Phuket Immigration as of December 2021

[Captain Jack]

Just got done dealing with Phuket Immigration for another year and thought I'd offer up some info as there is nothing but confusion there. So here's a long disorganized list of hopefully helpful details that you might not find elsewhere.

 

For some reason they've taken down all the signage so no one knows where to go especially the hordes of 'tourists' looking to extend their COVID exemptions, so be prepared to wait in a long line only for most of the people in front of you to be sent away with information that is easily available on the Phuket Immigration Volunteers website (piv-phuket.com). By the way check out that site before you go, it answers most of your questions BUT the info isn't 100% up to date.

 

As usual tourist affairs and short-term visas are being dealt with downstairs but for some reason the COVID exemptions are being done upstairs in the long-term visa section so to get your documents checked and receive a queue ticket for your long-term visa application you'll be waiting in the same long line.

 

It should be only non-immigrant B and O visas in that upstairs room (room 204) but people don't know where to go. ED visas are now done in an out building near to the exit (clearly signposted) and retirement visas and other esoteric ones are in their own little office beyond the drive through (that office actually does have signage so you'll be able to find it).

 

The good news is they'll stop issuing COVID exemptions on January 22nd 2022 so maybe things will calm down after that.

 

They've knocked down a few buildings in the last few months and opened up a good deal of space for parking, so that's a huge improvement.

 

The photocopy and passport pictures shop has moved all the way to the back behind the staff parking.

 

Phuket Immigration are NOT RESPECTING THE ONLINE QUEUEING SYSTEM on immigration.gov.th. So don't waste your time with that. If you're dealing with a long stay visa you'll want to be outside room 204 (the main upstairs area) when the doors open at 8:30 am and go to the "information counter" that will be staffed by an English speaking volunteer who will do a preliminary check of your documents and give you a queue ticket. This ticket now has a QR code that will lead you to an app you can download to monitor the queue so you don't have to actually wait there for your turn. Which is good because it takes them minimum 30 minutes to do 1 application and sometimes as much as an hour depending on how, ahem, 'flexible' they're being with their queue that day. But be warned, they might decide to 'help' and manage the queue themselves, serving the people actually waiting in the (small) waiting area in room 204 first. Basically be prepared to wait a long time. If you're past number 7 or 8 in the queue you'll probably be seen after lunch. Just be patient. Maybe take a good book with you. Myself, I left, went and slept under a tree in the park for 2 hours, came back after lunch and got seen 4 queue spots early only to be told they had just served someone 7 spots after mine. TIT.

 

If you've got a queue ticket you WILL be seen that day. The officers will stay late if they have to to clear the queue at the end of the day.  They'll probably only issue 20 queue tickets per day so get there early. Once they stop you wont know until you waste time standing in the queue only to be told to come back later (if they say "later" they mean another day, not after lunch)

 

Check piv-phuket.com to get your documents ready. Download the forms from immigration.gov.th but don't rely on information there for what documents you need, it is NOT COMPLETE. Fill your forms in by computer if you can (it's just easier and they ARE accepting computer printed forms now). You'll need the "acknowledgement of penalties for a visa overstay" form and STM.2 temporary stay conditions form no matter what you're there for. The forms need to be dated with the exact date of application.

 

For anything requiring financial evidence there's an update that's not on piv-phuket.com. They will demand 2 copies of your bank passbook UPDATED TO THE DAY OF THE APPLICATION. So you need to find a way to make some kind of transaction on your account, update your passbook, and make 2 photocopies of it before 8:30am. Good luck with that one. The photocopies shop didn't open until 8:30 the day I was there. I actually had to go away and get that. I arrived back and got my queue ticket at 9:30 and it was a close shave with being turned away.

 

Make 2 copies of everything and take the originals with you. As evidence of marriage you need an up-to-date (less than 6 month old) KR.2 from an Amphur office (you MIGHT be told you have to go to the office that married you, you MIGHT be told your wife has to get it, you MIGHT be told anyone can get it. TIT. At Kathu, Phuket they'll give it to literally anyone). It normally costs 10 baht, during COVID it's 1 baht (yes "one baht"). Get 2 sets. You also need the original KR.3 marriage certificate. You'll be told your wife needs to go with you and she should, but they can be (ahem) flexible on that too so it might not be a deal breaker if she's working.

