Home immigration checks may be on the uptick

[sandyf]

14 minutes ago, Doctor Tom said:

All very odd.  Here in  Sattahip area, and among all my friends not one has seen a visit in many years, if any visit  at all. 

As been said many times, different office, different way of doing things.

[billd766]

On 12/1/2022 at 8:34 PM, NorthernRyland said:

That's seriously paranoid. Like most things they're get bored and stop eventually but this is a good way to make us feel like criminals.

Why would you feel like a criminal? It is their time and their money that they are spending. If it does happen, I suspect that they will be bored after the 2nd, 3rd or 4th visit and not bother any more.

[Orinoco]

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 I suspect that they will be bored after the 2nd, 3rd or 4th visit and not bother any more.

That's true, 

but some people are offering them, food, drink or money for there so called trouble.

They will never get bored of that. 

 

[billd766]

10 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

That's true, 

but some people are offering them, food, drink or money for there so called trouble.

They will never get bored of that. 

 

We offer water or perhaps coffee but nothing else.

 

This is at the Kamphaeng Phet office where we have only had 1 visit since 2009.

 

When I do my 90 day report I usually take the lady IO captain something. Fruit from the garden etc.

 

I don't look on it as a bribe but a thank you.

 

When I did my marriage extension last month I had a fall a couple of weeks before and was unable to sign my name. She accepted that and cleared the signatures for me, including the copy for region5 at Chiang Mai.

[Orinoco]

15 minutes ago, billd766 said:

We offer water or perhaps coffee but nothing else.

 

This is at the Kamphaeng Phet office where we have only had 1 visit since 2009.

 

When I do my 90 day report I usually take the lady IO captain something. Fruit from the garden etc.

 

I don't look on it as a bribe but a thank you.

 

When I did my marriage extension last month I had a fall a couple of weeks before and was unable to sign my name. She accepted that and cleared the signatures for me, including the copy for region5 at Chiang Mai.

I do think the level of suspicion of us retired folk.

Should be ratcheted down, instead of up.

it's all a bit nasty of them,  I think. 

 

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

Why would you feel like a criminal? It is their time and their money that they are spending. If it does happen, I suspect that they will be bored after the 2nd, 3rd or 4th visit and not bother any more.

Officials in uniform coming to your house suggests you've done something wrong to me or perhaps just an act of intimidation. If they know you're there they shouldn't need to actually come unless they think you're lying or doing something you shouldn't be and they want to catch you in act. Why else do these visits?

[Doctor Tom]

6 hours ago, sandyf said:

As been said many times, different office, different way of doing things.

and that is why I bothered to mention it for my area.  

[NancyL]

7 hours ago, OJAS said:

Indeed. I just wonder how many of those on here who are complaining bitterly about home visits from Immigration are also of the firm view that immigration officers back in their home countries are not doing enough in the form of home visits in order to check the credentials of Thai nationals and other foreigners who, in their view, have the audacity to want to darken the hallowed turf of their home country.

 

The Immigration people in my home country can be just as reasonable.  Hubby and I had a small greenhouse/nursery operation in an area with many such businesses.  Our neighbors had much larger operations.  One day the Immigration inspectors were out making their rounds.  Our immediate neighbors employed many Mexican nationals on some type of temporary work permit basis.  I know they had all their documents in order, so the inspector must have finished early and decided to stop by our place.

 

Needless to say, we were surprised they come by our little six-employee Ma & Pa operation, but felt we couldn't stop them when the pair asked to look around.  One of our employees was of Mexican heritage.  Her mother was born in the U.S., her father in Mexico, but came to the U.S. as a child and was a U.S. citizen.  Her parents only used Spanish at home when they didn't want the kids to understand what they were saying, so she didn't speak Spanish and could barely understood.  One reason she worked for us, after having worked in larger operations, is that we "didn't treat her like a Mexican", her words not ours.

 

The Immigration people looked over our workforce and asked about her, within her hearing.  "Do you have an I-9 on her".  My reply, "Yes, I have I-9 forms for all our employees", come to our store and I'll show you the forms for everyone, not just her.  Jeesh, talk about profiling.  The others could have been illegals from Poland or Hungary for all they knew.  (Although not likely in Michigan)

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Orinoco said:

I do think the level of suspicion of us retired folk.

