TerraplaneGuy

Not sure if my last post went up properly so here it is again:

I understand you have to watch a movie and at Bang Chak they show it at 9:30 am and again around 1:00 PM.  Do you know if those times are correct? And if, as you suggest, I arrive at 12 noon will I have time to process the paper, do the tests and also watch the afternoon movie?

On 12/18/2018 at 3:15 PM, scoutman360 said:

I just renewed my 5 year license today at the Sukhumvit, Bang Chak BTS, land transportation office

....

5. Best to go around 12noon and get in the last batch of people being processed. Going early, you will be in the cattle pen with mops of people and will take you an extra hour.

 

I understand you have to watch a movie and at Bang Chak they show it at 9:30 am and again around 1:00 PM.  Do you know if those times are correct? And if, as you suggest, I arrive at 12 noon will I have time to process the paper, do the tests and also watch the afternoon movie?

 

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

It depends upon the office the report approved by. Some are fast and at others up to a week.

I submitted to Chaeng Wattana.   Do you think it's on the fast end or the slow end?  Also, do you have any sense of what proportion of submissions end up rejected for no apparent reason (i. e. in cases where the address is the same as the last accepted filing, passport is the same and there's no obvious complications)?  Just wondering how reliable the system is because you end up getting squeezed as we've discussed before - if you wait to get approved online and fail, you're then likely out of time to mail and have to hike up to CW in person. 

11 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

No problem to do a online application for the report after leaving the country and re-entering. Leaving the country ends the need to do the 90 day report of staying longer than 90 days in the country. Your report is due 90 days from the date your enter the country. 

Ubonjoe, thanks.  I went ahead and submitted mine online yesterday at 10 AM.  Status as of now (after 2 business days) is still "pending".   How long does it usually take for approval?

Separate question:  Is there any problem with submitting the report online just because you were out of the country on the last due date, with the result that the clock "re-set" on your re-entry and therefore there could be a considerable (say 6 month) gap between reports?  I file at Chaeng Wattana.

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You could go back on the online site and cancel the application.

 

Interesting, hadn't thought of that.  Somehow it seemed intuitively safer to just let the online application proceed, whatever the result, and mail in the duplicate for good measure.  

15 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes

Thanks.  What happens if you submit online, don't get a quick approval, and the time is running out for mailing.  So to be safe you also mail it in.  A day or two after you mail, you get the online approval.  Meanwhile you've mailed in the same report.  Think there's a problem with this duplication or would they do the sensible thing and just ignore the mailed version when it arrives, seeing from your file that they've already approved online?

Quick question:  If the online submission doesn't work, I believe it is ok to mail in the 90 day report (assuming you're not late with the mail) rather than go in person to the immigration office.  Correct?  

On 8/29/2018 at 10:57 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

"--TM 7 retirement extension form printed double-sided on one page .."

TallGuy I think you said that both the TM-7 and TM-8 had to be printed double-sided on one page.  I've been doing this at CW for years with single-sided forms (2 pages) and never had a problem.  Is this something new?  Are you sure it's really required?

On 1/11/2019 at 3:20 PM, Agusts said:

When I went to get my 2 years temp driving license, car + motor for the first time I took two residence certificates, cost me 300b x 2 = 600b,  but the lady at DLT office looked me with surprise and said why do you have two originals ,  you only need one plus a copy...! 

What DLT office was that?

Of course it makes no sense.  There’s nothing more reliable for them in a 90 day report than in the certificate application you hand them. Both state your address and have nothing but your own signature to attest to their truth.  But TOT ????

Oxx thanks. To be clear have you tried getting a certificate before and were turned down for lack of a recent 90 day report or is that just what you’ve heard through the grapevine?   I’m trying to decide whether to chance it or go the embassy route. 

On 3/22/2018 at 5:45 PM, Oxx said:

They mail it to you, EMS.  Takes around 2 weeks.

 

You need to be doing 90 day reporting with them and have done a recent report (i.e. not been out of the country in the last few months.)

I returned to Thailand early November 2018 and want to go next week to CW for a residence certificate.  Last 90 day report was June.  Are you saying I can’t get a certificate? What if I show my lease which has continued throughout?   And recent utility bill?

37 minutes ago, expat_4_life said:

 

I perhaps did not quiz her about an additional application form or the mailing as much as I could have as I was already thinking about the Embassy Letter as Plan B.

 

Understood.  Problem for many people is that apparently some embassies are no longer issuing these letters so they'll have no choice.  What country are you from?

8 minutes ago, expat_4_life said:

... However when I reached the desk of the IO, she asked if it was for Car or Motorcycle and explained that they only issue

the letter specifying one purpose...

 

I then spoke with the woman about my pending travel plans and how I needed the letter sooner, she said no way to

expedite it.  ...she said they were swamped ...

 

Thanks.  Did you ask her whether it was possible to get 2 separate certificates, one for car and one for bike, if you were willing to pay for 2?  I'm assuming they would do that, based on the single application (although maybe if they got sticky they'd make you fill out an additional application).  Also how much are they charging these days for one certificate?

Did you get the impression their refusal to mail the certificate  to you (requiring you to return later to pick it up) was a temporary thing because they were "swamped" or that it is a new standard policy?

8 hours ago, expat_4_life said:

... Arrived at Chaeng Wattana 9:30ish, ... Waited

until 17:00 for the immigration letter queue and was told I could only get a letter for 1 thing,

a car license or motorbike license, and to come back in 30 days to pick it up.  ... wanted you to know about the long wait to get a DLT letter in BKK,

last time I renewed it took about a week to arrive in the mail.  

