Quote:
Originally Posted by JayBee
Sorry if I sound unsympathetic. That is not my intention, as I assure you it is not hard for me to imagine myself in the same situation, had things gone a little differently for me in the past.
However, I so often hear people on this board, when commenting on the plights of others, for example, the English girl who was so stupid as to get thrown in jail for attempting to board as airplane to Japan with heroin in her possession, saying "I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. It's the law. You break the law, you pay the price. She knew what the score was. And, even if she didn't know, ingorance is no excuse." Now, some of the same people are changing their tune. I could just as easily say, "Well, the law is the law. Wasn't it apparent that the visas were for 30 days,and didn't it ever occur to you that there was a reason for that? And BTW, ignorance of the law is no excuse."
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But it wasnt illegal.. They clearly said that it was legal to come as m any times as you liked and do visa runs indefinately. They had, up until this year, always said that as long as you did a visa run this could be done indefinately and without end. Even now they have said "its no big deal, we are not saying you cant stay indefinately, only thios allows us to do background chacks on long stayers as part of the visa application process".
If you went to immigration and asked them what to do in the past they very often told you to do exactly this.. So you go and ask those that enforce the law, what the law is and then do as they say, and then your still wrong.
Also it was only a couple of years ago that no one did visa runs.. You just gave you passport to a visa agent and it came back with a fresh stamp.. Sure it was illegal but so is getting on a motorbike taxi without a passenger helmet, so is prostitution, so are many many things which or 100% tolerated and not enforced. A law that is not enforced on the ground ceases to be a really valid law (I think in England its still a law you cant play golf until you have practiced with your longbow and other inane old un enforced laws) I am lead to believe it is illegal to be naked in your own apartment in Singapore (how do you shower) or to get a blojob in some US states..