Hello, I have 2 entry visa. First entry I used for 2 months, got extension for 1 month. After this period, I went to Myanmar border for visa run. On my way back, the officer on border used my 2nd entry, stamped it, even on the stamp it says valid until 26th january. However he blacked it with a pen and stamped a new date under, which says 12th decemeber, ie he only gave me 2 weeks for my 2nd entry. I didn't looked into it, as I assumed I have 2 more months, and now I found out, I'm on overstay. Why he only gave me 2 weeks, and is it possible to fix my visa situation? If not, my best option is probably to overstay, and just pay the max fine of 20k baht?

Which border crossing into Myanmar did you use ?

How did you find out you're on an overstay ?

Edited January 14, 201511 yr by ukrules

Hello,

I crossed in Mae Sai. I found on by looking into passport. The date on stamp 26th January is crossed with pen, and there is a new date stamped - 12th Dec. Also on my departure card is a stamp with date 12td Dec.

Are you sure you visa was still valid? What is the enter before date on your visa?

If you visa was still valid when you entered the country you can go to an immigration office and have the stamping error corrected.

You should always check the stamp before leaving the immigration area on entry to the country. They do make mistakes.

Hello, yes, I'm sure it was valid, he wrote the date I crossed the border on the visa, on 2nd entry field. Also I had it stamped from immigration till 5th dec (I was on a visa run 28th Nov). What is weird, that he crossed the proper date of 26th jan on a stamp and stamped a new date. Also in the Visa class field I have written there something like U16 or TR16. The Enter before on my Visa is 25th November - could this be the source of the problem? I thought thats just for the entering the country first time and then I had a stamp from immigration till 5th Dec.

Edited January 14, 201511 yr by tomcz

You have an overstay fine to pay when you leave the country. Your visa was expired and you got the correct date when you entered the country. You will pay a fine of 500 baht per day up to a maximum of 20k baht.

The enter before date is for both entries of your visa not just the first entry.

ok, thank you very much for your help. It's my first time in Thailand and I had no idea about this stuff.

You are not the first person to make that same mistake.

All visas have an expiration date that is shown as the enter before date on the visa sticker. After that date the visa is no longer valid for entry.

When you have a double entry or triple entry tourist visa the "must enter before date" on that visa is the date your visa expires.

Such a visa does NOT start counting down to expiration on the day of your first entry, it starts counting down to expiration (as evidenced by your "must enter before" date) on the day you received the visa form the consulate or embassy that gave you the visa,

Some consulates in Asia will give you a double entry or triple entry visa with a "must enter before" date of only 90 days.

You MUST make all two or three entries before that "must enter before" date.

Any entries unused by that date will be voided after that date.

Just remember a double or triple entry visa does NOT start on the day of entry and countdown until it expires.

The countdown begins on the date when it is issued by the consulate or embassy that issues it.

Many people get confused by that, and lose time by not using their first entry by staying in their home country or the country of issue for some time.

It would have been helpful if the immigration officer took a couple of seconds of his time to tell you that the visa was expired and due to this you're not getting the expected 60 days but only the visa exempt number of days.

Hello, yes, I'm sure it was valid, he wrote the date I crossed the border on the visa, on 2nd entry field. Also I had it stamped from immigration till 5th dec (I was on a visa run 28th Nov). What is weird, that he crossed the proper date of 26th jan on a stamp and stamped a new date. Also in the Visa class field I have written there something like U16 or TR16. The Enter before on my Visa is 25th November - could this be the source of the problem? I thought thats just for the entering the country first time and then I had a stamp from immigration till 5th Dec.

The visa sticker has a use-by date printed on it.

The stamp from immigrations is your permission to stay, nothing to do with the expiration of the visa. You had permission to stay in Thailand until 5th December (or whatever it was), but you still needed to make your second entry on the visa before it expired.

At the border they gave you a visa exempt entry (since you no longer had a valid visa) for 15 days.

It would have been helpful if the immigration officer took a couple of seconds of his time to tell you that the visa was expired and due to this you're not getting the expected 60 days but only the visa exempt number of days.

It would also have been sensible if the O/P had looked at the entry stamp when the passport was returned to him and then asked why he only got 15 days. If nothing was said, why should immigrations not assume that the passport holder knew his tourist visa had expired?

Edited January 14, 201511 yr by Suradit69