 

Wow, thanks for the info.  To be clear, I take it the letter you're referring to is a Residence Certificate, which you then take to the DLT for your licences?   I'm surprised to hear that it was such an ordeal at CW.   Especially that they will no longer send the letter to you, and you have to go back to pick it up.  And in 30 days, no less!  It all seems unreasonable.  Could it be they were having a bad day?  If anyone else has had such an experience please let us know.  Also, expat_4_life please let us know why it took so long in the queue?  I've never waited anywhere near that long at CW for anything (mind you I've always managed to get there before 9:00 AM but still ...).  Was there anything unusual going on? 

Also about your point that the letter could only be good for a car licence or motorbike, not both, this surprises me too.  I didn't think the Residence Certificate specifies the type of vehicle.  I don't have a copy of one but I do have the old application form and it just has a space for saying the purpose of the certificate, with two check-boxes:  "driving licence" and "other".   Nothing about car vs. motorbike.  

17 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The system should accept the application but the office receiving it could deny it since it was done to early.

I guess worth a try (to give myself more room to mail if I have a problem with online).  Does the online system work 7 days a week or only business days?

With online reporting, what happens if you try to file more than 15 days ahead of the due date?  Say it's 17 days ahead, will the site just not work, or will it work but the staff refuse to approve, or ...?  

8 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

 

Generally: there is no obligation to visit the same office where the license was issued.

From own experience (2011 first license at Khon Kaen city, extended at our district town).

That's also consistent with diverse reports in the forum where people avoid crowded offices.

 

Thanks for the input.  Just to be clear, what I would want to do is the opposite of what you're describing.  I DO want to go to the office where my licences were issued (Bangkok 3 at BTS Bang Chak) but now that I moved to Sathorn district it seems the correct office is Bangkok 1 (Bang Khun Thian).  But its a lot farther from me and unfamiliar.  So if you're conclusion is that it doesn't matter what office you go to, they'll process you, that's great.  I'd welcome more experiences if anyone wants to contribute.

I moved to Sathorn area in BKK and now looks like I have to get my 5 year licences renewed at the Region 1 Office in Bang Khun Thian, not the Sukhumvit office.  I started a separate thread about that.  Does anybody on this thread have any experience with the Region 1 Office?  For example do you need a medical certificate there to renew and do they require 2 original residence certificates if you're renewing for both car and motorbike?

Thanks Joe, I should have mentioned I file at Chaeng Wattana in BKK.  Does that affect your answer?  (btw as some others have mentioned on this site, it seems CW puts that note on your receipt even if you do mail it well before 15 days, seemingly just as a standard reminder.  I've had it several times although never mailed less than 15 days ahead).

Quick question about timing of online report:  I've never done one and want to try but I believe the window is 7-15 days before due date.  If that's right, and if the system doesn't work for me, it seems that means I can't use mailing as a backup because the report must be mailed no later than 15 days before due.  In effect you can't file online until it's too late to mail.  Is this correct?  If so it means the only backup if online fails is to go in person to Immigration.  Seems strange that they would structure the windows (online/mailing) this way but ... can anyone please confirm?

Hi All,

I started a related thread recently but this focuses on a specific office issue.

I live in BKK and my 5 year driver's licences (one for car, one for motorbike) expire this month so I'll be going to the DLT soon for new ones.   Seems according to some third party websites (not the government DLT site, where I can't find this info) now that I've moved from Klong Toey to Sathorn, I  have to go to the Region 1 Office (in Bang Khun Thian, way down near deepest Samut Prakan) instead of the convenient old Region 3 Office (near BTS Bang Chak).  Questions:

1.  Does anyone know for sure if Sathorn residents have to go to the Region 1 Office?  If I go to Region 3 will they process me anyway or boot me out?

2.  Is one residence certificate (from the Chaeng Wattana Immigration Office) enough for both licences at Region 1 Office?  I believe last time I got licences (at Region 3 Office) they accepted a single residence certificate for both of them (I think they made a copy so there would be one in their file for car, one for bike).  Will that work at Region 1?

Thanks.

8 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Are you doing 90 day reports to Chaeng Wattana immigration. If not you will not be able to get certificate of residency there.

1. Just your passport if you are doing 90 day reports.

2. That depends upon the DLT office you go to. 

1. Yes I do my reports to CW.  Haven't done one in about 6 months because was out of the country and probably won't report again before I go to CW to get the residence certificate (because the 90 day isn't due) but I've been doing them regularly before at CW.

2. I'll go to the DLT in BKK at BTS Bang Chak (around soi 99).  So will one certificate be OK?

Hi All,

My 5 year driver's licences (one for car, one for motorbike) expire this month so I'll be going to the DLT soon for new ones.  First I'll have to go to Chaeng Wattana to apply for the required residence certificate.  Questions:

1. What documents do I need to bring to CW for the certificate?   I rent a condo so I assume a copy of my lease is required to prove my address.  Correct?  Is a copy OK or do I need to bring the original?  Anything else (of course I'll bring my passport)?

2. Is one certificate enough for both licences?  I believe last time I got licences the DLT accepted a single residence certificate for both of them (I think they made a copy so there would be one in their file for car, one for bike).  I assume that's still true but please advise if I need to apply for two original residence certificates at CW.

Thanks!