New procedure at Chang Wattana with much much longer wait?

[bkkdriller]

Yesterday (29-Oct) I went to Chang Wattana Immigration to renew my Extension of Stay based on retirement. I have done this many times and well aware of the (ever changing) requirements. Over the years the document requirements have increased significantly and also the waiting time to get the passport back after all documents have been handed in and checked. Yesterday the waiting time was extremely long for ALL Extension of Stay based on retirement renewals. This is my short timeline:

06:00 - Arrived just after 06:00 hrs. Already there was long waiting line and the queue was growing rapidly.

07:00 - Queue tickets were handed out. I got number 150 but there were at least another 300 people waiting behind me. I was told to come back at 07:50.

07:50 - Doors were opened and people were allowed in at groups of 10. I got queue L1-18, not too bad

08:30 - First numbers were called. Someone approached me when he saw my queue number and asked to change it for his L1-08 (he needed some more time as he did not have all paperwork in order).

08:40 - My number was called. Took about 10 min to check all paperwork and all found in order. I was then asked to wait for the supervisor to check documents again but my passport got already stamped with new one year extension. There was some discussion about redoing the bank letter again which I always do the day before. But after careful study of bankbook, stamped bank statement and the 200 Baht receipt from the back I was spared another trip to the bank (My wife always has to update the bankbook on the same day when she applies her extension of stay based on student guardian, same office but different requirements????). I also noted that the IO made additional copies of my passport, TM-8, location map and even the bank book plus some other documents. Apparently this additional set is made available to the police in the event of a house visit.

So far so good an I expected to get my papssport back in 1 to 2 hrs max and drive home before midday rush hour.

12:00 - Requested to leave the immigration office and be back at 13:00. Until then only a few passport had be returned to people in the L1 and L2 queue (families with kids or with Thai partner) but as far as I can tell nobody for Extension of Stay based on retirement. Some retires starting to get a bit upset and pressed IO for information. Apparently the supervisor was in a meeting whole morning to "consider" the retirement application.

13:00 Back in the office.

13:30 First passports were handed back to retires.

13:45  Hooray I got my passport and bankbook back and long journey back home (it takes me 25 min before 06:00 to get to CW but between 1 and 3 hrs to get home dependent of the time of the day).

 

It took 5 hours from the time that the documents were checked and accepted until getting my passport back (previously it took between 20 min to max 2 hrs). 5 hours in a room packed with people, hard chairs, noicy kids and aircon that cannot cope with all the warm bodies. This is no fun and you could see the stress levels rising in the office during this long, long wait.

 

Was this just an unlucky day for the retires or is this now the new norm? Other have same experience? What I do not understand is that the IO tells you to "please wait" instead of tell you come back after 5 hours.  Is this "new procedure" just in CW or also in other immigration offices. I plan to move to another location to avoid this ordeal in the future (most likely Petchaburi office).

 

Thanks for any feedback.

 

 

 

[Genericnic]

Since 31 October is the deadline for getting an extension without the insurance requirement, my guess is that the 30th and 31st will be even more packed than when you went on the 29th. Lots of people have a habit of putting things off until the last possible moment. ????

 

David

[zydeco]

In August 2018, I arrived a little before 1 pm. After the lunch break was over, my entire wait, including interview and return of passport was 1 hour and 30 minutes. This year, August 2019, I arrived a bit before 8 am and was out by 10:30. A bit longer. Next time, I think I'll try the afternoon schedule again. That morning line to wait in a line to get a number and wait in a line again so you can then wait in a line to get your passport back is maddening.

[KhunKenAP]

As is always the case with any government office, in any country, whenever they "improve" a process, it takes longer. When I first came to Asia to get an India business visa it took 3 days. A few years later they improved their system and it now takes 10 days.

 

At least you can still get your retirement visa renewed in one day. I sure that it will soon be improved to 3 days. lol

[dabhand]

17 minutes ago, KhunKenAP said:

As is always the case with any government office, in any country, whenever they "improve" a process, it takes longer. When I first came to Asia to get an India business visa it took 3 days. A few years later they improved their system and it now takes 10 days.

 

At least you can still get your retirement visa renewed in one day. I sure that it will soon be improved to 3 days. lol

Apols for being a bit OT but your India business visa comment doesn't match with my recent experience.

 

I applied, online, for a one year multiple entry eBusiness visa a couple of weeks back. Applied on the Friday and received the visa on the Monday. A bit pricey but India has certainly upped their game on issuing visas as had similar success with a tourist e-visa 18 months back.

[gk10002000]

49 minutes ago, Genericnic said:

Since 31 October is the deadline for getting an extension without the insurance requirement, my guess is that the 30th and 31st will be even more packed than when you went on the 29th. Lots of people have a habit of putting things off until the last possible moment. ????

 

David

it should not matter because supposedly the extension does not require insurance, only getting the initial OA visa in one's home country is when the insurance is supposedly required

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, bkkdriller said:

Apparently the supervisor was in a meeting whole morning to "consider" the retirement application.

