Cost of Visa Agents

[simoh1490]

How much is reasonable to pay to a visa agent to extend an O-A visa and how much is sensible to pay them for four 90 day reports each year?

 

At what price does the visa agent service cease to be good value for posters who use such a service?

 

I think 5k for the visa and 1k for four 90 day reports represented good value. But my agent has just increased the cost by 10% and 50% respectively hence I no longer think it's worthwhile, what do you think.

Edited April 30, 2018 by simoh1490

[New beginnings]

Certainly you can do your 90 day reports on line for no cost so don’t understand need for visa agent.  Indeed just submitted my 90 day report on-line on Saturday and e-mail received from immigration confirming renewed today. With regard to extension it depends how comfortable you are submitting yourself. Don’t forget you can submit request 6 weeks before expiry so if if does go wrong you still have plenty of time to approach an agent.

[FolkGuitar]

If you've renewed your visa before, then you're familiar with the required paperwork. That part is really pretty straight forward. A bit of a bother getting it together, but you'd have to get it together for the agent too.

 

But getting to Immigration at zero:dark:30, just to sit on a hard stool for several hours waiting to get a number so you can sit there for more hours is not so pleasant, and a visa agent takes care of that... for 5,000+ baht.

 

Or... you can find a travel agent/visa agent who will charge you 300 baht to send a place holder for you, so you can arrive at 8:30, be one of the first to go through at 9am, and be home by 10:00.  To me, THAT is worth 300 baht!

 

 

 

[simoh1490]

7 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

If you've renewed your visa before, then you're familiar with the required paperwork. That part is really pretty straight forward. A bit of a bother getting it together, but you'd have to get it together for the agent too.

 

But getting to Immigration at zero:dark:30, just to sit on a hard stool for several hours waiting to get a number so you can sit there for more hours is not so pleasant, and a visa agent takes care of that... for 5,000+ baht.

 

Or... you can find a travel agent/visa agent who will charge you 300 baht to send a place holder for you, so you can arrive at 8:30, be one of the first to go through at 9am, and be home by 10:00.  To me, THAT is worth 300 baht!

 

 

 

At 5k and 1K respectively I had always thought that visa agents were good value, now that the numbers have become almost 6K and 1.5K I'm beginning to question their value for money. Indeed this coming year I will begin to use the 90 day online system, the question is whether I will do handle the extension myself or not - somebody of good standing had argued with me not too long ago on this forum that it was possible to simply walk in and get a visa extended during low season and that queuing for numbers at 4 am was a thing of the past or perhaps only in high season when there's lots of tourists, it would be helpful if anyone knows what the score is on this point, walk in or queue at 4 am?

[Dante99]

Hey Simoh it really is up to the individual.  I choose not to pay an agent now because I am still mobile and the waits at Immigration are not long, in my view.  I have never gone there early am and have been in and out in less than 1.5 hours in recent years. Others rightfully have different opinions so they for a variety of fair reasons might find paying an agent a good value, even if the fee was 10,000.   

 

Aren't there still agents or one agent charging less than 5,000? 

 

 

[simoh1490]

2 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

Hey Simoh it really is up to the individual.  I choose not to pay an agent now because I am still mobile and the waits at Immigration are not long, in my view.  I have never gone there early am and have been in and out in less than 1.5 hours in recent years. Others rightfully have different opinions so they for a variety of fair reasons might find paying an agent a good value, even if the fee was 10,000.   

 

Aren't there still agents or one agent charging less than 5,000? 

 

 

Thanks for that, presumably you're referring to Promenada? 

 

There's nothing special about the 5k figure, it could be almost any number. I think there comes a point with any purchase where we need to question whether it's still good value or not and I guess most of us do that consciously or subconsciously, typically when we've just experienced a price increase I would imagine....such is the case with my visa agent this week, do I really need to spend 6k to use an agent just so that I can buy another 90 minutes per year pulling weeds and trimming trees in my garden, hmmm!

[FolkGuitar]

Perhaps most of us have no particular need to 'save time' any longer. There is no place I 'have to be' since I retired. But time can be spent in better pursuits, and certainly in nicer surroundings than the Immigration Office. As for 'long waits,' that seems to be nothing less than 'luck of the draw.'  Some folks get in and out quickly, others have to wait hours and still come back twice. I don't think it  depends on High or Low Seasons, as we all have to renew at the one-year mark regardless of the time of the year.

