Immigration confirm Muang Thong Thani office to reopen amid speculation visa amnesty will not be extended

 

Pictures: Naew Na

 

Thailand's Region 1 immigration have confirmed that the temporary visa office in the Muang Thong Housing estate in Nonthaburi will reopen next Monday, July 13th.

 

The office will handle 90 day reports, address reports and short extensions of stay. 

 

Naew Na said it was reopening under the orders of immigration chief Lt-Gen Sompong Chingduang as he cares about foreigners in Thailand. 

 

It will help to ease pressure on the main immigration center at the Government Complex a few kilometers away on the other side of Chaeng Wattana Road in northern Bangkok. 

 

The media said that with the amnesty on visas expected to come to an end at the end of July it was felt that the Government Complex could become overcrowded.

 

In order to not compromise arrangements like social distancing the temporary office will resume operations much as it did earlier in the year at the height of the pandemic.

 

The news comes as foreigners in Thailand are eagerly awaiting news regarding the current visa amnesty which at the time of publishing is due to end on 31 July.

 

Some have speculated that the re-opening of the temporary immigration office may be an indication that the visa amnesty will not be extended beyond its current expiry date.

 

However, no official announcement regarding the visa amnesty post 31 July has yet been made. 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-07-10

 

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let the storm begin......

Think some folk just lost their 8am breakfast.

Don't panic. Amnesty had to be extended.

Edited July 10, 20205 yr by DrJack54

So now that this has been done, where do I go if I already had an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday, July 14, to process my 90-day report?  The appointment still shows Counter B-65 at Government complex.    (I always do it online, but with the app and website down for the past 2 weeks I was unable to process it that way.)  

 

Admin- Feel free to move this if I need to post it elsewhere.  

So far only means they expect a lot of people to show up start of August, not necessarily the 1st.

 

Could well mean what many have been suspecting here, i.e. you will need to show up to get your amnesty extended so they can track addresses and/or maybe pay up for some extension. Nothing more, until now.

31 minutes ago, webfact said:

Some have speculated that the re-opening of the temporary immigration office may be an indication that the visa amnesty will not be extended beyond its current expiry date.

if that is the case then they need to let people know now and what it is they are expecting them to do by 31st July and after

15 minutes ago, TwoShipps said:

I always do it online, but with the app and website down for the past 2 weeks

I did mine recently online - no issues

It's very typical that they don't just make a decision and tell people what exactly is going on. The 31st is only three weeks away and with flights in and out non existent they need to come up with something.

 with borders closed i wonder how they will be able to manage this .... i hope they grant temporary extension for monthly fee till this covid situation is cleared. 

Speculation from who? The writer of the article?

5 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

It's very typical that they don't just make a decision and tell people what exactly is going on.

The problem is they don't know what's going on and it's out of their control.

Until Malaysia, Cambodia, Loa and Myanmar decide to open their borders to Thailand their hands are somewhat tied and options are limited.

 

They have two options in my opinion.

1. Extend the amnesty.

2. Make a temporary amendment to the regulations, allowing those on the current amnesty to apply for legitimate 30 day extensions, which will produce revenue, but overcrowded Immigration offices once again.

Also, be aware that, starting Monday July 13, 90-day address reports (TM 47) will no longer be done at Chaeng Wattana  -  you'll have to go to the Muang Thong Thani branch. 

 

I asked an officer at Immo CW this morning if this was just a temporary arrangement like before.

 

He said, actually, the plan is to move all of Immo Div. 1 to the Muang Thong Thani building(s) -- but did not have a timeline for that move.

2 minutes ago, Tanoshi said:

The problem is they don't know what's going on and it's out of their control.

Until Malaysia, Cambodia, Loa and Myanmar decide to open their borders to Thailand their hands are somewhat tied and options are limited.

 

They have two options in my opinion.

1. Extend the amnesty.

2. Make a temporary amendment to the regulations, allowing those on the current amnesty to apply for legitimate 30 day extensions, which will produce revenue, but overcrowded Immigration offices once again.

The uncertainty seems particularly harsh to the poor, sick , those supporting families on multi entry visas and migrant workers.

 

However they may of course do nothing at all and then the 2 choices will be fly somewhere, or overstay.

12 minutes ago, TaoNow said:

Also, be aware that, starting Monday July 13, 90-day address reports (TM 47) will no longer be done at Chaeng Wattana  -  you'll have to go to the Muang Thong Thani branch. 

Or do nothing, as 90 day reporting is suspended via the amnesty.

