Jomtien Office Retirement Visa Extension Experience

[kg1947]

16 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Thank You. I don't recall this even being required before but I guess I should be prepared. 

Always be prepared -- better have more copies of documents ......

then the IO can pick and choose which one is needed . 

The excess papers will be returned to you .... as future souvenirs .

remember : the only constant in Bureaucracy is : CHANGE of the DAY.

[Enzian]

13 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

,and my money in bank was no good as not enough money in money out ? what?

I heard a rumor from a friend that IOs were asking for evidence of periodic deposits for Non-O renewals, and I thought he was trying to scare me; but ivor's comment suggests it is a random variation used by some IOs to put you through the wringer. It's not in the regulations of course. My issue when I got the extension this week at CW was the IO was no longer going to put up with hearing that I don't have a bank book because it's an FCD account. So I promised to shift my dollars to my baht account. And I did, the same day, but she didn't ask me to immediately or in months to come to bring the book back to show her. So it will show as such next year when I go in to renew. I'm ok with the shift. I got a better rate than I would have three years ago when I started the FCD account, I now have deposit insurance and better bank service, and it should be a real advantage in a year.

[murraynz]

2 hours ago, decca60 said:

be aware they close for lunch from 11.30 an to 1.00 pm.

Yes, I have experienced that.. 

[Longwood50]

1 hour ago, kg1947 said:

the only constant in Bureaucracy is : CHANGE of the DAY.

In business it constantly strives to reduce things that are unnecessary and create needless waste and expense.  With bureaucracies they seek new and more burdensome tasks to "create work" thereby providing job security and increase the size of the staff leading to promotions for being the head of larger departments. 

[chilly07]

Best to book an appointment with either using QueQ or using the appointment software on Immigrations web site. 

You then only have to confirm your appointment when you get an e mail on the day arrive 5 mins before your appointment time and walk straight in and up to the desk as your appointment nos will already be showing on the digital board.

You can select any day and time up to 7 days before. I chose 1pm to be sure no one preceded me after lunch.

Can't understand why anybody would not use this wonderful system to avoid queueing outside and then inside thus reducing Covid risk.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

1 hour ago, Longwood50 said:

In business it constantly strives to reduce things that are unnecessary and create needless waste and expense.  With bureaucracies they seek new and more burdensome tasks to "create work" thereby providing job security and increase the size of the staff leading to promotions for being the head of larger departments. 

It seems like you would enjoy this essay by Cyril N. Parkinson, about the law bearing his name!

Parkinson's Law.pdf

[Longwood50]

3 hours ago, MeaMaximaCulpa said:

It seems like you would enjoy this essay by Cyril N. Parkinson, about the law bearing his name!

Yes thank you and he hit it right on the head.  Years ago I purchased a trucking company and had to submit for licensing my company's policy's on vehicle maintenance, driver safety training, and monitoring drug/alcohol usage.  I read the regulations stating what was required numerous times and dutifully filled out my policies to comply.  Each time they were submitted they were rejected and when questioned as to what was wrong, I only got the terse response to read the regulation and make sure every aspect of it was covered. 

Of course the agency approving the licensing could have just written a standard policy for all the trucking companies and required them to agree to follow it but that would not require any review or work for the licensing agency.  In each case I submitted virtually identical policies three times and on the third time they were magically approved even though in some instances the only change from the prior policies I submitted was rearranging the paragraphs. 

I concluded and still believe to this day the reason for the rejections was strictly to make work for those approving the licensing.  They could show how many policies they had to review, and of course show how many companies were not properly following the licensing rules.  By having to submit them 3 times before being approved very effectively tripled the volume both guaranteeing the jobs of the current staff and probably used as a basis for adding additional people to handle the volume. 

[Lemsta69]

4 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Best to book an appointment with either using QueQ or using the appointment software on Immigrations web site. 

You then only have to confirm your appointment when you get an e mail on the day arrive 5 mins before your appointment time and walk straight in and up to the desk as your appointment nos will already be showing on the digital board.

You can select any day and time up to 7 days before. I chose 1pm to be sure no one preceded me after lunch.

Can't understand why anybody would not use this wonderful system to avoid queueing outside and then inside thus reducing Covid risk.

because we're total noobs and don't know about it? thanks for the tip I'll check it out ????

[kinyara]

Thanks for your report, always good to hear and gauge current experiences related to our own last renewals.

 

I usually get the young lad at Jomtien who has always been efficient. I watch what he is doing to see if I can improve my document presentation. I noticed what he highlighted on my 12 month bank statement copy and now I put the asterisks and a yellow highlighter on the key balance dates, 90 days after previous extension, 60 days before this one. Just think it speeds things for them and demonstrates you know the rules/requirements. The Driving Licence has always been on their list of approved address proof which is an easy one I always take as well as my latest monthly condo bill statement as an owner.  From memory I think it works out about 8 sheets of paper in total which doesn't seem too bad to me.

[Chris.B]

Proof of address is the yellow tabien baan and the pink Thai ID card.

 

 

[chang50]

2 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Proof of address is the yellow tabien baan and the pink Thai ID card.