Combined with tomorrows date this could make sense.

Maybe another attempt to understand and determine procedures for this health insurance madness?

[NightSky]

On the previous couple years visit it’s been the same at cw

 

expect to wait around all day

[Martyp]

Yes you were unlucky. I got my 2nd 1 year extension based on retirement at CW on Monday, Oct 7th. I arrived at 8:45am and had my passport with extension stamp at 10:30am. I was done so early I decided to get a multiple re-entry permit too. I got that at 11:30am.

 

Unless you absolutely have to get out of CW early there is little to be gained by showing up at 6am. You are just getting a queue number in order to get another queue number. You are waiting 2 hours with a bunch of people mostly doing something else and are never going to be ahead of you in line.

 

And always bring something to do or read.

[Puchaiyank]

I plan to move to another (city) location to avoid this ordeal in the future.

 

You may eventually find it necessary to move to another country to avoid the yearly immigration ordeal...????

[Assurancetourix]

 I am extremely happy to live in the province of Sakon Nakhon after reading you 

[metisdead]

A boring troll post has been removed. 

[Nyezhov]

they have good food there

[rwill]

In Ratchaburi 30 mins to 1 hour is the norm for an extension.  No queue numbers handed out there.

[tgeezer]

Have you not noticed the massage services, shopping and dining opportunities at CW? They all pay to be there, how would it be if people were able to extend their visas in a timely manner?  It doesn’t take more than a passport enter the country at an airport, why should it take any time at all to prove that one has a bank account with the required funds deposited, especially since in theory and I think in practise, Immigration found out everything they needed to know about us when we did our initial extension. 

[Martyp]

1 hour ago, tgeezer said:

Have you not noticed the massage services, shopping and dining opportunities at CW? They all pay to be there, how would it be if people were able to extend their visas in a timely manner?  It doesn’t take more than a passport enter the country at an airport, why should it take any time at all to prove that one has a bank account with the required funds deposited, especially since in theory and I think in practise, Immigration found out everything they needed to know about us when we did our initial extension. 

Ha! That's actually pretty funny. Careful people might believe that comment about comment about IO knowing everything about you based on your first extension.

 

Actually, I don't mind the trip to CW occasionally. My wife likes to come along sometimes. There is often a big market in the central area outside the Immigration office. The food court and restaurants downstairs are pretty good as well. It helps that I'm retired, have the time, and Immigration officials have always treated me well. 

[Max69xl]

21 hours ago, Genericnic said:

Since 31 October is the deadline for getting an extension without the insurance requirement, my guess is that the 30th and 31st will be even more packed than when you went on the 29th. Lots of people have a habit of putting things off until the last possible moment. ????

 

David

What has the insurance got to do with the OP's 1 year retirement extension? He went to CW the 29th.

This is just CW nonsense as always. 

[uffe123]

dont understand why anyone would put up with all this BS. This place is no longer a decent place to stay.

Terrible pollution, horrible traffic, price of food loaded with pesticide now higher than my home country. Use to stay here yearly on a retirement visa, but no longer willing to put up with all the BS. Was quoted 14K USD for health insurance "absurd". free in my home country. Very unhealthy place to stay unless you come to here to die early.

Come here a couple  of months a year and then go back to my home country. Been here 18 years but no longer a decent place to live. Many other better paces to retire and cheaper.

[tgeezer]

1 hour ago, Martyp said:

Ha! That's actually pretty funny. Careful people might believe that comment about comment about IO knowing everything about you based on your first extension.

 

What is unbelievable about what I wrote, I did say “I think in practice”.

Can you think of anything That Immigration does apart from accept the application and proof of funds, which would be necessary after the first extension, if they kept records? 
I point to the redundancy of receipts if TM 30 and of 90 day reports, of photocopies of passports, maps showing residence, signatures on disclaimers etc. which point to the fact that if there are records, then they are inaccessible. 
 

[Martyp]

33 minutes ago, tgeezer said:

What is unbelievable about what I wrote, I did say “I think in practice”.

Can you think of anything That Immigration does apart from accept the application and proof of funds, which would be necessary after the first extension, if they kept records? 
I point to the redundancy of receipts if TM 30 and of 90 day reports, of photocopies of passports, maps showing residence, signatures on disclaimers etc. which point to the fact that if there are records, then they are inaccessible. 
 

The proof of funds part is pretty important. I won’t argue that Thai bureaucracy keeps a lot of paper and should to catch up on the digital revolution but the required documents is not a long list and is easily provided.

[Bangkok Barry]

Not sure what the fuss is about. When I apply for a visa I have to wait over 24 hours to get my passport back. Used to be the same day, once upon a long time ago.

[Wake Up]

I got to CW on October 29 at 10:30 am. Got que L1  123 for retirement extension of stay. Got my passport back at 6:15 Pm. Normally I would have been done by 3:30 Pm at the latest. Was a weird day at CW this past Tuesday. More than 50 people were still waiting on retirement extensions when I left. Immigration ladies were nice but you could tell they were overworked and stressed about something with the retirement extensions.  Many angry expats but that anger (although understandable) does not help matters. Every immigration agent I dealt with was nice but you could tell they were also unhappy or stressed about something that day.  

