an overstay fine at the airport as they cannot cancel an Non Im B Visa - is this correct?

If I go into town - can I pay the fine there? But then how long have I got before I must leave the country, or must I go straight away?

Don't know what to do.

Please advise, if you can

Cheers

Jack

[manfromoz]

Jack,

are you on a visa or a yearly extension?

[kandt]

I have lived in Thailand for 10 years and always had a non IM B visa and work permit.

I left my company in January but not the country.

Jack,

A little more information maybe required to provide you with a meaningful answer. Your current visa is valid to 31 July 2004?

If so, you can always leave the the country because the Immigration will not know you are no longer employed by the company supporting your visa, ( I presume).

I am not sure what town you're talking about, but presumably you're referring to the Immigration in your nearest town. Now, if you are planning to stay on in Thailand, my advice is to go and talk to the Immigration and you do not need to tell them about the work permit and everything but querry how to change your current visa to whatever new visa you're contemplating.

Anyhow, a little more information and I'll be back.

Cheers.........Kandt

[huski]

I have lived in Thailand for 10 years and always had a non IM B visa and work permit.

I left my company in January but not the country.  The visa is/was valid until July 31. I forgot about this and now am very worried as I believe I should have cancelled it.

As far as I am aware, I cannot pay an overstay fine at the airport as they cannot cancel an Non Im B Visa - is this correct?

If I go into town - can I pay the fine there? But then how long have I got before I must leave the country, or must I go straight away?

Don't know what to do.

Please advise, if you can

Cheers

Jack

maybe doctor can give the exact law on this one, i think your visa and work permit are tied together and you have only a week in thailand. you would need another job/work permit but i feel it is too late for this.

As far as I am aware, I cannot pay an overstay fine at the airport as they cannot cancel an Non Im B Visa - is this correct?

yes you can pay an overstay at the airport.

If so, you can always leave the the country because the Immigration will not know you are no longer employed by the company supporting your visa, ( I presume).

may not be true

[jackex]

Thanks Everyone.

My visa is valid until July 31st 2004 and I have a multiple re-entry as well.

I live here and have a Thai wife/famaily.

Friends have said, like Kandt - that I can just go in out and they will never know and then when the visa expires that's it, just get a new Non Im O.

I don't want to do this though as technically this is illigal no?

As the work permit has expired, then it is my responsibility to cancel the Passport visa.

If i go to the airport and say I want to cancel this visa and that I have stopped working for this company in January. I have been told that they will need proof of this and that; at the airport they cannot cancel a Non IM B visa. So I can't pay them a fine because as far as they are concerned, my visa is valid.

I must do this in town, but then what? Pay the fine and then must I leave? or can I try and get a Non IM O without leaving the country.

Am I in trouble??

Thanks

Jack

[huski]

If i go to the airport and say I want to cancel this visa and that I have stopped working for this company in January. I have been told that they will need proof of this and that; at the airport they cannot cancel a Non IM B visa. So I can't pay them a fine because as far as they are concerned, my visa is valid.

any visa can be cancelled by any immigration officer. when you leave thailand, your visa or extension is cancelled automatically, unless you have a multi entry or re entry stamp.

6. After the to foreign resigns from work, the foreign must return the work permit within 7 days from the date of the resignation

PENALTY : Anyone who violates this rule will be fined not more than 1000 baht.

Work permit Thailand

I must do this in town, but then what? Pay the fine and then must I leave? or can I try and get a Non IM O without leaving the country.

Am I in trouble??

you should have a non immigrant O visa based on your marriage to your thai wife.

either get one from a thai consulate outside thailand or go to the immigration office and try and get your B transfered over to an O.

[manfromoz]

you can have a non immigrant B visa without any work permit attached. You can't have a year extension on the visa`without a work permit.

This is why I asked which one you have. Why do you want to cancel the visa? Just arrange to have a new one, make life easy on yourself and leave the country to arange it.

Then you can come back, do your 90 days visa runs and be wot your family.

[jackex]

You can have a non Im B visa without a work permit, but if this visa has been issued on the basis of a work permit, then you must cancel it when you leave that company.

If I don't cancel it then I am illegal. Even though noone would know probably but I don't want to take the risk.

I cannot get a new visa from another country until this one has been cancelled.

To cancel it means to pay the fine. I don't think they can do this at the airport unless I have the official work permit cancellation document with me, which I don't have.

I cannot let this one die by simply leaving the country either as I have a multiple re-entry.

Tricky!

