UPDATE: The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed late Monday (Sept 28) that the ’visa amnesty’ had been extended through to October 31. See story here.
However, any foreigners who arrive at the office tomorrow (Sept 29) or later to file their applications will be fined B500 a day for overstay, Lt Col Worapol Panpetch, Inspector at Phuket Immigration, told The Phuket News this morning.
About 200 foreigners arrived at the Phuket Immigration Office in Phuket Town to file their applications on Saturday, Lt Col Worapol said.
“They started to arrive before at 8:30am, and the last application was received at 4:30pm,” he explained.
Any foreigners who did not have all the documents required in order to file their application still had their applications accepted on Saturday, Lt Col Worapol said.
“We just told them to bring the missing documents to our office later,” he said.
While applications were received during daylight hours, officers at Phuket Immigration worked through to 9pm to make sure they were all processed before they went home, Lt Col Worapol noted.
Phuket Immigration over the past week has been overwhelmed as foreigners scrambled to file their “last-minute” applications. As of last Monday (Sept 21), in total 1,641 foreigners on tourist or long-stay visas still had yet to file their applications to extend their stay in Thailand.
Regardless, some 40 foreigners registered as staying in Phuket still have yet to present themselves at Phuket Immigration, Lt Col Worapol explained.
“If they do not come here today, they will be fined,” he said.
Even if the foreigners present themselves tomorrow, the B500 a day fine will be applied from Saturday, Lt Col Worapol explained.
“So even if they come tomorrow, they will be fined B1,500,” he said.
“I hope they do come today,” he added. “Any foreigners who still have yet to file their applications to extend their stay, please come today.”