Missing Thailand visa entry stamp in passport help!

[sunfruitdan]

Hey their, a couple of months ago me and my partner got a one year volunteer visa which we got at the thai embassy in laos, we have the visa in our passports and we also have the laos exit stamp to come back into Thailand but when entering Thailand we done the normal process for entering thailand at the border but upon checking recently we see we both did not get the stamp for when we entered Thailand.W

 

We have done many visa runs in the last year prior and this has never occurred, we need to get this resolved! How can we get this resolved? Please help.

[ubonjoe]

Do you have the departure portion the arrival that has the date you entered the country on it?

Perhaps you need to look through your passport again to be sure you do not have entry stamps with your admitted until date on it.

You can go to an immigration office to get it sorted out.

[JackThompson]

It is possible you only received 90-days upon entry, to be extended at immigration.  As UJ said, you should have an arrival-card (the piece of paper they staple into the passport).  Sometimes they put the "permission to stay" stamp on it, as well as in the passport but not always.  At the least, it should have your entry-date on it. 

 

Sometimes the stamp with both the entry-date and permission to stay stamp is found on the first page with free-space - not adjacent to your visa - but I would guess you have already checked every page.

 

If your 'permission to stay' stamp is missing, you can go to immigration and get everything sorted.  Mistakes such as wrong-stamp dates can be corrected, and you should be 'in the system' - entered by the IO into the database on entry.   I would do this asap.

[BritTim]

I sincerely hope you did not make the mistake of accidentally walking past the Thai immigration without getting stamped in. It has been known. If you did, you have a serious problem, though the Lao stamps may induce immigration to help you.

[elviajero]

As UJ says you should check back through your passport. They could have put the entry stamp anywhere in your passport.

 

Even if there is no stamp in your passport any legal entry would be on the immigration computer system and the problem would be easily sorted at a immigration office. I can see an IO missing the stamp for one person but not two.

[sunfruitdan]

21 hours ago, BritTim said:

I sincerely hope you did not make the mistake of accidentally walking past the Thai immigration without getting stamped in. It has been known. If you did, you have a serious problem, though the Lao stamps may induce immigration to help you.

This is what occurred.

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, sunfruitdan said:

This is what occurred.

How did that happen?

I am certain you were aware from previous trips that it was mandatory to be stamped into the country.

It will take a lot of explaining at immigration to try and get your error sorted out.

[BritTim]

10 minutes ago, sunfruitdan said:

This is what occurred.

 

You are in for a very stressful visit to immigration. Good luck! Please let us know the outcome.

[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, sunfruitdan said:

This is what occurred.

 

I would guess you mistakenly thought the visa itself took the place of an entry stamp, as contrasted to, for example, a Visa-Exempt  on-arrival, which you believed was the only reason for going through the line?  And maybe thought the 'enter before' date on the visa was your 'permission to stay' period? 

 

But after talking to someone who mentioned their visa-process, you realized you had made a terrible mistake which you deeply regret? 

 

You might want to talk to a lawyer before going to immigration - I would choose a well-connected lawyer.

[visarunner]

just go back to the port of entry, as long as you have the Laos exit stamps you are fine. They will restamp your passport with an entry stamp. No lawyer needed.

[Michael8511]

If you went thru immigration you must have a stamp, they would not miss 2 people. You must have the departure portion of your immigration card. That plus your Laos stamps should help you.

Good Luck

[JackThompson]

3 hours ago, visarunner said:

just go back to the port of entry, as long as you have the Laos exit stamps you are fine. They will restamp your passport with an entry stamp. No lawyer needed.

 

Really?  Illegal-entry and stay for months and "you are fine?"  Honestly, I hope so, but surprised to hear it.

[elviajero]

15 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

Really?  Illegal-entry and stay for months and "you are fine?"  Honestly, I hope so, but surprised to hear it.

I can't believe that anyone could, having done may visa runs, possibly forget to enter a country! I guess there's a first for everything.

 

I think if the OP has an unused Visa and Laos exit stamp that they will be ok, but I've no idea how they explain their mistake at an immigration office. Maybe a lawyer might help smooth that over. I think it's a reasonable suggestion to go back to the border although wherever they decide to go they certainly are not certain to be fine. As I see it, if it goes wrong, they possibly face an overstay fine or detention, prosecution, deportation and ban.

[darrendsd]

58 minutes ago, JackThompson said:

 

Really?  Illegal-entry and stay for months and "you are fine?"  Honestly, I hope so, but surprised to hear it.

 

The poster you quoted arranges visa runs and has done for many years, i'm sure you would have heard of his visa run company

 

If I was in this situation I will be honest I would sh1t myself but if he says it will be fine and it can be sorted then I would trust that, he deals with Immigration every single day of the year

Edited September 17, 2016 by darrendsd

[cdnvic]

Removed one post full of odd conspiracy theories. Please don't post this stuff here.