Should be ratcheted down, instead of up.

it's all a bit nasty of them,  I think. 

 

I am not suspicious of the local IO at all.

 

Like the majority of government departments worldwide, they don't make the rules themselves but are operating under the rules laid down for them by the various governments.

 

They do have the latitude to ask for more information, IF they believe it is necessary, and it is rarely used unless they are not happy with the application laid out for them.

 

It is not often that they abuse their own rules even if they do have a bad day, and how they react depends on the applicant. If he is stroppy, belligerent, untidy, argumentative or simply believes that he is superior and all this is simply a waste of his time, then he is likely to have a much harder time, than a person who has the paperwork in order, is clean, neat, tidy, polite and pleasant.

 

If you can make their life easy for them, they will make your annual extension easy for you.

 

Beware of <deleted> them off as they can seriously affect your life in Thailand, to the extent of refusing your extension and kicking you out of the country.

 

I have been dealing with IO in Suan Plhu, in the early days to Mae Sot, Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet since 2009, and the majority of the men and women working there I have always found to be fair and reasonable.

[Doctor Tom]

2 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

Officials in uniform coming to your house suggests you've done something wrong to me or perhaps just an act of intimidation. If they know you're there they shouldn't need to actually come unless they think you're lying or doing something you shouldn't be and they want to catch you in act. Why else do these visits?

That is all true, but translate this to, say,  UK.  I only wish that UK Border Force were half as diligent in finding out where the thousands of migrants, both  legal and illegal are in the country, leading to all kinds of fraud and criminality  They don't have the first idea in the UK; the Thais in contrast do, so why the surprise and criticism? It may not be comfortable for us, but it does make sense from the Thai point of view.  And as an aside, many here do lie about where they stay, or are registered, some having never completed a TM30,  so............

[Orinoco]

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

I am not suspicious of the local IO at all.

 

Like the majority of government departments worldwide, they don't make the rules themselves but are operating under the rules laid down for them by the various governments.

 

They do have the latitude to ask for more information, IF they believe it is necessary, and it is rarely used unless they are not happy with the application laid out for them.

 

It is not often that they abuse their own rules even if they do have a bad day, and how they react depends on the applicant. If he is stroppy, belligerent, untidy, argumentative or simply believes that he is superior and all this is simply a waste of his time, then he is likely to have a much harder time, than a person who has the paperwork in order, is clean, neat, tidy, polite and pleasant.

 

If you can make their life easy for them, they will make your annual extension easy for you.

 

Beware of <deleted> them off as they can seriously affect your life in Thailand, to the extent of refusing your extension and kicking you out of the country.

 

I have been dealing with IO in Suan Plhu, in the early days to Mae Sot, Nakhon Sawan and Kamphaeng Phet since 2009, and the majority of the men and women working there I have always found to be fair and reasonable.

Did you read my post, that you just quoted ?

Think your banging on a bit.  

 

[jimn]

Never had a visit and dont expect to get one. Why do they assume people on an extension be it Retirement or marriage are in the country at all times. Personally I am here on Retirememt and between May and Oct I am in the UK, so they will be out of luck trying to visit me.

[BusyB]

On 12/1/2022 at 8:34 AM, NONG CHOK said:

Would these same home visits apply to holders of retirement visas done through an agent.

Good question.

[NONG CHOK]

5 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Good question.

Surely there would be a deal between the agent and the immigration office considering the nice little earner they're sharing. Then again, TIT.

[Orinoco]

19 minutes ago, jimn said:

Never had a visit and dont expect to get one. Why do they assume people on an extension be it Retirement or marriage are in the country at all times. Personally I am here on Retirememt and between May and Oct I am in the UK, so they will be out of luck trying to visit me.

Well they are immigration officers.

Maybe they know how to check on a computer to see if your in Thailand first. 

[NONG CHOK]

12 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

Well they are immigration officers.

Maybe they know how to check on a computer to see if your in Thailand first. 

Going by their continual 90 days online renewal updates I'd be very surprised if their data bases work.

[Orinoco]

7 minutes ago, NONG CHOK said:

Going by their continual 90 days online renewal updates I'd be very surprised if their data bases work.

Reckon they can pull up your complete history of in out of Thailand at the immigration office if they wish to.

I could be wrong, anyone know 100% on this ?

 

 

 

 

[Peterphuket]

32 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

Well they are immigration officers.