 

BIG WARNING!:  If you're applying for an extension of stay you'll get your passport back on the same day with an "under consideration" stamp. THE UNDER CONSIDERATION PERIOD IS NO LONGER 30 DAYS. During COVID it has been getting longer and longer with, of course, no prior notification or information. As of December 15 2021 they are giving 57 days! So you need to be able to wait almost 2 months before you can return to immigration and get the rest of your "1 year extension".

 

That's it. I hope this info helps a few people out. The key is not to get stressed out. Be as patient as you can and get there early. Expect to have a problem, expect to have to come back again, don't leave it to the last day. Yes, the officers there are making money under the table and if you want you can pay an agent a lot of money to do it for you, but despite what it feels like the officers aren't intentionally giving you poor service, they're genuinely doing their best.

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

[Kopitiam]

Would be better to move this to the Phuket Forum.

[Bob12345]

20 hours ago, Captain Jack said:

As of December 15 2021 they are giving 57 days! So you need to be able to wait almost 2 months before you can return to immigration and get the rest of your "1 year extension".

That shouldn't be a problem, as you can still get a "re-entry" permit based on the under consideration stamp and therefore leave the country if you want/need to. You do need to be back just before that date though as the re-entry is valid till the end of your under consideration date. And you can check the status of your application online.

 

 

And thanks for the update, your experience almost matches mine from 8 months ago. Back then a printout of my bank account showing a transaction in the last 7 days was good enough. You sure it should be from the same day nowadays or did they just tell you do get a transaction done quickly, get a new printout, and then return without explicitly mentioning the printouts should be a maximum of 7 days old (as it explicitly stated at the information desk where the volunteers are sitting) ? It has been max 7 days old for years already, only recently they are demanding a transaction visible on the day you make the printout (or maybe before also but i just didnt notice).

[Captain Jack]

21 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

You sure it should be from the same day nowadays or did they just tell you do get a transaction done quickly, get a new printout, and then return without explicitly mentioning the printouts should be a maximum of 7 days old (as it explicitly stated at the information desk where the volunteers are sitting) ? It has been max 7 days old for years already, only recently they are demanding a transaction visible on the day you make the printout (or maybe before also but i just didnt notice).

100% sure. They sent several people away for the same reason. The one I brought was only 5 days old. The volunteers information sheet (and their website) is out of date on this one. The volunteer told us "this is new". Without your passbook updated to the day of the application you will be turned away. You're right, it has always been 7 days, maybe it'll change back at some point.

[PhuketDok]

Great update on Phuket procedures.  Does anyone know if they are still grandfathering Visa OA holder's insurance requirements for extension of stays? 

[Bob12345]

22 hours ago, Captain Jack said:

100% sure. They sent several people away for the same reason. The one I brought was only 5 days old. The volunteers information sheet (and their website) is out of date on this one. The volunteer told us "this is new". Without your passbook updated to the day of the application you will be turned away. You're right, it has always been 7 days, maybe it'll change back at some point.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I stopped going super early there and now arrive around 10 these days. That normally gives enough time to go back home, eat lunch, and come back around 1. Getting bank stuff the same day isn't that much of a problem in that case.

 

It is such an annoying rule though. Makes no sense, adds nothing, and makes the process more difficult again. You need to hold the money in your account for 57 days anyways, till you get approved, so it makes no difference at all.

[ubonjoe]

20 hours ago, PhuketDok said:

Great update on Phuket procedures.  Does anyone know if they are still grandfathering Visa OA holder's insurance requirements for extension of stays? 

Yes

See: https://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/retirement/

[Captain Jack]

13 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Yes

See: https://piv-phuket.com/long-stay-extensions/retirement/

Weeeell, I wouldn't be so sure. The info on that page hasn't been updated in 8 months. Their marriage visa page is stated to be up-to-date to this month and still not 100% accurate. I'd always recommend paying them a visit in person first to make sure.

[TropicalGuy]

Omicron means (to me) Covid Extn.Visa will continue indefinitely. 
No way it will stop next month…... After my Longstay Visa expired, decided to get Covid Extn. until leaving country for work (Jan maybe).

 

2nd CE expires 12 Jan. Process Dead Easy with Phuket Imm. Very Helpful.

