Bangkok Immigration - Important Announcement

[berrec]

18 hours ago, SooKee said:

Stupid IMO.  I would imagine most people who go early do it because they have time to sort things out if there's a problem.

You mean when there is a problem; not if there is a problem, IM will find one for you!

 

The biggest problem is IM themselves.

[Sydebolle]

This is all not real ........... Thailand and its bureaucracy - quo vadis? 

[rodknock]

thank you, i forgot about the holidays.

will go on 27th.

[John Drake]

And what if you already have an appointment with immigration and it is a couple of weeks before the three day window?

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, John Drake said:

And what if you already have an appointment with immigration and it is a couple of weeks before the three day window?

I assume it will be accepted. Be sure you take a copy of the confirmation email with you.

[Misty]

18 minutes ago, John Drake said:

And what if you already have an appointment with immigration and it is a couple of weeks before the three day window?

Please let us know how it goes. We have an appointment in mid-August for Non B visa extension renewal and really hope to keep it.

[Digitalbanana]

19 hours ago, samtam said:

who the hell uses an FB page to make an important government announcement?

It's always been on their govt site!

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/important-announcement/

 

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

It's always been on their govt site!

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/important-announcement/

 

It was not their yesterday. I looked for it.

[buick]

the announcement mentions 'permission to stay',  i'm planning to go for a change visa (exempt to non O).  is that covered under the 3 day rule ?  i end up with a 90 day non O after a two weeks 'approval period' so i do get a permission to stay out of it.  but the change visa section was very quiet when i went through the process back in 2017. in and out in a few minutes on both visits.  better safe than sorry i guess, go 3 days in advance.

[Pib]

18 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

It's always been on their govt site!

https://bangkok.immigration.go.th/en/important-announcement/

 

Nope....not "always" there.  Although it says it was posted 19 July, it was not there yesterday/19 July as I looked numerous times.   While it was on immigration's "Facebook" acct on 19 July it was not on their website above....whether selecting English or Thai language.   That's why several people about this time on 19 July started asking the OP for a source as nothing was on immigration www website.   I expect they probably posted it on their website today/20 July although they dated it 19 July.  

[BritTim]

21 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

It was not their yesterday. I looked for it.

Looking at archive.org, suggests that the webpage was created late afternoon yesterday, July 19th. Frankly, expecting people to be aware of something like this when it is poorly announced less than 24 hours before it comes into effect is totally unreasonable.

[khunjeff]

14 minutes ago, buick said:

the announcement mentions 'permission to stay',  i'm planning to go for a change visa (exempt to non O).  is that covered under the 3 day rule ?  i end up with a 90 day non O after a two weeks 'approval period' so i do get a permission to stay out of it.  but the change visa section was very quiet when i went through the process back in 2017. in and out in a few minutes on both visits.  better safe than sorry i guess, go 3 days in advance.

The announcement only mentions counters J, L, M, and N, and you would be doing your visa application at counter C, so no, it doesn't apply to you. You do have to apply for the Non-O with at least 15 days left on your exempt.

[chilly07]

Here we go again. Hope this is just Bangkok who have the luxury of an appointment system. In Jomtien we have to queue in the car park as they can't be bothered with appointments. If they operate a 3 day embargo what happens to under consideration. Will that be turned round in 3 days?. Thinking back to last year they accepted walk ins but Indian Wuflu is much worse now. Perhaps opening up a couple of alternate sites as they did for 90 days and Wuflu extensions and include normal extensions!

[ubonjoe]

13 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

If they operate a 3 day embargo what happens to under consideration. Will that be turned round in 3 days?.

The under consideration stamp allows you to stay in the country until the extension is issued. You permit to stay date means nothing after the stamp is done.

[mtls2005]

So do people here think that appointments will still be a thing?

 

Or become one again, assuming the system is revived.

 

Or will they revert to a paper slip queuing system?

 

 

[audaciousnomad]

 

21 hours ago, Pib said:

Yea...I agree.   Most people typically show up 3-4 weeks before their extension expiration date which automatically creates a fairly steady flow...probably just as steady as 15 days before, 10 days before or 3 days before.   Making it only 3 days before will sure create domino type problem in people getting all docs like bank letters, Kor Ror 2, etc., as banks and govt agencies will probably operating hours/days restrictions to get certain docs.   It just creates problems when a person has a small time window they must thread.

They mis-translated their intentions. They probably should have said APPLY NOT LESS THAN 3 days before expiry. Or... APPLY 3 days or farther in advance.  ????

[Pib]

11 minutes ago, audaciousnomad said:

 

They mis-translated their intentions. They probably should have said APPLY NOT LESS THAN 3 days before expiry. Or... APPLY 3 days or farther in advance.  ????

