Hi, I was at immigration today getting an extension on my tourist visa so that I have time to apply for a visa change and for a retirement visa. I went upstairs to ask about the procedure and was told that 1st I need to come between 8-8:30 am to get a number downstairs, come upstairs and then they will set an appointment time in about 3 weeks.

 

I asked if there was a list of documents to bring and was told I needed no documents to set the appointment, but to bring them for the appointment???? Is that crazy talk?

 

I asked 3 times and they kept saying no. This was not the officer for that desk, but the civilian workers.

You can't apply for a VISA to Thailand while in Thailand (as far as I know).

VISA's are usually issued to people outside a country, so they can enter.

Extensions of stay are issued to people already inside a country.

You probably confused them.

Edited July 10, 20187 yr by BritManToo

No, they are offering a visa change from Tourist to Non O without leaving the country! The visa agents are offering the service for 15,000thb so I went to ask the procedure.
There is a desk in the upstairs office designated for the processing.
I thought I was going to have to leave too.

 

 

Edited July 10, 20187 yr by Mjwiggins

This is from the Chiang Mai Immigration web site...   Always remember that the Immigration Officer can ask for anything they want to satisfy them that you should have the conversion (or anything else, for that matter)…  You will notice that the title bar on the page suggests it is for dependents of a Non-O visa holder.

 

Edit: https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_76 Correct link: https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_80

 

You will get a very wide range of responses on this, especially from people in Chiang Mai.. If you do what they ask, and you qualify, it should be possible.

Edited July 11, 20187 yr by ubonjoe
changed to correct link

Note that you will need 15 days (or more, at some offices) left on your permission-of-stay to apply for the Non-O stamp (aka "conversion to Non-O").  If your extension is 30-days, and the quickest appointment is 3 weeks out, they can then tell you, "Sorry, not enough time left on your permitted-stay;"  the documents won't ever come into the picture. 

 

This is a trick to force people to use agent "fixers," such that honest people (aka "good guys") get the runaround, while "bad guys" sail through.  This is a widespread problem within immigration in many offices, but the money seems to be distributed high enough in the chain that there is no one with supervisory power, who is not "on the take," to do anything about it. 

 

Another alternative is to get your initial Non-O via a Visa from a consulate abroad.  Savanakhet, Laos is a good choice for this (requires less paperwork than Vientiane).

Edited July 10, 20187 yr by JackThompson

Well, all I can do is walk in there and give it a shot. I'll take all of my paperwork to be safe.

Thanks for the tip on Savanakhet. I'll just take a trip to Laos if I have to.

11 hours ago, BritManToo said:

You can't apply for a VISA to Thailand while in Thailand (as far as I know).

That is not correct info. A non immigrant visa can be applied for at immigration office if you qualify for certain extensions of stay.