Fake visas and work permits: Visa officer and associate at top Bangkok school arrested

[brianthainess]

21 hours ago, Number 6 said:

one good thing in thailand is that they blame the immigration officer and not the tourist / foreigner. i know of similar stories in other countries where the tourist got into jail and paid huge fines, just because he had fake stamps in his passport, even if he was;nt aware to that.

Met a guy one time India -Nepal boarder he had got an Indian visa in Nepal got sent back he went to the police as advised by Indian immigration in Pokhara Nepal where he had brought the visa last time i saw him he was in Kathmandu jail.

[Dice Man]

22 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Foreigners are KNOWINGLY participating in this fraud. Being taken advantage of by your own stupidity isn't a crime but this fraud being facilitated by dodgy locals wouldn't exist if dodgy foreigners didn't seek it.

and just how do you know they are "dodgy" ?   To many Goody 2 Shoes on this Forum

[kiwikeith]

On 1/16/2020 at 3:44 PM, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

CW is the huge government passport and immigration complex with other things as well it is so huge you have to take a motorbike taxi from the front of building to get to immigration at the back.

When you park there you have to memorize points so that you can find your way back to your car.

I got my sons and my mother in laws passports there in one day and did a visa extension for myself .

The visa extension was a pain, I have never seen so many people getting visa work done, thousands I thought.

I could not wait to get away from the place.

The moral of the story is I would not be surprised if stray stamping occurred at this complex.

[dallen52]

12 hours ago, jack7106 said:

I believe that my agent charges me around 13,500 Baht for a yearly retirement visa including a free trip in her new MG vehicle with three other farangs to Jomtien immigration????????‍♂️
though I might be trying the Visa agent whose picture I have attached????????????

Sounds appealing. 

 

Maybe the actual permit stamps etc. are on top of this.?

This is just the application fee.

Thai Visa is advertising 14,000 renewal extension. 

 

The local agents group in Pattaya are saying 17k plus 4.5k multiple entry stamp this year.

2 day service. 

All receipts provided. 

No bank book balance required. 

 

What senior immigration officials do is no different from what senior police officers do.

Just another business day in Thailand. 

[Happy Grumpy]

18 hours ago, mokwit said:

It seems that way but what would make that difficult is Immigration coming to check on you in your workplace as a part of the process or is that not done at schools?

No idea.

 

I don't think immigration officers go around to every school checking all the teacher's visas every year. 

[mikeymike100]

16 hours ago, Russell17au said:

It is easy to see that you have not been around much. There are many foreigners who have not been able to get anymore income letters and who do not have the finances to be able to obtain anymore visa extensions who go to an agent and go with that agent while the agent deposits the required amount of money into a bank account and gets the documentation from the bank then goes to another bank and withdraws the said money from the account and the foreigner then goes to Immigration with that paperwork and gets there visa extension. Remember that you must accompany the agent to the bank to sign the bank documents. You should really learn to difference between being a total misinformed person and someone who thinks that they are smart because you are not the later type. But you do not disappoint me at all if that is what you tried to write but could not spell properly either. So therefore the visa extension stamp in your passport is illegal as it has been obtained by a fraudulent act that you were a party to.

 

Its easy to see you haven't been around much either. No one goes to a bank, either the agent or the foreigner, so there is no signing anything in a bank. There is a bank book from a certain bank, but that's it. The agent gets all the documents together, passports, proof of address, bank book etc, takes them all to the immigration office. That's it. You seem to be a very condescending person "You should really learn to difference between being a total misinformed person and someone who thinks that they are smart because you are not the later type"

When the visa extension is complete the agent and foreigner need to go to the immigration office to pick it up and get a photograph taken.

Now perhaps you could clarify for me here. The Foreigner is in the immigration office with the agent and the foreigners passport. The immigration office is full of police. The passport has, as you say "So therefore the visa extension stamp in your passport is illegal as it has been obtained by a fraudulent act that you were a party to."" So why don't the police arrest the foreigner with the illegal stamps and the agent??????????????????

[dallen52]

7 hours ago, SupermarineS6B said:

The country's going down the toilet and they still can't stop themselves....... Well done lads, another nail in the coffin....... 

Cannot understand why this keeps getting airplay and so many negative comments and people..

 

See previous topic posts.

 

Good enough for me. 

And thousands of other people... 

(Without getting too personal or emotional)

 

[kiwikeith]

5 minutes ago, dallen52 said:

Cannot understand why this keeps getting airplay and so many negative comments and people..

 

See previous topic posts.

 

Good enough for me. 

And thousands of other people... 

