Nonthaburi Immigration requires reporting when returning from outside of the country

[maxx58]

Was at Nonthaburi Immigration today to do my 90 day report.

 

The officer emphasized to my wife the need for me to report to Immigration within 24 hours after arrival from outside of Thailand.

 

Was told the same last December when I did my extension of stay.

 

I'm not expecting to travel any time soon, but just a heads up to anyone who might and lives in Nonthaburi.

[BertM]

I report in at immigration at airport when I travel and get my new entry stamp. Then, the 90 day clock starts ticking until my next 90-day report. I wonder why your local immigration is telling you to report in to them within 24 hours after arriving from overseas. I never had to do that and I travel often.

Edited March 5, 2019 by BertM

[maxx58]

I don’t understand why they implemented this policy. 

 

A real pain, especially all the paperwork that they require.

 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

31 minutes ago, BertM said:

I wonder why your local immigration is telling you to report in to them within 24 hours after arriving from overseas. I never had to do that and I travel often.

They are wanting a TM30 report of his arrival at the residence. It has nothing to do with a 90 day report.

There are other offices want it done like that. 

[RotBenz8888]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

They are wanting a TM30 report of his arrival at the residence. It has nothing to do with a 90 day report.

There are other offices want it done like that. 

So a local immigration office can make their own rules?

[bluesofa]

6 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

So a local immigration office can make their own rules?

Surely they are implementing a very old rule, by reminding you of the need (albeit for the housemaster) to report the presence of a foreigner within 24 hours.

[jackdd]

6 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

So a local immigration office can make their own rules?

It is required by law anywhere in Thailand, some immigration offices just don't enforce it

 

Section 38

The housemaster, the owner or the possessor of the residence, or the hotel manager where the alien, receiving permission to stay temporary in the Kingdom has stayed, must notify the competent official of the Immigration Office located in the same area with that hours, dwelling place or hotel, within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the alien concerned. If there is no Immigration Office located in that area, the local police official for that area must be notified.

In case the house, dwelling place, or hotel where the alien has stayed under provision of paragraph 1 is located within the Bangkok area, such notification must be reported to the competent official at the Immigration Division.

Making notification, in reference to the paragraph 1 and 2 of this Section, must comply with regulations prescribed by the Director General.

http://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/thai-immigration-act-temporary-stay-in-the-kingdom-sections-34-39/

 

But as you can see the "housemaster, the owner or the possessor of the residence, or the hotel manager" has to make the report, not necessarily the foreigner himself. But immigration offices who enforce it like to fine the foreigner if its not done, even if the foreigner didn't have to obligation to do it.

[RotBenz8888]

49 minutes ago, jackdd said:

It is required by law anywhere in Thailand, some immigration offices just don't enforce it

 

 

 

http://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/thai-immigration-act-temporary-stay-in-the-kingdom-sections-34-39/

 

But as you can see the "housemaster, the owner or the possessor of the residence, or the hotel manager" has to make the report, not necessarily the foreigner himself. But immigration offices who enforce it like to fine the foreigner if its not done, even if the foreigner didn't have to obligation to do it.

Suppose you rent long term, how often does the housemaster have to make a report? Every time the contract is extended? And if you leave the country, do you have to make a rapport yourself when you come back?

[maxx58]

The officers stated that I have to report personally, with the required documentation, including the TM-30 signed by homeowner.

[bluesofa]

13 minutes ago, maxx58 said:

The officers stated that I have to report personally, with the required documentation, including the TM-30 signed by homeowner.

The path of least resistance...

[jackdd]

1 hour ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Suppose you rent long term, how often does the housemaster have to make a report? Every time the contract is extended? And if you leave the country, do you have to make a rapport yourself when you come back?

As you can see the law does not make this clear, so it depends on the immigration office, maybe even on the IO.

At some offices they say you have to report if you have been out of country, at others they want a new report every time you have spent a night at another place.

 

If you rent a place with a rental contract in your name imho you can be considered to be the "possessor of the residence", so you can and have to report yourself.

 

In case you just stay at your wife's house, then imho you are none of these persons: "housemaster, the owner or the possessor of the residence, or the hotel manager". So technically you are not obliged to report yourself, but this would be the task of your wife as the owner.

The problem here is that an IO would have to fine your wife for not submitting the TM30 if she doesn't do it. But they are too lazy (maybe they would do it if your wife is at the immigration office with you) to do this so they just fine the foreigner because it's easier. This fine does of course have no legal grounds, but you can either pay it or they will probably refuse to do whatever you wanted from them, for example give you an extension of stay, issue a certificate of residence or accept your 90 day report.