[kandt]

Jack,

As you can see there are many answers. Thanks for some more details. I don’t think you’re in trouble as long as you remain in the driver’s seat vis-à-vis the Immigration. If you were in Phuket, where I live; my recommendation would be to go and talk to the Immigration. The staff in Phuket are very nice and helpful and I believe it’s like that in other places, although the horror stories are plentiful, also in Phuket.

However, you will have to give up your existing visa quite soon, which means you must leave the country and enter on a non-immigrant “O” and after your return, apply for the appropriate visa. Having a Thai family on one hand is helpful but does not give you any advantage in terms of visa. As mentioned by others your existing visa will be cancelled when you leave the country and I believe you will not be fined.

I guess that’s the best I can say.

Good luck.

[manfromoz]

Jack,

Can I just clarify something? You have been here for 10 years on visa's? So every 90 days you have been doing visa runs and then extending your work permit?

[jackex]

manfromoz - I've never done a visa run or extended my visa. I've always been given a one year visa from my company.

Anyway, honesty is the best policy. I went to Immigration and came clean, got fined and now have a "under consideration" stamp until July 31.

This is while they send my request for a non im O to BKK for approval (I think)??

I did not have to leave the country.

Sorted!

Thanks everybody.

[huski]

manfromoz - I've never done a visa run or extended my visa. I've always been given a one year visa from my company.

Anyway, honesty is the best policy. I went to Immigration and came clean, got fined and now have a "under consideration" stamp until July 31.

This is while they send my request for a non im O to BKK for approval (I think)??

I did not have to leave the country.

Sorted!

Thanks everybody.

that's great you got everything worked out at thai immigration.

the "under consideration" extension is normal, even if you apply at the bangkok thai immigration. you need to come back on the date it expires or a few days before to get the final one year extension stamp.

your "under consideration" stamp expiring on july 31 seems longer than usual as that first extension is usually only 4 to 6 weeks. it doesn't matter you're fine now.

[lopburi3]

manfromoz - I've never done a visa run or extended my visa. I've always been given a one year visa from my company.

Would you do us a favor and check your entry where you said "current visa is valid to 31 July 2004" and see if it really says it is a "visa". I believe you have been given an extension of stay for the past ten years rather than "visas" as visas do not allow you to stay in a county; and from other posts it seems I am not the only one in the dark here. Thanks; and glad to hear all in order now.

[jackex]

Yes, Lopburi3.

It says application of stay is under consideration until july 31

All the others say application of stay is permitted up to .......

is this what you meant?

Thanks

Jack

[lopburi3]

That's it. Thanks. You can now say you were here for 10 years without a visa as the one you used 10 years ago was the last one you had. Since than you have just continued on extension of stay/no new visa involved.

[manfromoz]

Finally a realistic answer to the original question..........

[dr_Pat_Pong]

manfromoz - I've never done a visa run or extended my visa. I've always been given a one year visa from my company.

Anyway, honesty is the best policy. I went to Immigration and came clean, got fined and now have a "under consideration" stamp until July 31.

This is while they send my request for a non im O to BKK for approval (I think)??

I did not have to leave the country.

Sorted!

Thanks everybody.

Jack ... are they considering a change of category from B to O ?

[rockhardbkk]

Hello,

Speaking of not knowing what to do....

I am married to a Thai and have been for 4 years now and we have two young children together. I've lived in Thailand for about 7 1/2 years, the majority of the time on a tourist visa and then recently, on a non-immigrant O.

Here is my question / dilemma. I'm by no means rich but have a business that is in the US that earns about $4000-$5000 a month for me. I have all the bank statements but do not have a work permit in Thailand nor any income. I don't have B250,000 in the bank that I can provide as necessary, the only thing I have is the monthly income and a few hundred thousand in one of the Thai "share" programs. This is the one where you put in 5,000 baht a month and you earn interest dependent on how much someone bids to get to borrow money out of the plan. We have done this a few times in the past and not had a problem getting our money but the next payoff isn't going to be for another 14 months or so. My non-imm O expires on April 25th and I'm wondering what my options are. Maybe I'm not understanding something but in order to get the extension, I believe I need 200-250 K and / or some sort of income in Thailand. Info please....

[Jeff Jarvis]

I'm in a similar situation as you. I went to immigration the other day with my 1 year multiple VISA and inquired if there was a way to avoid leaving the country every 90 days.

The immigration agent I spoke with in room 102 recommended a 1 Year married Visa. She said I needed to show:

House Registration,

Bank account with 200,000 Bht transfered from abroad and a certificate letter,

ID card,

Marriage Licence,

Show up with the wife at their office.

She did not say how much the fee is.

I'm 47 years old. Would it be better to wait for a retirement visa?

