The end of the visa amnesty – get your house in order

Up to 500,000 foreigners are now thought to have been part of the Thai government’s visa amnesty which was introduced in April for foreigners, both on tourist and other visas, who were stuck in Thailand and unable to leave. Around the world, planes had been grounded and Thailand closed its borders at the time. Six months later, and following 2 extensions, the visa amnesty is set to finish on September 26.

In the past, if your visa lapsed during the amnesty, it was automatically rolled over. But as restrictions on travel slowly ease Thai Immigration have said it’s unlikely the amnesty would be extended again.

They’ve said that those without valid visas must leave Thailand or submit an application for extension, which would be considered on a “case by case basis”. It’s now estimated that there are less than 100,000 foreigners remaining in the Kingdom who are here on elapsed visas.

The Immigration department has signalled 2 groups that would be allowed to get their visas extended. In both cases the 30 day extension would cost 1,900 baht for the visa processing fee. The exemptions have been approved by the Thai cabinet.

• foreigners who are too sick to travel and not fit-to-fly (requiring a medical certificate), or…

• foreigners who are unable to travel for other reasons, problems with flights, etc (requiring a letter of explanation and request for extension from their embassy or consulate).

The American, British and Australian embassies have all said they will provide the letters on request. In all cases the embassies earlier refused to provide the letters of request but have since relented, acknowledging the problems of travelling back to their countries at this time, even though there are some flights available for emergency travel.

Another option for post September 26 visas could be a new 90 days non-immigrant visa. You would need to discuss this with your local immigration office, or consult a qualified and professional visa agent to arrange for you. Getting a visa through an agent will probably cost you between 25,000 – 75,000 baht.

There are plenty of ads being posted at this time offering magic extensions to visas and opportunities to stay in Thailand after September 26. Please be aware that some of these alleged visa agents are scams. There are also plenty of very good visa agents who will be able to provide you with advice and solutions, at a cost, allowing you to remain in the country.

There will be some foreigners, fearful of the looming September 26 deadline for visas, who fall between the cracks and are either unable to find the cash to organise a new visa or afford to fly home, often at highly inflated airfares. At some stage you will need to address the situation and speak to an immigration official to sort out your options – the sooner the better. Alternatively make contact with your Embassy or Consulate, ensure they at least know how to contact you, and find out about possible repatriation flights.

If, under your current visa, you are required to 90 day reports to immigration, you are now required to bring this up to date (before or on August 31). If you haven’t done your 90 reporting by now you could be subject to a fine of 2,000 baht or more.