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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawThailand Immigration LawHow Long Will I Be Blacklisted If I Overstay by Five Years in Thailand?

How Long Will I Be Blacklisted If I Overstay by Five Years in Thailand?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing overstay here in the Kingdom and specifically we are discussing the automatic blacklisting that is triggered as a result of prolonged overstay in the Kingdom. 

We are going to go ahead and throw this up here on the screen for you. This was generated by Thai Immigration as a sort of primer, guidelines with respect to the thresholds that will trigger automatic blacklisting and the amount of time that one will be blacklisted automatically depending on the amount of time one has overstayed within the Kingdom.

It should be noted, as you can see from the primer, Thai Immigration Authorities treat those who are overstaying and arrested in the Kingdom very differently from those who are simply overstaying and surrender themselves within the Kingdom.  What we mean by surrendering oneself is voluntarily departing; basically going to an airport, admitting that one overstayed, pay the fines and leaving. In the past, generally speaking the fine was the most egregious part of dealing with the overstay process. These days, certain amounts of time in overstay can trigger prolonged banning from re-entry to the Kingdom pursuant to Thai blacklisting rules. As you can see by this on the screen, those who overstay by more than 5 years will end up with an automatic 10 year bar from re-entering Thailand. So, if one overstays by 5 years or more and they are arrested or deported from the Kingdom; that means that arrested, deported or voluntarily depart the Kingdom, those individuals are going to be automatically blacklisted for 10 years. 

The thing to keep in mind is that biometric capabilities are increasing rapidly here in the Kingdom. They are very aware of people who are on the Blacklist now and re-entering the country is becoming markedly more difficult notwithstanding the fact that one is blacklisted. There were times in the past where it might be possible to use various border facilities to get back in. That is really no longer the case. They are very serious about blacklisting those who have prolonged overstay histories in the Kingdom and they are enforcing the Blacklist very heavily compared to times past.