Thai Immigration has mixed up my identity!

[plahgat 523]

Hi!

I have now been in Thailand and Pattaya for almost two months (9 March), and it is time again to extend my 60 days tourist visa with another 30 days.

I had some serious problems last year when my passport disappeared in the Immigration Office in Chomthien, and it took some time and help to get it back,

so I thought that this year I will use a visa-travel agency to make the extension for me from the beginning so that I don't have to go through all the hassle at Chomtien Immigration again!

Four days ago I gave my passport and a photo to a visa-travel agency on Soi Bua Khao, and it would cost 1100 baht for their services and 1900 baht for the visa extension itself.

Today I went to the their office to pick it up, but the guy in charge said they had some major problems with my passport and the visa didn't go through!

According to the immigration officers, when they had checked my name in their computer-register, it came up showing a photo with another face than mine!?

Immigration said that the photo I gave them and the photo that showed up wasn't of the same person, so they couldn't extend my visa!!! WTF!!!???

Instead they had adviced me to go to the Immigration at the airport myself, because they suspect that someone in there has mixed up my and another tourists photo, and put them with the wrong person's passport information when I arrived almost two months ago!

So tomorrow I while have to take a bus to Suwannapoom and try to have this straightened out!

If for some reasons they can't or won't change my photo in my personal datafiles, I'll have to leave Thailand on 9th of March.

Don't know if their old computerfiles will be dismissed when I leave, and new files will be made when I re-enter, or if this problem will follow me and give me problems entering Thailand again!?

Anyone ever had this problem?

According to the guy in the visashop he had never encountered or heard of anyone having this problem before, that immigration has mixed up tourists identities like this!

What has happened in the first place is probably that the immigration officer that stamped my passport when I arrived has mixed up my photo taken with their webcam, with some other guy's passport info and viceversa, probably standing infront or behind me in the same queue.

If it get solved I just hope I will have time to try another extension, before my date runs out on Friday 7 of March, because Immigration will be closed on my two last days because of the weekend.

I will take the opportunity to stay 3 nights in Bangkok in case it will take longer to solve than I expect, so I don't have to go and come back to Pattaya every day!

It will also give me some time to check out the nightlife at Nana Plaza.

Will see how it goes!

Plahgat

[spike 236]

That's a situation I've never heard of before. Good luck.

 

Would a trip to your countries embassy be in order? Maybe get some sort of document from the embassy verifying who you are prior to meeting with the Thai immigration officials at the airport?

[LocalYokul 217]

Maybe you're better off getting a good look at the picture they have on file and then go costume up to look like that person.

[plahgat 523]

That's a situation I've never heard of before. Good luck.

 

Would a trip to your countries embassy be in order? Maybe get some sort of document from the embassy verifying who you are prior to meeting with the Thai immigration officials at the airport?

I would think that my passport would be enough to verify who i am.

I got no time anyway to involve my embassy as well.

 

Plahgat

Edited March 1, 2014 by plahgat

[bigmick 840]

I have never heard of this before also. I would recommend that you do go to the airport and ask to speak to some one "higher up" as this mistake was made at the airport when you first arrived. I would dress smartly and be very polite (which im sure you are) and first try to get the I.D side of things taken care of and rectified. If that goes well, ask them about the extension you have paid for but could not get due to the mistake. They may take care of that for you while you are there also. Please let us know how it goes and good luck.

[jacko 8,822]

I am wondering if my picture taken on arrival looks anything like me or the one on my passport after 20 hours or so and a few drinks and a restless attempt at sleep!

Good luck with the problem!

[nkped 1,208]

I have never heard of this before also. I would recommend that you do go to the airport and ask to speak to some one "higher up" as this mistake was made at the airport when you first arrived. I would dress smartly and be very polite (which im sure you are) and first try to get the I.D side of things taken care of and rectified. If that goes well, ask them about the extension you have paid for but could not get due to the mistake. They may take care of that for you while you are there also. Please let us know how it goes and good luck.

Good advice. You need to convince someone that a really novel foul-up occurred and that you are a nice guy who merits the extra effort required to remedy the situation. If the person you end up talking to doesn't know how to do it, he has to be in a good enough mood to go down the hall to the old guy who knows everything or to the young chick who knows the computer system inside and out, or possibly both of them. This would be true in most of the rest of the world as well as in Thailand.

[plahgat 523]

Just been to the airport and got my problem fixed!

Two shy and friendly woman immigration officers did it for me in less than an hour and no money payed!

As I already expected they somehow had mixed up mine and another guys photos and put them in the wrong guys passport-files in their computer!

They found out that the other guy had already left Thailand via Phuket, so they telephoned to the Phuket Immigration to clear up the matter so they would know who of us is still in Thailand and who has left.

They said that there shouldn't be any problem longer with extending my visa, but just in case they gave me a phone number Pattaya Immigration can call if they need more info.

I'm now in a hotelroom in Nana BKK, and plan to go back to Pattaya on Tuesday morning, so I hope there will stil be time to get the extension at Pattaya Immigration so I have the extension in my passport at Friday the latest!

Plahgat

[LocalYokul 217]

they gave me a phone number Pattaya Immigration can call if they need more info.

 

Amazing that they wouldn't already have that number.

[papillon 695]

Doesn't sound like the situation is resolved just yet.

[plahgat 523]

 

Amazing that they wouldn't already have that number.

Probably too lazy at the Chomthien Immigration, to solve this by themselves!?

 

Doesn't sound like the situation is resolved just yet.

True, I will not be calmed until I got the extension stamped in my passport!

 

Plahgat

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Amazing that they wouldn't already have that number.

 

They're probably just ensuring that they can call someone who is familiar with the case. I would have asked for a contact name and number as well.

 

Probably too lazy at the Chomthien Immigration, to solve this by themselves!?

Or not authorised to amend the record created by another Division.

Edited March 2, 2014 by CheshireTom