TerraplaneGuy

That is terrible! How can there be such a long wait? Used to be so easy to just walk in .... and why doesn't the online queue work, any idea?

I mean can you use Line for appointments specifically for the retirement extension. (For some reason I’m not able to edit my earlier comment.)

Did they say you can make the appointment using Line rather than showing up in person to make it? Because people have said recently you have to go in person for that (therefore 3 visits total: One to book appointment, one to submit documents including bank stuff, and one to pick up your passport with your new extension stamp). If you can use Line for the first step, it’s only two visits needed, like last year.

The bank letter is good for 7 days. The statement can be from the day before but you have to update your bank book the day of application with a fresh transaction that day. . You can make a transaction by phone in the morning or go to an ATM and withdraw something. Then use the update machine if they have one that works. Or wait for the bank to open and have staff update.

Did she know you had been outside the province because she checked her system and it showed a TM30 registered outside? Is that why she rejected your old one?

I will!

Is the Samui Form TM7 the same now as it was last year? I have an extra from then that would save me having to pick up one now if there’s been no changes.

I see, well I still I wonder why the old one still worked given the more recent BKK filings

So I guess when you went to Samui Imm they didn’t check your old TM30 that you brought in the system to see if it was still current. Or maybe they did but realized that your BKK stats were temporary so didn’t matter. Any idea how this works?

Interesting. Do you mean that after returning from BKK you used the TM30 you filed before you went to BKK? Did you stay in a hotel there and do you know if they filed one? If so I wonder why it didn’t eclipse your old filing.

I don’t know how long this particular feature has been online but it appears to work. I booked a date and time and I quickly got back an email from Surat Thani Immigration Samui Office confirming the appointment. Whether it will be honored when I arrive remains to be seen but it does look functional.

No but I’m going to try. Why wouldn’t it work? They offer the online appointments specifically for “retirement purpose” among other purposes. Not to actually apply online or upload anything, just to book an appointment.

So interesting. The online booking system appears to be working fine. Are they not aware of it? Or do they just ignore it? What if you arrive, not having come earlier to book, but having an online appointment confirmed by Surat Thani Immigration?

It’s really hard to understand how this is supposed to work. “About a month” doesn’t seem accurate enough to be a real rule. Is 40 days ok? 20? And what if you’re traveling off island in the preceding month? It seems far-fetched even for these jokers to insist that people come TWICE in person for an extension, first to create an appointment, then for their application. I’m wondering if it’s more a “suggestion” than a rule? Can it be that they would refuse to extend a stay even if you go two weeks ahead of your expiry, with all the right paper, just because you hadn’t made this new extra visit, weeks before?

Wow. Are you saying we have to go at least a month before expiry or no more than a month before? Obviously we can’t always go exactly one month early. In my case, my expiry is February 12. So even if I go this Monday it will be the 13th, therefore less than one month. Surely this doesn’t mean it is impossible for me to extend?

Thanks. Unfortunately I live far from the office so not convenient at all to go in advance to get the form TM47. If I have to fill out the form onsite would that set me back in the queue for extensions now that they only accept 10? I really don't want to have to go twice. Also, do you know if they now regularly accept a bankbook update from the day before as they did with you (although I see from the checklist it still says same day) or were you just lucky?

Thanks. Is it still ok to apply for the extension as early as 30 days before due date?

Anyone have updates on this? Are they still only taking 10 people per day for retirement extensions?

My gf just got a new Thai passport using a black & white photo. In some countries like the U.S. you need a color photo for your passport. How about entry, has anyone heard of a problem of a Thai national not being allowed into the U.S. or any other country because their photo was b&w?

Thanks! Once I find out the documents required by the my office, what would the procedure be for me to start filing TM30s online myself? Would I upload the docs to the TM30 website and then report on the site whenever I return from abroad? My recollection is that they changed the rules a couple years ago so you don't have to report if you're returning to the same residence address. But I'll need a copy of a TM30 registration each year when I apply for my retirement extension of stay.

Taxes: how many people here actually pay taxes on foreign income anyway? There doesn’t seem to be any enforcement that I've heard of. Even though the bank reports it, how would the government know whether remitted money is taxable income or other money (eg savings from earlier years)? And they have no way of knowing whether it was earned within the past 12 months, which up to now is the only kind of taxable foreign remittance. There’s a proposal to change that but it’s not yet law.

So that costs something like $3,000 or more in lost income since you could probably earn at least 3% more in another kind of investment than in a bank account.

Is the requirement really to have $100k CASH in a bank account? Are T-bills, other bonds etc. not allowed?

It's interesting. The difference between the LTR and the OA process you describe is that with the OA you don't apply for an extension of stay until the term of the visa (one year) is about to expire. They are called "extensions of stay", not "permissions to stay". And they take effect after the full term of the visa. Whereas with the LTR, there is an outright contradiction in that the visa term is ten years but you only get "permission to stay" for 5 and then have to apply when that expires for another 5 year "permission". So you're applying while the proclaimed term of the visa still has 5 years to run. It makes no sense. If they wanted it to be similar to the OA process (and avoid contradicting themselves), they would have called the LTR a 5 year visa and said you can apply for a 5 year "extension of stay" when it expires. But they decided to invent a new mystical process and I do believe it's so they could hype the LTR as "10 years" when in fact it's not. The problem of course is that governments change, policies change, and there's no way to know for sure what might be required in 5 years when it's time for a new "permission". Just look at how often Immigration (and various regional offices) change the rules for "extensions of stay" under OA visas. Let's keep our fingers crossed with the LTR 🙂