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I am about to clear 8 years overstay. Do I need a lawyer just in case?


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Tomorrow I intend to go back home. I have 8 years overstay from my previous passport. I will use a new one made at the embassy in Bangkok but without any stamp in it. Should I get a lawyer to deal with the immigration ? I hope the fine will not exceed 20,000 Baht?

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I lost my previous passport and I did get a new one from my Embassy but I do not have the police report with me. I gave it to the Embassy 8 years ago.I did not even get a letter from them. Should I ask one or it should be ok without it if I tell the immigration the number of my old passport?

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I lost my previous passport and I did get a new one from my Embassy but I do not have the police report with me. I gave it to the Embassy 8 years ago.I did not even get a letter from them. Should I ask one or it should be ok without it if I tell the immigration the number of my old passport?

You will need proof that the passport you used to enter the country with was lost or stolen. You might not even be allowed to check in for your flight without it.

You should try to do a new police report. Not sure your embassy would be much help since it has been so many years since you lost it.

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They should have a record of my police report I made 8 years ago. I gave it to the Embassy in order to get a new passeport.

You will have to get something from the police to prove you made the report or get a new one. Immigration will not be able to access that info.

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8 years is a "l........o..........n........g" time for anyone to keep a record of such a thing.

And where you say "They should have..." if you mean your embassy I bet they don't have a copy...probably got rid of it after they issued you your new passport....that police report copy was just to satisfy them at the time you had met the requirements to get a new passport.

And if you mean "They should have..." as in the police I know Thailand govt agencies/businesses seem to want a copy of everything, but even they don't actually keep the copies that long...probably a few years max....otherwise all of Thailand would be covered 10 meters deep in copies.

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Dress like you are going to a job interview. Maybe even tell up front you have 8 year overstay and lost your passport. It seems it is up to the officials in each case what they do. If they consider you a nuisance or somehow danger to Thailand then they most likely will give you the ban. You could get the ten year ban in worst case.

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I would spend the extra money on a back up ticket that leaves the next day. Just in case you miss your flight only to find out the next flights are full and or you cant change your existing ticket. Maybe overkill but if you do miss the flight and cant get a seat for a few days they would most likely send you to detention. On the other hand if you have another ticket with a confirmed seat that leaves in a day. Maybe they would just detain you there until the flight....Good luck and let us know how it went.

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If they are telling you to go to the Suan Phlu (a main soi connecting to Sathron Road) Immigration Office that office is where the detention center is...plus the Suan Phlu Immigration Office is no longer used for most farangs ever since the Chaing Wattana Immigration Office opened up...Suan Phlu is just for foreigners/laborers from other Southeast Asia/PI/etc., countries I think. Sure sounds like they want to get you to report to the detention center on your own.

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A friend left last week on an ETD (emergency travel document), he had lost his passport years back and was on a similar overstay of more than 5yrs. He had no record of arrival but did have a photocopy of his old passport id page. Embassy advised him just to go to airport with the ETD and embassy letter, he did not go get a police report, nor did he go to immigration prior to the airport, we had expected embassy would tell him to do that based on ThaiVisa reading but they didn't and so he didn't...

Airline checked-in him in no problem. Immigration eventually processed him and took 20k

Slightly different circumstances than yourself but close enough that I would just go the airport and hope for the best.. NickJ idea of an extra cheap ticket for next day isn't a bad idea if you're really worried, check-in for international flights generally opens 3hr before though so I think you'll have enough time to sort it if you're near the front of the queue

Edited by casualobserver
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Do not under any circumstances go to any Immigration Office, Police Station or similar where you seriously risk being locked up or detained.

Go only to the airport where they will process you, take your money, let you go on your way.

I have personal knowledge of a similar case as casualobserver above (#20) who went straight to the airport with an ETD, where they messed my acquaintance around a bit, kept him waiting, made him sweat a bit, but he got it all sorted (before the 20th March 16 so he should avoid a ban - though this seems ambiguous) easily enough mind you.

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There appears to be a whole bunch of serial overstayers of late on here.

Why have so many left it until after March 20th to go,and leave themselves open to a lengthy ban,which I think could well be the case for the OP.

When we were helping our acquaintance clear his 4/5 year OS earlier in the month, there wasn't a great deal of availability before the 20th at a reasonable price until we eventually got lucky and found him a good priced flight to London on the 16th.

As mentioned above, maybe after stupid amounts of time on an over stay people are tying up their lose ends and saying their goodbyes and have no real desire to go back especially if they are still young and have already precious wasted years bumming around in Thailand.

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I wonder how come somebody could overstay for such long years? Thailand isn't a country where one can survive without working and practically there's no job available for a foreigner other than teaching which isn't well paid either. I wonder what keeps people in the country to overstay for so long with hardly any chance for a good career.

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No you do not need a lawyer as it cant get any worse than it is . Just go to the airport with a ticket out and hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.

Edited by balo
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