I find going late morning or late aft. best for short queue times for initial application. Max one hour seated wait with IPad reading ……

”Under Consideration” stamp upgraded to CE after 7 days.

Agent used always for LV here. Won’t tolerate Immy nonsense . 

[Kopitiam]

On 12/17/2021 at 2:02 PM, PhuketDok said:

Great update on Phuket procedures.  Does anyone know if they are still grandfathering Visa OA holder's insurance requirements for extension of stays? 

There is no grandfathering of Visa OA holder's insurance requirement for extension of stay at Phuket Immigration.  They implemented the law correctly.  I renewed my extension without the need of insurance.  Kudos to Phuket Immigration.

[Captain Jack]

UPDATE:

 

After waiting the prescribed 59 days and returning to Phuket immigration on the day they instructed I was told that my visa is still not ready. I couldn't get any further information from the teenage girl speaking to me due to her apparent inability to speak either English or Thai (it's strange how many Thai people can't speak their own language, I wonder if it has anything to do with the colour of my skin? TIT).

 

Plugging the number next to the stamp in my passport into the website confirmed my application is still "under processing" (sic) with no further information there either.

 

So I'm now technically in the kingdom illegally and can do nothing but wait for a website that may or may not eventually get updated.

 

Phuket Immigration has a shiny new website complete with a direct like to the national online queue appointments system which (of course) in reality is still being completely ignored at the office.

 

Of note the damn "emergency" COVID extensions (which were vehemently publicized as ending on January 25th) are now being offered until MARCH 25th so the office is STILL full of mostly Russians mostly shouting and often half naked, queueing out the door for their infinite cheat to stay in Thailand for ever. Again I had to spend half an hour in a queue at the long-term visa section with no one in front of me being there for a long-term visa.

[oldcpu]

On a Type-OA Visa, I applied for an extension of my permission to stay based on marriage a week ago at Phuket Immigration.  They accepted the paperwork and gave me a permission to stay for 30 more days from that date (ie about 3 weeks from now).

 

Hopefully they will have approval (from Hua Hin (?)) and be able to stamp my passport with a permission to stay (based on marriage) for the remaining 11-months (giving a total of a 1-year permission to stay) when I show up at the immigration office in three weeks from now. 

 

I plan to have my Thai wife accompany me, so my hope is that there will be no language issues in communicating (such as Captain Jack reported) if for some reason they are not ready to stamp my passport.

[ubonjoe]

25 minutes ago, oldcpu said:

Hopefully they will have approval (from Hua Hin (?)) and be able to stamp my passport with a permission to stay (based on marriage) for the remaining 11-months (giving a total of a 1-year permission to stay) when I show up at the immigration office in three weeks from now. 

The approval will done by Immigration Division 6 headquarters located in Hat Yai that is responsible for the Southern region of the country.

If your passport was valid for 12 months on the day your current permit to stay ends it will be for a year. If not it will be done to the day your passport expires.

 

[oldcpu]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:41 PM, Captain Jack said:

After waiting the prescribed 59 days and returning to Phuket immigration on the day they instructed I was told that my visa is still not ready.

...

Plugging the number next to the stamp in my passport into the website confirmed my application is still "under processing" (sic) with no further information there either.

So I'm now technically in the kingdom illegally and can do nothing but wait for a website that may or may not eventually get updated.

.

Hi Captain Jack.

 

I am very curious - did this work out ok, and the "under processing" end, and you were able to have the extension decision made (hopefully approved) without having any 'overstay' issues?

[oldcpu]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:41 PM, Captain Jack said:

After waiting the prescribed 59 days and returning to Phuket immigration on the day they instructed I was told that my visa is still not ready. I couldn't get any further information from the teenage girl speaking to me due to her apparent inability to speak either English or Thai  ....

 

Plugging the number next to the stamp in my passport into the website confirmed my application is still "under processing" (sic) with no further information there either.

 

So I'm now technically in the kingdom illegally and can do nothing but wait for a website that may or may not eventually get updated.

 

Something partly similar happened to me, although only for a few days.  

 

After applying for a 1-year extension on my permission to stay in Thailand (based on marriage) at Phuket immigration, I was given a 1-month permission to stay extension (based on marriage), while waiting for my extension application to be approved. 

