Expiry of Retirement visa

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, smallgnome said:

The best thing would be to visit with the immigration office B4 the due date and ask the official what they should do.  That way they can demonstrate leniency and gain your trust.

I understand your point but not sure if I agree. Showing up and taking their time when you aren't there to do business might be annoying to them. Also of what value is a verbal response? I think of no value on the actual application date.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, smallgnome said:

The best thing would be to visit with the immigration office B4 the due date and ask the official what they should do.  That way they can demonstrate leniency and gain your trust.

The best answer here! But, many retirees in Thailand seem to be too busy(or scared) to do this type of thing.

 

 

 

[yankyoakum]

Just did my extension of stay, was one day over and paid the 500 bt fine. Jomtien..Coulda shoulda done it 45 days prior to expiry as I have read you are allowed to.. When I went to Sattahip bank for report stating money was there, can't get it as account opened in CM, they had to send to CM to get the report, took 5 days. Opened new account in Sattahip branch, soon as I showed the CM bank statements at immigration, defunded the CM account and transferred to new account local branch here. Then same day took new bank book for update. Now in May will have to show the funds are still there but will do with new account, IO said just bring both bank books just in case..FYI the IO at Jomtien is very helpful, nicest people and was stress free experience... I am not good at paperwork..I was stressing this as my first time renewing.

[KhunG]

21 minutes ago, yankyoakum said:

Just did my extension of stay, was one day over and paid the 500 bt fine. Jomtien..Coulda shoulda done it 45 days prior to expiry as I have read you are allowed to.. When I went to Sattahip bank for report stating money was there, can't get it as account opened in CM, they had to send to CM to get the report, took 5 days. Opened new account in Sattahip branch, soon as I showed the CM bank statements at immigration, defunded the CM account and transferred to new account local branch here. Then same day took new bank book for update. Now in May will have to show the funds are still there but will do with new account, IO said just bring both bank books just in case..FYI the IO at Jomtien is very helpful, nicest people and was stress free experience... I am not good at paperwork..I was stressing this as my first time renewing.

That's interesting.  Which bank, may I ask?

 

I use Kasikornbank, and still route all incoming funds through my Buriram account.  Now that I live in Rayong and have a local account here, the Rayong branch has no problem updating my Buriram account book and providing the letter for immigration.

[WaveHunter]

2 hours ago, smallgnome said:

The best thing would be to visit with the immigration office B4 the due date and ask the official what they should do.  That way they can demonstrate leniency and gain your trust.

I agree with this.  Imm officers are often not given credit for being compassionate and effective at finding a solution to your problem!  It all depends on finding the right one.  I've had issues both when I lived in Chiang Mai and when I lived in Jomtien that were solved effectively with the help of an Imm officer who really cared about helping people.  Have a good attitude when you enter an Imm office and you'll be surprised at what can be accomplished there.

 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

I agree with this.  Imm officers are often not given credit for being compassionate and effective at finding a solution to your problem!  It all depends on finding the right one.  I've had issues both when I lived in Chiang Mai and when I lived in Jomtien that were solved effectively with the help of an Imm officer who really cared about helping people.  Have a good attitude when you enter an Imm office and you'll be surprised at what can be accomplished there.

 

Not knocking a positive attitude but at the end of the day these immigration police and that's what they are police hold our lives in Thailand in their hands. So what happens if your officer is in a grumpy mood and/or just doesn't like your face?

[WaveHunter]

41 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Not knocking a positive attitude but at the end of the day these immigration police and that's what they are police hold our lives in Thailand in their hands. So what happens if your officer is in a grumpy mood and/or just doesn't like your face?

I agree, lots of Imm officers are grumpy and can be downlight nasty simply because you are a Farang.  The key is to find one you can deal with that is not.  If you have a serious problem like that with one of them, find another one to deal with.  I've had to do that a few times.  It's not as daunting as it might sound, even if it requires just coming back another day.  My experience is there are more "farang-friendly" Imm officers than there are unfriendly ones. 

 

And if you really run into a roadblock, hire an honest and legitimate agent to act on your behalf.  I had to do that once and it was amazing how quickly and easily the issue was resolved.  Most people have a real negative view of agents as being unethical and sleazy...not true if you find a good one.  Afterall, if an Imm officer is truly being unfair to you and they are "holding your life in their hands", it's up to you to turn the situation around.

[WaveHunter]

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I understand your point but not sure if I agree. Showing up and taking their time when you aren't there to do business might be annoying to them. Also of what value is a verbal response? I think of no value on the actual application date.

I disagree.  Asking for a few minutes of their time to ask a quick question is a lot more respectful of their time than showing up with some sort of issue that they'll need to review, reject, and then explain why they're rejecting it, and then have you come back again.  That's what I think really ticks them off...all the wasted time caused by Farangs coming in with improper interpretation of requirements and/or unacceptable paperwork.