[Wake Up]

2 hours ago, uffe123 said:

dont understand why anyone would put up with all this BS. This place is no longer a decent place to stay.

Terrible pollution, horrible traffic, price of food loaded with pesticide now higher than my home country. Use to stay here yearly on a retirement visa, but no longer willing to put up with all the BS. Was quoted 14K USD for health insurance "absurd". free in my home country. Very unhealthy place to stay unless you come to here to die early.

Come here a couple  of months a year and then go back to my home country. Been here 18 years but no longer a decent place to live. Many other better paces to retire and cheaper.

Life all depends on what you see when you look out the bus window. To me Bangkok is the place I choose and want to be. You see a different place that is not for you. Thank goodness we all get to choose and don’t have the same views. 

[NightSky]

1 hour ago, Wake Up said:

I got to CW on October 29 at 10:30 am. Got que L1  123 for retirement extension of stay. Got my passport back at 6:15 Pm. Normally I would have been done by 3:30 Pm at the latest. Was a weird day at CW this past Tuesday. More than 50 people were still waiting on retirement extensions when I left. Immigration ladies were nice but you could tell they were overworked and stressed about something with the retirement extensions.  Many angry expats but that anger (although understandable) does not help matters. Every immigration agent I dealt with was nice but you could tell they were also unhappy or stressed about something that day.  

It’s the same every day I go to cw.

 

the officials are all overworked and stressed in their job.

 

imagine going into that office every day only to stay late every night and take hours to get home in rush hour traffic and dealing with ever changing rules and copious amounts of paperwork. I think I would be unhappy in that job too.

[Nyezhov]

3 hours ago, uffe123 said:

dont understand why anyone would put up with all this BS. This place is no longer a decent place to stay.

Terrible pollution, horrible traffic, price of food loaded with pesticide now higher than my home country. Use to stay here yearly on a retirement visa, but no longer willing to put up with all the BS. Was quoted 14K USD for health insurance "absurd". free in my home country. Very unhealthy place to stay unless you come to here to die early.

Come here a couple  of months a year and then go back to my home country. Been here 18 years but no longer a decent place to live. Many other better paces to retire and cheaper.

Bye! Good luck to you.

[DaRoadrunner]

9 hours ago, uffe123 said:

Many other better paces to retire and cheaper.

Such as?.... In my opinion they all have their problems.

 

I will grant you that CW Immigration is a pain in the <deleted>.

Edited October 31, 2019 by DaRoadrunner

[HHTel]

Reading the above, I'm so glad I live in Hua Hin.  15-20 mins from start to finish and with passport in hand.

[5633572526]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:46 PM, Genericnic said:

Since 31 October is the deadline for getting an extension without the insurance requirement, my guess is that the 30th and 31st will be even more packed than when you went on the 29th. Lots of people have a habit of putting things off until the last possible moment. ????

 

David

There is no insurance requirement for extension 

[soi3eddie]

I arrived in bkk on 4th November. As CW was closed 4th and 5th had to go on 6th to do my TM30. Also need to transfer extension stamp to new passport. 

 

Arrived CW 11.20am and was given L Queue number 241. B queue number 319.

 

Was done at B for TM30 at 15.20hrs. Went to L queue are at 15.20hrs and number up was only 121. That meant after being open for 6 hours there had only processed 121 people! So I was looking at waiting another 3-6 hours unless by some miracle they doubled the speed of process. The placed was mobbed. Not even standing room. As my need to transfer the stamp was not urgent I have decided to go back next Wednesday early morning in hope it will be quieter. 

[Martyp]

3 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

I arrived in bkk on 4th November. As CW was closed 4th and 5th had to go on 6th to do my TM30. Also need to transfer extension stamp to new passport. 

 

Arrived CW 11.20am and was given L Queue number 241. B queue number 319.

 

Was done at B for TM30 at 15.20hrs. Went to L queue are at 15.20hrs and number up was only 121. That meant after being open for 6 hours there had only processed 121 people! So I was looking at waiting another 3-6 hours unless by some miracle they doubled the speed of process. The placed was mobbed. Not even standing room. As my need to transfer the stamp was not urgent I have decided to go back next Wednesday early morning in hope it will be quieter. 

I got my 1 year extension at CW on Oct 7th. Section L. I got my queue number at 8:45am and was finished by 10:30am. Everything in Section L requires a lot of documentation and each application takes a fairly long time. Last year I did the same thing and the process took 3-4 hours but part of that was my fault for not having the proper banking documentation (it was my first time). Getting there at 11:20am was, I would think, wildly optimistic. I also don't recommend getting there at 6am. You just get a queue number to get another queue number at 8:30am. And of course it varies day-to-day and is just a matter of luck. I was worried about going on a Monday last time but it turned out to be a good day.