[simoh1490]

4 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

Perhaps most of us have no particular need to 'save time' any longer. There is no place I 'have to be' since I retired. But time can be spent in better pursuits, and certainly in nicer surroundings than the Immigration Office. As for 'long waits,' that seems to be nothing less than 'luck of the draw.'  Some folks get in and out quickly, others have to wait hours and still come back twice. I don't think it  depends on High or Low Seasons, as we all have to renew at the one-year mark regardless of the time of the year.

Agreed, it's just that mine is due for renewal now which is typically a time that's light on tourist traffic at Immigration, the person who was arguing against me on this point had to renew in January.

 

Time: spend 90 minutes in Immigration in Promenada or spend 90 minutes eating ribs in the DUkes, a difficult choice. 

[bkk6060]

You have no clue how much some of these agents charge.  Many are in the 20k range.

Your price is a bargain from my experience.

 

[worgeordie]

Renewed my extension last week,I got my bank letter at 10.30

and was going to go early next morning,but thought i will give

it a try now,so just before 11.00 arrived at Promenade,and was

able to secure a number for the afternoon session.

 

So returned home,went back to Immigration at 2.00 and my

number came up quite quickly,very pleasant immigration officer ,,

no problems at all.

 

I know some people need their hands holding,especially when

having to deal with officials,or have more money than  Croesus ,

and every minute waiting is time lost for them,O.K. use an Agent,

but for me,doing this once a year it's no hardship,I am retired,so

nowhere to be,and i can put 5,000 Thb to much better use than 

handing it to an Agent,and for 90 days reporting,i time it for when

i go shopping and pop into Post Office,couple of stamps and its

on its way,always returned within a few days.never tried online reporting,yet.

 

Even ,EvenStevens,the great defender of Visa agents,is doing it himself

now.

 

Regards Worgeordie

 

[sfokevin]

Once the new immigration office gets up and running it will be interesting to see if a DIY extension become easier or harder?... 

[cmsally]

No need for an agent for the 90 days. Just use online or do postal. EMS both ways (put tracking on both the envelope you send and the return one that's inside). You will need to take a pic of the return one as only the one sent appears on the receipt.

That way you can track they received it and also as soon as they send off your 90 day receipt so you know when to be home to sign for it.

I seem to remember EMS each time is 60 Baht so that makes 240 Bt for the year.

[CMBob]

I renewed my retirement extension last Thursday and handled it myself.  Arrived at 7:10AM and was about the 40th person in line.  Between myself and the guy ahead of me, somebody had placed a couple of purses/satchels on the floor and  just before 8:30AM five Thais showed up and each grabbed many (like 5-10 each) packets from the satchels (they apparently were agents and looking for a load of queue numbers).  When we finally got up to the officer giving out the queue numbers, he bypassed the group of agents and handed me queue #30 which he indicated was the last number before lunch (I thanked him profusely).  My number was called about 11:20AM, spent 5-8 minutes or so with the officer, and received my completed passport back at 11:45.  As I wanted to get a re-entry permit, I quickly made a copy of my new extension and attempted to get a queue number for the re-entry permit.  They gave me one but it was for the afternoon.  Back at 1PM, I eventually got the re-entry permit a little after 1:30PM.  I don't know how many people were served that day but can say that there were at least another 30 people standing behind me at 8:30AM.  Whether all were served or not, I don't know (I do believe that it was late in the day if all were served....because the agents I luckily bypassed had a load of applications, some of which were TM7's for extensions),   

 

Last year, I used G4T for the extension....cost then was 3000 for that service, I set an appointment at 11AM, showed up at that time and gave them my paperwork, went and had lunch, back at 1:20PM, they took me in through the back door for my photo, and then handed me my completed passport.  As I understand it, it's no longer possible to do a one-time visit like that as now one has to provide the paperwork to the agent at least a day ahead of time and then you go out to Immigration the next day or so when they call and tell you to be there.

 

I handled the extension myself this year as I had read several reports that things had eased up considerably over the last couple of months.  Had I known better (and perhaps was a bit lucky), I would have tried showing up at 11AM or even early afternoon as mentioned by Worgeordie immediately above; however, I needed to get the extension done so showed up when I did. 