Maybe they know how to check on a computer to see if your in Thailand first. 

Ridiculous, have you ever heard of VPN, for example.

[NONG CHOK]

Maybe so but I've been living in Thailand for the past 22 years. In that time I've left Thailand once 8 years ago.

[NONG CHOK]

1 minute ago, Peterphuket said:

Ridiculous, have you ever heard of VPN, for example.

You beat me to it Peter, everyone should be using a VPN given the intrusion of our privacy especially hackers.

 

[Orinoco]

5 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

Ridiculous, have you ever heard of VPN, for example.

What you been smoking. 

[NONG CHOK]

4 minutes ago, NONG CHOK said:

You beat me to it Peter, everyone should be using a VPN given the intrusion of our privacy especially hackers.

 

May I add  certain websites such as government and banks etc don't work properly when using a VPN.

[NorthernRyland]

2 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

That is all true, but translate this to, say,  UK.  I only wish that UK Border Force were half as diligent in finding out where the thousands of migrants, both  legal and illegal are in the country, leading to all kinds of fraud and criminality  They don't have the first idea in the UK; the Thais in contrast do, so why the surprise and criticism? It may not be comfortable for us, but it does make sense from the Thai point of view.  And as an aside, many here do lie about where they stay, or are registered, some having never completed a TM30,  so............

Immigration in America and from what I can tell is in the UK is a disgrace. They badger normal law abiding citizens and turn a blind eye to even the most erroneous illegal immigration. I don't want Thailand to do that by any means.

 

Doing 90 day reports is already paranoid and onerous, especially in the case of people who haven't moved in many years, but doing routine house checks would be a whole new level for them.  Again, if we're known to be following the law they shouldn't have this paranoid need to come to our house.

[Doctor Tom]

16 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

if we're known to be following the law they shouldn't have this paranoid need to come to our house.

but how do they know if they dont check? 

[NorthernRyland]

Just now, Doctor Tom said:

but how do they know if they dont check? 

If our visa is up to date then what possible are they checking for? Even in the case we get involved with the police they notify immigration for us, coming to our house gains nothing.

 

Maybe if they can prove some guy is overstaying his visa and they know where he lives then fine go to their house, but if you're in good standing I fail to see what this will accomplish except to intimidate us.

[BusyB]

1 hour ago, NONG CHOK said:

Surely there would be a deal between the agent and the immigration office considering the nice little earner they're sharing. Then again, TIT.

Another advantage of using an agent I suppose if that works.

 

Of course if the agent gets the stamps from another province things could get complicated. IOs  where the retiree lives wouldn't even know s/he exists and wouldn't go to visit. IOs in the province where the visa was issued would be searching high and low for someone who doesn't live there ????

 

[Orinoco]

24 minutes ago, BusyB said:

Another advantage of using an agent I suppose if that works.

 

Of course if the agent gets the stamps from another province things could get complicated. IOs  where the retiree lives wouldn't even know s/he exists and wouldn't go to visit. IOs in the province where the visa was issued would be searching high and low for someone who doesn't live there ????

 

Yes, interesting that question.

But they do insist on a telephone number on the application form.

probably the same if using an agent

anyone know about this. ?

I don't know as never needed or used an agent. 

 

[Nong Khai Man]

On 11/30/2022 at 4:57 PM, NanLaew said:

So, what you gonna do?

He Said They'd be " In for a Shock " Maybe he'll Taser Them.......

[Lucky Bones]

8 hours ago, billd766 said:

We offer water or perhaps coffee but nothing else.

 

This is at the Kamphaeng Phet office where we have only had 1 visit since 2009.

 

When I do my 90 day report I usually take the lady IO captain something. Fruit from the garden etc.

 

I don't look on it as a bribe but a thank you.

 

When I did my marriage extension last month I had a fall a couple of weeks before and was unable to sign my name. She accepted that and cleared the signatures for me, including the copy for region5 at Chiang Mai.

Take care, a Mia Noi can be messy, expensive, high maintenance and crazzzzzy.

Sounds like she has taken a shine to you or your bank balance/income stream. She could be eyeing you up.

When she moves on life may take a different slant.????????

[billd766]

2 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

Ridiculous, have you ever heard of VPN, for example.

Have you ever heard of passport control where Immigration stamp and record your exit and entry?