 

I was constantly checking the Phuket immigration web site for the approval status and I was also obtaining "under processing".  That web site states that if it is still saying "under processing"  on the day one's 1-month 'permission to stay' extension expires, then one is to go to Immigration on that day.

 

So on the day my permission to stay 'expired' I went to Phuket immigration, and they told me the approval for my extension application still had not been received by Phuket immigration. 

 

Given my permission to stay was 'expiring' on that same date, I asked for another short extension, but I was denied. The immigration official told me to just stay in Thailand and assured me I would not be on an overstay and that I was to keep checking the web site - and come back to Phuket immigration in a week if no change to the 'under processing'.  Fortunately the official spoke English, as my Thai wife is home self isolating with COVID symptoms (although ATK tests are negative) and she could not come with me as a translator. My wife and I have been separating for the past week because of her symptoms.

 

A few days later, the website finally changed to 'approved' for my extension application, and I went to Phuket immigration and had my passport stamped for my permission to stay for another 11-months after the earlier 1-month extension.  The 'issue date' of the next 11-months extension (of my permission to stay) was back dated to the day when my 1-month permission to stay expired.

 

Anyway - I am happy about getting this extension.  Phuket immigration was incredibly busy each time I visited (typically early in the morning to avoid crowds) and I could not see even one Phuket official lounging around or taking coffee breaks.   In addition to being incredibly busy, the immigration staff were also very polite to me. 

 

My visa is a Type-OA, and this extension cost was only 1900 baht (immigration fee) + 600 baht (bank fees).  Had I been required to obtain health insurance (my superior European health insurance is not on the Thai list) it would have cost me another additional 7,700 Thai baht this year (for mostly useless health insurance) and next year cost for similar useless Health Insurance will be at least 3x that amount.   ...

 

So for me, the extra 'hassle' to go for an extension based on marriage to a Thai woman was worth the hassle.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

2 hours ago, oldcpu said:

After applying for a 1-year extension on my permission to stay in Thailand (based on marriage) at Phuket immigration, I was given a 1-month permission to stay extension (based on marriage), while waiting for my extension application to be approved. 

You did not get a extension. You got a under consideration stamp with a report back date 30 day later. The stamp allows you stay in the country until your extension application is approved.

[oldcpu]

On 3/9/2022 at 3:01 PM, ubonjoe said:

You did not get a extension. You got a under consideration stamp with a report back date 30 day later. The stamp allows you stay in the country until your extension application is approved.

Thanks for that clarification.   Indeed what the stamp says (consistent with your correction):

"Application of stay is under consideration of the immigration bureau. Applicant must contact this office again in person on 4-Mar-2022" where that was signed by the IO on 4-Feb-2022. .... My previous "retirement" extension was due to expire on 23-Feb-2022 ...  and there are words in Thai handwritten by the IO in my passport (on 4-Feb) that say something to the effect that my 'retirement' extension is to be replaced by a 'marriage extension' if approved after the consideration period.  ... That is not an exact translation (only vaguely what I recall my Thai wife translating/telling me).

 

The marriage extension is all very different in the detail, from a 'retirement extension' in some aspects of the implementation.   

 

But I am happy to get this extension based on marriage, as it means I do not have to:

 

(1) leave the country to invalidate the type-OA and come back in tourist-exempt, followed by Type-O, followed by another extension application, which would cost a fair amount of money),

 

nor do I have to when on a marriage extension :

 

(2) purchase double Health Insurance (as I don't wish to stop my current far superior subsidized health insurance from Europe - which in addition to being superior for me, also fully covers my Thai wife).

 

This 'marriage extension' means this year I save 7,700 Thai baht (for not buying double health insurance from LMG that has a massive deductible) and likely if I do the same next year (ie marriage extension) I will save 26,800 Thai baht for not buying larger health insurance from LMG with an even larger deductible (assuming no change in Health Insurance costs).

 

One can buy a lot of meals for 7,700 Thai baht, not to mention many meals for 26,800 Thai baht.

 

I may leave Thailand for just over a month in August/September, and I need to decide whether to get a re-entry permit to invalidate the marriage extension/Type-OA visa, (and return on the Type-O route noted above), ... or stick with the Type-OA and continue to do marriage extensions.   .... I am not sure as to the best route, but having done the 'marriage extension' once, I believe it may be easier for me the second time (next year).