oneday

The Army can do anything. Thailand is under Military rule.

All they have to do is invoke article 44 and they can laugh at you when asking if they have a warrant.

If you are doing eCommerce anywhere to anywhere and you are doing it in Thailand then Thailand feels they have a right to require you to have a work permit, as irrational as that sounds.

Good news that there is a part of the government that seems to work pretty well.

Contact the NCPO. They profess to helping out in situations like this and they say they want to know about this type of stuff.

If the correct number isn't 1515, they should be able to give you the correct number.

You gave your wife 100% correct advice. I would have also given that advice to my wife.

Hi guys ...my 5 year licenses car & bike are due for renewal march...but i will not be going back to pattaya until june...question 1.. is that a problem for a renewal (without having to go thru the whole new application process ) and question 2 ....would i still have to get a 1 year non O visa...(i know you cannot renew with visa on arrival ) or is the new 6 month METV ok for driving license renewal......thanks for any info

From what I have read time and time again for years on ThaiVisa...you MUST have some kind of 1-year visa to either get or renew a 5-year license. There is little to no chance a tourist visa will get you a renewal, but it will get you a 1-year temporary or I've read now it is a 2-year temporary.

As for actually renewing, again from my reading, you may not have to do anything more than I did...watch videos and color test.

From the Thai Land Transportation Department's website. Note what it says under "REMARKS" at the bottom.

IN CASE OF FOREIGNER

RENEW THAI DRIVING LICENCE [bY YOURSELF]

FIVE-YEAR to FIVE-YEAR DRIVING LICENCE

HAVE TO PREPARE THE DOCUMENTS AS FOLLOW

1. ORIGINAL FIVE-YEARS THAI DRIVING LICENCE

2. PASSPORT WITH NON-IMMIGRANT VISA (ORIGINAL AND PHOTO COPY)

3. ORIGINAL PRESENT RESIDENT ADDRESS IN THAILAND CERTIFY FROM EMBASSY / IMMIGRATION BUREAU (VALID FOR 1 YEAR) OR WORK PERMIT WITH ORIGINAL AND PHOTO COPY

PROCEDURE

1) CHECK THE DOCUMENTS

2) PRINT THE APPLICATION FORM (At the Pattaya office there is no application form to fill out)

3) TAKE ONLY A PHYSICAL TEST (The eye color test in Pattaya...at least on the day I went)

• -TAKE A TRAINING 1 HOURS (Actually more like 2 hours and 2 video and talking by employee)
• -TAKE A PHYSICAL TEST (eye color test in Pattaya)
• -TAKE A THEORY TEST (Only if license expired more than 1 year according to remark below)
• -TAKE A PRACTICAL TEST (Only if license expired more than 3 year according to remark below)
• 4) PAY THE FEE / TAKE A PHOTO AND PRINT DRIVING LICENCE

  (FEE 505 BAHT AND PLASTIC SMART CARD 100 BAHT)

  ADDITIONAL (CHANGE NAME OR ADDRESS CHARGE 50 BAHT) (As a falang I was charged 1060 baht total for both licenses...530 each in Pattaya)

  REMARK :

  1) IN CASE OF DRIVING LICENCE EXPIRED MORE THAN 1 YEAR

  - TAKE A THEORY TEST

  2) IN CASE OF DRIVING LICENCE EXPIRED MORE THAN 3 YEARS

  - TAKE A THEORY TEST AND PRACTICAL TEST

I figure roads are the biggest source of extra (corrupt) income for government officials.

Even some of the main highways in Thailand don't seem to last more than about 5 years and when they start to go bad they get very bad very quick. Highway 331 which was a good road about 5 years ago has turned into a horrible mess in some sections. Naturally, they are in the process of fixing it and I'm sure there are many government officials getting a new influx of cash this year.

Consider yourself very lucky immigration let your wife in after making that statement. She was essentially saying she did not plan to use the tourist visa for the intent is was issued and that is why she was initially refused.

"...So she will have to leave the US at some point..." Yes, and that point is before her tourist visa expires.

After only a short time of research on the internet for my intended wife I quickly found out you cannot use a tourist visa to do anything other than visit and then return to Thailand. They are correct; anything else would be fraud. As another poster above said, you should be able to start a filing to bring your wife over as an immigrant. If she had to go home it probably wouldn't be long before she was granted the appropriate visa and returned.

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative - USCIS

Don't worry, don't panic. Follow the right procedures and she will soon be with you permanently in the US.

Good luck.

Happing in spades Kap Choeng Immigration, Surin/Buraram provinces. All foreigners have to have a TM 30 or fines will be issued. Also all extensions for retirement are put under 30 day review same as marriage.

God I hate it when people give blanket statements, when nothing is EVER 100%.

