One travel expert was almost caught out by a simple visa mistake (Picture: Getty Images)

Before boarding the flight for the holiday of a lifetime, we might spend hours rigorously checking the details of our passports, insurance policies and visas.

But what happens when you make an innocent mistake? Despite previously visiting 88 countries, one seasoned traveller realised they were on an expired visa as they were preparing to leave Thailand.

Writing in Fodors, travel expert Kimanzi Constable discovered that he’d misinterpreted the rules of his 30-day Visa – and was told at the airport that he was actually on day 31.

He had planned to spend six months travelling Asia between July and December 2023, and along the way, he was hoping to find a new long-term base for his work as a digital nomad.

After he arrived in Thailand, he was issued with a 30-day visa – and did not plan to stay more than 30 days.

‘When I looked at the dates on my passport, the stamp said July 30 to August 30. My wife joined me halfway through my 30 days, so she had more time on her visa,’ Kimanzi writes.

But when they arrived at immigration at Pattaya airport on what he thought was the final day of the visa, he waited ‘for what felt like an eternity’ while the customs agents deliberated.

Kimanzi is a digital nomad and was travelling with his wife (Picture: Kimanzi Constable)

‘After the commotion, the customs agent told me I had overstayed my visa and might be arrested. After travelling to 88 countries, I’ve never overstayed a visa, and this moment was beyond scary,’ he details.

‘The issue was that July 30 to August 30 was 31 days—not 30.’

Kimanzi was held in a separate immigration area and was thoroughly questioned about why he overstayed his visa.

Explaining that he’d simply miscounted the days, he said that he hadn’t done it intentionally and apologised profusely.

In the end, he wasn’t arrested – but he was told he had to write a letter explaining why he’d overstayed and stating that he wouldn’t do it again. He also had to pay a fine and was banned from returning to Thailand for six months with his passport stamped with an overstay violation.

Kimanzi has warned other travellers to ‘pay attention’ to documents (Picture: Kimanzi Constable)

‘I was allowed to leave after hours but was shaken as I went. The uncertainty and fear I experienced were vivid life lessons,’ he concludes.

‘I was also upset with myself for not paying better attention and not extending my Visa while in the country just to be safe,’ 44-year-old Kimanzi further tells Metro.

‘I could have gotten an immigration officer who decided to cut me a break; the one I got said he was tired of digital nomads overstaying.

‘My advice is to pay attention to even the small details when you’re travelling. Extend Visas, leave a few days earlier, but pay attention.’

The visa to Thailand was approved for 30 days (Picture: Getty Images)

Kimanzi isn’t the only person who’s made an honest mistake with their visa when travelling – and ended up paying for it.

As 40-year-old Kat Storr tells Metro, she was stopped in Miami for innocently travelling on the wrong visa.

Being a journalist, she had been issued an i-Visa for previous work she’d done in the US, and was told that she didn’t need an ESTA too – despite the holiday being for pleasure rather than business.

What happens if you overstay a visa in Thailand?

So, what happens if you overstay your visa in Thailand specifically?

As traveller @joeinthailand explains, it can incur a fine of 500 Baht (£11.69) per day – reaching an overall limit of 20,000 Baht (£467.63), or the figure for 40 days.

‘You’ve got two options. If you’ve only got a couple of days overstay and you’re eligible for a 30-day extension, you could try your local immigration office,’ Joe details.

‘You will have to pay your 500 Baht per day of overstay fine plus the extension fee.

‘I checked and triple-checked before the holiday, and everyone confirmed it. I asked at Heathrow before we boarded our flight and was told again the i-Visa was sufficient,’ Kat, who lives in London, details.

‘However, when we landed at Miami it quickly became clear that I was wrong and I needed the ESTA. My husband and I were escorted directly from immigration, without collecting our luggage, to a holding room full of people without visas.’

The couple were there for a few hours, and all the while they had no idea where their luggage was.

‘Even though I knew our situation would be resolved quite quickly once I paid for my ESTA, I felt stupid for having got into the situation in the first place,’ Kat adds.

Elsewhere, posting on TikTok, @nilamarino recalled her experience of being told that she’d overstayed her visa in Indonesia by just one minute. Having gone through border control just before midnight on the day her 30-day visa expired, she found herself in hot water.

‘I had to pay $60, and I was so upset,’ she explained, noting that she felt it was too strict that she hadn’t been allowed to pass through without a fine for the sake of one minute.

‘They were like, “it’s in the system, there’s nothing we can do”,’ she added of their response.

And sadly, @ellaajaee also found herself in trouble in Vietnam after she misinterpreted the length of her visa.

Thinking it was valid for a 30-day period, she realised after touching down in a new destination that it was actually only two weeks – and it had already expired.

‘I’m in Ninh Bình right now, I got a bus last night,’ she told her TikTok followers as the situation unfolded.

‘I was meant to have 30 days on my passport but for some reason, I don’t. I checked it, and it was only two weeks.

‘I only just got to Ninh Bình but I have to go to Hanoi today, skiddle my dumb a*** over there, even though it’s not my fault.’

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