Hello,

I am asking on behalf of a good friend, a girl from the Philippines, I hope someone can clarify some things
She lost her passport a bit more than a year ago, and stayed in Thailand with Visa runs.
So now, she is essentially overstaying since about a year. We talked with the Philippines embassy, and she can get a new passport -

but when going to the immigration to pay the fine, would she be blacklisted, or have to leave Thailand?
All seems to be a bit unclear in moment, considering the new rules - and also because she is not farang.
If someone could point out a good lawyer that might help to deal with the immigration it would also be very helpful

Thanks!

No, if she fixes everything right now she will not be blacklisted.

Best way is that she books a flight out of the country, carry Bt 20,000 to pay the fine and leave from BKK airport.

No lawyer is needed, just pay and leave.

Don't go to the immigration office as the overstay is to long.

Go straight to the airport and pay the fine on your way out.

There were some new regulations which were coming in a while back.

I can't remember if they're being enforced yet or not.

Below is a link to a news article detailing the changes:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/740634-thai-immigration-bureau-to-blacklist-all-overstayers-of-more-than-90-days/

So basically if she turns herself in, she'd potentially be blacklisted for either 1 or 3 years, depending on whether it's under or over 1 year.


Although as I said, I'm not sure if this is actually being enforced or not.

Does she have a police report already? That may be another obstacle.

Note, since immigration needs to transfer entry stamps to the new passport, she may be told that she has to go the office first.

However the best thing is that she shows up at the airport first having ready the details of her latest entry to allow immigration there do transfer.

Otherwise as mentioned she risk being arrested at the office, and more complications.

In the worst case all what she need is to be able to pay fine and a ticket out. In case of deportation Immigration may impose that she flies back to the Philippines and nowhere else.

Edited November 14, 201411 yr by paz

There were some new regulations which were coming in a while back.

I can't remember if they're being enforced yet or not.

Below is a link to a news article detailing the changes:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/740634-thai-immigration-bureau-to-blacklist-all-overstayers-of-more-than-90-days/

So basically if she turns herself in, she'd potentially be blacklisted for either 1 or 3 years, depending on whether it's under or over 1 year.

Although as I said, I'm not sure if this is actually being enforced or not.

It is not enforced because the cabinet has not approved the measure yet, and that's taking longer than expected.

Had very long overstay and paid fine at airport where they transferred stamps from my old passport (which unlike your friend I was still in possession of it). The fine was a mentioned above 20k and I was not blacklisted - in fact I am back in Thailand with a visa. She should get to the airport reasonably early to allow time for paperwork ... If she can recall details of her last entry that might facilitate the process. The Immigration officers were totally professional and courteous and she would also perhaps be best advised to be polite and respectful in turn. While it is thought that the blacklisting will require some period of time for approval I think undue delay in sorting the overstay out unwise and no doubt stressful for her. Best of luck to her and tell her not to be scared the immigration officers were genuinely decent.

There were some new regulations which were coming in a while back.

I can't remember if they're being enforced yet or not.

Below is a link to a news article detailing the changes:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/740634-thai-immigration-bureau-to-blacklist-all-overstayers-of-more-than-90-days/

So basically if she turns herself in, she'd potentially be blacklisted for either 1 or 3 years, depending on whether it's under or over 1 year.

Although as I said, I'm not sure if this is actually being enforced or not.

The new overstay rules have not been approved yet.

It is more than likely they are being done as ministerial regulation that requires cabinet approval.

Or perhaps they have been scrapped although they are still having people sign an acknowledgement of them at immigration.

There were some new regulations which were coming in a while back.

I can't remember if they're being enforced yet or not.

Below is a link to a news article detailing the changes:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/740634-thai-immigration-bureau-to-blacklist-all-overstayers-of-more-than-90-days/

So basically if she turns herself in, she'd potentially be blacklisted for either 1 or 3 years, depending on whether it's under or over 1 year.

Although as I said, I'm not sure if this is actually being enforced or not.

The new overstay rules have not been approved yet.

It is more than likely they are being done as ministerial regulation that requires cabinet approval.

Or perhaps they have been scrapped although they are still having people sign an acknowledgement of them at immigration.

Maybe they are indeed being scrapped as Phuket immigration doesn't use the acknowledgement papers any more.

There were some new regulations which were coming in a while back.

I can't remember if they're being enforced yet or not.

Below is a link to a news article detailing the changes:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/740634-thai-immigration-bureau-to-blacklist-all-overstayers-of-more-than-90-days/

So basically if she turns herself in, she'd potentially be blacklisted for either 1 or 3 years, depending on whether it's under or over 1 year.

Although as I said, I'm not sure if this is actually being enforced or not.

The new overstay rules have not been approved yet.

It is more than likely they are being done as ministerial regulation that requires cabinet approval.

Or perhaps they have been scrapped although they are still having people sign an acknowledgement of them at immigration.

Maybe they are indeed being scrapped as Phuket immigration doesn't use the acknowledgement papers any more.

I think immigration may of gotten a bit ahead of themselves when came out with acknowledgement form and then the announcement of the new rules thinking it would be easy to put into force but then found out they had no legal grounds to do it.

It may be that they cannot even do it by a ministerial regulation because the immigration act only has the fine as a penalty.

Weoll, thanks for the replies so far, very helpful :-)
The problem is that there are no copies etc. of the entry stamps. But there is a police report of a lost passport.
Should that be enough?

With the police report that hopefully shows the passport number on it she should not have a problem.

Immigration can pull up her previous entry on their database.

It would be good if she had something from the embassy about her getting a new passport because her old one had been lost

Just a quick comment to the OP. Do you really know what you are getting yourself into?

Your description of a girl who is "not a farang", lost her passport, stayed in Thailand with visa runs, overstayed for a year and wanting a lawyer.

You know it's fairly simple for a person who is here legally. If you lose your passport you file a police report, get a new one and keep yourself legal. It would appear that this girl has done none of this and you should be able to figure out why.

Well, yes - the problem is actually that as far as the philpippino community goes, they dont even seem to know the proper behavior about visas.
However, the question is not about her person or her doings in Thailand - she certainly messed things up.
My plan would be so far to get the new passport, the police report, papers from the embassy, and going to the airport to fly to KL or so. I feel like it might be a good idea to get out of the normal visa run countries.
As long as the new rule is not enforced and the officers at the airport are reasonable, I hope that should be fine.
Important is any experiences with that. Most information here is obviously about westerners, and we know that they usually have different dealings with SE asians

(she lost her passport a bit more than a year ago, and stayed in Thailand with Visa runs ) how she can do visa run whit out passport

Obviously she made the visa runs before losing her passport.
Just to explain what her visa was before