(Because what are you going to do about an illegal fine? Call the police? 555)

Edited March 5, 2019 by jackdd

[ocddave]

Yeah, the first thing I want to do when travelling for almost 32 hours from the US is to hurry up and head down to Nonthaburi immigration to file a TM30, or for some, chase down the house owners to do it for them......and they should wave this if we are returning to the same address we left from (which we fill in on the form they give you on the plane).

[maxx58]

30 minutes ago, ocddave said:

Yeah, the first thing I want to do when travelling for almost 32 hours from the US is to hurry up and head down to Nonthaburi immigration to file a TM30, or for some, chase down the house owners to do it for them......and they should wave this if we are returning to the same address we left from (which we fill in on the form they give you on the plane).

The officer even told my wife that if someone arrives after a long flight late at night they have to report the following day to Immigration!

 

Except if they arrive on a Friday, then they can report on Monday since Immigration is closed on the weekend.

 

It’s insane!!

 

[ocddave]

5 minutes ago, maxx58 said:

The officer even told my wife that if someone arrives after a long flight late at night they have to report the following day to Immigration!

 

Except if they arrive on a Friday, then they can report on Monday since Immigration is closed on the weekend.

 

It’s insane!!

 

We pass thru Immigration right at the airport, what the heck do they call that? I call it reporting to immigration, otherwise what the heck am I waiting in line to talk to them for?! I am handing them a slip that tells them the address I am heading to which matches all my other immigration information, there should be no need to run down to Nonthaburi, tell them to use one of those newfangled "Thailand 4.0" devices called a computer, lookup my entry when I reported at the airport where I was going/heading. I could see if I was changing my address, but if I'm returning to the same address I left from, then reporting makes no sense.

[bluesofa]

13 minutes ago, ocddave said:

We pass thru Immigration right at the airport, what the heck do they call that? I call it reporting to immigration, otherwise what the heck am I waiting in line to talk to them for?! I am handing them a slip that tells them the address I am heading to which matches all my other immigration information, there should be no need to run down to Nonthaburi, tell them to use one of those newfangled "Thailand 4.0" devices called a computer, lookup my entry when I reported at the airport where I was going/heading. I could see if I was changing my address, but if I'm returning to the same address I left from, then reporting makes no sense.

Makes no sense? You're confusing immigration with someone who uses logic.

Bureaucracy rules OK! Especially when doing the same job someone else has done when you informed them of your address on the TM6 at the airport immigration counter.

They need it to be verified that's where you really are! More paperwork! I just see it as a game and play it by their rules.

[jackdd]

36 minutes ago, ocddave said:

We pass thru Immigration right at the airport, what the heck do they call that? I call it reporting to immigration, otherwise what the heck am I waiting in line to talk to them for?! I am handing them a slip that tells them the address I am heading to which matches all my other immigration information, there should be no need to run down to Nonthaburi, tell them to use one of those newfangled "Thailand 4.0" devices called a computer, lookup my entry when I reported at the airport where I was going/heading. I could see if I was changing my address, but if I'm returning to the same address I left from, then reporting makes no sense.

In your case this does of course not make much sense.

But for 99% of the foreigners the situation is not so easy. Does a tourist who comes to Thailand know the proper address of the place where he is staying? Maybe he knows he will stay with a friend at "Lumpini condo" (of which there are probably 10 in Bangkok alone), so he puts this on the arrival card. Should the IO demand that the person writes the proper address on the arrival card or he will not be let into Thailand? Police wants to know where the foreigner is, and from the arrival card this is just not clear in most cases.

The TM30 requirement also makes it more difficult for people who stay in Thailand illegally, because a landlord would have to report them and then immigration police would easily see that this person should not be in Thailand. Maybe last week in one of the "illegal foreigners catched" news i read here on Thaivisa they even specifically mentioned that the places where immigration police found those foreigners were fined because they didn't report them.

 

What immigration police should imho offer is that the TM30 can be filed at the entry point, this would of course mean you have to take your rental contract or whatever with you, but it would save the extra trip to the immigration office.

Edited March 5, 2019 by jackdd

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

So a local immigration office can make their own rules?

Very much so. The bigger ones seem to stick to the rules as written, mostly, but more rural special requirements are cited often.