Immigration house check

[JimTripper]

Do they ask about finances, like how do you pay your way or pay the rent?

[sirineou]

8 hours ago, Confuscious said:

I am living in Thailand with a retirement visa and I live alone 

About 2 months ago, immigration came to visit me.

They called me about 4 hours prior to the visit to ask if it was ok.

The visit was very friendly and the officer gave me a number which I could call if something urgent happened to me.

I asked if I needed to pay anything and the answer was NO.

All in all a very pleasant meeting.

By the way, it was the 1st visit in 20 years.

Yea my experience also , nothing to it.

I stand corrected.

I always thought that Retirement visa was easier because you did not have to jump through the hoops of home visit etc.

Is the home visit when applying for the one year a requirement or is it a random thing they do to keep people honest? 

[Skipalongcassidy]

On 6/20/2023 at 10:17 AM, Confuscious said:

A few weeks ago, I had the first "House Check" by Immigration in more that 20 years living in Thailand.

A morning, while I was watering my plants outside, an Immigration pick-up stopped at my house.
2 Immigration officers stepped out of the vehicle and told me that they were Immigration officers and the came for inspecting my house.
They presented themself as a regular immigration officer (the driver) and a chief immigration officer.
I opened the gate and let them in.
While talking to the immigration officer, the other one ASKED to take pictures and took pictures of my car and the house.
The chief asked me where my "missus" was and I told him that I had no "missus".
In my Visa extension I did wrote clearly that I lived alone.
They filled a formular and explained that they had to fill this paper in for the head of immigration and asked me to sign it (it was in Thai, but I was able to read most of it).
They left after a short visit, 20 minutes maybe, without asking neighbors or money.
All in all, very polite and a pleasant meeting with Immigration.
Guess that the neighbors thing and the money thing is only needed when you have a Thai wife.

 

The only "house check" done by immigration is for a visa due to marriage... if you have no "missus" why are you on a visa due to marriage and if not why a house check???

[BritTim]

4 hours ago, sirineou said:

I always thought that Retirement visa was easier because you did not have to jump through the hoops of home visit etc.

Is the home visit when applying for the one year a requirement or is it a random thing they do to keep people honest? 

If you apply for a change of visa status from a visa exempt entry or tourist visa to a Non O based on retirement, you can expect a house visit.

For a one-year extension of your permission to stay based on retirement, house visits are not normal.

Immigration officials can visit you at any time and for any reason, but such random visits are rare.

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 x immigration police home visit , both for 1st extension of stay based on retirement.

 

1st, 5 years ago, 1st extension of stay from OA visa based on retirement - a couple of officers checked passport , couple of photos with passport and outside with house number.

 

2nd, last year, 1st extension of stay from an O visa based on retirement - 1 officer and a trainee to take the photos. Same as above only an additional photo of me sitting on my bed alone.

I asked him for what purpose did the photo of me on the bed serve ?, he gave an embarrassed shrug.

 

Quick and painless.

[mrwebb8825]

20 hours ago, BritTim said:

Imagine how horrible it was for them having to watch you. The experience must have scarred them for life.

we DID find a 500 baht note on the dresser and they haven't been back. ????

[nrasmussen]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:32 AM, BritTim said:

If you apply for a change of visa status from a visa exempt entry or tourist visa to a Non O based on retirement, you can expect a house visit.

For a one-year extension of your permission to stay based on retirement, house visits are not normal.

Immigration officials can visit you at any time and for any reason, but such random visits are rare.

For my very first extension of permission to stay based on retirement I got a house visit.

 

A few years later, for the first extension after moving to another house on the same street, I also got a house visit.

 

So apparently they just want to check that I really live where I claim I do.

[foreverlomsak]

On 7/22/2023 at 9:29 PM, sirineou said:

As far as I know they only do the visit for the extension to stay based on Marriage, Do they make residence inspections for other visas?

I've had three visits by the local police (sub-contracted by Immigration), the first when I think I was still on a marriage extension, the later two definitely while on retirement. All three were carried out at the same address.

The transfer from marriage to retirement was at the bequest of Immigration as I could not provide a copy of the "Affirmation of Freedom to Marry" document, without this they said they could not prove the marriage was legal (despite copies of KR 2 and KR 3) and therefore could not approve the extension request. 

[Stocky]

I had a visitation from immigration yesterday, twenty minutes notice. I had made my application for marriage extension two months ago, and we had a visit from immigration then during the consideration period, extension granted - so this was somewhat out of the blue.

 

Unlike previous visits from the local immigration officers in Hat Yai, these two were from Sadao Immigration, they were very polite and apologetic for disturbing us, explanation was they were confirming I was living where I'd said I was, all part of the current crackdown, bad guys out, good guys in, or whatever.  I got the impression they were justifying their existence rather than the validity of my visa status. All over in ten minutes, signed the document, posed for a selfie with the IO, thank you and goodbye.

 

.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Stocky

[Lucky Bones]

On 7/22/2023 at 11:41 PM, mrwebb8825 said:

Never minded the visits, the pictures, the forms or the questions but the live sex show to prove we were married was a bit uncomfortable. ????

You had a live sex show with your missus?

Sacre Blue! Did you have to pay?????????

