Friend used a visa "agent", for a medical visa but no hospital. Trouble? Anybody ever done this?

[pavierre]

My friend used a visa agent and is a little concerned about it. It's a well known agency with lots and lots of good reviews on google for visa runs/marriage visas/etc, and people on here have talked about it being legitimate. Still said it was quite sketchy. 

 

During March before the amnesty he reached out to the agent to see if there's anything they could do while on a tourist visa. They told him yes, they can help him get a medical visa for 90 days. Paid 20K and left his passport. They came back about 3 weeks later and it had a visa stamp... but not from his local immigration office. It was from a further one (think he's in bangkok and it was kalasin immigration). Said no other paperwork came with it, the agency said to tell immigration he used an agency if they asked questions. 

 

Is he in trouble when he leaves? It seems this is pretty common with foreigners, especially right now. Lots of agencies doing this I've heard of volunteer/medical visas. 

 

[EbhB]

Depends on whether there will be a general crackdown or not... 

 

 

[tonray]

11 minutes ago, EbhB said:

Depends on whether there will be a general crackdown or not... 

 

 

Gulp..... 

[BritTim]

35 minutes ago, pavierre said:

Is he in trouble when he leaves? It seems this is pretty common with foreigners, especially right now. Lots of agencies doing this I've heard of volunteer/medical visas. 

It is unlikely that he will be in trouble, but not impossible. It is always a concern when the permission to stay comes from a different office to the one immigration knows is your local one. All the officials will be able to see that the extension was arranged using an agent on dubious grounds. If the wrong senior official decided to make an issue of it, your friend could be in the firing line. Usually, though, officials turn a blind eye to hanky panky in a system they all benefit from one way or another.

[natway09]

BritTim

A very responsible & correct answer well put. It is mainly about the BBBBBht

[zzzzz]

afaik; there is no law that says any farang cant move anywhere in Thailand, file a new TM 30  and apply for an extension there

There is no way to tell if an agent arranged it or not, although i am sure some officials are not stupid

[Bender Rodriguez]

22 hours ago, pavierre said:

it was kalasin immigration

how much did he pay ?

 

 

[Bender Rodriguez]

8 minutes ago, zzzzz said:

afaik; there is no law that says any farang cant move anywhere in Thailand, file a new TM 30  and apply for an extension there

There is no way to tell if an agent arranged it or not, although i am sure some officials are not stupid

farang can move, but normally IMMIGRATION POLICE shows up to check if you REALLY live there

[LukKrueng]

20 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

how much did he pay ?

 

 

From the op:

Paid 20K

[jackdd]

25 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

farang can move, but normally IMMIGRATION POLICE shows up to check if you REALLY live there

I moved around many times and never had immigration check on me. Do you look suspicious so that they come to check on you?

[Bigz]

As long it is not a fake stamp your friend should be fine.

[Max69xl]

On 8/5/2020 at 6:04 PM, tonray said:

Gulp..... 

If the stamp came from an immigration office in Kalasin, then there will be no problem. That's not a fake stamp. If he stays in BKK, just go to CW and submit a TM30 report. 

[pavierre]

7 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

how much did he pay ?

 

 

I think about 20K baht? Somewhere around there. Not sure how long the extnesion was either 90 or 120 days. 

[Malawi]

6 hours ago, pavierre said:

I think about 20K baht? Somewhere around there. Not sure how long the extnesion was either 90 or 120 days. 

90 Days.

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

how much did he pay ?

 

 

 

On 8/5/2020 at 5:48 PM, pavierre said:

They told him yes, they can help him get a medical visa for 90 days. Paid 20K and left his passport.

At the end of the post it say's "when he leaves" ?

So will he leave Thailand near the end of the 90 days, if so I doubt immigration at the airport will give him much trouble.

[ChakaKhan]

Welp, so much for my million baht idea selling visa papers online, should have sent a heavier brown envelope

[steven100]

if your friend acquired a fake stamp ....  expect a knock on the door soon.

[JackThompson]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

if your friend acquired a fake stamp ....  expect a knock on the door soon.

No reason to create a fake-stamp at an office in the boonies.  It appears they used the usual pattern of the agent's immigration partner being at another office. 

  

19 hours ago, jackdd said:

I moved around many times and never had immigration check on me. Do you look suspicious so that they come to check on you?

Many report this, and has nothing to do with "looking suspicious" - is part of the treatment/punishment for NOT paying them off through an agent. 

 

As long as the remote IO got his money from his agent-partner, and shared it up the chain, that office will not send a "check up" team.

 

Remember, it is "honest" folks they put through the wringer.  Agent-apps go to the front of the queue, and avoid all "extra" and some "real" requirements.

  

On 8/5/2020 at 5:52 PM, EbhB said:

Depends on whether there will be a general crackdown or not... 

(story about fake-stamp "visa centre")
That was a "crackdown" on someone NOT paying off immigration - undermining their agent-money system, by not having an IO-Partner, through which the pyramid-scheme of bribes is fed.

