Visa Problem

[Kay McDonnell]

Can anyone offer some positive advise about the following

A friend who is from England on Non O Visa.  

He is a frequent visitor to Thailand but only short breaks, this is the first time he had a one year visa.

 

He recently bought a luxury villa here in the north of Phuket and he is law binding and financially secure.

He is 70 years old.

 

Whilst in the UK he had a Non O visa (multi entry) was issued in Hull.      The date of issue is 16th May 2016.   Expiry date 15th May 2017.     

 

He entered Thailand 4th June 2016,  and  departed  30th August 2016.      Then he re-entered  Thailand 20th October 2016  and  departed 24th April 2017.

 

The Passport is also a new one, only issued on the 5th May 2016.

 

PROBLEM

 

He says he did not know about the 90 day reporting.   So all was ok until he went to the immigration to leave Phuket on the 24th April.

 

He has been banned for 1 year!  Also he had to pay 20,000 bht.

 

I know this is the rules, but it is a bit harsh.  The guy is in bits as it was a genuine mistake.  We have checked to see if the ban has been registered and it has.

He broke the rules.  

Anyone can offer a pointer as to anywhere this can be fixed?   If at all?  He left through Phuket Airport Immigration.

 

 

[KarenBravo]

That sounds like the punishment for overstay.

Not reporting 90 day is usually a flat rate 2000 Bt fine.

Maybe UJ can clarify?

[Kay McDonnell]

Yes overstay

[lopburi3]

As said this has nothing to do with 90 day address reporting - a non immigrant O visa only allows a 90 day stay and that was stamped in his passport on each arrival - he overstayed.

 

He was allowed to stay only until January 2017 and that would have been clearly stated on the arrival stamp he received on October 20.

[Kay McDonnell]

It is a one year visa with 90 day reporting

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Kay McDonnell said:

It is a one year visa with 90 day reporting

Not from Hull it isn't.  You said multi entry non immigrant O visa and that only allows a stay of 90 days per entry.  The visa is valid to use for entry for a year but you can not stay more than 90 days on each entry.

[KhunBENQ]

As above: a normal Non-O visa allows only 90 day stay per entry.

 

13 minutes ago, Kay McDonnell said:

Then he re-entered  Thailand 20th October 2016  and  departed 24th April 2017.

When he entered on 20 OCT 2016 he got a stamp in his passport saying:

ADMITTED UNTIL   17 JAN 2017

That means he had to leave the country until then.

Leaving on April 20 means that his overstay was more than 90 days! (93).

Just 3 days, very bad luck!

More than 90 day overstay is exactly the number where the 1 year ban is given due to the rules.

Harsh but true.

 

[Kay McDonnell]

6 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Not from Hull it isn't.  You said multi entry non immigrant O visa and that only allows a stay of 90 days per entry.  The visa is valid to use for entry for a year but you can not stay more than 90 days on each entry.

I did say that at the start

 

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, Kay McDonnell said:

It is a one year visa with 90 day reporting

The visa is valid for a year but a multiple entry non-o visa only allows a 90 day entry. The visas one year validity is only how long the visa allows the 90 day entries.

He was on a overstay of over 90 days was why he was banned for one year.

When he entered in 20 October of 2016 he only got a permit to stay date until January 17th of this year. He was on a overstay of 97 days when he left in April.

[KhunBENQ]

So you see the stamp (17 JAN 2017).

I had written my post before.

 

ANOTHER REMINDER

Check your stamp after the checkpoint !!!

Sorry for your friend.

[Kay McDonnell]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

The visa is valid for a year but a multiple entry non-o visa only allows a 90 day entry. The visas one year validity is only how long the visa allows the 90 day entries.

He was on a overstay of over 90 days was why he was banned for one year.

When he entered in 20 October of 2016 he only got a permit to stay date until January 17th of this year. He was on a overstay of 96 days when he left in April.

Please note that i did make that comment from the start.

[Kay McDonnell]

 

He says he did not know about the 90 day reporting.   So all was ok until he went to the immigration to leave Phuket on the 24th April.

This was the point from the original post.........

[ubonjoe]

Just now, Kay McDonnell said:

Please note that i did make that comment from the start.

You wrote 90 day reports which not the same as leaving the country for a new 90 day entry.

A 90 day report is for staying longer than 90 days in the country and that can only be done if you have a permit to stay longer than 90 days.

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, Kay McDonnell said:

 

He says he did not know about the 90 day reporting.   So all was ok until he went to the immigration to leave Phuket on the 24th April.

