Visa Overstay

Posted by aussieinhk (498 days ago)

I have a friend who has been living illegally in Hong Kong. They now wish to voluntarily return to their home country. (Thailand)

What are the legal ramifications? Will they face a jail term, if they volunteer to leave and have a one way ticket?

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by Ed (498 days ago)

How long have they overstayed?

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by aussieinhk (498 days ago)

They have overstayed at least 3 years, maybe 4.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by totoy (498 days ago)

probably stay in jail for 3 months or so.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by kopfan888 (498 days ago)

yup a spell in jail could well be on the cards.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Coolestmom (498 days ago)

Yes, if overstayed for like a few months only then don't go to jail, ID will iv them 2 weeks to depat but they need to report i rechon every otherday at the ID, 3 to 4 years overstayed they put them in jail right away, if they really want to go back to their country they have to buy ticket and book it right away and show it to them that thy already have a tickeed booked.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by oldhand (497 days ago)

Buying a ticket is a waste of time, she/he will be stopped at the airport immigration, detained, and will miss the flight. warning to Will almost certainly be jailed period depends on judge, and political will at the time of sentencing. Followed swiftly by media splash to warn others.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Akoyan (496 days ago)

Buy her a ticket and take her to the ID to surrender, that's what my friends did, the British BF bought a tivket for her then took her to the ID and surrendered then she was detained for 4 days,then scorted her to the airport.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Akoyan (496 days ago)

BTW she was overstayed for 18 months.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Meiguoren (495 days ago)

So make sure it's a re-schedulable ticket, among other things.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by aussieinhk (431 days ago)

An update for anyone interested:

After several months research and speaking to various people, including, Lawyers, Immigration Department and the Thailand Consulate, Opinion was divided. Around 70% that there should be no jail time served, but some sort of punishment would be meted out, most likely a stiff fine.

First trip to the ID, with an open one ticket, resulted in details being recorded, passport retained and ID card photocopied.

Second trip to ID, resulted in a several hour grilling by a dragon lady and my friend accused of lying and attempting to subvert the system. Told to report back to ID, to pay a "bond".

Third trip resulted in a HK$100 "bond" and a date to appear in court.

Court appearance resulted in an 18 months jail term, suspended for two years. The friend was given two weeks to leave Hong Kong and the passport marked with a stamp that says "Not valid for entry to HK SAR, for a period of two years from "dated".

So the end result was pretty much in line with expectations, aside from the suspended jail term. I guess though it could have gone a lot worse. We were all confident though, that if there was going to be any chance of being jailed, it would have happened straight away.

Third trip to

(I am based in Hong Kong)