90 ED extension didnt happen today

[krey]

My friend is here with me,

He just spent 8 hours in immigration to be turned away for his 90 day visa extension, not denied but there were issues and he wanted to share them.

In August he changed schools and went to Laos to reset his student visa

that was okay, he got his new Visa Stamp and all was okay

Today was his first 90 day extension and the officers told him of a new rule that has come into effect at least with the Laos Embassy (not sure if it applies to all of them)

If you changed schools in the past and you left the country and got a new visa your old visa would become void

however now Laos has made a rule that you must cancel your old school in Thailand first before you can get a new visa, I have heard this from a couple people that recently went to Laos and

were turned back. My friend thought he would be okay as he did his visa well before this new rule, but immigration told him his new Visa is not offically valid until

they get a valid cancel letter from his old school, saying techincally he has been overstaying 3 months but with the cancel letter they can clear up the issue

He could not get the letter today, so he has to go back on Wednesday with the letter and do his visa extension again queue wait again

Immigration officers he said were really nice, and he said his school didnt know of the new rules but did confirm them after he called and they called immigration

so if you happened to have changed schools recently, best bet to get this letter even if you left the country... its odd to have a new visa issued, stamped at the airport for 3 months

then told it doesnt work:) but hey thats life:)

[ubonjoe]

It is not the embassy in Vientiane that is wanting the letter from the school it is immigration at the border that wants it when you leave the country.

What is needed is a letter from his old school stating that he is not studying there anymore to cancel his previous extension. It is just a formality since he left the country and re-entered with a new visa.

There would be no overstay since he left the country unless he stayed after he finished with the old school.

[krey]

It is not the embassy in Vientiane that is wanting the letter from the school it is immigration at the border that wants it when you leave the country.

What is needed is a letter from his old school stating that he is not studying there anymore to cancel his previous extension. It is just a formality since he left the country and re-entered with a new visa.

There would be no overstay since he left the country unless he stayed after he finished with the old school.

yeah i understand that but his old visa is expired and he was told by the officer that right now it seems he is on overstay until he gets the letter

its just a formality he realizes this, he just wanted to express what happened and if you are in the same boat to look into it, even if your old visa is dead which his is.

[paz]

yeah i understand that but his old visa is expired and he was told by the officer that right now it seems he is on overstay until he gets the letter

its just a formality he realizes this, he just wanted to express what happened and if you are in the same boat to look into it, even if your old visa is dead which his is.

He's not in overstay having a clear "allowed until" stamp and a valid visa. What is happening is that immigration is trying their best to make things difficult for people having an ED visa or extension and they don't have a problem using incorrect terminology and a some scary tactic.

His previous extension have cancelled itself when he left, but now they want the letter too post-fact, what can one do, just provide it.

Edited November 3, 2014 by paz

[krey]

perhaps, could be it, he said immigration was quite nice, He talked to them in Thai, they seems concerned about his status, told him no problem it could be fixed with the letter, he didnt get the scare tactics feeling from them at all

he goes to school can read and write, etc.. was prepared... he is just unhappy he has to do the whole queue thing again which took 8 hours today, but as you say all one can do is provide it. Hard to know anymore things seem to change all the time, like i said when he called the school they confirmed it was a Laos new rule haha... .who knows, I certainly do not:) hopefully his next attempt will go smoother

Edited November 3, 2014 by krey

[krey]

It is not the embassy in Vientiane that is wanting the letter from the school it is immigration at the border that wants it when you leave the country.

What is needed is a letter from his old school stating that he is not studying there anymore to cancel his previous extension. It is just a formality since he left the country and re-entered with a new visa.

There would be no overstay since he left the country unless he stayed after he finished with the old school.

yeah he didnt stay after he finished the school he left well before any overstays, he follows the rules but yeah he was never asked for a cancel letter during any of his Laos trip

guess they are just trying to fix that error, he said he rather be denied temporarily here in Thailand then at Laos,

Edited November 3, 2014 by krey