Suprise visit by immigration

[IraqRon]

Have lived in same house with retirement extension for over eight years here close to muang chiang rai.  Yesterday was visited by two men, not in uniform but t shirts and unmarked truck.  They let themselves in the gate and walked to me, one asked for my passport while the other pulled out a sheath of typed papers, the last page had my name written in a blank area and below that were areas for notes and signatures. Upon my asking who they were the first man said he was police and id'ed the other as imm.  I asked to see ids and they got them from the truck while i got my pp.  Imm. man didnot look at ext. stamp, etc., just the picture pages and compared the name and pp number with what was on his paper,  filled in some notes, took a pic on phone of pp and of me, both men thanked me and left.  I had the day before done my 90day in person.  

 

Anyone in cr had a home visit recently?? Random thing or what? Being suprised like this was unsetteling.

[villagefarang]

Not recently and not unannounced.  A while back we had a guy call and make an appointment.  He showed up in a vest with a badge on it and had his ID available.  We had a nice visit and he got some pictures to prove he had been to visit us.  He had a stack of folders for all the expats he was assigned to go visit.  It was different but after we felt comfortable he was genuine, things when smoothly.

[sceadugenga]

Not for a couple of years and I've always had a call before hand with one exception when a new employee at immigration logged my 90 day into the wrong column causing a carload to turn up.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Last September, but 2 weeks after extension they booked the visit and came in uniform and in an immigration pickup.

I would be concerned that they were out of uniform and didn’t offer id without you asking to see it .

Doesn’t seem like the normal procedure, maybe a quick call to immigration to verify the motive of their visit ?

[IraqRon]

thanks to all of for the input, several years ago i had a scheduled visit here, in uniforms, they used gps to enter exact loc. of house and stayed longer time then.

 

when i saw the page with my name, no uni. and before asking "who are you" all sorts of possibilites came to mind, debt collectors for ex wife's debts, allegation of lm, etc.  now after reviewing this i think they were checking up to see if i trully lived here, probably also on others in the area.  they in a hurry to verify and leave.

 

donot know what comp. system imm. has, but if i wanted to target certain groups , i.e. those who hold non spouse ext. and report same address many years, this is one search to do.

[villagefarang]

It is always best to be cautious but polite.

[thasoss]

I keep the gate locked......a precaution only,no stray dogs or people can come in....once inside the property not always easy to get rid of.

As for police or immigration officers,yes pays to be polite and courteous after seeing ID.

[Vacuum]

2 hours ago, IraqRon said:

they used gps to enter exact loc. of house

Excellent. Perhaps they should share their intelligence with Immigration Offices all over Thailand. Would save extension applicants based on marriage the hassle of making hand-drawn maps.

[billsmart]

Yes, I had a similar visit about a month ago. It was no big deal. I just had to show them my passport and other papers, and then they took some photos. Easy-peasy...

[connda]

23 hours ago, villagefarang said:

Not recently and not unannounced.  A while back we had a guy call and make an appointment.  He showed up in a vest with a badge on it and had his ID available.  We had a nice visit and he got some pictures to prove he had been to visit us.  He had a stack of folders for all the expats he was assigned to go visit.  It was different but after we felt comfortable he was genuine, things when smoothly.

The last time a cop show up out here in the boondocks of Lamphun was after the Erawan bombing. I think we all got visits.  Wife took care of it.  I didn't even talk to them.

[buanmeerugsaa]

On 7/11/2019 at 2:50 PM, villagefarang said:

Not recently and not unannounced.  A while back we had a guy call and make an appointment.  He showed up in a vest with a badge on it and had his ID available.  We had a nice visit and he got some pictures to prove he had been to visit us.  He had a stack of folders for all the expats he was assigned to go visit.  It was different but after we felt comfortable he was genuine, things when smoothly.

Where was this please? Also Chiang Rai?

[Thaifriends]

When Residence Permit is issued or renewed in the EU, a visit from the immigration is mandatory and its without any prior call. 

 

So why so fuss on if now they started to physically verify?

[Bangkok Barry]

A couple of years ago I had a visit by three policemen to gather info on me for immigration purposes. One was my wife's brother and another a cousin, so we didn't take it too seriously....

[elcaro]

Yeah they came by two days ago. I was not there, and they went to speak with the poo yai bahn. We heard the next day when poo yai came to tell us.

 

[natway09]

Beware if you are on a spouse visa.

They have already advised that they will be upping the physical visits to be rid of the scammers who have never even met their wives

[villagefarang]

1 hour ago, buanmeerugsaa said:

Where was this please? Also Chiang Rai?

Phayamengrai which is east of Chiang Rai.

