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G4T Visa service has re-opened - new name 'Best Friend Visa'

Thailand2020

By Thailand2020
in Chiang Mai

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Thailand2020 Rookie Member

Thailand2020

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Posted

Got my retirement extension today using Best Friend Visa. Same friendly people that were at G4T

 

Went to their office at 10am and dropped off my required documents for my extension. Met them at the Immigration Office a 2pm, was finished in about 30 minutes. Well worth the 3000 baht they charge, for me, for many reasons. 

 

Google map to their new office: https://goo.gl/maps/ n2n4y3UHiY32
I also attached an image of their location to this post.

Their phone number: 088 2944459

 

best-friend-visa-map.jpg

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Thailand2020 Rookie Member

Thailand2020

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1 minute ago, Phuket Man said:

3,000 Baht for something so simple.

You had to turn up anyway.

Turn up at 5 or 6am and wait there until late in the afternoon. One time I was at Thai immigration for 8 hours. 
Life is too short :)

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Phuket Man Advanced Member

Phuket Man

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32 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

Phuket Man is more likely comparing it the number of Leo’s... :coffee1:

Why give someone 3,000 baht when you can so easily do it yourself?

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Trujillo Gold Member

Trujillo

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Posted

As I said in another thread, this service is cheaper than the one that now occupies the space where G4T used to be. 

Having said that, I went this past month to do my retirement extension and arrived at about 5:30am I think and was No. 8 in line. I was completely finished and out the door (including a multi-reentry permit) by 11am. 

 

By the way, G4T incarnation called me cold about 2 weeks before my time was due to ask if they could do my extension again, as I had them do the previous year. The girl said she would come to my house and get all the paperwork in order, so I assume that there is no need for you to go to their office, unless you want to. 

 

As for paying for something that you can easily do yourself, that's up to the individual. 

Ipso facto you are retired, which means you have free time for a few hours a year to do your visa duties, so why not do it yourself? Or not. 

sfokevin Gold Member

sfokevin

Posted
Posted

^^^ No matter who you use you will need to make an appearance at Immigration to get your photo taken...

 

PhuketMan... Before you judge the cost of an agent you might peruse the 1,800 posts of what CM inmmigration is like....  :violin:

 

:violin:

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scottiejohn Ruby Member

scottiejohn

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Trujillo said:

Ipso facto you are retired, which means you have free time

I agree it gives retirees free time (to spend as they see fit).

. 

It gives retirees lots of free time to spend as they wish and allowing them to enjoy themselves doing what they want and not necessarily hanging around out of town shopping malls ) which are probably of no interest to them what so ever.  And if you are a senior retiree do you really want to get up in the early hours of the morning to travel out of town to arrive at a closed Mall 0530? I most certainly don't.  My agent can do that.

 

Giving a tiny little bit of one's ill-gotten gains away, after years of blood sweat and tears to build up the nest egg you have, to spend the way you wish is a person's choice and they should be left to it without the sanctimonious whining of many people who should not be sticking their noses into other peoples personal choices.  They can waste their day(s) as they wish.  I will spend my time and money as I wish and having reach my, relatively, advanced years I do not think I need any advice from anybody else on how to spend MY time or money.

Edited by scottiejohn
correcting the errors you always see after you have pressed send!
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scottiejohn Ruby Member

scottiejohn

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1 hour ago, Thailand said:

If you didn't get a freebie for this piece of advertising you are definitely missing out

Don't worry, I'm getting my cut as well as "evenstevens" and all the other Agency users even if we do use different Agencies.  It gives us more time to sit in the bars of our choice/locality and respond to the agency bashers in our own time.

CMBob Gold Member

CMBob

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Anyone know when the imm office is opening again at the old place? The building exterior looks finished.

The head dude in Building #3 (at the old site) told me a couple of weeks ago that the new building will be opening in August.  

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Thailand Diamond Member

Thailand

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Don't worry, I'm getting my cut as well as "evenstevens" and all the other Agency users even if we do use different Agencies.  It gives us more time to sit in the bars of our choice/locality and respond to the agency bashers in our own time.

I use an agency to assist for my extension of stay but happens to be a travel agent and costs 600 baht (For two) to do the most important part, obtaining a q number. The last 3 years has been ticket 3, 4 & 1.

Tend to find I have plenty of time to do whatever, and of course a little more money to buy that coffee.

  • 5 months later...
amexpat Gold Member

amexpat

Posted
Posted
On 2/6/2018 at 5:36 PM, Thailand2020 said:

Got my retirement extension today using Best Friend Visa. Same friendly people that were at G4T

 

Went to their office at 10am and dropped off my required documents for my extension. Met them at the Immigration Office a 2pm, was finished in about 30 minutes. Well worth the 3000 baht they charge, for me, for many reasons. 

I arrived at 8:10 for retirement extension. Got a number and returned at 1:30.  Finished at 2:15. No agent.

 

I could have paid 3000-5000 for an agent.  That is such a ridiculous amount of baht for the little time and effort required of them that

it is obvious (for other reasons, too) that an agency gets to keep very little of the money.

 

This causes me to speculate.  How does the loot get divvied up by imm? 

Does the big kahuna share with his subordinates?  Does some of it get sent up to a higher level?  Just wondering. 

 

 

  • 1 month later...
WaveHunter Platinum Member

WaveHunter

Posted
Posted
On 2/7/2018 at 6:28 PM, Thailand said:

I use an agency to assist for my extension of stay but happens to be a travel agent and costs 600 baht (For two) to do the most important part, obtaining a q number. The last 3 years has been ticket 3, 4 & 1.

Tend to find I have plenty of time to do whatever, and of course a little more money to buy that coffee.