My retirement extension went through just fine at the end of July with no 30 day review.

All you need is your passport with the barcoded paper inside for Jomtien.

Given the waffling of this government and not ever knowing what one hand or the other is doing, I just made a good color copy of my passport picture page and the extend to date page.

I will never carry my passport given there is too much chance for me to lose it or get it stolen or even washing it in the washing machine. Any police who do not accept the copy and driver's license, which I also have, is just out to get money from you. At the very least they should allow you to produce the real thing if they want to go that far, but no fine should ever be collected if you have a driver's license and a good copy of your passport. It takes no extra effort to carry a copy of the passport with you so why wouldn't a person do that.

You could also do what some people do and go to a Kodak shop and have them reduce and laminate your passport onto a card the size of a driver's license and carry it just like an ATM card.

In fairness if you've got bars on your windows for security purposes or not,thieves who are desperate enough will come tooled up to enter no matter what your security measure are.

Window bars aren't that difficult to remove if you know how.

But in all likelihood thieves will only mess with homes using security bars if they know something worth their while is inside otherwise they are going to go for the unsecured homes...wouldn't you?

Our guards were fired several years ago and break-ins dropped to almost nothing. The guards were letting their buddies know when residents were not at home.

you live in a country which finds blatant lying the norm, even when its right in their face they just keep on doing it, they have no shame from top to bottom.

After living here for 6 years I can confirm the absolute accuracy of this statement.

To "BKKstan" and "Solution42". You should clarify; were you told this verbally or were you handed a printout with the new regulations? You should ask for it in writing as this does not conform to the national law. If you were handed a printout you should upload and post that printout.

Yes, offices do their own thing in many little ways, but this goes way beyond just doing your own thing and it isn't little. Various offices or officers or commanders can throw curve balls, but this is a game changer for a lot of people in Nong Khai. I'll bet they don't have the balls to put this in writing.

I would strongly advise taking "ubonjoe's" suggestion and call 1111 to complain for those of you in Nong Khai who will have trouble with this new requirement. Nothing may come of it, but if you don't call then I can guarantee nothing will come of it.

If you are in Bangkok, just go down to the RTP HQ in Chidlom. There's a whole section for this. The service is free, but it takes a while.

No, it is not free. It cost 100 baht if you do it in person or someone else helps you.........BIG MONEY!

We are doing one right now for my fiance. Still waiting on the report.

It's been 3 weeks, which is how long it is supposed to take.

You can compare the instructions at the US Embassy in Bangkok to the Canada link the poster above gave. I didn't bother to see if they are the same, but two sources are always good. This link will immediately download a .PDF of the Police Clearance instructions. Naturally, your instructions are under the non-Thai section.

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/thailand/591452/iv/thaipolicecert.pdf

Poorly conceived poll. There should have been a choice...

Businesses can charge whatever they want as long as it is clearly posted and fair warning is given when the charges are very large.

Redo the poll.

The more I read up on the validity of the medical the more it seems the US Embassy in Bangkok, as opposed to what the USCIS accepts...a 1 year validity, has chosen to do their own thing and shorten what is normally a 1 year validity to 6 months. They put the start date of the visa as the date of your medical and 6 months after that the visa expires.

It is clearly stated here in the Embassy's packet #3 instructions:

"MEDICAL EXAMINATION: The IV unit will send you detailed information about Medical Examination Instructions in your Fiancé(e) (K) Visa Appointment Packet (Packet 4) once your Packet 3 is processed. Because the validity period of your visa is tied to the medical exam’s expiration date, applicants are cautioned not to schedule appointments too soon resulting in the medical exam expiring before the applicant’s desired travel period."

As further proof, why would there be any need to say that if the validity of the medical was 1 year?...there wouldn't be.

I've always been impressed with the beauty of the ruins in Thailand.

I would imagine this is the responsibility of the unit owners. How can the condo manager keep up with condos that are rented.

Went same day as OP, this last Monday around 10:30am and had the same experience. I still brought the TM47 filled out, because it's so hard to believe they really need nothing, but I'm now convinced. The same nice lady confirmed I do not need to fill that out so next time it's only the passport I'm bringing.

I also will need to continue going into Jomtien because I was not successful with the online report. I tried to explain it to the lady in hopes she could tell me what I needed to do to fix it or help me fix it, but she either couldn't fix it, wasn't understanding what I wanted or was unwilling.

In the online report I didn't know the flight # I came in on and I never filled it out on the arrival card. I was hoping she could look it up and then I'd have it. Whatever, I don't live that far away and I only have 2 or 3 more times to mess with that before I head back home.

I've never been. Anybody got pictures to post?

"...Will lack of education be the downfall of Thailand?..."

It already is...just take a look at the current leaders and what they say in press conferences.

