Immigration- no longer have to queue in the early hours of the morning!

[Thailand]

Took a friend to immigration this morning for extension of stay based on retirement.

 

The queue for visas of all kinds at 7.20am reached well past the car wash and those at the end were not under cover it was that long. Fortunately our friend had a "line sitter" to get the golden ticket., and are they getting golden!

The "line sitter" had arrived in the queue at 8pm yesterday evening, yes that is correct. Our friend got ticket number 17 so  16 already ahead of her! Those on the seats at the front of the queue were a mixture of Thai schoolkids and Chinese (Must be illegal for them to do that?), they must have been there for over 12 hours!

 

Looks like the agents etc are winning!

 

And you no longer have to queue in the early hours of the morning, early evening the night before is now acceptable to the ptb.

[Lizard2010]

It will be interesting when Immigration goes back to the new building

Maybe everything might change

Who Know its always the unknown

 

[Vacuum]

1 hour ago, Lizard2010 said:

It will be interesting when Immigration goes back to the new building

Maybe everything might change

Who Know its always the unknown

 

 

Not unless they get rid of the boss.

[worgeordie]

Why is this only happening in Chiang Mai ?,looking at other forums

Pattaya,Bangkok,Phuket no one complaining about having to sit overnight 

in the queue  ,just to get an extension,seems very easy at other offices,

and i am sure there is just the same amount of expats in those areas.

 

I think I know why,and sure others do too,but cannot say.and I cannot

see things improving at the new offices,parking is going to be the big

problem,even if you park over the road,it's not going to be easy for

geriatric retirees to make it over 2 lanes and return.just pleased its

9 months before i need to visit,time to get things sorted out, maybe.

 

regards Worgeordie

[ramrod711]

I have never used an agent for my annual renewal. I have used the former appointment system and for the last 3 years a "line sitter"and I always renew 45 days early. If people are lining up at 20:00 the night before I will begin using an agent. As worgeordie says, "we all know why it happens in Chiang Mai". It's a disgrace!

[eyecatcher]

I think many people forget that just prior to the Promenada move people were sitting outside in the carpark at the old place.

The queues there started 1am every day, I used to go at 3am to find myself in what looked like a camp site...deckchairs, sleeping bags, flasks, laptops with trailing wires everywhere....and there were no agents then, just 2yr ago?

[elektrified]

LOL?

 

I don't believe anyone sat at Immigration for 12 hours; sorry.

 

I will continue arriving at 13:00-14:30 in the afternoon and being on my way in 60-90 minutes. I just got my extension last month and there was hardly anyone there. I was out in one hour.

 

All this drama posted on here is hilarious. You don't see any of this posted on Facebook (which is much more active than this forum now for visa issues). I have been getting my extensions for 12 years now. No agent, no "sitter", no complaints, no whining, nothing. I've never arrived before 8:45 and never spent more than 3 hours (usually 90 minutes) from start to finish.

 

If you go there and there and like you said - there is a queue past the car wash.....just come back the next day, simple as that.

 

[scottiejohn]

52 minutes ago, eyecatcher said:

nd there were no agents then, just 2yr ago?

Rubbish!

Agents have been around for many years and long before the move from the "Zoo" to Prom.

I have been using Agents and their equivalents since 2000.

[Thailand]

1 hour ago, elektrified said:

LOL?

 

I don't believe anyone sat at Immigration for 12 hours; sorry.

 

I will continue arriving at 13:00-14:30 in the afternoon and being on my way in 60-90 minutes. I just got my extension last month and there was hardly anyone there. I was out in one hour.

 

All this drama posted on here is hilarious. You don't see any of this posted on Facebook (which is much more active than this forum now for visa issues). I have been getting my extensions for 12 years now. No agent, no "sitter", no complaints, no whining, nothing. I've never arrived before 8:45 and never spent more than 3 hours (usually 90 minutes) from start to finish.

 

If you go there and there and like you said - there is a queue past the car wash.....just come back the next day, simple as that.

 

So basically you are calling me a liar?

[elektrified]

38 minutes ago, Thailand said:

So basically you are calling me a liar?

No, I am not. I think whoever billed your friend for 12 hours of "sitting" was pulling his/her leg and padding the bill.

 

I don't think anyone would do that and furthermore security would have given them the boot. Once I was there late drinking with friends after a jazz concert. At around 1:30-2:00 as I recall, when we were about to leave anyway, we were confronted by 2 security guards who told us that we had to get going right then or they would call the police. They made it clear that was the policy of the management...... nobody on the premises after-hours.