By the way, you earn appx $4,000 to 5,000 thousand every month and don't have a savings account with 200,000 bht?

Jeff Jarvis

http://www.thailandsegwaytours.com/

[rockhardbkk]

Thanks for the response Jeff but this doesn't tell me much as I already know all this. I'm 42 years old and while I have some stocks and bonds, along with this Thai share money, I usually only have a few grand in the bank as there is always money coming in. As I said, we have two children, both of whom are in private schools. It adds up and we are living in Bangkok, not the baan naawk so we are not getting by on 30,000 baht or so a month. So...per se, no I don't have 200,000 a month sitting in a bank account, there are a few places it's spread around and it is not readily available. Also, from what I understand, this 200,000 grand is not available for the term of your visa which makes it difficult for us as I use the money I do have for business purposes in the states.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hello,

Speaking of not knowing what to do....

I am married to a Thai and have been for 4 years now and we have two young children together. I've lived in Thailand for about 7 1/2 years, the majority of the time on a tourist visa and then recently, on a non-immigrant O.

Here is my question / dilemma. I'm by no means rich but have a business that is in the US that earns about $4000-$5000 a month for me. I have all the bank statements but do not have a work permit in Thailand nor any income. I don't have B250,000 in the bank that I can provide as necessary, the only thing I have is the monthly income and a few hundred thousand in one of the Thai "share" programs. This is the one where you put in 5,000 baht a month and you earn interest dependent on how much someone bids to get to borrow money out of the plan. We have done this a few times in the past and not had a problem getting our money but the next payoff isn't going to be for another 14 months or so. My non-imm O expires on April 25th and I'm wondering what my options are. Maybe I'm not understanding something but in order to get the extension, I believe I need 200-250 K and / or some sort of income in Thailand. Info please....

Can you have a CPA attest in writing as to the past and continuing certainty of that income ? They might ( only might ) accept something like that from you

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Thanks for the response Jeff but this doesn't tell me much as I already nkow all this. I'm 42 years old and while I have some stocks and bonds, along with this Thai share money, I usually only have a few grand in the bank as thre is always money coming in. As I said, we have two children, both of whom are in private schools. It adds up and we are living in Bangkok, not the baan naawk so we are not getting by on 30,000 baht or so a month. So...per se, no I don't have 200,000 a month sitting in a bank account, there are a few places it's spread around and it is not readily available. Also, from what I understand, this 200,000 grand is not available for the term of your visa which makes it difficult for us as I use the money I do have for business purposes in the states.

You can use the 200,000 baht as long as you top it up before the next extension is done.

[rockhardbkk]

I doubt I can get a CPA to certify this although we do have a family friend in the US who might do something like this. I don't know if it would work either but it might be worth a try.

I've kept the last two months of ATM withdrawls to show how much has been taken out, have bank statements and could probably come up with half of the 200 g's fairly easily. My concern is that I will put 200 g's in the bank and then not be able to touch it. Only in the last year or two have I really started thinking hard about the long term plan for staying here as I haven't been sure of what I'd be doing. What is the deal with showing half in the bank and half in monthly income??? I think the problem is that I don't show income in Thai baht but I could be wrong. I have even considered paying to get set up with a small business here but that would probably be even costlier. At this point I know I can get it done but it's a matter of how and timing and making sure I get whatever money is necessary into the account. I've always been of the opinion that you keep very little money here but it makes more sense to keep at least a few hundred grand HERE in Thailand, especially with a family. Thanks for the help by the way...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I doubt I can get a CPA to certify this although we do have a family friend in the US who might do something like this. I don't know if it would work either but it might be worth a try.

I've kept the last two months of ATM withdrawls to show how much has been taken out, have bank statements and could probably come up with half of the 200 g's fairly easily. My concern is that I will put 200 g's in the bank and then not be able to touch it. Only in the last year or two have I really started thinking hard about the long term plan for staying here as I haven't been sure of what I'd be doing. What is the deal with showing half in the bank and half in monthly income??? I think the problem is that I don't show income in Thai baht but I could be wrong. I have even considered paying to get set up with a small business here but that would probably be even costlier. At this point I know I can get it done but it's a matter of how and timing and making sure I get whatever money is necessary into the account. I've always been of the opinion that you keep very little money here but it makes more sense to keep at least a few hundred grand HERE in Thailand, especially with a family. Thanks for the help by the way...

Good luck with it Rocky ... you can do a combination of income and savings, but whether they'll accept your income source is hard to say. Remember that you can use the funds throughout the year, and that from 10 July this year, the 200k increases to 400k.