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Overstay in Thailand on an Expired Passport

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing overstay here in the Kingdom of Thailand and while we have discussed overstay in many contexts in the past on this channel, this context specific. It is overstay in the context of having an expired passport. This can pose substantial issues for people that are in the country for a prolonged or short period of time in overstay and their passport has expired. 

What am I talking about?  Well once a person goes into overstay, it has been our experience, especially long time over stayers, once they go into overstay, it is really kind of hard to get out of that spiral. One day leads into the next, leads into the next.  Weeks go by, months go by and the next thing you know years have gone by. 

For example, in a recent article from the Nation, nationmultimedia.com. The article is titled: British Bar Owner in Hua Hin Overstays Visa by Eight Years. Prachuab Khirikhan: Immigration Officials have arrested a 50 year old British expat who overstayed his Visa by 2,917 days since his passport expired in June, 2011." So while that sounds like something that somebody should have taken care of long ago, it is easier than one might think to find oneself in a situation where not only their visa has expired but their passport has expired and they are at a certain point living just on overstay in the Kingdom. One reason for this is people don't routinely walk around the streets of Thailand asking people to see their passports etc. and if an individual doesn't go to a Government Office or need something from the Government, they might not show their passport and their visa status for very prolonged period of time. That being stated, it can lead to profound consequences. This gentleman in question will be deported and probably be blacklisted, I would presume for at least 10 years. I don't know if this warrants a lifetime blacklisting; difficult to say.

That being stated, we do handle cases involving folks who are on overstay that have an expired passport. We assist people by providing consultation services and in certain circumstances liaising directly with Thai Immigration in order to, not really rectify the situation, once the person is an overstay, overstay is overstay, but to go ahead and possibly expedite the removal from Thailand; get them out of the Kingdom without a prolonged detention. For example, in this gentleman's situation, he will probably be in detention for a fairly prolonged period of time, if for no other reason to get a new passport and then to process that passport through the Immigration system in order to subsequently deport him. So for this reason, the expediting or the facilitation of smoother processing with respect to Thai Immigration can be a real benefit because it can mean not being detained as long as one might otherwise have been detained without assistance.

So we do from time to time assist people who are on over stay here in the Kingdom. That being stated, if you are on overstay, it is definitely good idea to contact a legal professional in order to ascertain one's options, understand what needs to be done, in order to get right with the Immigration system, get oneself back into legal status, probably outside of the Kingdom of Thailand.