 

[steven100]

3 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

Welp, so much for my million baht idea selling visa papers online, should have sent a heavier brown envelope

yes ..... do more research before doing your online visa's

[JTXR]

Whether or not he has a problem about the stamp, isn't it the case that if he arrives now with a "medical visa" he will be required to spend the 14-day quarantine in a hospital?

[BritTim]

23 minutes ago, JTXR said:

Whether or not he has a problem about the stamp, isn't it the case that if he arrives now with a "medical visa" he will be required to spend the 14-day quarantine in a hospital?

He received a medical extension (while already in Thailand). That is very different.

 

Yes, if someone acquires a visa to enter Thailand for medical treatment, there is a requirement to spend 14 days either in Alternative Hospital Quarantine or Alternative State Quarantine.

[pavierre]

8 hours ago, hotchilli said:

 

At the end of the post it say's "when he leaves" ?

So will he leave Thailand near the end of the 90 days, if so I doubt immigration at the airport will give him much trouble.

No the 90 days has already expired, and then was on visa amnesty. He was concerned if he leaves then they see the stamp on his way out, and get suspicious

[jackdd]

8 hours ago, steven100 said:

if your friend acquired a fake stamp ....  expect a knock on the door soon.

If the friend acquired a fake stamp, immigration wouldn't know about it and thus not knock on the door

If it's a real stamp, then they also won't knock.

So the chance that immigration will knock on the door is close to zero percent.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, pavierre said:

No the 90 days has already expired, and then was on visa amnesty. He was concerned if he leaves then they see the stamp on his way out, and get suspicious

I'm presuming that your friend got his visa stamp at the immigration office as normal, just that the paperwork via the "agent' to obtain the visa was lets say iffy?

He then over-stayed the 90 days [a bit dumb] 
So his only option is to go back to the immigration office to sort out an extension & pay a fine or pay a fine at the airport when he leaves, but the longer he stays now as it's expired the higher the fine as it's calculated per day.

Up to I think a maximum 20,000 baht.

 

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I'm presuming that your friend got his visa stamp at the immigration office as normal, just that the paperwork via the "agent' to obtain the visa was lets say iffy?

He then over-stayed the 90 days [a bit dumb] 

There is no overstay now until after September 26th.

He is now on a "automatic extension" under the ministerial notice that has been extended until then.

[jonga80]

They offered me a medical visa 90 days for 18k, I talked with a swedish guy who goes there and he told me it's reliable. They told me it needs 10-14 business days, so if I want to start the 90 days close to the 26th of september I would need to go in the first week of september. I want to be here until the 26th of december, so I need some days of overstay, is that a problem? For example if I get the 90 days the 25th of september, the overstay would be only two days, but if the day of the stamp is the 21th of september, it would be 6 days. In that case, which is the best option? To pay the fine in the airport the day of my flight? To go to an inmigration office before that? Could they investigate me? Ask me for medical documentation?

Edited August 8, 2020 by jonga80

[BritTim]

2 hours ago, jonga80 said:

They offered me a medical visa 90 days for 18k, I talked with a swedish guy who goes there and he told me it's reliable. They told me it needs 10-14 business days, so if I want to start the 90 days close to the 26th of september I would need to go in the first week of september. I want to be here until the 26th of december, so I need some days of overstay, is that a problem? For example if I get the 90 days the 25th of september, the overstay would be only two days, but if the day of the stamp is the 21th of september, it would be 6 days. In that case, which is the best option? To pay the fine in the airport the day of my flight? To go to an inmigration office before that? Could they investigate me? Ask me for medical documentation?

It is 99% sure there would be no problem. You would have a choice of applying yourself for a further extension in December (denied) and getting seven days to leave the country; or pay the fine at the airport. In the latter case you would have an overstay on your record which may or may not have consequences in the future.

[rickudon]

One way immigration gets you if you use a visa agent linked to another office is when it is 90 day report time ..... my brother-in-law got caught out - when he went to immigration they said go to the immigration office that issued it - or pay a fee - he calculated that the fee was slightly less than the travel cost so paid up. Of course, he could have done a change of address, but surprise, surprise 'cannot do now' ......

[Bender Rodriguez]

2 minutes ago, rickudon said:

One way immigration gets you if you use a visa agent linked to another office is when it is 90 day report time ..... my brother-in-law got caught out - when he went to immigration they said go to the immigration office that issued it - or pay a fee - he calculated that the fee was slightly less than the travel cost so paid up. Of course, he could have done a change of address, but surprise, surprise 'cannot do now' ......

you can chose to not report the whole year... what they gonna do ? home visit ?

 

one fee of 2000 baht per year for not reporting, right ?

 

for the dude in a closed post : I asked info from agents, I did not use them as they are crooks, but I asked them "how" THEY could help and how much it would cost, for a paper immigration asked that is not even on their own website, but now wanted from me

[Bender Rodriguez]

4 hours ago, BritTim said:

They offered me a medical visa 90 days for 18k

89 days of overstay, which would start on 27 september -> +- 26 oktober , +- 25 november,  +- 24 december  would be 500 baht cheaper and no need for scammy agency and not supporting active corruption