16 minutes ago, Fibonaqi said:

They apparently give out 800 appointments a day from the online booking. I did wonder if they can process 100 per hour. What happens when you are #220 and you don't get served during your allotted time?

I was there at MTT today. In at 1130, out by 1pm.  They had half the counters running. I was grateful they had staff working through lunch hour. ????. With full staff, maybe it runs quicker. I had all necessary docs, so there was no delays. I would say 90mins is the fastest you can hope for there.

3 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

I was there at MTT today. In at 1130, out by 1pm.  They had half the counters running. I was grateful they had staff working through lunch hour. ????. With full staff, maybe it runs quicker. I had all necessary docs, so there was no delays. I would say 90mins is the fastest you can hope for there.

What date did you get stamped for/told to come back?

5 hours ago, tabbycat said:

Will he use the same letter then, and would it still be less than a month old on the day he goes back to MTT? (e.g., my letter was issued on Monday, went to MTT yesterday, under consideration told to come back on 9 Oct, so original letter would still only be ~2.5 weeks old at that time). He might have a shot then. Would also depend on I/O staff, assuming he reapplies at the same counter as where he gets stamped - if they stamp him then immediately see him paying 1900B again for another 30 days using the same letter/docs perhaps they may have an issue. I think we'll know more by mid-Oct when more people try this out.

 

When I was at Counter J I noticed people with old embassy letters getting turned away & told to come back with a more recent note. Someone who was very desperate, nearly in tears, even got lucky with one of the document checkers who clearly made an exception for him "we only accept 30 day letters but for you, 60 days" and even *then* his letter was too old (issued in March/April).

 

I don't know if he'll use the same letter or not.  Not sure when he got it.  Likely he'll need a new one.

 

But I think you're right about knowing more by mid-October.  And about them having an issue with using the same letter.  In my own experiences with immigration they've always seemed to be pretty much on the ball with scrutinizing things.  Seems risky to me.  (Even if the desk let you use the old letter, if they are still doing under consideration stamps then the people reviewing the docs later could reject it.)

3 hours ago, tabbycat said:

What date did you get stamped for/told to come back?

21-Oct.

46 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

21-Oct.

So they gave you 25 days from the 27th ? Under consideration ? So you will need to go back for the extra 5? Seems a bit bizarre .. if it was 15+15 that’s more undersable but 25+5 ?

But surely by then you will know if you need to even extend again or have left the country.

 

or immigration will maybe want to know why you haven’t left yet ? @ubonjoe anyone

26 minutes ago, Jackcwba said:

So they gave you 25 days from the 27th

No

It starts from the day the application is done not the 27th.

11 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

No

It starts from the day the application is done not the 27th.

@ubonjoe ok So he has to go back on the 21st which is 28 days from today.

 

so on the 21st he will get those extra 2 days to make the total of 30? (28+2)

 

But by then you’ll either need to have another letter ready or have left as it’s so close to the end anyway?

16 minutes ago, Jackcwba said:

so on the 21st he will get those extra 2 days to make the total of 30? (28+2)

The extension would be to the 26th of October. It would still start on the 27th.

I think they may be doing the report back date close to the 27th so people can apply for another 30 day extension if prepared for it when they go back,

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

The extension would be to the 26th of October. It would still start on the 27th.

So when he goes back on the 21st, he would have just 5 days left on that 30 days (if he got it) or 7 days if it was rejected.  And if he got the approval, he would basically need to immediately apply for another 30 days.

11 minutes ago, asiacurious said:

So when he goes back on the 21st, he would have just 5 days left on that 30 days (if he got it) or 7 days if it was rejected.

Yes But the chances of it not being approved are about zero.

11 minutes ago, asiacurious said:

And if he got the approval, he would basically need to immediately apply for another 30 days.

Yes

He could apply for the extension during the same trip to immigration. That would avoid another trip to immigration if a person was prepared to apply for it.

 

25 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The extension would be to the 26th of October. It would still start on the 27th.

I think they may be doing the report back date close to the 27th so people can apply for another 30 day extension if prepared for it when they go back,

That makes sense, to preempt and spread out the mad rush come October 26th. That could be the reason.

1 hour ago, asiacurious said:

So when he goes back on the 21st, he would have just 5 days left on that 30 days (if he got it) or 7 days if it was rejected.  And if he got the approval, he would basically need to immediately apply for another 30 days.

I asked the lady that returned my passport whether I would be able to apply for a new extension on 21-Oct to not have to go back and forth after updating my "under consideration" stamp. She said of course it could be done the same day...assuming that the government did not change any rules between now and then. She sounded sincere. Of course, she's not the final say in all these matters...but I'm just telling you that I asked, and that was the answer given.

If they are giving the final stamp only 5 days before the extension ends it will be difficult for those people to use an agent for long term extensions.

From what I've read the agents are telling people to wait until they have the final stamp.