[connda]

50 minutes ago, Thaifriends said:

When Residence Permit is issued or renewed in the EU, a visit from the immigration is mandatory and its without any prior call. 

 

So why so fuss on if now they started to physically verify?

After you get your "Residence Permit" in the EU, do the authorities keep showing up year after year to 'physically verify'/check up on you as though you are a parolee or a possible criminal???

[ronaldo0]

Had cop come before to confirm I stayed where I told immigration. I was in the shower so wife went out and he asked her if I stayed there . She said yes he’s in the shower though , he said ok thanks and left . Bit odd considering my neighbor is a cop ????

[connda]

23 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Beware if you are on a spouse visa.

They have already advised that they will be upping the physical visits to be rid of the scammers who have never even met their wives

So they'll now come multiple times a year for multiple years...what is it they expect to find after the first few visits?  Really.  These are less like visits to 'be rid of the scammers' and more like actual harassment of those legally living here for years, "you're not welcome here and we're making sure you understand that - farang!"  If you can't find "scammers", then harass those following the rules.  Sort of like they do with retirees.  Can't find the agents and the bent IOs they work with who guarantee a retirement extension at a price - then hammer (harass) those retirees playing by the rules.  Same, same.

[spornb]

10 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

They are welcome to come, but couldn't just walk in. I have a large German Shepherd that will not allow strangers to enter. Although he's obedience trained he only responds to a few people, my wife, sister in law and myself. Once I call him off he's usually good with visitors or I send him to his cage. He's very welcoming to friends or relatives he knows. 

We have four fully grown German Shepherds, keeps most at bay , they look after us very well !!, in fact Marriage extn next week, usually ensure they are in the required photos !

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

A couple of years ago I had a visit by three policemen to gather info on me for immigration purposes. One was my wife's brother and another a cousin, so we didn't take it too seriously....

That's one handsome looking cop with the big smile.

 

Why isn't he an actor instead?

[hugocnx]

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

That's one handsome looking cop with the big smile.

 

Why isn't he an actor instead?

He is acting right there and then

[finnishmen]

yes,immigration police has go looking my life 4 time last 4 year. no big deal, he onmly go looking and all have ok, go out thats it.

[aqua4]

7 hours ago, natway09 said:

Beware if you are on a spouse visa.

They have already advised that they will be upping the physical visits to be rid of the scammers who have never even met their wives

If they did it once then what is the point of doing it again? Its just a reminder that they dont want you in Thailand. If we had to do this to Thais' in our home countries they would sue the government .... oh wait they would have citizenship by then. No foreigner I had met over the years wants citizenship in Thailand but something like an Alien Permanent Resident Card after 5 years like Taiwan would make more sense and be more useful for all including immigration. Looking back now, I should have gotten off in Taipei and not Bangkok if I wanted to live in Asia. 

[sunnyboy2018]

16 minutes ago, aqua4 said:

If they did it once then what is the point of doing it again? Its just a reminder that they dont want you in Thailand. If we had to do this to Thais' in our home countries they would sue the government .... oh wait they would have citizenship by then. No foreigner I had met over the years wants citizenship in Thailand but something like an Alien Permanent Resident Card after 5 years like Taiwan would make more sense and be more useful for all including immigration. Looking back now, I should have gotten off in Taipei and not Bangkok if I wanted to live in Asia. 

Feel free

[DaRoadrunner]

An Immigration lady from the National Security Office phoned and made an appointment to visit shortly after applying for my last Retirement Visa. Three of em showed up at my Bkk apartment. They took photos of me together with ever smiling IO lady, outside and inside the apartment.

 

Ended up with one very apologetic IO on her knees in my lounge.... "Sorry, it's not us, it's the General. We are Immigration and you will get your visa."

 

She said they had been told to check the visas and addresses of every Farang. It begins to look like a Military / Police state. Except for the smiles and the fact that the IO didn't like it any more than we do!

[NCC1701A]

On 7/11/2019 at 2:21 PM, IraqRon said:

Yesterday was visited by two men, not in uniform but t shirts and unmarked truck.

did they look into every room in the house? that is going to be a real problem for me. 

 

[NCC1701A]

14 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

One of them seemed to be a customs officer and wanted to check items previously shipped duty free in a container.

 

horrible. if that happened to me i would flip out.  

[wisperone]

On 7/11/2019 at 3:21 AM, IraqRon said:

filled in some notes, took a pic on phone of pp and of me, both men thanked me and left. 

I guess it wasn't lunch time????

[NCC1701A]

8 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

A couple of years ago I had a visit by three policemen to gather info on me for immigration purposes. One was my wife's brother and another a cousin, so we didn't take it too seriously....

the last time i saw three criminals like that they extorted 5000 baht from me.

seriously not sure what will happen when they come to my house.