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Thailand to blacklist foreigners for overstaying visas

Xinhua, December 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

A royal decree on blacklisting foreign nationals who overstay their visas in Thailand is expected to be promulgated in late March next year, head of Thailand's Immigration Bureau said Wednesday.

Offenders will be divided into two categories, those who turn themselves in to the authorities and those who are arrested, Pol Maj Gen Natthorn Prosunthorn was quoted by the Nation newspaper as saying.

For the first category, foreign nationals could face a three-year ban from entry for overstaying their visas for one year, a five-year ban for overstaying for more than three years and a 10-year ban for overstaying for longer than five years, according to Natthorn.

For the second category, foreigners are subject to a ban of 5-10 years, depending on the length of overstaying.

Natthorn called the existing law"weak,"which stipulates fines of only 20,000 baht (556 U.S. dollars). Thai authorities are reportedly in the process of deporting four Syrian males who have overstayed their visas back to Syria after no evidence has been found linking them to the Islamic State militant group. Endit