If you don’t mind my asking, what agent do you use?  I have a 90 day Non-O visa and within 45 days of expiration and plan to apply for 1 year extension.  I also need to get a multi-entry permit.  Wondering if I can do both the same day??

 

I was going to do this all without an agent since I understand requirements, and have all docs ready, but really put off by the idea of queuing for hours early in morning, and dealing directly with Imm officers since I don’t speak Thai.  On the other hand, I’m not fond of parting with 3,000+ baht so what you describe sound interesting.

 

Is this only for the agent to queue in line to get a ticket?  If so, I thought that’s was not permitted.  Can you clarify?

 

WaveHunter Platinum Member

WaveHunter

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 7/11/2018 at 8:40 AM, amexpat said:

I arrived at 8:10 for retirement extension. Got a number and returned at 1:30.  Finished at 2:15. No agent.

 

I could have paid 3000-5000 for an agent.  That is such a ridiculous amount of baht for the little time and effort required of them that

it is obvious (for other reasons, too) that an agency gets to keep very little of the money.

 

This causes me to speculate.  How does the loot get divvied up by imm? 

Does the big kahuna share with his subordinates?  Does some of it get sent up to a higher level?  Just wondering. 

 

 

I myself am trying to decide whether to just get an agent (3,000baht...maybe, 6900 baht? I don't think so), get a line sitter (and hope I'm not spit on by people who actually have been standing for hours behind me), or brave the waters on my own as you have done.
 

I understand the process, have all my ducks in a row with respect to documents, but I really hate the prospect of spending hours in queue just to get a ticket to spend more hours waiting to get an interview.

 

Your experience confuses me.  If you say that you went in at 8:10am and got a ticket, why are people in other threads saying you need to arrive at wee hours (2am) because queue lines grow beyond the allotment of tickets quickly.  I keep hearing that there is a limit to tickets given out per day.  Most of the posters seem to say 50-70 tickets per day.

 

Not doubting what you say; just curious if your experience was a matter of luck or just an anomaly.

 

I've read a lot about the visa extension process and it sounds like Chiang Mai is in a league of their own when it comes to unpleasant processing and utter confusion.  Many of the other Immigration offices throughout the Kingdom (i.e.: Bangkok, Hua Hin, Chonburi) seem to be considerably less confusing, and most anecdotal accounts here on this forum about dealing with them sound like a "walk in the park" compared with Chiang Mai.

 

Just trying to make heads or tails of it all.

 

Edited by WaveHunter
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scottiejohn Ruby Member

scottiejohn

Posted
Posted

Welcome to the "dubious claims club". 

 

Somehow a handful of people claim they can do things that the vast majority of rest of us cannot do as they assert.  Interestingly, despite numerous requests (on two different topics in the CM Forum) as to how these miraculous miniscule visits successfully happen (multi visits/connections/dreams perhaps!),  we of the  mere mortal members of this Forum wait with totally unabated breath for their next claim of near instant processing!  These claims will of course be posted without any foundation based on the reality of life at PROM.

scottiejohn Ruby Member

scottiejohn

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

I understand the process, have all my ducks in a row with respect to documents, but I really hate the prospect of spending hours in queue just to get a ticket to spend more hours waiting to get an interview.

I could not agree more and so I have "given in" and have used "agents etc" since 2000.

PS; Wait for the "I get beamed down and up in 90 Minutes EVERY TIME AT PROM" retorts! - Even the Star Trek "Scottie" could not write their scripts and find them believable!  OOPS I forgot that Programme is also science fiction!

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jmd8800 Senior Member

jmd8800

Posted
Posted

I think it is refreshing the OP gave information that might be of benefit to some people on TVF.

 

My father always told me it was a waste of time to try and count another man's time or money. 

 

 

WaveHunter Platinum Member

WaveHunter

Posted
Posted (edited)
44 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I could not agree more and so I have "given in" and have used "agents etc" since 2000.

PS; Wait for the "I get beamed down and up in 90 Minutes EVERY TIME AT PROM" retorts! - Even the Star Trek "Scottie" could not write their scripts and find them believable!  OOPS I forgot that Programme is also science fiction!

I'm just wondering if all these claims, like coming in at 1:30pm and getting a ticket, might just be based on pure blind luck.   Contrast that to many who say that they show up at 5-6-7-8 am and are getting turned away by Immigration because they have run out of tickets for the day. 

 

I mean, talk about extremes!  Clearly both views can not be right unless you attribute it to pure luck (both good and bad).

 

There might be some moral objections to using line-sitters or agents but I would guess that most people have better things to do with their time than deal with this craziness that is apparently Chaing Mai Immigration.

Edited by WaveHunter
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amexpat Gold Member

amexpat

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56 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Welcome to the "dubious claims club". 

 

Somehow a handful of people claim they can do things that the vast majority of rest of us cannot do as they assert.  Interestingly, despite numerous requests (on two different topics in the CM Forum) as to how these miraculous miniscule visits successfully happen (multi visits/connections/dreams perhaps!),  we of the  mere mortal members of this Forum wait with totally unabated breath for their next claim of near instant processing!  These claims will of course be posted without any foundation based on the reality of life at PROM.

"I  arrived at 8:10 for retirement extension. Got a number and returned at 1:30.  Finished at 2:15. No agent."

 

What do you expect scuttiejohn?  Videos? Sworn statement from witnesses?  Maybe it was luck on a slow day. It happened. 

 

I am not offended because your pompous, presumptuous, cutesy opinion is of no consequence. 

 

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scottiejohn Ruby Member

scottiejohn

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, jmd8800 said:

it was a waste of time to try and count another man's time or money. 

Correct. 

Just count your own and spend and use wisely.

PS;  I was also told not to accept B/S!

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