Edited August 16, 2018 by elektrified

[Nimakh]

elektrified

34 minutes ago, elektrified said:

No, I am not. I think whoever billed your friend for 12 hours of "sitting" was pulling his/her leg and padding the bill.

 

I don't think anyone would do that and furthermore security would have given them the boot. Once I was there late drinking with friends after a jazz concert. At around 1:30-2:00 as I recall, when we were about to leave anyway, we were confronted by 2 security guards who told us that we had to get going right then or they would call the police. They made it clear that was the policy of the management...... nobody on the premises after-hours.

It is true. The line actually starts outside and every now and then somebody from the immigration comes and takes everyone inside and sort you in lines.

 

I knew it was bad but didn't really think it would be this bad. I always went around 3 or 4PM to do my stuff at Prom but this time on Monday they told me that they're full, come back next day and try to be here around 4AM.

 

I went today and got there around 4:35AM and waited till 9AM and still couldn't get a number. Literally when it got to me (well there was a Chinese girls ahead of me) the officer announced that they're full and can't process any more visa extensions unless it's urgent.

 

It's all because they shifted everything to the big room again and agents and line sitters with ten passports don't help either.

 

Going back again tomorrow night, I'll try to be there around 2AM.

[Thailand]

40 minutes ago, elektrified said:

No, I am not. I think whoever billed your friend for 12 hours of "sitting" was pulling his/her leg and padding the bill.

 

I don't think anyone would do that and furthermore security would have given them the boot. Once I was there late drinking with friends after a jazz concert. At around 1:30-2:00 as I recall, when we were about to leave anyway, we were confronted by 2 security guards who told us that we had to get going right then or they would call the police. They made it clear that was the policy of the management...... nobody on the premises after-hours.

I think you dug yourself a hole and now doing your best to get out of it.

 

Management policy at Promenada preventing people being there at the wrong hours, don't make me laugh, people have been queuing early hours for most of the time they have been open to service immigration. The 12  (or whatever) hours of sitting is a fixed rate arranged by a well known supplier of sitters , it was 300 baht which is a pittance considering what they do. When we used them last ourselves year they were there from 2am obtaining tickets 1 & 2 for us. I have pointed out in the original post that our friends sitter was there at 8pm Wednesday evening to obtain place 17 for Thursdsay. She was in fact seen at 10.15am and left at 11am with her extension of stay completed, very small money well spent.

 

You seem to be that lucky person that can go at any time and get whatever you need to get done.Most do not have that level of good fortune.

[scottiejohn]

10 minutes ago, Nimakh said:

agents and line sitters with ten passports don't help either.

Wrong;  They actually speed the process up for the rest of you!

The I/O's know the agents have ALL the paperwork in order before they lodge it and can process each agent's applications in bulk much quicker than having each "farang's" paperwork processed individually.

[Shoeless Joe]

7 hours ago, Thailand said:

The "line sitter" had arrived in the queue at 8pm yesterday evening, yes that is correct.

Well that would be correct according to the "line sitter", because I'm thinking neither you nor your friend were there to check the "line sitters" arrival time. Is there any real evidence that was the case, apart from the usual "he said, she said" etc? Does anyone else think this might be a "line sitter" scam?

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by Shoeless Joe
typo

[scottiejohn]

21 minutes ago, Thailand said:

it was 300 baht which is a pittance considering what they do.

It is a full days salary for many a poor Thai (don't start quoting Government "minimum wages etc), even if it is a "pittance" to you. 

Just think about it;  get paid a full days wages while you sleep and then go to work.  Members of my extended Thai family jump at it and do it. Not for me, but for some friends, as I just cannot be bothered with either the "Zoo" or Prom and as I have said for many years on this forum I just use an "agent" or their previous equivalents circa 2000.

Money well spent and time saved to me which allows me to spend more time in the bar reading, with a pain in my side laughing at, all this moaning and bickering. 

You are in CM.  Don't like it- use an agent or move.

 

PS;  Pay the sitter 400Baht if you want to stay above minimium wage and sooth your conscience!

 

PPS;  Again as I have posted previously there are minimal security risks involved the sitters as they are NOT on their own and many security guards & CCTV etc around.

Edited August 16, 2018 by scottiejohn

[Thailand]

7 minutes ago, Shoeless Joe said:

Well that would be correct according to the "line sitter", because neither you nor your friend were there to check the "line sitters" arrival time. Is there any real evidence that was the case, (including the (alleged) 16 peoplewho were "line sitting" before that) apart from the usual "he said, she said" etc? Does anyone else think this might be a "line sitter" scam?