(Without getting too personal or emotional)

 

my experience. when getting a legal extension was, female imm officer talks to wife for 15 minutes, while my passport is being legally processed .

I have no idea what they are on about as my passport is under process for the extension.

Then directed outside with imm officer who talks another 15 minutes.

Then wife says she wants to give you a marriage visa for one year , no need police report no need money, but she will only  talk to my wife -- fee = 17,ooo Bht.

I say I dont need as we going home and not coming back until next year, when I will obtain a non O married from the Thai consulate, but tell her thanks a lot will come to see her in the future.

So this service is alive and well, thanks a lot for those who need help. 

[IntEdSource]

1. This case does indeed involve a top international school, one that is very well recognized and employs a large number of foreign teachers. This was why the applications did not initially raise any red flags.
2. It is common at this school, and others like it, to have a small government liaison team who handles all paperwork for the foreign teachers.
3. A single case had been previously brought to their attention by immigration based on a discrepancy in the paperwork. When asked if the documents belonged to one of their teachers, they indicated that the person in question did not work for them at all. At that point they investigated the employee referenced in the article and discovered that she had been using the school's name to provide others with visas and work permits. She claimed this was the only case, but her employment was terminated at that point.
4. Following this, she and her accomplice attempted to continue processing the fake documents, at which point they were caught.
   
   The reason they have not released the name of the school is that it would cause unnecessary harm to their reputation. This was illegal on the part of the employee, not the school, and she is rightfully being held liable.
   
    

[dallen52]

2 minutes ago, kiwikeith said:

my experience. when getting a legal extension was, female imm officer talks to wife for 15 minutes, while my passport is being legally processed .

I have no idea what they are on about as my passport is under process for the extension.

Then directed outside with imm officer who talks another 15 minutes.

Then wife says she wants to give you a marriage visa for one year , no need police report no need money, but she will only  talk to my wife -- fee = 17,ooo Bht.

I say I dont need as we going home and not coming back until next year, when I will obtain a non O married from the Thai consulate, but tell her thanks a lot will come to see her in the future.

So this service is alive and well, thanks a lot for those who need help. 

There are several beliefs that agents approach the immigration office..

More close to the truth is that the Immigration office seniors have approached a selection of agents who they prefer to work with. 

I can only speak to my own experiences. 

And friendship associations as to how this works. 

Plus NO bank account details needed for retirement extension renewals. 

 

[overherebc]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:26 AM, NanLaew said:

I've never heard of a 'visa liaison officer' before. Is that same-same a 'visa agent'?

Same but more expensive.

[zoza]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:41 AM, Number 6 said:

People can't be allowed to be this stupid. We all must know and understand how are immigration issues are addressed and processed. I for one have never used an agent for anything including a 90 day. By doing it myself I learn about the process and understand any issues that may arise.

I think if you had been present over the last three days in the Thai Immigration office that I attended your view of what is actually going on in a lot of office's might change and enable you to learn and work out what the process is all about. I am not saying all offices or all immigration O

are at it, but in my 14 hours worth nothing was hidden and agents came and went dropping bags and picking up bags, no queue tickets just a grin gets you in, I did see big packs of money and the quickest response was when a Chinese tried to take a picture.

in this same office the 90 day is perfect, and I am only trying to extend my stay by legit means but I have to change my visa (long story)

I have been here 16 years and because I wanted a legit married visa they done everything they could (well almost) to stop my application, they asked why I did not want to stay on the retirement visa, I tried to explain that I did not want to pay 80,000 baht to 100,000 baht for something that I could notuse and would jump up in price next year (70 yrs)+ previous conditions

 

my wife was fuming under her smile and she phoned a friend who works in a government office, who was with us on our third day, they then both

had words with the senior officer, (we were told on our third day the pictures were no good) then after never filling a TM30 in all them years we needed one plus lots of other surprises like a fine of 1600 baht as I had not

reported back from up country 3 days before.....it is actually my landlords job but I paid it as I knew it would hold up the process.. 

so yes I did begin to understand the issues ,which to me meant they want everyone to do as they are told,

never mind the rules it was like their little kingdom

all these crack downs have done is to push people to Agents just look online facebook the agents are, any visa any immigration, you need fee and two photo's

Edited January 17, 2020 by zoza
sticky key

[jack7106]

4 hours ago, dallen52 said:

Sounds appealing. 

 

Maybe the actual permit stamps etc. are on top of this.?

This is just the application fee.

Thai Visa is advertising 14,000 renewal extension. 

 

The local agents group in Pattaya are saying 17k plus 4.5k multiple entry stamp this year.

2 day service. 

All receipts provided. 