 

Even better is to ask the question on this forum.  There are some incredibly knowledgeable people like UbonJoe, for instance, who seem to know just about everything related to Immigration, that can set you on the correct path.

[Jingthing]

7 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I disagree.  Asking for a few minutes of their time to ask a quick question is a lot more respectful of their time than showing up with some sort of issue that they'll need to review, reject, and then explain why they're rejecting it, and then have you come back again.  That's what I think really ticks them off...all the wasted time caused by Farangs coming in with improper interpretation of requirements and/or unacceptable paperwork.

 

Even better is to ask the question on this forum.  There are some incredibly knowledgeable people like UbonJoe, for instance, who seem to know just about everything related to Immigration, that can set you on the correct path.

Fine.

 

But again my personal experience at Jomtien because they are a very busy office with a numbering queue system is that its somewhat awkward to interrupt them at the desk. I don't think the front desk will give numbers for questions at Jomtien. Am I wrong about that?

[WaveHunter]

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Fine.

 

But again my personal experience at Jomtien because they are a very busy office with a numbering queue system is that its somewhat awkward to interrupt them at the desk. I don't think the front desk will give numbers for questions at Jomtien. Am I wrong about that?

Actually, I had a positive experience at the Jomtien office with this exact thing a few months ago.  I had a question that I asked at the front desk which they could not answer, and without me even asking, the girl gave me a ticket and pointed me to the officer I should ask my question to.  I had to wait maybe 10 minutes for my number to come up.  The officer was very efficient, courteous, and quick to respond.  She also was quite fluent in English.  It took about 3 minutes of her time.

 

I admit this has not always been my experience in Imm offices here in Jomtien or up in Chiang Mai where I used to live.  Up in Chiang Mai I came into the Imm office with paperwork that was improperly filled out.  The Imm officer reviewing it was quickly annoyed and literally threw all of my paperwork consisting of about 30 pages back AT me with some landing on the floor, and sternly said "You do over!  Come back again!" and pointed his finger at the door in a mean-spirited way!  He was like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld LOL!

 

I wonder if perhaps they have revamped how they deal with Farangs lately (i.e.: those with questions who obviously don't speak Thai being directed to an English-speaking officer) because the officer at Jomtien Imm was as nice as could be??

[Jingthing]

My experience with asking questions there is that you need to phrase your one question extremely carefully and the answer will be one or two quick words. In other words the chances of a lost in translation situation are quite high. 

[connda]

On 2/21/2021 at 2:22 PM, ubonjoe said:

I can recall cases where immigration told people to go on a overstay when they were a few days short of having the money in the bank long enough.

A couple of days of overstay is not really that big of a deal.

If he needed a month or so to meet the financial requirements, would immigration grant and 1 or 2 month extension of stay until the funds are seasoned? 

[WaveHunter]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

My experience with asking questions there is that you need to phrase your one question extremely carefully and the answer will be one or two quick words. In other words the chances of a lost in translation situation are quite high. 

I hear that ????.  I always found it remarkable that in an office that's devoted to dealing with foreigners, so few of the Imm officers can only speak Thai.

 

I mean, English is sort of considered a universal language all around the world (i.e.: even people from non-English countries often speak English as a second language). 

 

But, as is often expressed to me by many Thai People..."This is Thailand, we do things a little differently here".  I've heard that phrase so many time!

 

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, connda said:

If he needed a month or so to meet the financial requirements, would immigration grant and 1 or 2 month extension of stay until the funds are seasoned? 

The is no short stay extension you could normally apply for unless married to or the parent of a Thai.

At this time a 60 day covid 19 extension might be possible now.

[ericthai]

10 hours ago, Neeranam said:

The best answer here! But, many retirees in Thailand seem to be too busy(or scared) to do this type of thing.

 

 

 

Maybe the reason is, if you go and ask you get one answer today and when you go back tomorrow it's different answer.

Not so much being busy or scared. 

[Jingthing]

28 minutes ago, ericthai said:

Maybe the reason is, if you go and ask you get one answer today and when you go back tomorrow it's different answer.

Not so much being busy or scared. 

Indeed. It's not as if they're going to give you a promise of future actions in writing. I'm not saying that I would never consider going in there just to ask a question, just that I don't value the benefit of doing so as much as some others posting here. 

[Neeranam]

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

My experience with asking questions there is that you need to phrase your one question extremely carefully and the answer will be one or two quick words. In other words the chances of a lost in translation situation are quite high. 

When dealing with these kids of Thai workers, you are better going in and asking if they can help you than going in armed with the facts you got online. Just my experience.