[sirineou]

7 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

I've had three visits by the local police (sub-contracted by Immigration), the first when I think I was still on a marriage extension, the later two definitely while on retirement. All three were carried out at the same address.

The transfer from marriage to retirement was at the bequest of Immigration as I could not provide a copy of the "Affirmation of Freedom to Marry" document, without this they said they could not prove the marriage was legal (despite copies of KR 2 and KR 3) and therefore could not approve the extension request. 

Yea other also told me, I thought that people  choose retirement over visa because it was easier and you did not have home visits and such. Apparently it is easier for you but not for the visit reason since you still get them even with a retirement  visa.

    Your situation sounds strange , because we were married outside Thailand, and we also registered our marriage here , If I remember correctly that was the Kor 2 and we were issued a Thai marriage certificate, I believe that's the Kor 3. (it's been a while) and we had no problem. Are you sure you understood correctly, If I did not have my wife who speaks fluent English and Thai I would be lost. 

Did you get married here or back at your home country? I really don't remember exactly , but I think when we got married back in the states(13 years ago) My wife had to provide an "Affirmation of Freedom to Marry " some sort of a document that she was not married in Thailand and was free to marry me, I guess the same would apply if married here at which point you will have to provide some sort of a document that you are not married back home and that you are free to marry. But if you had both the Kor2 and kor3 the assumption should had been made that you provided these documents to the Amphure that issued the marriage certificate, otherwise they would have not. and they  should have a copy. 

As I said if I did not have my wife I would be totally lost. Immigration can get very strange here depending which way the wind blows. Sorry to hear about your problems , sucks to have to lay out 800K when you are married. Did you talk to an Agent to see if they can resolve this situation for you?

[foreverlomsak]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Yea other also told me, I thought that people  choose retirement over visa because it was easier and you did not have home visits and such. Apparently it is easier for you but not for the visit reason since you still get them even with a retirement  visa.

    Your situation sounds strange , because we were married outside Thailand, and we also registered our marriage here , If I remember correctly that was the Kor 2 and we were issued a Thai marriage certificate, I believe that's the Kor 3. (it's been a while) and we had no problem. Are you sure you understood correctly, If I did not have my wife who speaks fluent English and Thai I would be lost. 

Did you get married here or back at your home country? I really don't remember exactly , but I think when we got married back in the states(13 years ago) My wife had to provide an "Affirmation of Freedom to Marry " some sort of a document that she was not married in Thailand and was free to marry me, I guess the same would apply if married here at which point you will have to provide some sort of a document that you are not married back home and that you are free to marry. But if you had both the Kor2 and kor3 the assumption should had been made that you provided these documents to the Amphure that issued the marriage certificate, otherwise they would have not. and they  should have a copy. 

As I said if I did not have my wife I would be totally lost. Immigration can get very strange here depending which way the wind blows. Sorry to hear about your problems , sucks to have to lay out 800K when you are married. Did you talk to an Agent to see if they can resolve this situation for you?

Married here 21 years ago, I provided the "Affirmation" which was translated & then certified by MFA which was kept by the Amphure, and subsequently "mislaid" by them, Head of Amphure put that in writing to Immigration but to no avail.

I had the money in the bank already, so the IO halved the pile of submitted papers, gave the rest back, approved Retirement and stamped passport, did not need to do wife & witness interview's, etc., nor submit to higher authority. No agents in locality, and not sure I would trust doing by mail.

Separate issue but mail posted in Thailand can take 6/8 weeks to be delivered if it arrives at all, about the same as post from UK. 

[sirineou]

9 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

Married here 21 years ago, I provided the "Affirmation" which was translated & then certified by MFA which was kept by the Amphure, and subsequently "mislaid" by them, Head of Amphure put that in writing to Immigration but to no avail.

Some of them can be such A-holls . I am lucky that here in Khon Kaen we have a good bunch, but I hear horror stories from other places, If you had a marriage certificate, obviously you had permission to marry from the home country. Not your fault that they lost it. 

Anyway all is well that ends well, 

[foreverlomsak]

8 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Some of them can be such A-holls . I am lucky that here in Khon Kaen we have a good bunch, but I hear horror stories from other places, If you had a marriage certificate, obviously you had permission to marry from the home country. Not your fault that they lost it. 

Anyway all is well that ends well, 

Stupid thing was that I kept a copy for use in UK (not needed only translated cert), shredded it just before coming here permanently as thought have marriage certs, what came before is now history.

 

[sirineou]

1 hour ago, foreverlomsak said:

Stupid thing was that I kept a copy for use in UK (not needed only translated cert), shredded it just before coming here permanently as thought have marriage certs, what came before is now history.

 

What I did and do is I scan documents and keep them in a document file in my computer and also on a USB memory stick.

Now that i think of it , I need to find where it is, and update it. I have a bunch of documents that I have in my computer but not the USB stick. I was told to store them on the cloud but I am not sure I trust the security. 

[swerve]

Just had a house visit from Phuket Immigration police.  They were checking my location as I recently started an Non O extension based on retirement.

 

Nice people.  Asked some general questions like do I rent the house, do I ride a motorbike, what's my age, what do I like to do in my neighborhood etc.  Took a picture or two of me.  The visit lasted 20 minutes.  They also chatted with and took pictures of other farang neighbours.