55 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

It's very typical that they don't just make a decision and tell people what exactly is going on. The 31st is only three weeks away and with flights in and out non existent they need to come up with something.

Afaik the rules for extensions are set by the immigration police chief and he could change them if he wants to. Thus he has the power to for example simply scrap the "one per entry" limit of 30 day extensions while the borders are closed. Obviously he didn't do this, we can just speculate about his reasons for this. He waited until the Cabinet ordered him what to do.

I guess now it's the same situation, he just waits for the Cabinet to tell him what to do. The permission of stay of foreigners might not be the cabinet's priority, thus they take their time. Right now immigration most likely doesn't know what the cabinet will decide.

Edited July 10, 20205 yr by jackdd

That graphic from TI immigration says "Notification of residence, Counter B."
As I recall, counter B was for the TM-30 notification, right?
What counter at CW is for certificate of residence, the thing you need to get driver's license renewed?

The Thais always do a nice cartoon Policewoman, I always find. Very trim.

As I wrote before, that pretty much confirms that there will be no automatic extension anymore. Probably 30 days on application in person for 1900B.

3 hours ago, darksidedog said:

It's very typical that they don't just make a decision and tell people what exactly is going on. The 31st is only three weeks away and with flights in and out non existent they need to come up with something.

There are and have been flights OUT of Thailand.

I have no real horse in this race as i do my retirement visa through an agent its due in first few days of Aug

However she called me today asking if we can  do it next week as immigration will be very busy at the start of August, shes well informed ....oh and her partner  is a senior IMO

Looks like somethings planned for August

Yes, it's pretty clear amnesty will not be extended. People who got caught here will have to apply and pay to stay. I wish they would just allow us to pay for 2 to 3 months at once at whatever fee they decide so things would be simplified as this will clearly be going on till somewhere in the 4th quarter at least. Getting embassy letters and having to do bimonthly trips to immigration will be a real headache if they maintain the old policy of covid extension. They have already done plenty of checks on us so they know we are not a threat to national security of for covid infection, with the covid threat being their main reason for not allowing tourists. The sooner they let us know their policy towards us, the sooner we can plan for whatever eventuality will ensue.

I doubt Immigration knows anymore than I do if the amnesty is going to be extended or not, as all of these decisions come from the PM, on his time frame, theoretically in consultation with his team. Immigration is simply being responsible and opening another facility just in case, so as to minimize person-to-person contact if a rush comes.

 

I happened to go to Suvarnabhumi today and other than domestic flights and one flight to Shanghai, every single flight listed on the board said "Cancelled".

 

Getting out is not quite the breeze many here seem to think. Since most flights would be coming in empty, and airlines worldwide are not exactly experiencing a tsunami of cash flow right now, "Cancellation" has been, and will likely remain, the norm for another month or two, which means if the amnesty is terminated, there will be a lot of people living the Tom Hanks "Terminal" movie role at Suvarnabhumi.

1 minute ago, Walker88 said:

which means if the amnesty is terminated, there will be a lot of people living the Tom Hanks "Terminal" movie role at Suvarnabhumi.

This happened to one poor Estonian in the PI. He is stuck there since they will only allow him to fly home on the airline on which he flew into Manila. He flew AirAsia from Bangkok and they are not flying now. Even if they did they don't fly to Estonia.

 

https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/07/man-has-trapped-philippines-airport-110-days-12955321/?fbclid=IwAR0LADAMHioAZgXbP8tM8ilnQoDJ-1EMX2bdpwH41o_LKa_B1zvPoI99wdY

What about 90-day reporting? When do we need to do it again?

The nice IO man was correct when he told me on the 8th it was better to do my 90 day report before the 13th as they were moving out by impact arena in Muang thong Thani.

thanks my friend ????

32 minutes ago, SymS said:

What about 90-day reporting? When do we need to do it again?

After July 31st. Immigration will announce when they are due. Some office have stated it will be due 90 days from when your last report was due.

Vietnam is charging $100/monthly for visas for people stuck there. 

If not extended many of my friends in cnx will be very concerned.they will be ready to return to there country quickly and not want a overstay stamp

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

It's very typical that they don't just make a decision and tell people what exactly is going on. The 31st is only three weeks away and with flights in and out non existent they need to come up with something.

Even on the last week a given 30 days extension could be enough to take a flight out of BKK.... single flights available …..but not the return ticket many could not use ….for that a voucher will be available .

 I expect a extension to be given , but in person …., as now they loose their so favorite tracking for foreigners whereabouts ! 

Hence the extra immigration office capacity