 

Paying 3000 or 5000 baht a year to avoid having to get up at 5:30AM and sitting out there for 5-7 hours sounds like the winning formula for me.  Unless things change at Immigration when they move into their new building, I'll be using an agent again next year.   

[evenstevens]

35 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

 

 

Even ,EvenStevens,the great defender of Visa agents,is doing it himself

now.

 

Regards Worgeordie

 

Just to correct you W/G..

E/S  has always over 17 yrs weighed up my options which route to take at renewal time , a defender of Visa Agents no way but i have recommended such in the bad old days at The Zoo (airport immgr) and early Prom Days  where the  immgr service etc etc was appalling to say the least, Presently i am a D.I.Y but that may change when my renewal ret visa   comes around next time,  in my view  very nice to have options available  which route to take

To  the O/P   Tian v/agency at Prom  is 4000 BAHT fee (,just ret visa   renewal)  ,plus 300 baht 90 day reports good service was provided to me on every ocassion that  i have engaged them,  your mob in my view are having a very small lend of you,

[simoh1490]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

You have no clue how much some of these agents charge.  Many are in the 20k range.

Your price is a bargain from my experience.

 

You're talking about the application for an O-A visa, not the annual extension.

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

You have no clue how much some of these agents charge.  Many are in the 20k range.

Your price is a bargain from my experience.

 

 

21 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

You're talking about the application for an O-A visa, not the annual extension.

Technically, you can't apply for an O-A visa within Thailand.  What you're doing is a "visa conversion", either from a 30-day visa exempt entry or from tourist visa status.  An yes, local visa agents charge 15 - 25 K for this service, when the gov't price is just 2000 baht.  Immigration has made this conversion process a real trial for newbies, providing no help and actually creating roadblocks and landmines, so most just give up and employ an agent for a process that really isn't much more complicated than a regular annual extension.  Ever wonder why the visa agents charge so much more than they do for a regular annual extension?

 

 

[simoh1490]

57 minutes ago, NancyL said:

 

Technically, you can't apply for an O-A visa within Thailand.  What you're doing is a "visa conversion", either from a 30-day visa exempt entry or from tourist visa status.  An yes, local visa agents charge 15 - 25 K for this service, when the gov't price is just 2000 baht.  Immigration has made this conversion process a real trial for newbies, providing no help and actually creating roadblocks and landmines, so most just give up and employ an agent for a process that really isn't much more complicated than a regular annual extension.  Ever wonder why the visa agents charge so much more than they do for a regular annual extension?

 

 

Before everyone makes a meal out of this and goes further down the wrong road, the visa I'm referencing is the extension of an O-A (retirement visa), the same one I've extended/renewed for 16 years.

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

Before everyone makes a meal out of this and goes further down the wrong road, the visa I'm referencing is the extension of an O-A (retirement visa), the same one I've extended/renewed for 16 years.

Technically what you're doing is extending a non-immigration O visa for the purpose of retirement.  The fact that you started with an O-A visa is irrelevant at this point.  The visa agent fee is the same whether you started with an O visa that you obtained in a country not your home country or an O-A visa obtained in your home country.  The "A" in the O-A means "Already approved for entry of 365 days".  Those with O visas have an extra step inside Thailand to obtain approval for 365 day entry.

 

The visa agents charge the same fee to for an annual extension on the basis of retirement, no matter which visa was your initial visa.  

 

And yes, this is an interesting discussion about at what point do you just say, I don't need to pay a visa agent for this annual extension process and I'll just do it myself.  

[ramrod711]

I can't begin to count the number of posts I've read about online and  90 day reports by mail  problems. I don't have those problems, I pay 1,000 baht per year to have them done. I do my own retirement renewals, (I use a "line sitter" that I pay 500 baht). I never need a residency certificate because I have a yellow book. Total number of visits to immigration per year, one, unless of course I need to do a TM 30 report. Seems simple, relatively cheap, and as far as I'm concerned an easy process. 

