Chinese businessman Lao Sun (pseudonym) took a flight to China from Sihanoukville on Wednesday. He was shocked when the airport staff demanded money from him, and he was only released after paying.
When Lao Sun passed the customs inspection he was stopped by staff claiming that there was a problem with his passport. They took him to a room marked "Immigration Police".
At first, Lao Sun thought giving them a small tip would be enough, so he paid them $10. The immigration police pointed to the passport and asked Lao Sun for $60 and asked his friends for $200. "I didn't want to argue with him, so I paid him 500 RMB (approximately $75) because I didn't have any dollar. I just wanted to solve the problem", he said.
Things were not as simple as Lao Sun had imagined. The staff told him that it would cost $120 instead, and then $160.
Lao Sun had been doing business in Sihanoukville before. After the ban on online gambling, his business was not doing so good and he lost his entire net worth. He spent all his savings on his ticket back to China because the prices have soared due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The plane was about to depart and Lao Sun was worried that there would be delays and he would miss his flight as a result, so he became very anxious.
The immigration police refused to let him go. "He asked for the money over and over again. In the end we emptied our pockets and gave him everything that we had", he said.
Lao Sun handed over his remaining 500 Hong Kong dollar (approximately $65), $17 and thousands of Cambodian Riel. After handing over everything that they had the immigration police still refused to let them go. "I almost kneeled down to beg him, the plane was about to fly, and we almost started to cry", he said. The immigration police finally let them go.
Lao Sun's friends were asked for $300 total.
The problem occurred because Lao Sun did not understand his visa validity. His visa is valid and he may use it anytime in 3 months, but he can only stay 1 month without extension after entering the country. He entered the country on September 2 and must leave the country before October 2. He had unknowingly overstayed for 12 days and faced a $10 per day overstay fine at a total of $120. The rest, he says, lined the pockets of the immigration police.
Lao Sun said that it is difficult to know how much should really be paid. "The blatant and endless extortion is really annoying", he said.
Pay attention to the visa validity
It is common that people confuse the validity of the visa for entering with the permitted duration of stay. Many people think that they may stay for 3 months after being granted a visa, but in fact it is only valid for 3 months and the duration of stay after entering is only 1 month unless the visa is extended in country after arrival.
The issuance date and expiration date on the visa can simply be understood as the earliest entry date and latest entry date, meaning that you may enter the country during this period.
After entering the country, this date doesn't have any effect. You must extend the visa or leave the country 1 month after the date on the entry stamp.
For example, if you enter the country on August 28 and you can stay for one month, the latest time to leave the country is September 27. If you enter the country on November 27, the latest time to leave the country is December 26. The latest departure time is calculated based on the time of entry on the entry stamp, not the time when the visa is issued.
Chinese man extorted by immigration officials for small overstay
- Bong Burgundy
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Chinese man extorted by immigration officials for small overstay
Bringing the news. You stay classy, nas, Cambodia.
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TLDR
Chinese man doesnt understand his visa validity and overstays. Doesn't have enough money to pay fine, tries to pay in foreign currency. Immigration police not happy. He nearly cried.
Scammers!
Chinese man doesnt understand his visa validity and overstays. Doesn't have enough money to pay fine, tries to pay in foreign currency. Immigration police not happy. He nearly cried.
Scammers!
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"and thousands of Cambodian Riel" sounds a lot worse than it is !
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