No bank book balance required. 

 

What senior immigration officials do is no different from what senior police officers do.

Just another business day in Thailand. 

PM me if you would like to know the name of my agent on Soi Buakhao that I have used for many years without problems.

Though as a previous poster has alluded to, we now have to go in person to be photographed by the original immigration officer????????????

[dallen52]

2 hours ago, jack7106 said:

PM me if you would like to know the name of my agent on Soi Buakhao that I have used for many years without problems.

Though as a previous poster has alluded to, we now have to go in person to be photographed by the original immigration officer????????????

I'm central pattaya too.

Thanks. 

Its been a common practice with the preferred agents, that you attend J.I.

Have a snapshot taken by Khun * at desk 8.

You are officially on the books then... 

 

[elliss]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:39 AM, Happy Grumpy said:

No idea.

 

I don't think immigration officers go around to every school checking all the teacher's visas every year. 

 

 Correct , no money in it for them .

 Teachers , small money ,  i should know...

[5633572526]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:32 AM, FritsSikkink said:

A lot of foreigners use these agents to bribe immigration as they don't have the funds needed to get a proper visa. why would you pay 20 to 50K when you can get them for a lot less.

Because I’m not interested in spending an entire day at CW and it’s only 12,000 and on the rare occasion I need to do a 90 day report it’s included free of charge.

[thequietman]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:44 AM, mikeymike100 said:

So why don't the police arrest the foreigner with the illegal stamps and the agent??????????????????

Same reason they don't address the Red Bull guy. ????

[Isaan Alan]

This is the first time I have seen a Thai instead of a farang in trouble with immigration.

I suspect they weren't paying someone and greedily taking all the 20 to 50k baht

I believe the new rules, enforcement and pedantic bureaucracy are not about getting rid of foreigners but forcing more and more to go to agents with a resulting kick-back to immigration officers

[pookondee]

On 1/16/2020 at 9:05 PM, jimn said:

I agree. When I get my extension of stay this year via an agent, the signature on the extension will be the same person who signed it last year when I did it myself.

That in itself brings up another angle here.

 

Supposing the "guy" whos name/number is on all these stamps ever gets investigated or ends up in deep doo-doo for corrupt takings,

then of course he will say the stamps are fake and others (agents) have simply forged the stamp and copied his name/number, as seen on previous documents.

Who are they gonna believe?

 

Im sure its not impossible that a corrupt IO about to get fried will sooner throw farangs and agents under a bus instead of going down himself.

 

[WalkingOrders]

On 1/16/2020 at 9:44 AM, thequietman said:

So .... those of you who have gone through 'agents' - is your stamp real and proper?

 

Won't you be a little worried when a real immigration officer has a look through your passport?

 

Is it worth the risk?

 

They have now arrested an officer at CW - how deep will this go? and if your extension/visa was processed by the same guy, then there may be a knock on your door. ????

 

Good luck to you all.

When I first arrived here 4 yrs ago, my passport was sent by an agent from Chiang Mai to Chonburi for the o-retirement extension stamp. This nearly resulted in a ban for me. I never should have used an agent.

 

As later, this stamp did not appear in the system in Cheng wattana. They accused me of a fake stamp on the spot. I was told to go to Chonburi, by the immigration officer.

 

In Chonburi they reviewed my info and stamped, sent me back to Cheng Wattana, who still were <deleted>. I have never really figured it all out, but it scared me.

 

One thing for sure if my lovely polite wife was not there to translate, and explain I wasn't a bad guy, my goose may have been cooked.

 

I use agents for nothing now!

[northengr]

On 1/16/2020 at 10:23 AM, NanLaew said:

Foreigners are KNOWINGLY participating in this fraud. Being taken advantage of by your own stupidity isn't a crime but this fraud being facilitated by dodgy locals wouldn't exist if dodgy foreigners didn't seek it.

Not happening if a stupid government was not squashing expats to continue the poverty of its serfs.

[Mambowoman]

The victims are coming out of the woodwork,

 

https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_permalink/?graphql_id=UzpfSTU0NDU4OTMxODpWSzoxMDE1NjY0NTk1ODk0MTA3OA%3D%3D

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 hours ago, Mambowoman said:

The victims are coming out of the woodwork,

 

https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_permalink/?graphql_id=UzpfSTU0NDU4OTMxODpWSzoxMDE1NjY0NTk1ODk0MTA3OA%3D%3D

 

Is there something in that Facebook post that tells you that woman's case is somehow related to the illegalities of the OP here?  I didn't see any such connection, and AFAICT, the FB poster never mentioned what school she was teaching at or who her "agent" was.