[MyFriend You]

18 hours ago, sunfruitdan said:

This is what occurred.

Problem solved, technically, you are an illegal immigrant............happens to ship workers all the time, easily cleared at immigration, you may be required to pay a small fine.  Happened to me years ago, but I came from Cambodia, just walked thru the gate at Batambang, no one was there, got in a taxi and was in Thailand before I knew it.     Paid a 4,000 baht 'fine', got a Red stamp in passport and a note in Thai saying it wasn't my fault.

[muzmurray]

On 9/16/2016 at 10:26 AM, JackThompson said:

It is possible you only received 90-days upon entry, to be extended at immigration.  As UJ said, you should have an arrival-card (the piece of paper they staple into the passport).  Sometimes they put the "permission to stay" stamp on it, as well as in the passport but not always.  At the least, it should have your entry-date on it. 

 

Sometimes the stamp with both the entry-date and permission to stay stamp is found on the first page with free-space - not adjacent to your visa - but I would guess you have already checked every page.

 

If your 'permission to stay' stamp is missing, you can go to immigration and get everything sorted.  Mistakes such as wrong-stamp dates can be corrected, and you should be 'in the system' - entered by the IO into the database on entry.   I would do this asap.

 

"only" a 90 day stamp, what other longer duration are you thinking he should have got ?

 

You keep the "departure card" - not the arrival.

[JackThompson]

1 hour ago, muzmurray said:

"only" a 90 day stamp, what other longer duration are you thinking he should have got ?

 

It sounded to me as if they were under the impression they had a year.

 

5 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Problem solved, technically, you are an illegal immigrant............happens to ship workers all the time, easily cleared at immigration, you may be required to pay a small fine.  Happened to me years ago, but I came from Cambodia, just walked thru the gate at Batambang, no one was there, got in a taxi and was in Thailand before I knew it.     Paid a 4,000 baht 'fine', got a Red stamp in passport and a note in Thai saying it wasn't my fault.

 

Sounds like back in the days when things like 'a few days overstay' were not a big deal.   Attitudes have changed, big time. 

 

Ship workers can argue the captain screwed up and they had no idea.  Not so easy to explain how one "missed" the check-in gate at a land-border.  I suggested my best story of how that might happen, though it would depend on being able to claim near-zero experience with border-crossings.

 

I do hope they can sort it at the point of entry - hopefully thorough someone who has friends there - and avoid jail and a ban.

[hobobo]

12 hours ago, JackThompson said:

 

Really?  Illegal-entry and stay for months and "you are fine?"  Honestly, I hope so, but surprised to hear it.

Immigration may state that they were stamped out of Laos and then swam across the river for some nefarious reason, with your passports safe in a waterproof container???

[madusa]

This reminds me of my bad experience with Thai immigration officials. I had a bad argument with the bus driver when going to Thailand from Malaysia. The bus entered Thailand in the early morning hour around 6.00 am, everybody disembarked and got their passport stamped. I was sleeping at very end of the bus the driver knew he didn't wake me up.

By the time I woke up the bus had left the Thai immigration and was on the way to Hatyai (a town in the south) the bus made a toilet stop half way to Hatyai  that was when I realized that I had not chopped my passport. I left the bus to take another bus on the opposite side of the highway to get back to the immigration. While on the journey back to the border immigration there was a road block and the immigration police said I had entered Thailand illegally I was handcuff and put in a small jail at the police station (town of Narathiwat). It was a saturday morning so I spent 2 nights in prison until monday morning to go to court.

The court clerk told me it was not necessary to explain anything before the judge since I was caught without stamping my passport. He told me I must admit guilty before the judge and pay the fine.( a translator was presented at the court).

When I argued with the court clerk, one immigration official who was listening said to me, " if you give us problem we will send you to the big prison in Bangkok, there you will suffer" . Yes, he actually said that. And it sent shiver down my spine when I heard that, because I was sure they could do that, simply because they are the law unto themselves.

They could do a lot of things to you. Forget about democracy, your legal rights or human rights or whatever. This is Thailand.

I admitted guilty, paid my fine (2,000 baht -sometime in 1991) and went straight back to malaysian border, I just wanted to go home. I did and with a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Amazing Thailand", the poster said.

 

[muzmurray]

18 hours ago, madusa said:

This reminds me of my bad experience with Thai immigration officials. I had a bad argument with the bus driver when going to Thailand from Malaysia. The bus entered Thailand in the early morning hour around 6.00 am, everybody disembarked and got their passport stamped. I was sleeping at very end of the bus the driver knew he didn't wake me up.

 

It is not the bus driver's job to ensure you follow immigration procedures, it is yours. He did his job of driving the bus to where you wanted to go, anything and everything else is your responsibility and fault.

