Brit needs advise.

[OleNordman]

I am an American so I am not familiar with British immigration law nor deportation proceedings but am writing for help from British expats since this man is an invalid and can no longer type. When he came to Thailand he was retired British army and had a good pension. He is actually former SAS and has the medals, terrible scars and metal shrapnel in his body to prove it. His health has continued to degrade over the past 10 years and he is now wheelchair bound. He has a Thai wife of many years. Because of changes to pension laws in Britain he doesn't get anywhere near what he used to get in Pounds monthly. He started using an Attorney in BKK several years ago to get a fake visa because he could no longer physically travel outside the country for visa renewals. His current Thai Marriage Visa will run out soon and the Attorney he has used before is now out of business because of the Government crackdown on corruption. He can't physically travel a long distance by bus, van or train  to renew his visa plus he doesn't have enough money in the bank to legally get marriage visa. He would return to England if he could but his wife would not be allowed to immigrate to Britain because of pre-existing health issues. If he is caught without a legal visa, what is the procedure with the British Embassy for someone in his condition? If anyone has any suggestions I know he will appreciate it. 

[BritTim]

If he is basically housebound with enough money coming in to live on, but not enough for marriage extension (40,000 baht per month) I suggest he go on overstay. To summarize the options:

• If he has an income of 40,000 baht per month or more, get an income attestation from the British Embassy, and get an extension of stay based on marriage.
• He could travel to Savannakhet Laos to get a one year multiple entry Non O visa based on marriage to a Thai. However, this requires border hops every 90 days (or every 150 days if he gets a 60 day extension to each 90 day entry).
• Overstay. This carries some risk, but usually the authorities will leave him alone in this kind of situation if he is not creating a problem. I assume his pension will cover his needs. If he needs to be hospitalized, this may be a major problem.

It is unlikely that the British Embassy will be of any real help. There are probably charities associated with British ex servicemen that might help.

 

Good luck to your friend.

[ubonjoe]

If he was caught with a overstay he would be deported and banned from reentering the country for 5 or 10 years dependent upon the length of the overstay. I am not sure what help the UK embassy could offer.

If he could make the trip to Savannakhet Laos he could get a multiple entry non-o visa based upon marriage with no financial proof needed. It is possible to make the trip by air if he was able to.

[Briggsy]

See one of the immigration and visa assistance services that are located directly outside Jomtien immigration and liaise with Immigration on a daily basis. They have a solution for your friend.

[jeab1980]

Feel for him. Can i ask what changes to his service pension? Once the pension kicks in at 60 or before for disability, it remains constant at the level he was quoted with inflation rises ect. If this is for some reason not the case he could get in touch with SSAFA or royal british legion. Or a SAS based charity which will be run i expect by the Army. They will look into why his pension has been tampered with. They may also be able to help money wise. Please give your friend my best wishes.

[dabhand]

As noted by other posters, contact with the British Legion in Thailand should be the first step. They have a branch in Chonburi and can be contacted based on their web page. Am sure they will be able to provide guidance.

 

http://branches.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/chonburi-thailand/branch-information

 

You are to be commended for making the effort to assist. Well done and good luck. 

[scottiejohn]

https://www.ssafa.org.uk/

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/

SSAFA is not directly connected with the SAS (even if it may sound similar) but an overall UK Ex Services Charity.  The British legion is similar.

Get as much detail as possible about his situation and Military History, especially his service number, and you may be surprised at what can be done.

I know of a 'down and out' old ex soldier here in CM who had been in similar circs but with the help of the 2 Orgs above and the Brit Embassy his friends got him enough of a previously unclaimed/adjusted pension, a new passport and a waiver of overstay.

You can only try, I hope it works out as well for your friend as it did for our friend here.

[2008bangkok]

Looks to me like he is in deep doo dah.. if he has been getting a fake Thai Visa or Extension of Stay for the last few years then immigration will know about it as he probably wont have been down to do 90 day reporting or anything else. So he is potentially on 1000 day Overstay (based on 3 yrs and if the visa is indeed fake and not the lawyer doing it underneath the table).

 

Best option if it is a fake visa and he is house bound is to just stay put and continue with the overstay, if he dont leave the house he is unlikely to get caught.

 

On the flip side bit of a crap way to live.

[Briggsy]

29 minutes ago, 2008bangkok said:

Looks to me like he is in deep doo dah.. if he has been getting a fake Thai Visa or Extension of Stay for the last few years then immigration will know about it as he probably wont have been down to do 90 day reporting or anything else. So he is potentially on 1000 day Overstay (based on 3 yrs and if the visa is indeed fake and not the lawyer doing it underneath the table).

 

Best option if it is a fake visa and he is house bound is to just stay put and continue with the overstay, if he dont leave the house he is unlikely to get caught.

 

On the flip side bit of a crap way to live.

By "fake" it is possible the OP meant "real" but done by the back door at the Immigration Office without fulfilling the conditions with the assistance of an agent and extra fees.

 

If in that case, he will not be in "deep doo dah" at all.

[darrendsd]

If it's really fake he is in deep trouble however it's more likely that the Lawyer did not provide a fake visa, just used his connections at Immigration to bypass some requirements, this does not mean that it is a fake visa

 

It's important that you find out this, if he does happen to leave and it is spotted he will be in trouble

 

If you and he are satisfied that it is a real visa then approach the Immigration Office where you live, despite all the "crackdowns" on corruption things can still be done 

[scottiejohn]

Please see my earlier Post.

 

I should have made it clearer that the  person I was referring to had no valid "in date" passport or visa, extension of stay etc, hence being issued with a new valid passport and was years in overstay but the system  took pity on him.

 

Stay positive for your friend and try everything you can to help. 

 

If you wish PM me and I will pass the details to you of what I know about my CM friend and how my friends helped fix his situation.

[Jip99]

Just buy a retirement extension in Pattaya. Plenty of 'agents' to do that in the 15/20k mark and no need to visit for the extension or 90 day reporting.

 

 

In this case I think a back door extension, as mentioned by Briggsy, is far preferable to risking overstay.

 

For obvious reasons Ubon Joe cannot be seen to be recommending this as an option bit, IMO, it is the best choice here.

[JackThompson]

Thousands of pensioner and married expats in Thailand do not meet the financial requirements, but annually buy their retirement-extensions from Immigration via agents for a fee.  It is evident that Immigration is permitting this, and have for years. 

 

Immigration even have an above-board, legal, "buy a visa for cash" program, showing that the whole of the visa-qualifications system is open to being bypassed for a fee.

 

I have to agree with others that overstay should be avoided to avoid major problems down-the-line.  "Credibility" of the system requires that staying here without jumping-hoops and/or making-payments must be punished.

[2008bangkok]

By "fake" it is possible the OP meant "real" but done by the back door at the Immigration Office without fulfilling the conditions with the assistance of an agent and extra fees.
 
If in that case, he will not be in "deep doo dah" at all.

As we are not the person and only reading what the OP has written they we have to assume fake means fake just as we are assuming the rest of the story is correct.

[OleNordman]

A big thanks to everyone who has contributed valuable ideas toward solving my friends visa problem. I forgot to mention that he has also suffered a stroke making it very difficult to speak clearly. I will try to help him resolve this situation.