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

And what would that scam be?

 

And I said he said and was confirmed directly to me by another sitter. Just for the record my Thai is quite good and there was no misunderstanding.

[Thailand]

12 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

It is a full days salary for many a poor Thai (don't start quoting Government "minimum wages etc), even if it is a "pittance" to you. 

Just think about it;  get paid a full days wages while you sleep and then go to work.  Members of my extended Thai family jump at it and do it. Not for me, but for some friends, as I just cannot be bothered with either the "Zoo" or Prom and as I have said for many years on this forum I just use an "agent" or their previous equivalents circa 2000.

Money well spent and time saved to me which allows me to spend more time in the bar reading, with a pain in my side laughing at, all this moaning and bickering. 

You are in CM.  Don't like it- use an agent or move.

 

PS;  Pay the sitter 400Baht if you want to stay above minimium wage and sooth your conscience!

 

PPS;  Again as I have posted previously there are minimal security risks involved the sitters as they are NOT on their own and many security guards & CCTV etc around.

Where do you suggest that those of us who prefer not to use an agent move to?

[totally thaied up]

12 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Meanwhile I will just stay here in CM enjoying myself and use my agent as usual and will not be bitching about it, unlike some others!

I will enjoy my 1 hour a year at Immigration using an Agent. That is all the time I spend there a year. We had to drop my passport off to them on Tuesday morning, and the line was past the car wash. They told me their line sitters were there at 10pm the previous night and still did not get the first position. Yes, I think it is wrong that I use an Agent but hell, I am too old and cranky now to flap around over a few days trying to get a number. Those days are well past.

 

I use to wait at the old immigration office at 2:30am to get a spot many years ago. Most  time I would be finished by 10:30am but since using an agent, I will never do it again because like I said, this as far as I can remember, will not change.

 

Until something changes, nothing will. I won't hold my breath.

[balo]

Looks like Chiang Mai is full of corrupted officers , trying their best to get some money out of farangs. Not like this in Pattaya, Bangkok and most other immigration offices. Yes corruption is everywhere, but Chiang Mai is something special.

[eyecatcher]

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Rubbish!

Agents have been around for many years and long before the move from the "Zoo" to Prom.

I have been using Agents and their equivalents since 2000.

Yes there was a lot of rubbish as I recall, the sitters were few tbh, as there were less agencies (I will not say how many as you will throw your sporran at that aswell) but they were not so much of an issue then, but really that was the dawn of the sitter revolution and now it must have doubled and more.

[amexpat]

3 hours ago, elektrified said:

I have been getting my extensions for 12 years now. No agent, no "sitter", no complaints, no whining, nothing. I've never arrived before 8:45 and never spent more than 3 hours (usually 90 minutes) from start to finish.

Exactly my experience. Extended last month.  What could have changed so fast?

 

As for that long line, how many were there for annual extensions? The queue includes all types including those who appear in person, incredibly, for 90 day extensions. 

 

I wonder.... if enough people start using line sitters will the agents and their, er, beneficiaries, manage to outlaw sitters?  

 

[eyecatcher]

I dreaded joining those long queues so instead I got married.

My queue of usually 6 at the most is mostly infiltrated by the odd carrier bag and bottle of water but I too can be away within 90 mins of an 8.30 arrival.

Saved an absolute fortune on agencies obviously.......having a wife however......

[Small Joke]

I was there today.  

I got my non-O stamp done. 

Thus 2/3 way thru the process.

That's on level 2. You don't need a number, armed with your blue slip from the earlier visit, you go to the young officer  at the back of the room,  ignore the confusing sign about going back downstairs on his cubicle window.

They ask for your phone number and name, then  pin this to your passport,  and say they'll call you 'today or tomorrow'.

I gambled on today,  hung about various coffee shops and went online to pass time. At 3pm my Thai Mrs contacted me,  I told her the situation. 

She called a female officer whose number she'd obtained when they dragged her in with her house book  to prove I wasn't renting. 

Five minutes later I was done. 

 

They'd finished the work,  but clearly the phone calls would be happening tomorrow. The shutter door was half down when I got my passport back.  

 

Like everywhere it's 'who you know' it seems. 

I'm not being smug, just glad the M'lady is of a certain age and genuinely has a way with people.  I've paid my dues like everyone else,  I'm on my second time round after my original extension lapsed while abroad. 