[BritTim]

6 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

It is not the bus driver's job to ensure you follow immigration procedures, it is yours. He did his job of driving the bus to where you wanted to go, anything and everything else is your responsibility and fault.

 

In my opinion, while the bus driver did nothing illegal, he is a nasty piece of work. Almost every driver, on arrival at the border, would have prodded the sleeping passenger and said "immigration". It is difficult to believe the driver did not notice someone asleep and failing to alight.

[alocacoc]

IMO, there are some severe security holes at the border.

[muzmurray]

24 minutes ago, BritTim said:

 

In my opinion, while the bus driver did nothing illegal, he is a nasty piece of work. Almost every driver, on arrival at the border, would have prodded the sleeping passenger and said "immigration". It is difficult to believe the driver did not notice someone asleep and failing to alight.

 

" The bus entered Thailand in the early morning hour around 6.00 am, everybody disembarked and got their passport stamped. "

 

Seems like not a single passenger wanted to wake the poster up either, I wonder why? Maybe something to do with his "argument" with the bus driver?

[muzmurray]

On 9/18/2016 at 1:05 PM, madusa said:

This reminds me of my bad experience with Thai immigration officials. I had a bad argument with the bus driver when going to Thailand from Malaysia. The bus entered Thailand in the early morning hour around 6.00 am, everybody disembarked and got their passport stamped. I was sleeping at very end of the bus the driver knew he didn't wake me up.

By the time I woke up the bus had left the Thai immigration and was on the way to Hatyai (a town in the south) the bus made a toilet stop half way to Hatyai  that was when I realized that I had not chopped my passport. I left the bus to take another bus on the opposite side of the highway to get back to the immigration. While on the journey back to the border immigration there was a road block and the immigration police said I had entered Thailand illegally I was handcuff and put in a small jail at the police station (town of Narathiwat). It was a saturday morning so I spent 2 nights in prison until monday morning to go to court.

The court clerk told me it was not necessary to explain anything before the judge since I was caught without stamping my passport. He told me I must admit guilty before the judge and pay the fine.( a translator was presented at the court).

When I argued with the court clerk, one immigration official who was listening said to me, " if you give us problem we will send you to the big prison in Bangkok, there you will suffer" . Yes, he actually said that. And it sent shiver down my spine when I heard that, because I was sure they could do that, simply because they are the law unto themselves.

They could do a lot of things to you. Forget about democracy, your legal rights or human rights or whatever. This is Thailand.

I admitted guilty, paid my fine (2,000 baht -sometime in 1991) and went straight back to malaysian border, I just wanted to go home. I did and with a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Amazing Thailand", the poster said.

 

 

Strange, because the first instance I can find of TAT using "Amazing Thailand" was in 1998.

[BritTim]

31 minutes ago, muzmurray said:

 

" The bus entered Thailand in the early morning hour around 6.00 am, everybody disembarked and got their passport stamped. "

 

Seems like not a single passenger wanted to wake the poster up either, I wonder why? Maybe something to do with his "argument" with the bus driver?

 

The OP "was sleeping at very end of the bus". It was unsurprising that the other passengers failed to notice him. You may well be right that the OP's attitude towards the driver was a contributory factor. I suspect a similar attitude may have exacerbated his later issues with immigration. I still think the driver was a  douchebag.

[elviajero]

9 hours ago, muzmurray said:

It is not the bus driver's job to ensure you follow immigration procedures

 

2 hours ago, BritTim said:

In my opinion, while the bus driver did nothing illegal,

 

The bus driver transported a foreigner into the country illegally. He has obligations under the Immigration Act as the person in charge of the vehicle.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, alocacoc said:

IMO, there are some severe security holes at the border.

Given there are 1,000's of km where someone could illegally enter the country it doesn't really matter that someone could walk past immigration checkpoints at official crossings.

[elviajero]

2 hours ago, muzmurray said:

Strange, because the first instance I can find of TAT using "Amazing Thailand" was in 1998.

 

Quote

Amazing Thailand 1998-1999: The Amazing Thailand campaign marked the sixth cycle 72nd birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibhol Adulyadej. It also marked the end of the last millennium and the start of a new one. In addition, it presented the chance for Thailand to highlight the importance of tourism as part of recovery efforts as the region recover from the 1997 Asian Crisis.

Source: TAT

 

[alocacoc]

6 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Given there are 1,000's of km where someone could illegally enter the country it doesn't really matter that someone could walk past immigration checkpoints at official crossings.

It does matter as long people cross the official boarder accidentally without getting the necessary stamp and then they are facing trouble.

 

For example, It's very easy to leave Thailand at the Border to Vientiane. Just walk trough. Good way for criminals on bail to leave the country.