 

 

When I moved to my current rental property I got my landlord to give me copies of these as immigration requested and I take them to every extension.Looks like they will be asked for next time.

[DrJack54]

11 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

Proof of address is the yellow tabien baan and the pink Thai ID card.

 

 

Clarify....your stating that this is only proof of address thats acceptable.

Clearly not. 

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

8 hours ago, kinyara said:

I noticed what he highlighted on my 12 month bank statement copy and now I put the asterisks and a yellow highlighter on the key balance dates, 90 days after previous extension, 60 days before this one.

If you get your extension say 3 weeks early is this 90 day balance check from 3 weeks early point or extension date? reason I ask is your balance you provided would be 3 weeks early so the last point checked

[Peterw42]

21 hours ago, Enzian said:

I heard a rumor from a friend that IOs were asking for evidence of periodic deposits for Non-O renewals, and I thought he was trying to scare me; but ivor's comment suggests it is a random variation used by some IOs to put you through the wringer. It's not in the regulations of course. My issue when I got the extension this week at CW was the IO was no longer going to put up with hearing that I don't have a bank book because it's an FCD account. So I promised to shift my dollars to my baht account. And I did, the same day, but she didn't ask me to immediately or in months to come to bring the book back to show her. So it will show as such next year when I go in to renew. I'm ok with the shift. I got a better rate than I would have three years ago when I started the FCD account, I now have deposit insurance and better bank service, and it should be a real advantage in a year.

How were you operating the FCD without a bank book ? I use an FCD but it has a book, otherwise how could the account be used.

[kinyara]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

If you get your extension say 3 weeks early is this 90 day balance check from 3 weeks early point or extension date? reason I ask is your balance you provided would be 3 weeks early so the last point checked

3 weeks early point.  That's exactly why I do mine early since I want to access and use 400k of my 800k at the earliest opportunity.

[Enzian]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

How were you operating the FCD without a bank book ? I use an FCD but it has a book, otherwise how could the account be used.

Krungsri simply will not give a paper bank book with an FCD account. I asked many times; if some banks do that's great, but I never made the effort to move to one of those banks or find out which they are. They give a magnetic card that explicitly is only to be used to show to a manager or teller to do transactions in person (with one's passport of course). They will print a statement of activity and current balance on regular 8X11 1/2 paper as often as you like for free. I got by with Immigration for 2 seasons by proving these facts to them, but the flaw was always that their in-house regulations say collect copies of the pages of a bank book--complaining that this is the digital age is pointless with these dinosaurs. 

The end came when I got the same IO a second year in a row (also I had been out of the country for half the year and did not have print-outs for those months and the IO decided that the standard bank letter was not enough) and she did not want to hear it any more. She in effect (to my gf) said I'll give you the stamp today but you have to promise to immediately move 99% of those dollars to your parallel baht account you've had for years. So I did at 33.1. Now I can hope the dollar tanks and the baht doesn't.

[Banana7]

One other bit of info that may help. When returning to pickup your passport the next day, just show your green card to the IO at the exit door after 13:30 and he will let you in, without having to line-up at the entrance door.

 

After getting your extension and while still inside, copy your extension stamp at the photo copy station for 3b, and apply for a re-entry permit, if needed. This way you avoid that long line-up outside.

 

[neytil]

On 12/16/2021 at 5:24 PM, Banana7 said:

I recommend arriving early, definitely before 08:00,

Is it possible to avoid the queues by going late afternoon?

[neytil]

On 12/17/2021 at 1:09 PM, chilly07 said:

Best to book an appointment with either using QueQ or using the appointment software on Immigrations web site. 

You then only have to confirm your appointment when you get an e mail on the day arrive 5 mins before your appointment time and walk straight in and up to the desk as your appointment nos will already be showing on the digital board.

You can select any day and time up to 7 days before. I chose 1pm to be sure no one preceded me after lunch.

Can't understand why anybody would not use this wonderful system to avoid queueing outside and then inside thus reducing Covid risk.

which website?

[neytil]

On 12/17/2021 at 11:26 PM, chang50 said:

When I moved to my current rental property I got my landlord to give me copies of these as immigration requested and I take them to every extension.Looks like they will be asked for next time.

Isn't the TM30 accepted as the proof of address?

[Banana7]

Just now, neytil said:

Isn't the TM30 accepted as the proof of address?

It wasn't accepted for my retirement visa extension.

[neytil]

12 minutes ago, Banana7 said:

It wasn't accepted for my retirement visa extension.

Is this because you are an owner rather than a renter? Anyone else with recent experience that can clarify?  Especially renters.....

[Banana7]

On 2/1/2022 at 4:37 PM, neytil said:

Is it possible to avoid the queues by going late afternoon?

I have heard some people are successful by going in the afternoon. I tried that once, at about 1:30pm and was told to come back next day before 8am because they had reached their limit. They have a limit as to the number retirement extension processed in one day, someone said it was 200 per day at Jomtien.

 

 

[roger101]

I've done 15 extensions always gone in the afternoon. Never had much of a problem with timing only with the changing requirements.