It's much more onerous in general than 4 years ago.  

This system in Chiang Mai cannot cope with the ever growing demands new arrivals are placing on the same number of officers. 

Until it changes,  if ever,  I'm going to an agent.  

It is not right,  but who's brave enough to take it to head office?  

Play the game, pay the piper,  and spend the night at home in bed. 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by Small Joke

[Nimakh]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

Wrong;  They actually speed the process up for the rest of you!

The I/O's know the agents have ALL the paperwork in order before they lodge it and can process each agent's applications in bulk much quicker than having each "farang's" paperwork processed individually.

I don't think so. I could be wrong but they process limited number of passports/applications daily. A guy with 10 passports still counts as 10 separate applications, when giving numbers they don't consider the amount of time that each application is going to take but rather how many and If I'm not wrong that number is either 60 or 65.

[scottiejohn]

8 minutes ago, Nimakh said:

I don't think so. I could be wrong but they process limited number of passports/applications daily.

I think you will find they limit the number of walk in applications based on the fact that they know in advance how many major agency applications they already have for that day (if not done already) and will get from the "minor" agencies.  Agency processing is so much quicker than face to face.  That then leaves them with a figure of what they can process face to face. (An agent who gets the paperwork wrong will not last long).  Most agents get your docs to IMM a few days in advance of your "personal appearance appointment" (if needed) and the paperwork  lodged a day or two before you attend. 

Many of the "sitters" are either from individuals or from "minor" agencies who do not have the Major access.

 Don't mock the agents, they make the waiting time for the "plebs" much shorter

[cmsally]

Some posts have been deleted as off topic. The topic has been cleaned up at the OP's request.

[elektrified]

3 hours ago, Shoeless Joe said:

Well that would be correct according to the "line sitter", because I'm thinking neither you nor your friend were there to check the "line sitters" arrival time. Is there any real evidence that was the case, apart from the usual "he said, she said" etc? Does anyone else think this might be a "line sitter" scam?

 

Regards,

 

Joe

 

I agree. I don't believe it either. They probably showed up around 6:30 is my guess.

[amexpat]

3 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Don't mock the agents, they make the waiting time for the "plebs" much shorter

Yes, they and the top imm officers are only acting in our best interest.

 

Pity the expats in Jomtien, BKK, everywhere else, that do not enjoy their tender mercies. ?

[naboo]

The immigration officers process sufficient visa extensions to keep the Chiang Mai expat community here.

 

Perhaps the problem is not immigration, but the people who think it necessary to queue up earlier or employ a line sitter or queue jumper.

 

If we all just turned up in working hours, papers in order, there's still the same number of us, we'd still all get seen. Just do the Maths!

 

Of course, immigration could solve the problem immediately by handing out queues for the next day when full, and we all know why they don't - because the actions of the idiots (probably the same ones who queue up to get on an aeroplane first in case it runs out of seats) mean the line sitters and queue jumpers can make a pretty penny off the idiots. Stop using agents and line sitters, just turn up at 8am! You are the problem!

[cyberfarang]

7 hours ago, totally thaied up said:

I will enjoy my 1 hour a year at Immigration using an Agent. That is all the time I spend there a year. We had to drop my passport off to them on Tuesday morning, and the line was past the car wash. They told me their line sitters were there at 10pm the previous night and still did not get the first position. Yes, I think it is wrong that I use an Agent but hell, I am too old and cranky now to flap around over a few days trying to get a number. Those days are well past.

 

I use to wait at the old immigration office at 2:30am to get a spot many years ago. Most  time I would be finished by 10:30am but since using an agent, I will never do it again because like I said, this as far as I can remember, will not change.

 

Until something changes, nothing will. I won't hold my breath.

I`m with you on this.

 

When immigration was at the near airport office, I used to be able to book my retirement extension online (very easy and convenient) then as some of us may remember the online booking system was cut off in it`s prime, accidentally on purpose.

 

Then I can remember many saying; when immigration moves to the prom the service will vastly improve. Didn`t believe it at the time and don`t believe it now regarding the new near airport building. This is a lucrative business, too many involved wanting their slice of the cake, it can only become worse and a lot more expensive and can sincerely tell you, I don`t have psychic powers.

 

I hate and loath using an agent, but now at my age, there is no way I`m going to queue up for hours, but of course we are playing right into their hands, they love people like us, good for business. The whole lot stinks and that`s the price we pay just for another year in so-called paradise, Chiang Mai.