ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS

What to do if you get a "bad" entry stamp?

"Bad Stamped" <- getting stamped in to thailand on an entry stamp that is wrong, (as in wrong entry/visa code, or for the wrong amount of time)

Surprisingly (or not) people get "bad stamped" into the country all the time.

This happens for a variety of reasons,

BUT

100% it's due to people not checking their passport before they walk away from passport control. 🙁

Now a couple things about bad stamps.

First; Immigration offices inside the country are NOT obligated to correct a bad entry stamp, although they sometimes will correct a bad air entry stamp, they will almost always decline to correct a bad land entry and instead send you to the border you stamped in at to get the stamp corrected.

Good news is; if you get bad stamped in from an air entry and you go back to the airport you can get the stamp corrected in a matter of minutes. Go to the customer service counter and they'll page an immigration officer to come up.

Second if you are bad stamped in for longer than you should have been stamped in for you are not allowed to stay that length of time.

Just because the stamp was wrong doesn't mean you get to stay if they gave you more time than you were supposed to get. You will get caught out and fined for overstay when you stamp out.

It is the responsibility of the passport holder to know how long they'll get stamped in for and to check that they got the correct entry stamp when they stamp in

If you have an eVisa from a thai consulate, we recommend you print out the PDF that they emailed you when they approved the visa <- that PDF actually IS your visa..

Hand it and your passport to the officer at passport control when you stamp in.

AND

check your entry stamp when they hand the passport back to you..

The time to correct bad stamps is when you're still standing at the stamp in counter in front of passport control rather than a couple weeks later when you finally notice you got stamped in wrong😲

Best of luck and safe travels to everyone 👍

Hello, I wanted to know if it ever happened to you, I have a DTV visa, I came back to BKK 3 days ago, filled the DTAC with my visa number, reason of visit DTV Work remote. Arriving to the officer, I gave my paper visa, he stamped my passport and I left.. but he granted me a 2 months visa exampt entry...

Actually it's ok for me as I will leave before that... But I don't know if it will be an issue to leave or to come back..

Does anybody have experience with DTV from KL?

All documents submitted on the 26th of December last year.

Nothing has happened then, except that I was denied entry to the embassy a few times to speak to someone.

Updates:

1- 8th Jan - request for 4 documents including letter from hospital specifically requiring treatment in Thailand, full passport scan, stamp of entry, and hospital appointments.

2- 13 Jan -Hospital refuses to issue letter except in person, but with some help, was able to get one from the hospital finally.

3- 14 Jan - Submit all documents except entry stamp as Malaysian airports "autogate" entry does not have entry stamp :(

4- 14 Jan - processing pending document change just like it has started.

5- I will go to the embassy in person to prove my location (the entry stamp thing) I hope the security officer will let me in.

Reminder to check your entry stamp right away. I just got stamped with a 60-day visa exempt while the DTV sticker is in the second page of my passport. Turned around immediately and the immigration officer corrected it after pointing out the visa. She then told me to show the visa page next time. I guess they can’t see you have a visa in the system when they scan your passport after all…

For all people entering with a DTV: double check the IO stamps the correct dates!

I just realized my DTV was stamped in for only 5 months instead of 180 days 🤦‍♂️

I entered via land border and i’m now very far away from there. TBH i’m not even planning to stay the full 5 months.

Should i even try to get it fixed at the nearest immigration office?

In fact, my calculation says it’s only 149 days. This already includes the start and end dates.

Start date: October 7, 2024

End date: March 4, 2025

UPDATE JAN 2025: Got my visa stamp fixed at my local Chiang Mai immigration office while doing 90 day report.

Re-entry on DTV.

Re-entered on DTV. Got stamped in with DTV but 60 days. Had to have it fixed to 180.

So, check your stamps! Wasn’t stamped in Visa Exempt - DTV was handwritten on the stamp on the passport page, but the length was stamped as 60.

Took about 5 minutes to get it fixed to 180.

Ravi Moodley asked

Hi, I just got back from Laos with a three month tourist visa, but

the land border stamped me for one month only.

I plan to stay for a longer period.

Can this be extended for another two months?

A reminder that next Monday February 26th is a public holiday and all immigration offices around the country will be closed.

If your entry stamp falls due on the 24th, 25th or 26th then go get your extension before then. If you don’t you’ll be joining the hordes of people going on Tuesday 27th. Many immigration offices will be super busy because of the 3 day closure. You won’t get a fine because the offices were closed but you’ll still get a stamp (in Thai) that says “overstay X days. Fine waived due to closure”.

Land borders and airports are not affected by public holidays.

Plan accordingly.

Hey! So I applied for a tourist visa in Vientiane about 50 days ago. It was accepted, and everything I've ever read on the subject says you get a 2 month stay and then you can extend for 30 days. Great.

So I decide after 50 days to check and see when it expires exactly, so I can go for the extension and I find the stamp, which I stupidly never looked at, which says I have 30 days! 20 days less than now! I never thought to look since I thought the tourist visa was 60 days!

Who would be the best person to contact for this? Is this just a simple overstay? Is it up to the border's discretion to give the full 60 or remove days?

Could it be possible they gave me a visa exemption stamp time instead of a tourist visa stamp time or am I just clutching at straws here?

Also yes I know, I have since discovered the "check the stamp posts" I will duly check every stamp, even ones from previous visits and expired passports, from now on.

Hello Gentlemen,

I have a 1 year multiply entry visa which will expires on 24 Dec 2023. I arrived into Thailand 3 days and discover today in my passport was stamped only for 30 days. Last day being 5 Aug 2023. What should I do should I want remain here till Dec ?