No...it seems pretty clear....instead of being allowed to apply up to 45 days like before, now it's only 3 days.

[soalbundy]

21 hours ago, Pib said:

I expect it also has to do with immigration office staffing levels as govt agencies are trying hard to shift as many people to work at home as possible and I have no doubt some staff members get COVID infected which puts them and other members out of action for around 14 days.   This reduces the immigration office's capability to handle X-amount of customers per day.

 

I fully expect HQ immigration as some point in the "near" future will issue a blanket extension of most/all long term extensions of stay....like saying any extension of stay due in Sept 2021 is automatically extended to 31 Oct 2021 or maybe extended by 30 days or maybe XYZ.    I expect this to happen unless the surging COVID numbers suddenly start to decrease which I don't think is going to happen over the next month  or so as the current infection rate is like a chain of dominos falling right now in the Greater Bangkok area.

 

I've been thinking this myself, they could also lighten the workload by doing away with the 90 day reporting.

[retiree]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

And what if you already have an appointment with immigration and it is a couple of weeks before the three day window?

Same here; but just a few days before the window (I expire at the end of next week).  I was aiming for the least crowding so I picked a day after the switch to appointments, but before next week's holiday rush in case I had to fix something.  Hoping ubonjoe is prescient; will find out tomorrow, and post a report.

[calbts2]

This will not work for me as I need to have access to my 400k of my 800k bank deposit as soon as possible. So if I can access it only 3 months after date of application they are saying sorry you have to wait an extra month. Ridiculous!! I still plan on going one month before and i will just tell them that I am flying out of the country and have to extend now - cannot wait until only 3 days before.

[placnx]

On 7/19/2021 at 6:09 PM, Pib said:

Yea...I agree.   Most people typically show up 3-4 weeks before their extension expiration date which automatically creates a fairly steady flow...probably just as steady as 15 days before, 10 days before or 3 days before.   Making it only 3 days before will sure create domino type problem in people getting all docs like bank letters, Kor Ror 2, etc., as banks and govt agencies will probably operating hours/days restrictions to get certain docs.   It just creates problems when a person has a small time window they must thread.

Somebody might get Covid just before the 3-day window and feel obligated to show up despite being sick!! This three-day "request" is just digging the hole deeper.

[bobandyson]

8 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

So do people here think that appointments will still be a thing?

Or become one again, assuming the system is revived.

Or will they revert to a paper slip queuing system?

I've observed over the past year or so that some applicants submit their documents, has them checked, then handed them to another IO in the next booth who thoroughly scrutinises the same docs etc, and basically everything else goes ok for the applicant and they're out in next to no time.

 

Then.... there're others who seem to be questioned on every document submitted, the IO runs back and forth to and from other booths, appears to interrogate the applicant etc, and all the while the sands of time are slipping through the hour glass one grain at a time.

So I think blocked appointment times won't work. If too many spanners get thrown into the works then scheduled appointments will quickly go out of whack.

 

Personally, I don't like appointments of any kind anyway. I don't particularly like getting to them too early and having to kill time and I definitely hate being late and having to rush to make it on time because I miscalculated the traffic or one of my kids were late picking me up because they don't understand the concept of punctuality.

 

Nah, I'd just sooner blast the immigration with my presence at a time that suits me. No need to rush, no need to panic.

????     

[retiree]

23 hours ago, retiree said:

Same here; but just a few days before the window (I expire at the end of next week).  I was aiming for the least crowding so I picked a day after the switch to appointments, but before next week's holiday rush in case I had to fix something.  Hoping ubonjoe is prescient; will find out tomorrow, and post a report.

As usual, ubonjoe was prescient, and as promised, I have posted a report (under CW retirement extension report -- early on-line appointment accepted )     Bottom line was that a) even though my appointment was more than three days early, and b) even though the dedicated on-line appointment window was closed, I was able to process my extension at CW today.   I asked specifically if other people in the same circumstances could do the same and was told yes.   Obviously unofficial (the runner asked a supervisor for me, but she understand the situation clearly).  

[Zollus]

On 7/20/2021 at 4:19 AM, Pib said:

No...it seems pretty clear....instead of being allowed to apply up to 45 days like before, now it's only 3 days.

I was lucky I guess. I was able to get my preliminary stamp today even though it was the first day of my 45-day early period. I use an agency for the convenience and they didn't seem to be aware of the 3-day change. It didn't cost me anything extra, but I think my agent had to pay extra today to get it done, so we wouldn't have to make another trip. I know a lot of people do it on their own, but I don't have the patience or desire to do it on my own anymore and the extra once-a-year cost is minimal. Now, he (the agent) will just have to go back by himself to get the final stamp on Sep 3. Easy-Peasy...