You answered with such authority in your response that I pretty much took it as fact. I also found mention of one year somewhere else so I thought…OK…1 year.

NOPE, the US Embassy actually got back to me with a response to my email…6 MONTHS validity for the medical and that was in two separate answers by two different people from the embassy.

This means anyone applying for a K1 fiancé visa in Bangkok needs to schedule their medical JUST BEFORE the interview because the validity of the visa will be limited by the validity of the medical. At least that’s how I see it. Only time will tell. I will try to remember to get back and update this thread when we get the visa.

The embassy also was emphatic that any translation must be a CERTIFIED translation which is exactly what it states in their Packet #3 instructions. Now it's very possible other individuals actual experiences differ from the strictness of the instructions, but we will not know that until we go for the interview.

I also want a good certified translation of the Birth Certificate and Marital Status from the Amphur to take with us to the US for the Adjustment of Status filing.

This should be the same thing my Fiance has to get for her Visa and many people get Work Permits and many other reasons.

This is what the US Embassy sends out.

INSTRUCTION FOR THAI POLICE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE
Important Note: The IV unit provides this information as a courtesy to applicants.
Requirements for the Thai Police Clearance Certificate may change without notice. It is the
applicant’s responsibility to contact the relevant office and to learn what information or
documents he/she will need to submit for the certificate.
Thai police certificates are available from:

The Police Clearance Service Center
Building 24, Royal Thai Police Headquarters
Rama I Road, Pathumwan
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 0-2205-2168-9
Fax: 0-2205-1295
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

The office is open Monday to Friday (except public holidays) from 8:30AM – 4:30PM without lunch break.

There is 100 Baht fee for the police clearance service and no express service or any extra charges.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR THAI POLICE CLEARANCE APPLICATION
APPLICANT RESIDING IN THAILAND

The applicant can contact Police Clearance Service Center in person with the following documents:

THAI NATIONAL APPLICANT
• Passport with one photocopy
• Thai ID card with one photocopy
• House registration with one photocopy
• In case of name or surname change, name or surname change certificate is required with
one photocopy.
• Military service document (Sor Dor 8 or Sor Dor 43 or the certificate of completion of 3-year
or 5-year reserve officer training course, either of which needed for Thai male who is over the
age of 20 and Sor Dor 9 for applicant between the age of 17-19) with one photocopy.
• Marriage certificate or divorce certificate (if available) with one photocopy
• Requesting letter from the embassy of the country to which the applicant plans to travel. A
notice from the US Embassy regarding your case (i.e. a packet 3 cover letter) can be used for
this purpose.
• A photocopied passport of your American petitioner
• In case of a minor child applicant, the legal guardian has to be present to sign consent.

NON-THAI APPLICANT
• Passport with one photocopy
• Document(s) certify that the applicant is working, used to work or residing in Thailand.
• Thai working permit (if available) with one photocopy
• Requesting letter from the embassy of the country to which the applicant plans to travel. A
notice from the US Embassy regarding your case (i.e. a packet 3 cover letter) can be used for
this purpose.
• A photocopied passport of your American petitioner
• In case of a minor child applicant, the legal guardian has to be present to sign consent.

APPLICANT RESIDING ABOARD
The applicant can send a request by mail to the Police Clearance Service Center with above required
documents and below additional documents:
• Two photographs (1 inch or 2 inches)
• Three sets of fingerprints. Fingerprints must be taken at local police or at the Thai Embassy
or Consulate in your country together with the official seal and signature of the official taking
the fingerprints.
• An envelope with pre-paid stamps and the applicant's address, to mail the certificate back to
the applicant.
Note: Applicant must certify true copies of all documents. Do not mail original civil documents. Only
certified photocopies are needed.

PROCESSING TIME
Applicants with no criminal record, or behavior endangering peace and order or security of the State, will
receive a police clearance certificate within three weeks.
For more information, please visit this website.

I'm looking for anyone with recent or not so recent experience with the US Embassy process here in Thailand on a couple of specific points.

Currently, our application is at the NVC (National Visa Center) in California; next step will be to send the package to BKK.

Does anyone know the validity period of the medical? Packet #3 instructions say this is tied to the Visa Validity period once it is issued, so this is something we’d like to know ahead of time. What I take this to mean is if your visa is issued and it's good for 6 months, but the validity of the medical ends before the expiration of the visa, that you should travel to the US before the medical expires and don't use the visa expiration as your limiting factor.

Packet #3 instructions say to get requested documents that are in Thai translated to English. How sticky is the Embassy on these translations? Do they look for some official stamp by someone who has been certified? I think I’ve read before there are acceptable translation services close to the embassy. If so, does anyone know of a service near the embassy or even one in Pattaya they used and had no problems with at the Embassy?

Thanks