[sqwakvfr]

I went up to Tian Visa after my 90 Day report last week and these are their fees:

 

1.  Retirement Extension:  6900 Baht

2.  Retirement Extension with 4 90 Day Reports: 7900 Baht.

 

[bkk6060]

13 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

I went up to Tian Visa after my 90 Day report last week and these are their fees:

 

1.  Retirement Extension:  6900 Baht

2.  Retirement Extension with 4 90 Day Reports: 7900 Baht.

 

I do mine myself Chonburi.  Gets me out of the house.

But I think those fees are pretty reasonable if the service is quick and reliable.

Seems more pricey here and much much higher in BKK.

Edited May 1, 2018 by bkk6060

[sfokevin]

G4T has renamed itself to Best Friend Visa and works out of a house near the Big C close to Promenada... I believe they are still charging 3,000 for renewals...

 

The phone number is 093-541-6444

 

Best Friend Visa
https://goo.gl/maps/gtqKkj7EqfM2

Edited May 1, 2018 by sfokevin

[scottiejohn]

5 hours ago, NancyL said:

An yes, local visa agents charge 15 - 25 K for this service

I do not know where you got that price range from.  Try 6700Bhat!

[simoh1490]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

 

 

The visa agents charge the same fee to for an annual extension on the basis of retirement, no matter which visa was your initial visa.  

 

 

 

And to be clear, that charge is 5k or 6k, not 20k/25k.

[jmd8800]

2 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

I went up to Tian Visa after my 90 Day report last week and these are their fees:

 

1.  Retirement Extension:  6900 Baht

2.  Retirement Extension with 4 90 Day Reports: 7900 Baht.

 

hmmmm  ... Tian has raised their prices. In the middle of February I paid 5900 for retirement extension. 4000 fee and 1900 immigration costs.

[simoh1490]

13 minutes ago, jmd8800 said:

hmmmm  ... Tian has raised their prices. In the middle of February I paid 5900 for retirement extension. 4000 fee and 1900 immigration costs.

And Assist Thai Visa is now THB7,800 (inclusive) for an O-A renewal/extension and THB 1,500 for 4x90 day.

[scottiejohn]

6 hours ago, NancyL said:

An yes, local visa agents charge 15 - 25 K for this service, when the gov't price is just 2000 baht.  Immigration has made this conversion process a real trial for newbies, providing no help and actually creating roadblocks and landmines, so most just give up and employ an agent for a process that really isn't much more complicated than a regular annual extension.  Ever wonder why the visa agents charge so much more than they do for a regular annual extension?

I see you have reverted to bashing Visa agents.  This time you are now using misleading financial figures.

 

As I have said on many occasions the use of an agent, especially in my case, has NOTHING to do with "roadblocks and landmines".  It is purely convenience as it has been in my case since pre 2000.

 

Please stop hinting or implying wrongdoing by the Imm Dept by statements above eg;  "Ever wonder why the visa agents charge so much....etc"  Please either put up evidence to back up your snide remarks or stop your bashing.

[The manic]

9 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

At 5k and 1K respectively I had always thought that visa agents were good value, now that the numbers have become almost 6K and 1.5K I'm beginning to question their value for money. Indeed this coming year I will begin to use the 90 day online system, the question is whether I will do handle the extension myself or not - somebody of good standing had argued with me not too long ago on this forum that it was possible to simply walk in and get a visa extended during low season and that queuing for numbers at 4 am was a thing of the past or perhaps only in high season when there's lots of tourists, it would be helpful if anyone knows what the score is on this point, walk in or queue at 4 am?

My 90 day took half an hour in Jomtien

[evenstevens]

1 hour ago, simoh1490 said:

And Assist Thai Visa is now THB7,800 (inclusive) for an O-A renewal/extension and THB 1,500 for 4x90 day.

^^^^expensive, from my reports  some Major Visa Agency,s are not getting the business through the doors,as to say a couple years ago, perhaps their price hikes are making up for lost business , where ever it may have gone to    a nice arvo to all

[amexpat]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

 

Please stop hinting or implying wrongdoing by the Imm Dept by statements above eg;  "Ever wonder why the visa agents charge so much....etc"  Please either put up evidence to back up your snide remarks or stop your bashing.

One must be careful and not go far beyond hinting or implying.

 

As for evidence, sworn confessions and a stack of documents wouldn't convince you, now would it?