This was the point from the original post.........

Again - it is not 90 day reporting - he is required to leave the country.

[Kay McDonnell]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

You wrote 90 day reports which not the same as leaving the country for a new 90 day entry.

A 90 day report is for staying longer than 90 days in the country and that can only be done if you have a permit to stay longer than 90 days.

Ok so i thought he had to report to immigration, sorry.  So the point is he did not know.

Basically there is nothing he can do.

[Kay McDonnell]

2 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Again - it is not 90 day reporting - he is required to leave the country.

Ok thank you, so there  is nothing he can do.....

[lopburi3]

If he still intends to stay in Thailand after the year ban he might want to check with Embassy (not Hull) for getting a non immigrant O-A visa (which actually does allow one year stay with only address reporting every 90 days).  It requires a police report and medical certificate and proof of financials in UK so he could be taking care of getting that in order during his wait.

[KhunBENQ]

9 minutes ago, Kay McDonnell said:

So the point is he did not know.

Yes, unfortunately a complete misunderstanding of the Non-O rules.

There can't be 90 day reporting as one is not allowed to stay longer than 90 days per entry.

 

Whether an appeal for clemency is possible/promising?

I don't know.

 

[KarenBravo]

90 day reporting is only done when you have a one year extension for marriage, or retirement.

As stated previously, your friend HAD to leave the country 90 days, or sooner from the date of entry.

[Kay McDonnell]

Ok well thanks everyone, it is all clear now.  If anyone has any miracle cure, please advise.

[lopburi3]

As you say he is well off and has property so if open to purchase of a special category long term visa he might contact this group and explain what happened, what he owns and which visa plan he would be interested in if they can bypass the ban.  Have no idea if they can or not but it might be worth a try.

 http://www.thailandelite.com/#/contact-us

[Kay McDonnell]

1 minute ago, lopburi3 said:

As you say he is well off and has property so if open to purchase of a special category long term visa he might contact this group and explain what happened, what he owns and which visa plan he would be interested in if they can bypass the ban.  Have no idea if they can or not but it might be worth a try.

 http://www.thailandelite.com/#/contact-us

Perfect thank you, i will ask him to take a look

[eisfeld]

There's no miracle cure, at least no legal one. Of course everyone has heard of cases where a bribe fixed problems like this but I wouldn't advise going down that route.

 

It's always good advise to read the visa rules before entering a country and to look at the stamps that immigration puts into your passport when you enter.

 

Now would also be a good time for him to research the legal status of the luxury villa that he according to your words "bought", because legally he can't. But I'm sure you know that already as a property agent, right?

 

lopburi3: Thai Elite can't do anything regarding the 1 year ban. They will probably even refuse the PE visa application and suggest to wait a year. But he can certainly try, doesn't cost anything.

[Mattd]

5 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

It's always good advise to read the visa rules before entering a country and to look at the stamps that immigration puts into your passport when you enter.

Even better advise to actually look at your passport and read what the date on the entry stamp 'admitted to' says, feel sorry for the guy, but it would not differ anywhere, including the UK!

[Rc2702]

13 minutes ago, Kay McDonnell said:

Perfect thank you, i will ask him to take a look

Main issue being before he pays a penny is if they can overturn the ban.?

[Kay McDonnell]

4 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

Main issue being before he pays a penny is if they can overturn the ban.?

Yes of course, thanks

[Kay McDonnell]

Just now, Kay McDonnell said:

Yes of course, thanks

He wants to return in August.  Of course he needs to get a visa, but the visa is no good if he has a ban........

[eisfeld]

6 minutes ago, Mattd said:

Even better advise to actually look at your passport and read what the date on the entry stamp 'admitted to' says, feel sorry for the guy, but it would not differ anywhere, including the UK!

That's exactly what I meant when I said look at the stamp that immigration puts into the passport when entering the country. The stamp has the "admitted to" date.

[Kay McDonnell]

Just now, eisfeld said:

That's exactly what I meant when I said look at the stamp that immigration puts into the passport when entering the country. The stamp has the "admitted to" date.

Yes - lesson learned...... Costly and made him feel like a criminal sadly

[Mattd]

Just now, eisfeld said:

That's exactly what I meant when I said look at the stamp that immigration puts into the passport when entering the country. The stamp has the "admitted to" date.

yes, just seen that, oops, should take my own advice and read.........

But you are correct, this is a must no matter where you are outside of your own country, in fact it is critical.